Epstein Data Wiki

Alan Dershowitz

Properties2
tagsperson, lawyer, defense-counsel, harvard, 2007-npa, palm-beach
aliasesAlan M. Dershowitz, Alan Morton Dershowitz, Prof. Dershowitz, Dersh

18 min read

Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz in 2009. Sage Ross via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
BornSeptember 1, 19381
PositionFelix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School (1993–2013); professor emeritus1
Role in the Epstein matterMember of Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal defense team, 2006–200823
LitigationEdwards and Cassell v. Dershowitz, CACE 15-000072 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Broward Cnty.); Giuffre v. Dershowitz, 1:19-cv-03377 (S.D.N.Y.)45

Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor who taught at Harvard Law School from 1964 until his retirement in 2013, latterly as Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, and whose earlier clients included Claus von Bülow, O. J. Simpson and Mike Tyson.1 He acted for Jeffrey Epstein in the Palm Beach and federal investigations of 2005–2008: the Palm Beach Police Department’s incident report records that a Florida grand jury session sought in February 2006 was postponed after meetings with the State Attorney’s Office and Dershowitz, and the United States has formally admitted that he was among the defense lawyers who met the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and discussed the terms of the non-prosecution agreement Epstein signed on September 24, 2007.632 Wire-transfer memoranda drawn on Epstein’s JPMorgan Chase accounts direct payments to Dershowitz personally and to his firm between February 2008 and September 2010, and Deutsche Bank exhibits prepared for federal prosecutors in 2019 record payments from Epstein accounts to a law firm that represented him and, in 2016, to a company bearing his name.7891011 Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleged from December 2014 that Epstein had directed her to have sex with Dershowitz while she was a minor; Dershowitz told the court in January 2015 that the allegation was “categorically false,” the factual details were struck from the federal record that April, and in November 2022 the parties stipulated to the dismissal of her defamation suit against him, with prejudice and without costs.5121314

Epstein’s defense, 2005–2008

The Palm Beach investigation

The Palm Beach Police Department’s incident report in case 1-05-000368 records, in a narrative entered on April 10, 2006, that a grand jury session had been requested in February 2006 at which the girls who had been interviewed would have been called to testify in order to seek an indictment against Epstein.6 The report states: “Due to subsequent meetings with the State Attorney’s Office and Defense Attorney Alan Dershowitz the Grand Jury was postponed until a later time.”6 It records that Dershowitz had provided a package of material about the complainants drawn from their social-media pages, and that the State Attorney’s Office wanted time to review it.6

An earlier narrative in the same report records that a package hand-delivered to the police station by an attorney contained a letter from Dershowitz together with two social-media profiles, and that it followed a meeting at which Dershowitz had offered to assist the investigation by identifying witnesses among Epstein’s household staff.15 The detective recorded that the package was forwarded to two assistant state attorneys.15 On January 3, 2006 an assistant state attorney told the detective that she had reached Dershowitz and had asked that those employees be made available that week.16

The non-prosecution agreement

Responding in January 2016 to requests for admission in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act litigation, the United States admitted that a letter of July 6, 2007 to four members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida was sent by Gerald Lefcourt and Alan Dershowitz, that Dershowitz was among the defense lawyers representing Epstein who met that office on or about June 26, 2007, that on November 21, 2007 a representative of the office met defense-team representatives including Dershowitz and discussed provisions of the non-prosecution agreement with them, and that on or before July 3, 2008 the office had received communications reflecting that Dershowitz was familiar with the agreement.3

Writing to Kenneth W. Starr on November 30, 2007, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta set out the negotiating history and stated: “Prior to signing the Non-Prosecution Agreement, Mr. Epstein’s defense team included yourself, Ms. Sanchez, and Messrs. Dershowitz, Lefcourt, Lefkowitz, Lewis, Black, and Goldberger.”2 A companion letter from the same office, responding to the same letter from Starr, named “Professor Dershowitz” among the team members who “had the opportunity to review and raise objections to the terms of the Agreement.”17 The agreement was signed on September 24, 2007; Epstein pleaded guilty in the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County on June 30, 2008 to felony solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution.218

