Blake Lively hires the lawyer of Jeffrey Epstein victims ahead of Justin Baldoni trial

Blake Lively has recruited a lawyer who previously represented Jeffrey Epstein's victims amid her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

The 38-year-old actress, who is set to go to trial with her former co-star in May, has hired attorney Sigrid McCawley, the managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, according to People. 

The Gossip Girl alum filed a lawsuit in December 2024 where she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni responded with a $400 million lawsuit against the actress as well as filing a $250 million libel claim against the New York Times which reported on Lively's allegations. The case was later dismissed by a judge in June. 

McCawley told People that being added to Lively's case with her 'world-class legal team' is a 'privilege.' 

She further added that the case 'is about a woman who was subjected to a hostile work environment and is being attacked for standing up to protect herself and other female co-workers.' 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Lively and Baldoni's reps for comment, but did not immediately hear back. 

Lively's team already consists of lawyers Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson - while Baldoni hired Alexandra Shapiro who notably represented Sean 'Diddy' Combs. 

Gottlieb and Hudson told People that they are 'thrilled' to add McCawley to their team as the case prepares to head to trial later this year. 

'We recruited Sigrid based on her many years of work speaking truth to power, including her courageous representation of Jeffrey Epstein's victims, and have no doubt her experience will serve the team well.' 

McCawley will mostly deal with communications to the media and the public in regards to Lively's case.

But the attorney is no stranger to the legal drama surrounding Lively and Baldoni which sparked up after the conclusion of the 2024 film It Ends With Us. 

Baldoni had taken on a lead role in the movie and also stepped behind the camera as director while the actress also portrayed a leading character. 

McCawley additionally represented Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane after Baldoni countersued her. 

At the time his suit was thrown out by judge Lewis J Liman last year, a source told the Daily Mail said that Baldoni 'feels this is a huge kick to the guts.'

However, the insider noted that the filmmaker 'still has full trust with his legal team' and 'is looking to figure out how to move forward from this current setback.' 

The trial was initially scheduled for March last year - but has since been pushed back to May.

A hearing is also set for later this month on January 22. 

And Lively's efforts to redact the names of famous associates, such as husband Ryan Reynolds and one-time bestie Taylor Swift, in her legal action are in vain, according to lawyers for Baldoni. 

Earlier this week Baldoni's team stated in a new court filing their formal objection to a motion the actress previously filed looking to conceal the identities of public figures involved in the ongoing litigation. 

'Not one of [Lively's] requests meets the [court's] high standard for sealing at this stage,' the actor's lawyers said in the document on Monday, reviewed by the Daily Mail.

Baldoni said in the court filing that they only reason the actress is hoping to have the records involving the famous people concealed is because it does not help their public images.

Lively filed court documents requesting the redaction of certain names in the documents. She described husband Reynolds as 'an innocent third-party' in regard to production difficulties with the motion picture.

Attorneys for Baldoni pushed back on Lively's characterization of her husband as an uninvolved third-party, according to court filings reviewed by the Daily Mail. 

They said that 'the claim that Reynolds is a non-party whose communications should be sealed is overly-restrictive and absurd.'

Baldoni's legal team pointed to numerous instances in which they said Reynolds lent his cinematic expertise to the production of It Ends With Us.

Reynolds personally rewrote the scene in the Colleen Hoover adaptation, Baldoni's lawyers said, and also was involved in a heated exchange with the director over remarks he made about Lively's weight.

Baldoni's attorney said that Reynolds's clear involvement in the case makes him a prime person to be interviewed as a witness.

His lawyers said that Lively's efforts are part of a larger undertaking to conceal the names of people who she's accused of recruiting 'as advocates on her behalf against the Wayfarer Parties in her attempt to take over the film.'

Baldoni's lawyers past pointed at notable names including Swift, Hugh Jackman, Emily Blunt and America Ferrera as having been mentioned by Lively as her confidantes on personal and professional issues.

Baldoni has also said that Lively dubbed the home office in her New York City abode 'Buckingham Palace' in reference to the stream of A-listers that passed through.

The director made the revelation during a deposition he made on October 6, 2025, obtained by People.

Baldoni said that Lively and her husband used the name of the palace as a code to refer to their NYC residence.

'She used to call it Buckingham Palace, as she said, because so many celebrities walked through there,' Baldoni said.

Baldoni said that Lively preferred to operate out of the office professionally during production of It Ends with Us.

'I think that was her office in her penthouse apartment, which was the place that Ms. Lively requested all of our meetings be,' Baldoni said.

Also earlier this month, he complained that Lively had been setting him 'up for a trap' during production of their movie It Ends With Us, text messages unsealed in the ongoing litigation tied to the film revealed.

In December of 2024, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct and intentional infliction of emotional stress.

In her lawsuit, the actress accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her in multiple ways - including body shaming her - and orchestrating a smear campaign to damage her reputation.

Lively also named a number of Baldoni's collaborators in the suit, including his company Wayfarer Studios, the studio's chief executive and financial backer, and PR personnel.