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What lawyers and law firms handled Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense and the prosecutors who tried her?
Executive summary
Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial team in 2021 included high‑profile private defense lawyers and white‑shoe firms, while prosecutors were led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and named trial prosecutors such as Maurene Comey; Maxwell is serving a 20‑year sentence [1] [2]. Reporting since 2024–2025 shows ongoing post‑conviction work by defense counsel — including appeals and a Supreme Court petition led in part by Florida lawyer David Oscar Markus — and continuing involvement by SDNY prosecutors in related matters [3] [4]" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4] [5].
1. Who defended Maxwell at trial: high‑priced teams and firms
Maxwell assembled a multi‑lawyer defense described in contemporaneous coverage as a “formidable and costly” team: prominent individual trial lawyers such as Bobbi Sternheim and attorneys from firms including Cohen & Gresser (Christian Everdell and Mark Cohen) were visible in pretrial and trial work, joined by Colorado lawyers Jeffrey Pagliuca and Laura Menninger [6]. Courthouse filings and later billing disputes show Maxwell had millions set aside for her legal effort and that at least one firm, Haddon, Morgan & Foreman, later sued for unpaid bills totaling roughly $878,302, underlining the scale and turnover of her defense representation [7] [6].
2. Other defense figures post‑trial: appellate specialists and new counsel
After conviction, Maxwell’s post‑trial and appellate work has included David Oscar Markus, a Florida criminal defense lawyer who has been prominent in her Supreme Court briefing and appeals — arguing issues about whether a 2007 Epstein non‑prosecution deal should have shielded Maxwell from the SDNY charges [3] [4]" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4]. Reporting shows Maxwell’s team raised settled arguments about the reach of non‑prosecution agreements and continued to press procedural and constitutional challenges in higher courts s12" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4]" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4] [3].
3. Who prosecuted Maxwell: SDNY leadership and lead trial attorneys
The prosecution was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; DOJ materials and press releases emphasize SDNY leadership in the case and note that U.S. Attorney Damian Williams publicly commented at sentencing [1]. Individual prosecutors who played central roles included Maurene Comey, identified in multiple outlets as one of the lead prosecutors at trial — she later moved on to other high‑profile prosecutions, but remains publicly linked to the Maxwell prosecution [6] [2].
4. Prosecutors handling related post‑trial litigation and appeals
Beyond trial counsel, appellate litigation and the Justice Department’s responses to Maxwell’s petitions involved DOJ attorneys arguing before appeals courts and the Supreme Court; reporting in 2025 notes the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court not to overturn Maxwell’s conviction and litigated access to records tied to Epstein’s files [3] [4]" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4]. The department also sought to interview Maxwell in 2025, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche meeting or expecting to meet with her — an unusual post‑conviction interaction that involved coordination with Maxwell’s lawyers [5] [8].
5. Points of contest and competing narratives about counsel and privilege
Maxwell’s lawyers have pushed arguments that the government was bound by prior agreements with Epstein and that aspects of her prosecution raise unsettled legal questions — a line of argument supported by some legal groups urging Supreme Court review [4]" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4] [3]. Conversely, SDNY prosecutors have defended the prosecution’s legality and the conviction in filings and public statements, and the Justice Department has actively opposed efforts to vacate the verdict [3] [1]. Available sources do not mention every individual member of Maxwell’s full historical defense roster or every prosecutor on the trial team; where outlets name lawyers they tend to highlight the lead figures cited above [6] [2].
6. Context: why the roster matters politically and legally
The composition of Maxwell’s counsel and the prosecutors who tried her has fed wider debates: reporting links changes in custody or post‑conviction access to discussions about privilege, commutation efforts, and alleged preferential treatment in prison, with lawyers such as Leah Saffian and David Oscar Markus speaking publicly in 2025 about prison email leaks and commutation materials [9] [10] [11]. Meanwhile, SDNY’s public statements at sentencing framed the conviction as accountability for “heinous crimes,” signaling the office’s institutional interest in defending the prosecution’s outcomes [1].
Limitations: this summary is limited to names and roles explicitly identified in the provided reporting; available sources do not mention every lawyer or firm who ever consulted or appeared in filings for Maxwell, nor do they list every prosecutor on each stage of the case (not found in current reporting).