Payments from Epstein accounts

Wire-transfer memoranda on Jeffrey Epstein’s letterhead, faxed to JPMorgan Chase and produced to the Southern District of New York under the stamp “Confidential Treatment Requested by JPMorgan Chase,” direct the payments below to Dershowitz personally or to his firm.1920 The earliest two are over Epstein’s own name; the rest are over the name of his accountant Harry Beller.71921 Six of the seven carry the instruction “Please call Rich Kahn with the Fed Reference number,” a reference to Richard Kahn; the December 2, 2008 memorandum to Dershowitz, Eiger & Adelson does not.71921820229

Memorandum dateAmountBeneficiaryReferenceSent by
February 14, 2008$34,702.50Alan M. Dershowitz, Bank of America, Boston—Jeffrey Epstein7
May 5, 2008$48,587.50Alan M. Dershowitz, Bank of America, Boston—Jeffrey Epstein19
June 27, 2008$50,000.00Alan M. Dershowitz, Bank of America, BostonJune 16th invoiceHarry Beller21
December 2, 2008$25,000.00Dershowitz, Eiger & Adelson, P.C., Citibank, N.A., New YorkOctober 7th InvoiceHarry Beller8
October 6, 2009$100,000.00Alan M. Dershowitz, Bank of America, Boston—Harry Beller20
February 19, 2010$33,637.50Alan M. Dershowitz, Bank of America, BostonJan 5th & Feb 17th invoicesHarry Beller22
September 16, 2010$20,987.50Alan M. Dershowitz, Bank of America, BostonAugust 24th invoiceHarry Beller9

Several of the memoranda were produced in more than one copy; the duplicates are identified in the footnotes below.192189

Deutsche Bank’s presentation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York of September 12, 2019 records two further entries concerning Dershowitz.23 Exhibit M, headed “Suspected Payments for Legal Expenses of Co-Conspirators,” lists three payments totaling $37,036 from an account in Epstein’s name to the Miami firm Coffey Burlington, with the note: “Coffey Burlington represented Dershowitz in a lawsuit filed by an Epstein accuser. The payments coincided with Dershowitz’s involvement in the suit. Epstein was not represented by Coffey Burlington.”10 The footnote to that entry identifies the suit as Doe v. United States of America, 9:08-cv-80736 (S.D. Fla.).10 Exhibit N, “Timeline of Payments to (or on Behalf of) Alleged Co-Conspirators (Payments ≥ $10,000),” records a payment of $85,000 dated March 21, 2016 from an account in Epstein’s name to “Alan Dershowitz Consulting LLC” at Bank of America, with the wire detail “c/o CBIZ MHM LLC.”11 The exhibit headings are Deutsche Bank’s own characterizations in a presentation to prosecutors.23 Coffey Burlington entered its appearance as co-counsel of record for Dershowitz, as intervenor in that case, on January 16, 2015.24 The Daily Beast reported on September 26, 2025 that Dershowitz had told Bloomberg he made about $3 million from his work for Epstein, and that a forensic accounting report put Epstein’s payments to him at $4 million, about $1 million of which went to other lawyers and researchers.25

Allegations, denial and litigation

The joinder motion and the 2015 order

On December 30, 2014, Bradley J. Edwards and Paul G. Cassell filed a motion in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act case Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 v. United States, No. 9:08-cv-80736 (S.D. Fla.), seeking to join two further claimants; the motion contained an allegation by the claimant identified as Jane Doe No. 3 that Epstein had directed her to have sex with several men including Dershowitz.413 The New York Times reported on January 5, 2015 that Dershowitz had said two days earlier that he “categorically and unequivocally” denied all of the allegations and would seek the disbarment of the two lawyers who filed the motion.26

On January 5, 2015 Dershowitz moved to intervene for the limited purpose of striking the allegations and asking the court to issue a show-cause order to the lawyers who had made them, telling the court that the allegations were “categorically false” and had “absolutely nothing to do with” the issues in the case.12 On April 6, 2015 Judge Kenneth A. Marra struck them on the court’s own motion under Rule 12(f), holding that “[t]he factual details regarding with whom and where the Jane Does engaged in sexual activities are immaterial and impertinent” to the CVRA claim, and denied Dershowitz’s motion to intervene as moot.13 The order records that the claimant remained “free to reassert these factual details through proper evidentiary proof” if a good-faith basis for their relevance were shown; the court made no finding on whether the allegations were true.13

