A Montgomery judge has denied a motion filed by Roy Moore's attorneys to dismiss the defamation lawsuit filed by Leigh Corfman, one of the former U.S. Senate candidate's accusers.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Roman Ashley Shaul has also scheduled the lawsuit's first court hearing for April 12.

In the order issued Wednesday afternoon, the judge also denied Moore's request to transfer the case to his home of Etowah County as well as denied Moore's request for a hearing to make oral arguments on the issue of dismissing the lawsuit and relocating to Etowah County.

Corfman filed her lawsuit in January, less than a month after Moore lost the U.S. Senate special election to Doug Jones. Corfman came forward in a Washington Post story on Nov. 9, 2017, alleging that Moore made unwanted sexual advances toward her when she was 14 years old and he was 32.

Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations by Corfman and other women who made allegations of unwanted romantic or sexual advances. He has re-stated those denials in court documents.

"We're gratified by the court's ruling and that Leigh will now have an opportunity to prove her case in court," Neil Roman, one of Corfman's attorneys, said in a statement to AL.com.

Moore's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AL.com.

In addition to opposing Moore's desire to dismiss the lawsuit, Corfman's attorneys also resisted Moore's request to move the case to Etowah County.

The hearing on April 12 will be for the judge to "hear arguments on possible discovery limitations," Shaul said in his order.

Moore's attorneys had requested that discovery be delayed until the judge ruled on the issue of venue and the motion to dismiss.

Corfman's based her lawsuit on comments made about her by Moore and those connected with his campaign.

According to the lawsuit, Moore and his campaign committee "have defamed Ms. Corfman, repeatedly and in all forms of media, calling her a liar and questioning her motivation for publicly disclosing that Mr. Moore sexually abused her in 1979 when she was a 14-year-old high school freshman and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney."

Moore had asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit because it was not filed in the proper venue -- arguing that it rightfully should have been filed in Etowah County, where Corfman said the encounter with Moore occurred. Moore's attorneys also said that the case should be moved to Etowah County for the convenience of the parties involved, saying that both the plaintiff and defendant reside in Etowah County.

The response from Corfman's attorneys were that Moore wanted the case moved to Etowah County because it would be a "home forum." And that of the nine people named or involved in the lawsuit, all but three live closer to Montgomery than the Etowah County seat of Gadsden. Those three, Corfman said, are Corfman, Moore and Corfman's mother, who did not mind traveling to Montgomery.

And Corfman argued that Moore's attorneys, in a December lawsuit filed in a failed attempt to have the election results certified, was filed in Montgomery County. In that lawsuit, Moore's attorneys described Corfman as making "false and malicious attacks."

In seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, Moore's attorneys argued that comments made by a political candidate on the campaign stump should be protected speech and a candidate should be allowed to defend himself against allegations such as those raised by Corfman.

Updated today, March 28, 2018, at 4:47 p.m. with new information throughout.