Leah Remini retains new lawyer in suit against Scientology Church

Leah Remini has hired a former federal prosecutor who handled some highly publicized cases to substitute as her attorney in her lawsuit against the Scientology Church, which she alleges has undertaken a campaign to "ruin and destroy" her after she left the faith in 2013.

Friday's filing with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie does not state why the actress is replacing her team of attorneys that included Brittany Henderson, Bradley Edwards and Seth Lehrman with Daniel A. Saunders.

Saunders is a former U.S. attorney who was involved in the wiretapping prosecution of private investigator Anthony Pellicano and his associates as well as the RICO prosecution of Hollywood nightclub owner Eddie Nash for conspiring to commit the "Wonderland" murders.

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Remini is appealing Judge Randolph M. Hammock's earlier ruling that she could only proceed with portions of her case. The church also is appealing the ruling. Due to subsequent legal actions in the case, the lawsuit is now before Fujie.

An anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion is rooted in a law intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.

The actress' original suit was brought last Aug. 2 in Los Angeles Superior Court and included allegations of civil harassment, stalking, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. Scientology Church leader David Miscavige is also a defendant in both the first suit and an updated complaint brought Aug. 29.

After leaving the church in 2013, Remini became a high-profile critic. She published a memoir in 2015, "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology," and later hosted three seasons of the docuseries, "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath," on A&E.

The suit from the 54-year-old "The King of Queens" star alleges that Scientologists "have undertaken a campaign to ruin and destroy the life and livelihood of Leah Remini, a former Scientologist of nearly 40 years, a two- time Emmy-award winning producer, actress and New York Times best-selling author, after she was deemed a suppressive person and declared fair game by Scientology in 2013, when she publicly departed Scientology."

The church has vehemently denied Remini's allegations, with attorneys calling her lawsuit "nothing but an attempt by (Remini) to stop (the) Church of Scientology International and Religious Technology Center from responding to her hateful attacks with truthful speech."

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