Edwards and Cassell v. Dershowitz

Edwards and Cassell sued Dershowitz for defamation in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida, case CACE 15-000072, over his public statements that they had fabricated their client’s allegations; Dershowitz counterclaimed for defamation and, in February 2016, sought leave to add further counts and a claim for punitive damages.4 He was deposed over six volumes between October 15, 2015 and January 13, 2016.2728

The parties settled on April 8, 2016 through a court-appointed mediator, Jeffrey E. Streitfeld, and issued a joint statement.29 In it, Edwards and Cassell said they had filed their client’s allegations in good faith and had produced documents detailing their diligence; Dershowitz “completely denies any such misconduct” and had produced travel and other records which he relied on to establish that he could not have been present; and, in the light of the striking order and the records produced, Edwards and Cassell acknowledged “that it was a mistake to have filed sexual misconduct accusations against Dershowitz,” which were withdrawn, while Dershowitz withdrew his accusations that they had acted unethically.29

Giuffre v. Dershowitz

On April 16, 2019 Virginia L. Giuffre sued Dershowitz for defamation in the Southern District of New York, case 1:19-cv-03377, assigned to Judge Loretta A. Preska,30 represented by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.5 The complaint pleads that Epstein trafficked her from the age of 16, that Dershowitz was one of the men to whom Epstein lent her out, and that his public denials defamed her.5 Dershowitz denied the allegation and counterclaimed against Giuffre.31 The statements she sued over included his letter to the editor of Raw Story of December 1, 2018: “I never met Roberts; I never had sex with her; she simply made up the entire story for money.”31

The parties filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal on November 8, 2022, re-filed the next day after the clerk returned it for a signature deficiency; it states that the action is “voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice” and “without costs pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii),” and the docket was terminated on November 10, 2022.14 CBS News reported the same day that Giuffre had issued a statement saying she had long believed she was trafficked to Dershowitz, that she had been very young at the time and in a stressful and traumatic environment, that he had consistently denied the allegations from the beginning, and that “I now recognize I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz.”32 CBS News reported that Dershowitz responded: “As I have said from the beginning, I never had sex with Ms. Giuffre. I have nevertheless come to believe that at the time she accused me she believed what she said,” and that a joint statement said the resolution did not involve the payment of money or anything else.32

Federal and bank records

A Federal Bureau of Investigation briefing deck on the Epstein investigations contains a slide headed “Prominent Names” on which the entry under Dershowitz’s name records a single allegation from a complainant whose name is redacted, with the deck’s notation “(not a minor).”33 Dershowitz has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct in connection with Epstein.1232

An undated submission by Dershowitz to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, held in Epstein’s files, gathers documents supporting a presentation he had made to that office: it opens with a road map of what he calls the basic facts of the case against him and appends memoranda he dictated of 2015 meetings and telephone conversations, and transcripts of calls he recorded with the participants’ consent, all directed to showing that the allegations against him were mistaken.34

On January 5, 2015 a manager in Deutsche Bank’s credit risk management group emailed colleagues about recent press coverage of Epstein, asking them to “ensure an updated KYC is completed and that there are no new issues”; the email reproduced the headline “Britain’s Prince Andrew and U.S. lawyer Alan Dershowitz deny sex-scandal claim” and a link to the Wall Street Journal article “Financier Epstein’s Sex Case Leads to New Claims.”35

Coverage

  • Emma G. Fitzsimmons, The New York Times / International New York Times, January 2015, on the joinder motion and Dershowitz’s denial.
  • Andrew Strickler, Law360, June 18, 2019, on the motion to disqualify Giuffre’s counsel in Giuffre v. Dershowitz, preserved at EFTA00026703.
  • CBS News, November 8, 2022, on the dismissal of Giuffre v. Dershowitz.
  • The Daily Beast, September 26, 2025, on Dershowitz’s account to Bloomberg of what Epstein paid him.

