David Boies linked to alleged efforts to suppress Weinstein investigation and cited in Epstein litigation involving alleged Trump‑related sex traff...

years | finally feel safe because of David Boies and his colleagues,” wrote Ransome, who also said the firm did not charge her legal fees. The letter was prompted by a Nov. 9 Times op-ed by Stanford University law professor Deborah Rhode, titled “David Boies’s Egregious Involvement With Harvey Weinstein.” Written in the wake of revelations in The New Yorker that Boies had engaged private investigators to kill an investigation by Times reporters into Weinstein’s alleged sexual predations, the op-ed suggested that Boies’ work for Weinstein was unethical, partly because the Times’ was a Boies Schiller client. Two days earlier, on Nov. 7, following publication of The New Yorker article, Boies had issued a statement addressed to his firm, stating that Weinstein was no longer a client and stressing that he “would never knowingly participate in an effort to intimidate or silence women or anyone else.” In a Nov. 21 brief in the Epstein litigation, defense lawyer Michael Miller of Steptoe & Johnson LLP argued that Ransome had never satisfied requirements to file anonymously and had publicly identified herself with her letter to the Times, so she should be required to add her name to the case caption. Sigrid McCawley, a Boies Schiller partner in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office who represents Ransome along with Boies and others, said her client ultimately chose to go public with her name “in the hopes that her courage will inspire other Epstein victims to speak their truth.” In 2008, Epstein entered a guilty plea in Florida for soliciting an underage prostitute, which led to an 18- month jail term and placement on the national sex offender registry. Since then, multiple plaintiffs have filed related complaints against him, including one that includes allegations that President Donald Trump's winter White House, Mar-a-Lago, was the location of events that led to sex trafficking. Epstein has argued that the court should dismiss the case because Ransome failed to state a substantiated claim and because the claims she makes are barred by the statute of limitations. Steptoe’s Miller had no immediate comment for this report. SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER liriam Rozen riam Rozen covers the business of law with a focus on law firm-client relationships. Gontact her at ‘ozen@alm.com. Twitter: @MiriamRozen. More from this author > Dig Deeper Global Law Firms Law Firm Management Law Firm Partners Trending Stories NY Lawmakers Ask Congress to Pass HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022812