Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Ghislaine Maxwell is being sued by her attorneys' firm for more than $878,000 in unpaid legal fees

Ghislaine Maxwell is being sued by her attorneys' firm for more than $878,000 in unpaid legal fees

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former confidante now serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking, is being sued for more than $878,000 in unpaid legal fees by a law firm representing her, according to court documents.

Two lawyers from the firm, Jeffrey Pagliuca and Laura Menninger, were lead attorneys on Maxwell's defense team during her trial last year that ended in a conviction for her role in facilitating Epstein's abuse of minor girls.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday by the law firm Haddon, Morgan and Foreman in county court in Denver, Colorado, also names her brother Kevin Maxwell and her estranged husband Scott Borgerson as defendants.

According to the suit, Ghislaine Maxwell told her attorneys after she was incarcerated in 2020 that her brother Kevin would coordinate the financial aspects of her defense. The firm has continually threatened to stop representing Maxwell beginning in 2020 after legal fees continued to go unpaid, the lawsuit says.

Ghislaine Maxwell, 60, grew up in the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside and is the daughter of Robert Maxwell -- a Czech-born newspaper tycoon and former British lawmaker who died under mysterious circumstances. The media magnate fell off his luxury yacht -- called "Lady Ghislaine" -- near the Canary Islands in 1991. He was posthumously discovered to have committed massive pension fraud against his employees.

In the days and weeks leading up to the start of Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal trial, her lawyers were threatening to withdraw representation as her brother reassured them repeatedly that he'd get them the money, the lawsuit says. He also told them not to worry Ghislaine with the matter because she "lacked the ability to impact funding," the lawsuit says.

Kevin Maxwell has made "a handful of sporadic payments" over the years, the last one in January for more than $141,000, but the law firm says the account was never paid current and that's a "small fraction" of what's owed for Ghislaine Maxwell's defense.

Kevin Maxwell did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

Borgerson controlled Ghislaine Maxwell's money as the marriage dissolved and has in part been responsible for delaying payments to the firm, the lawsuit says. CNN reached out to Borgerson for comment.

The lawsuit also alleges that before the couple broke up Maxwell and her then-husband attempted to shield her assets in real estate in limited liability companies to protect her assets from creditors like the law firm.

Haddon, Morgan and Foreman has represented Maxwell since 2015, beginning with a lawsuit filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre and other civil matters related to Epstein's abuse.

Maxwell was convicted on five counts, including sex trafficking a minor, last December and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

During her trial, prosecutors argued Maxwell and Epstein conspired to set up a scheme to lure young girls into sexual relationships with Epstein in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. Four women testified that Epstein abused them and that Maxwell facilitated the abuse and sometimes participated in it.

Maxwell's attorneys filed an appeal of the conviction last month. She is serving her sentence in a low-security federal correctional facility in Tallahassee, Florida, according to Bureau of Prisons records.

The Haddon, Morgan and Foreman law firm declined to comment.

It is unclear whether the firm will withdraw representation in Maxwell's ongoing litigation, but no official documents appear to have been filed on the public docket yet.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×