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia, “Alan Dershowitz.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Dershowitz ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, to Kenneth W. Starr, November 30, 2007, p.5 of 6. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01659896 p.5. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. United States’ Response to Petitioners’ Second Request for Admissions to the Government, Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 v. United States, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), DE 354-2, filed January 14, 2016, responses 6, 15, 16 and 17. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01626136 pp.4, 8. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff Alan M. Dershowitz’s Motion for Leave to Amend Counterclaim, Edwards and Cassell v. Dershowitz, No. CACE 15-000072 (Fla. Cir. Ct., 17th Jud. Cir., Broward Cnty.), filed February 1, 2016. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00613391 pp.1, 9. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Complaint, Giuffre v. Dershowitz, No. 1:19-cv-03377 (S.D.N.Y.), filed April 16, 2019. https://epstein-data.com/HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017935 p.1, read at the image on 2026-09-14. The identifier’s corpus row is not one page but a 174,119-character merge of the whole 28-page filing, so a pin taken from the row binds nothing — but the sheet is one sheet, and an earlier version of this footnote ran the two together and said the identifier “could not be rendered and checked at the image level”. It reads. It is the complaint’s caption page, stamped Case 1:19-cv-03377 Document 1 Filed 04/16/19 Page 1 of 28, captioned VIRGINIA L. GIUFFRE, Plaintiff, v. ALAN DERSHOWITZ, Defendant, headed COMPLAINT over “Boies Schiller Flexner LLP”, with the case number line left blank. What is true of the route is that the site’s PDF store returns HTTP 403 for HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_* identifiers. Nothing on this page quotes a specific page of the complaint beyond that caption; the general description above is confirmed against the complaint’s own text. A page-specific citation to the body of this filing should use the cleanly split duplicates at https://epstein-data.com/HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017936 through https://epstein-data.com/HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017962 (pages 2–28), which were not opened by this pass. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Palm Beach Police Department, Incident Report, case 1-05-000368, narrative #41, reported and entered April 10, 2006 (report page 81). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.34. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Wire memorandum, February 14, 2008, from Jeffrey Epstein to JPMorgan (JPM-SDNY-00058964). Amount and date read from the page image; the text layer truncates the year to “February 14, 200”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01579753 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Wire memorandum, December 2, 2008, from Harry Beller to JPMorgan (JPM-SDNY-00058441). Amount, date and the reference “October 7th Invoice” read from the page image; this is the one memorandum of the seven that carries no “Please call Rich Kahn” line. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01579280 ; second copy at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01588049 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. Wire memorandum, September 16, 2010, from Harry Beller to JPMorgan, drawn on an account at the same bank (JPM-SDNY-00060974). Amount and date read from the page image; the text layer reads the date as “September 6, 201” because the signature crosses the digit. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01581575 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Deutsche Bank presentation to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, September 12, 2019, Exhibit M, “Suspected Payments for Legal Expenses of Co-Conspirators,” report page 27. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01681865 p.27. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Same presentation, Exhibit N, “Timeline of Payments to (or on Behalf of) Alleged Co-Conspirators (Payments ≥ $10,000),” report page 31. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01681865 p.30. ↩ ↩2

  12. Motion for Limited Intervention by Alan M. Dershowitz, Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 v. United States, No. 08-80736-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON (S.D. Fla.), DE 282, entered on the docket January 5, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01200036 pp.1, 3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. Order, Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 v. United States, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), DE 324, entered April 7, 2015, signed April 6, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00097406 pp.5–7, 11. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal, Giuffre v. Dershowitz, No. 1:19-cv-03377-LAP (S.D.N.Y.), Doc. 506, filed November 9, 2022; first filed as Doc. 505 on November 8, 2022 and returned by the clerk for a signature deficiency. Docket terminated November 10, 2022. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14945220/giuffre-v-dershowitz/ ↩ ↩2

  15. Same report, report page 67. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.20. ↩ ↩2

  16. Same report, report page 68. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688596 p.21. ↩

  17. Companion letter from the United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, to Kenneth W. Starr, responding to the same letter of November 28, 2007; the date line is redacted. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01659888 p.5. ↩

  18. U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida, to Jack A. Goldberger, “Final Notification of Identified Victims,” July 10, 2008. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01649366 ↩

