LOS ANGELES : Allred Hired by Woman in Recovered Memory Lawsuit

Opening a new chapter in a widely watched dispute over recovered memory therapy, Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred has been hired by a woman who claims that she forgot and later remembered that her father had raped her when she was a child.

The move marks the latest twist in the battle between Gary Ramona, a former top executive at a Napa Valley winery, and his daughter Holly, a graduate student at Pepperdine University.

In May, Gary Ramona won $475,000 after a Napa County Superior Court jury concluded that two Orange County therapists and a hospital had reinforced false memories of sexual abuse in his daughter’s mind.

The verdict was hailed by critics of recovered memory therapy--one of the most divisive issues confronting the mental health community--and was said to mark the first time a non-patient had successfully sued a therapist for malpractice.

Now, Allred is representing Holly Ramona in round two of the battle--a civil lawsuit seeking damages for the alleged abuse. Holly Ramona contends that she had no recollection of being raped until age 19, when she had vivid flashbacks during therapy.

She first sued her father in 1990, charging that he molested her repeatedly between the ages of 5 and 8. In a newly amended version of the lawsuit, she claims the abuse lasted much longer--until age 16.

Allred is a veteran of celebrated cases, many of them involving women. In 1992, she helped a client win $500,000 in a similar lawsuit involving repressed memories. That award was one of the first under a change in state law that allows victims who claim they have retrieved buried memories to sue years after the alleged crime occurred.