An attorney for Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday asked a federal judge in Manhattan to dismiss sex-trafficking claims against his client, arguing that the allegations by actress Wedil David could not stand in light of a crucial ruling by the late Judge Robert W. Sweet.

Weinstein’s lawyers, in a series of civil lawsuits, have criticized Sweet’s landmark ruling last year, which allowed another actress to sue Weinstein under a federal sex-trafficking statute, after she alleged that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her in a hotel where the two had met under the guise of discussing a potential film opportunity.