Overview
Brad Edwards is a Fort Lauderdale-based civil litigation attorney who became one of the most persistent legal advocates for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Beginning in 2005, Edwards represented multiple victims and spent the next twelve-plus years fighting to expose the terms of the 2008 NPA, to vindicate his clients’ rights under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, and ultimately to bring Epstein to accountability. He wrote a book about the experience co-authored with Paul Cassell and journalist Sarah Weinman.
Entry into the Case
Edwards initially began representing victim clients in Florida civil litigation around 2005–2007. As the scope and severity of Epstein’s conduct became clearer through his investigation, he expanded his representation and began collaborating with Paul Cassell, the University of Utah law professor and CVRA specialist, on the federal CVRA claims.
The NPA Discovery
One of Edwards’ most significant contributions was doggedly pursuing the discovery of the NPA’s terms. The agreement had been deliberately kept secret from victims by both the prosecution and Epstein’s defense. Edwards’ civil discovery efforts eventually forced the document into the record, revealing its extraordinary terms: blanket immunity, co-conspirator immunity, and the “keep confidential” provision.
Confrontations with the Defense Team
Edwards had sustained legal confrontations with Epstein’s defense attorneys, including Alan Dershowitz. At one point, Edwards filed a civil suit against Dershowitz for conduct in the litigation. The two men had a prolonged adversarial relationship throughout the case.
Dershowitz counter-sued, and the litigation between them became one of the case’s many sub-dramas. Virginia Giuffre’s subsequent dropping of her own lawsuit against Dershowitz added further complexity to the record.
The CVRA Litigation and Judge Marra’s Ruling
Edwards and Cassell litigated the CVRA claim for more than a decade. In February 2019, Judge Kenneth Marra issued a ruling finding that the government had violated the CVRA by failing to notify victims of the NPA. Though Judge Marra declined to void the NPA (holding that the remedy for the violation was prospective notification rather than reversal), his ruling was a legal and moral vindication of everything Edwards and his clients had argued.
Three months later, Epstein was arrested by SDNY.
Book: Relentless Pursuit
Edwards authored Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein with Paul Cassell and Sarah Weinman (2022), documenting the twelve-year legal battle.
Sources
CVRA litigation docket; Relentless Pursuit (Edwards and Cassell, 2022); Julie K. Brown, Perversion of Justice (2021); coverage of Edwards-Dershowitz litigation; Judge Marra’s February 2019 ruling.