The civil case names Gregory Moore and Stafford Law as Moore awaits a fall criminal trial.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The family of Aliza Sherman has filed a civil lawsuit against her former divorce attorney and his law firm, 13 years after Sherman was stabbed to death outside a downtown Cleveland office building.
The 61-page lawsuit filed in Cuyahoga County says Gregory Moore, Sherman’s former divorce lawyer, lured her to Erieview Plaza on March 24, 2013. Moore has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, where he faces charges including aggravated murder, conspiracy, murder and kidnapping.
The lawsuit says Sherman, a 53-year-old Cleveland Clinic fertility nurse and mother of four, went downtown that evening because Moore told her to meet him at Stafford Law offices to prepare for her divorce trial. Jennifer Sherman, Aliza Sherman’s daughter, said at Moore’s arraignment last year that her mother trusted him. “A woman who trusted him. A woman who he was duty bound to protect and advocate for,” she said.
Investigators have said Moore texted Sherman and made it appear he was inside the office waiting. The civil complaint says he disconnected his cellphone from the Verizon network to hide his location while using a firm-issued mobile hotspot to keep sending messages. Sherman waited outside in the cold before someone approached from behind, chased her toward a nearby building and stabbed her more than 10 times. She later died from her injuries.
The lawsuit also focuses on what Stafford Law allegedly knew before and after the killing. It claims the firm knew Moore had previously called in bomb threats to courthouses using firm-issued phones and failed to act. The complaint also says someone at the firm tried to cancel the same mobile hotspot the morning after the killing and deleted a voicemail Sherman left on the office phone system the night she died. Stafford Law has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
Moore was secretly indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on May 2, 2025, more than a decade after the killing. U.S. Marshals arrested him the same day near Austin, Texas. He later returned to Ohio, posted a $2 million bond July 3, 2025, and was released with court limits that bar him from having firearms or a passport and from traveling outside Ohio or the country.
Moore’s defense has challenged evidence in the criminal case. Recent filings sought search warrants and affidavits tied to Sanford Sherman, Aliza Sherman’s estranged husband, and asked the court to suppress evidence including cell tower data, geofence data, statements and personal items. A judge earlier granted a defense motion to return Moore’s iPhone, which was seized under a 2014 search warrant.
The civil case seeks more than $25,000 in damages. Jennifer Sherman said the allegations go beyond professional misconduct. “This is not just a matter of personal betrayal or professional misconduct, it is a threat to public safety,” she said.
Moore’s criminal trial is scheduled for Sept. 14. The civil lawsuit now gives Sherman’s family a second courtroom path as the criminal case moves toward trial.
Author note: Last updated May 2, 2026.