Boies’s Entry into the Epstein Case
David Boies, one of the most prominent trial lawyers in the United States — known for his roles in Bush v. Gore, United States v. Microsoft, and the Hollywood Harvey Weinstein cases — became involved in Epstein-related litigation through his representation of Virginia Roberts Giuffre beginning in the mid-2010s. Boies Schiller Flexner LLP filed civil claims on Giuffre’s behalf against Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, and ultimately Prince Andrew and others.
Boies positioned himself as an advocate for victims of powerful men, drawing connections between his representation of Epstein survivors and his later work on Harvey Weinstein victims’ cases. His firm took the Giuffre case on terms that included a contingency arrangement.
The Giuffre v. Maxwell Litigation
The most significant Epstein-related case Boies handled was Giuffre v. Maxwell, a civil defamation suit in which Virginia Giuffre alleged that Maxwell had defamed her by publicly calling her a liar. The case was filed in 2015 in the Southern District of New York and generated an enormous volume of discovery — including the depositions and documents eventually unsealed in 2024.
Boies’s team conducted discovery aggressively, deposing dozens of witnesses and obtaining documents that painted a detailed picture of Maxwell’s role in Epstein’s operation. The case settled in 2017 for an undisclosed amount, but the sealed litigation record proved to be among the most significant bodies of evidence about the Epstein network.
The Maxwell Relationship Controversy
Questions arose about whether Boies had maintained professional and personal relationships with individuals connected to the Epstein network even while representing victims. In 2019, reporting revealed that Boies Schiller had at various points done work adjacent to Weinstein and other controversial clients, raising broader questions about the firm’s conflict management.
More specifically related to the Epstein case, questions emerged about whether Boies had any prior professional contact with Maxwell or her associates. Boies denied any relationship that created a legal conflict of interest, and no ethics proceeding was initiated against him.
Representation of New Accusers Against Named Defendants
Following the 2024 document releases, Boies’s firm was involved in bringing or supporting claims against additional named defendants. The firm’s involvement served both to advance individual client interests and to maintain the firm’s high public profile on the Epstein litigation front.
Work Release Investigation Reporting
The Miami Herald reported in 2019 that Boies’s firm had commissioned a private investigation into the circumstances of Epstein’s work release program in Palm Beach County in 2008–2009. The investigation apparently examined whether Palm Beach County officials had given Epstein preferential treatment during his work release, including departures from standard protocols. The findings of that investigation were not made fully public.
Criticism of the Settlement
Some Epstein survivors expressed frustration with the settlement of Giuffre v. Maxwell in 2017, noting that the sealed nature of the settlement and its documents prevented other victims from accessing potentially relevant information for years. The argument was that a more aggressive litigation strategy — one that forced more public disclosure at the time — might have brought the case to wider attention before the 2018 Herald series.
Boies maintained that the settlement terms reflected what Giuffre wanted at the time and that the protective order was imposed by the court rather than agreed to by the parties alone.