Early Involvement
Bradley Edwards is a Fort Lauderdale attorney who first began taking cases involving Jeffrey Epstein victims in approximately 2005-2006, shortly after the Palm Beach Police Department’s initial investigation established the trafficking operation.
At a time when Epstein was using his vast resources to intimidate victims and their potential attorneys, Edwards took on the cases anyway — a decision that led to years of intense pressure from Epstein’s legal team.
The Legal Campaign
Edwards pursued Epstein and his network through multiple legal strategies:
Civil Suits
Filed civil lawsuits on behalf of multiple victims seeking damages for the trafficking operation.
The CVRA Litigation
Edwards developed the legal theory that the 2008 NPA violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act by failing to notify victims. Working with victim Courtney Wild, he pursued this theory for over a decade until the 11th Circuit ruled in their favor in 2019.
Depositions of Powerful Figures
Through civil discovery, Edwards’ team obtained depositions of figures including members of Epstein’s network, producing thousands of pages of documents that were eventually partially unsealed in 2024.
Confrontations with Dershowitz
Edwards was a named defendant in filings by Alan Dershowitz, who accused Edwards of misconduct in taking declarations about Dershowitz from Virginia Giuffre. This led to extensive collateral litigation and personal attacks by Dershowitz on Edwards’ professional character.
Florida Bar proceedings cleared Edwards of ethical violations.
The 2019 Arrest and After
When Epstein was arrested in July 2019, Edwards’ long campaign had helped establish the public record of Epstein’s conduct. After Epstein’s death, Edwards continued to represent victims in the estate process.
Victims’ Compensation Program
Edwards played a significant role in the $121 million victims’ compensation program established through Epstein’s estate. Many of his clients participated in the fund.
”Relentless Pursuit”
Edwards wrote the book “Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein” (2020), providing an attorney-perspective account of the decade-plus legal battle against Epstein and his enablers.
Legacy
Bradley Edwards is widely credited with:
- Keeping the Epstein case legally alive during the years after the 2008 NPA
- Developing CVRA legal strategies now used in other trafficking cases
- Providing representation to victims who would otherwise have had no legal recourse