A Novi woman has filed a $10-million lawsuit against personal-injury attorney Mike Morse, claiming he groped her last month at a Farmington Hills restaurant and tried to coerce her into withdrawing her police complaint during a conversation she recorded.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court by Southfield-based Fieger Law, claims that Morse, without invitation, approached the woman at about 10 p.m. April 6 while she was dining with friends at Steven Lelli's Inn on the Green.

Update:

Read attorney Mike Morse's fiery response to Geoffrey Fieger lawsuit

Morse allegedly "lured" the woman to a private room in the restaurant and asked her to take a "selfie" photograph with him.

As she held out her phone to take the photo, "he suddenly and without any permission, inducement or any other whatsoever invitation, and within only minutes of meeting her, sexually assaulted (her) by grabbing her breasts and asking her if this made the photo better," the lawsuit says.

Morse strongly denied the allegations in a statement Monday, calling them "shocking, outrageous and completely false." He said multiple witness observed that he did not touch the woman in the way the lawsuit alleges.

"This lawsuit is a bogus, manufactured lawsuit and an attempt to extort money from me by the Fieger Law firm."

Attorney Geoffrey Feiger is representing the woman in the civil case. She is identified in the lawsuit as Renee Swain.

"She believes that his activities have got to come to an end, and she intends to put them to an end," Fieger said in a live-streamed news conference Monday afternoon.

Morse is one of Michigan's most visible plaintiff attorneys and calls his law firm the largest personal-injury firm in the state.

Last week, a panel of the Attorney Discipline Board cleared Morse of allegations that his law firm was involved in the improper solicitation of an auto accident victim.

Also on Freep.com:

Free Press report: Why does auto insurance in Detroit cost so much?

Aggressive solicitation comes after auto accidents in Detroit

Fieger, who is considering a run for Michigan governor in 2018, told reporters Monday that he has never met Morse and holds no grudges against him.

"The fact that he's a well-known attorney is irrelevant to me," Fieger said.

Following the alleged groping, the woman rejoined friends at her restaurant table but soon left Lelli's Inn to report the alleged sexual assault to Farmington Hills Police, the lawsuit says.

She was later contacted by one of her friends, who relayed to her that the owner of Lelli's Inn, Mark Zarkin, wanted to set up a meeting between her, him and Morse, the lawsuit says.

A Farmington Hills police officer recommended that she record this meeting to support her criminal assault complaint. Farmington police provided her with the surveillance tools, according to the suit.

The woman met with Morse and Zarkin on May 7. Out of suspicion, both men asked that she leave her purse and phone outside the meeting because of concerns that she might be recording the conversation, the lawsuit says.

However, the woman was still wearing the wire and the entire conversation was recorded.

The lawsuit says Morse and Zarkin tried to coerce the woman into withdrawing her police complaint, telling her that Morse couldn't continue his charitable activities and would be hurt professionally and personally by the exposure.

Morse admitted that he behaved inappropriately and "promised that if (the woman) would not pursue claims against him he would be a 'changed man,'" the lawsuit says. Morse, who is divorced, also said that if someone had touched one of his three daughters in the same manner he allegedly touched her, he would "want to kill them," the lawsuit says.

Fieger said Monday that Farmington Hills police have possession of the recording and are investigating the alleged sexual assault.

Commander Jeff King of Farmington Hills Police told the Free Press he couldn't confirm or deny an active investigation.

The civil lawsuit accuses Morse of sexual assault and battery. It also accuses Morse, Zarkin and Lelli's Inn of civil conspiracy, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and wanton and willful misconduct. Lelli's Inn is also being sued for premise liability.

The restaurant is closed on Mondays and no one answered the phone.

In his statement denouncing the allegations, Morse claimed that Fieger recently told people he is angry that one of Fieger's former clients hired Morse and went on to win a substantial settlement in the past few months.

"There's a history of Mr. Fieger attempting to disparage me in commercials and his blog posts," Morse said. "This is also a pathetic attempt to harm my reputation, something the Fieger Law firm stands to benefit from."

Fieger's office did not immediately respond Monday night to requests for comment about Morse's statement.

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JCReindl.