Alan Dershowitz Is Suing After a Slip and Fall During Heat Playoff Game

Game three of the 2012 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Miami at Boston. LeBron put up 34. Garnett put up 24. 

And in the men's room, one middle-aged fan allegedly slipped on a puddle of dirty water, crashing hard on the tile floor, "twisting his right knee and leg, landing on his back." But not just any fan: famous lawyer and Harvard professor — and Miaimi Beach resident — Alan Dershowitz. Three years later, Dershowitz is now suing the TD Garden, the Celtics' arena, over the incident. 

"I usually don't go to the bathroom during the fourth quarter," Dershowitz told the Boston Globe earlier this week. "But I'm getting a little older, and the bladder is a little more active these days." 

Dershowitz, who became a full Harvard law professor at 28, has been considered among this country's greatest legal minds for decades. He's given legal advice to everyone from O.J. Simpson to Julian Assange, published more than 1,000 articles, and been called one of America's "most distinguished defenders of individual rights."  He was even accused in the same outrageous sex scandal that named Prince Andrew, after he had represented Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in a pedophilia case. (The accusations against Dershowitz were later tossed out.)  

But after that slip and fall in Boston in 2012, he is adamant it was his own rights that had been violated by the Garden because of an egregious lack of proper hand drying supplies.

"The bathroom at this time — and plaintiff believes for at least 60 minutes before his entry into the restroom — had no paper towels to allow male patrons to dry their hands post washing of them," alleges the complaint filed on his behalf. "This dangerous condition allowed water from the recently washed hands of each of the myriad bathroom users to drip or be 'shaken' onto the floor, negligently creating a hazardous situation for all users." 

Dershowitz was diagnosed with a sprained MCL after the fall, according to the complaint. He ended up paying nearly $6,000 in medical bills after insurance, and is still in pain and could need surgery. He didn't actually want to sue the Garden, Dershowitz told the Globe, but because a three-year statue of limitations was about to expire and negotiations apparently weren't productive (the professor had a former student handle the case), he had no choice. 

"This is small — for everybody but me," he told the newspaper. "When you hurt your knee, you feel it every day." 

As of publication, a media representative for the TD Garden had not returned a voice mail left by New Times. We'll update if the Garden gets back to us.