  19. Wire memorandum, May 5, 2008, from Jeffrey Epstein to JPMorgan (JPM-SDNY-00058703). Amount and date read from the page image, which gives the transmission stamp as 5/5/2008 12:03:55 PM; the text layer renders the amount as “548,587.50” and the stamp as “5151200812:03:55”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01579535 ; second copy, without a Bates number, at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01588529 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  20. Wire memorandum, October 6, 2009, from Harry Beller to JPMorgan (JPM-SDNY-00058071). Amount and date read from the page image, which gives the transmission stamp as “ID: [transmitting machine’s identifier, not reproduced] DATE: 10/06/2009 01:01:00 PM”; the text layer renders that line as “DATE: 1C,(1612009”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01578921 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. Wire memorandum, June 27, 2008, from Harry Beller to JPMorgan (JPM-SDNY-00058629). Amount and date read from the page image; the text layer truncates the year to “June 27, 200” and renders the amount as “S50,000.00”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01579464 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  22. Wire memorandum, February 19, 2010, from Harry Beller to JPMorgan. Amount and date read from the page image; the text layer renders the amount as “533,637.50”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01587279 ↩ ↩2

  23. Same presentation, cover and table of exhibits. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01681865 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  24. Notice of Appearance of Gabriel Groisman, Coffey Burlington, P.L., as co-counsel of record for Alan M. Dershowitz, Intervenor, same case, DE 287, entered on the docket January 16, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02755187 ↩

  25. Janna Brancolini, “Trump Lawyer Alan Dershowitz Admits How Many Millions He Earned Representing Epstein,” The Daily Beast, September 26, 2025, reporting statements Dershowitz made to Bloomberg. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-lawyer-alan-dershowitz-admits-how-many-millions-he-earned-representing-epstein/ ↩

  26. Emma G. Fitzsimmons, “British royal is named in suit alleging unlawful sex,” International New York Times, January 5, 2015, preserved at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01368191 ↩

  27. Videotape Deposition of Alan M. Dershowitz, Volume 1, October 15, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00601154 ↩

  28. Videotape Continued Deposition of Alan M. Dershowitz, Volume 6, January 13, 2016. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01138160 ↩

  29. “Lawyers Acknowledge Mistake In Filing Sexual Misconduct Charges Against Professor Dershowitz,” press release of April 8, 2016 containing the mediator’s announcement and the Joint Statement of Brad Edwards, Paul Cassell and Alan Dershowitz. Quotations checked against the page images; “Dershowitz completely denies any such misconduct” falls wholly on p.1, and the sentence about the records he produced runs across the break to p.2. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01186699 pp.1–2. ↩ ↩2

  30. Docket, Giuffre v. Dershowitz, No. 1:19-cv-03377 (S.D.N.Y.), CourtListener, “Assigned To: Loretta A. Preska.” The complaint itself does not name the judge; its cover page’s case-number field is blank and “Preska” does not appear in it. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14945220/giuffre-v-dershowitz/ ↩

  31. Alan Dershowitz, letter to the editor, Raw Story, December 1, 2018, quoted and cited at n.2 of the Amended Complaint in Giuffre v. Dershowitz, No. 1:19-cv-03377-LAP (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit A to Doc. 101-1, filed December 20, 2019. Quotation checked against the page image of p.7. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00092647 pp.2, 7. ↩ ↩2

  32. “Jeffrey Epstein accuser drops lawsuit against Alan Dershowitz: ‘I may have made a mistake’,” CBS News, November 8, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-virginia-giuffre-drops-lawsuit-against-alan-dershowitz/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  33. Federal Bureau of Investigation briefing deck, “Jeffrey Epstein Investigations,” slide 18, “Prominent Names.” A footnote on the slide records that numerous anonymous tips to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center carried allegations against prominent individuals. Complainants’ names are redacted on the slide in both the page image and the text layer. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01656198 p.18. ↩

  34. Alan Dershowitz, submission of documents supporting his presentation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, undated, in Epstein’s files. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01682081 pp.1–2, 40–41. ↩

  35. Deutsche Bank internal email chain, “Updated KYC - Recent Press,” January 5, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01421436 ↩

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