Did Alan Dershowitz and Virginia Giuffre reach a settlement in their 2019 defamation lawsuit?

1. What happened — a settlement and a dismissal

Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz in 2019; in November 2022 the parties filed papers saying they had agreed to resolve the case and asked the federal judge to dismiss the litigation, with multiple outlets reporting the dismissal was “with prejudice” and that no money or fees would change hands ^{[1] [2] [3]}. News organizations including Reuters, CNN and Courthouse News published accounts of the joint filing and the dismissal ^{[1] [6] [2]}.

2. How the settlement is described — non‑monetary and confidential details

Press accounts characterize the deal as non‑monetary and report that the parties said the resolution did not include payments or awards of fees ^{[3] [2]}. Court documents and prior filings indicate confidentiality and protective orders have been a feature of related portions of this litigation, and some settlement details have been treated as confidential in earlier episodes of the broader Epstein‑related litigation ^{[7] [8]}.

3. What each side has said publicly

Dershowitz has said the withdrawal vindicated him, and contemporaneous reports quote him as pleased the claims were dropped; Giuffre issued a statement saying she “may have made a mistake” about accusing Dershowitz and noting the traumatic context in which earlier allegations were made ^{[6] [9]}. Some reporting notes Dershowitz framed the resolution as exoneration, while Giuffre’s statement is more measured, saying she had long believed the trafficking occurred but acknowledging possible error ^{[10] [2]}.

4. Relationship to other related lawsuits (Boies and a “global” resolution)

The Dershowitz–Giuffre settlement was reported as part of a broader resolution that also involved litigation between Dershowitz and David Boies (Boies had represented Giuffre and brought or was involved in related suits), with some outlets calling the result a “global settlement” resolving multiple pending claims among the three parties ^{[4] [5]}. Reporting indicates the three parties agreed to put an end to those overlapping defamation actions ^[4].

5. Court language and procedural outcome

Court notices filed by the parties stated the 2019 defamation suit would be dismissed “with prejudice,” which legally prevents Giuffre from refiling the same claim, and the dismissal papers included language that no fees or costs would be awarded — language summarized in multiple reports ^{[2] [3] [1]}.

6. Limits of available reporting and what remains undisclosed

Available sources do not publish the full settlement text or any detailed side agreements, and earlier filings and protective orders around related documents suggest some materials were kept confidential ^{[7] [8]}. Several outlets explicitly state no payments were made, while court protective orders and prior sealed materials mean not all underlying evidence or negotiation terms are public ^{[2] [8]}.

7. Competing interpretations and unresolved implications

Some observers and Dershowitz himself present the dismissal as vindication; others — including reporters and legal commentators — note that a dismissal without payment does not itself adjudicate factual truth and that Giuffre’s statement that she “may have made a mistake” is not the same as a court finding ^{[6] [10] [3]}. The parties’ joint filing ends the litigation between them, but available reporting does not say the court reached any merits decision resolving the factual dispute ^{[1] [2]}.

8. Bottom line for readers

Yes — Giuffre and Dershowitz reached a resolution in November 2022 that resulted in Giuffre dropping her 2019 defamation suit; the dismissal was filed with prejudice and widely reported as non‑monetary, but public sources do not disclose any detailed settlement terms and the court did not issue a merits ruling resolving the underlying factual claims ^{[1] [2] [3]}.