Blake Lively has hired Sigrid McCauley, a prominent lawyer who has worked with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, ahead of her long-awaited trial against Justin Baldoni.
According to People magazine, her primary role will be to handle communications with the public and media on important matters related to the case.
“It is an honor to work with Blake Lively’s world-class legal team on a case centered around a woman who has been exposed to a hostile work environment and who has been attacked for standing up to protect herself and other female co-workers,” McCauley, managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, said in a statement shared Friday.
Mr. McCauley will join Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, who are currently preparing to face Mr. Baldoni’s lawyers in the Southern District of New York.
Following the news, Gottlieb and Hudson told People, “We are thrilled that Sigrid has joined Blake’s legal team in this important role handling our public communications.”
“We hired Sigrid based on her years of work speaking truth to power, including her courageous representation for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. I have no doubt that her experience will benefit our team.”
Among her most high-profile cases, Ms. McCauley over the years represented victims of Mr. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s abuse, including the late Virginia Giuffre.
She also worked with Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloan after Baldoni countersued her. The case was dismissed in June 2025.
After months of rumors that Baldoni and Lively were feuding on the set of It Ends With Us, the Gossip Girl alum filed a complaint in December 2024, and later filed a lawsuit.
She accused the director of sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and loss of wages.
Shortly after, Baldoni responded with a $400 million countersuit against Sloan, Lively, and her husband Ryan Reynolds. However, the case was dismissed by the end of 2025.
In the latest development, the next hearing scheduled for Jan. 22 will see the judge hear arguments on Mr. Baldoni’s motion for summary judgment, which seeks to dismiss some or all of Mr. Lively’s claims before the case goes to a jury.
Most recently, it was revealed that Lively allegedly referred to her New York City penthouse as “Buckingham Palace.”
“As she said, we used to call it Buckingham Palace because so many famous people passed through there,” the Jane the Virgin alum said during a sworn deposition in Los Angeles last October, according to records obtained by People.
“I believe it was her office in her penthouse apartment, where Ms. Lively requested that she attend all of our meetings.”
They also claim that Lively “set a trap” by refusing to use Kagemusha in a sex scene in It Ends With Us.
The trial, originally scheduled for March, will begin in May.
