JPMorgan’s Epstein deal does not set a limit or minimum on victims’ claims

The proposed $290 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase and Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse victims has no minimum or maximum payout for each individual, leaving that decision to the claims administrator appointed to oversee the process, according to a plan filed in federal court on Thursday.

If approved by a federal judge, the proposed deal with JPMorgan would end a class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court in November against the nation’s largest bank on behalf of women who alleged they had been sexually assaulted by Mr Epstein. women. The decision to leave the amount of each payout to an administrator gives that person significant power over the settlement fund, which covers a period of abuse by Mr. Epstein from 1998 to 2019.

More than 200 women may be eligible for the settlement fund, judging by the number of claims filed with a separate victim restitution fund set up by Mr. Epstein’s estate. The estate created the restitution fund shortly after Mr. Epstein committed suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial in a Manhattan prison on sex trafficking charges.

The proposed settlement with JPMorgan did not bar any woman receiving a payout from the estate restitution fund from receiving additional compensation under the JPMorgan deal, the court said. The bank was Mr. Epstein’s primary financial institution for about 15 years before he finally ended the relationship in 2013.

Suing the big Wall Street firms that did business with Mr. Epstein has proven to be a successful strategy to get additional financial aid for Mr. Epstein’s victims. The litigation strategy has also led to high fees for the lawyers who file the lawsuits.

The same group of lawyers who sued JPMorgan also recently negotiated a $75 million preliminary settlement with Deutsche Bank, which became Mr. Epstein’s chief banker after JPMorgan ousted him. The proposed deal with Deutsche specifically said eligible victims who were abused by Mr Epstein from 2013 to 2019 could be entitled to $75,000 to $5 million in restitution.

The lack of a victim reward series in the JPMorgan deal is the main difference between the two proposed settlements.

In both cases, the victims’ attorneys, led by David Boies and Brad Edwards, have sought legal fees of up to 30 percent of the settlement monies. The attorneys said the fees were justified by the more than two dozen statements made in preparation for the lawsuits and dozens of witness interviews, according to court documents in both cases.

In the proposed settlement, JPMorgan denied that it had in any way supported Mr Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. The bench said on a number of occasions that Mr Epstein’s activities were “heinous” and “in hindsight any association with him was a mistake”.

JPMorgan continued to do business with Mr. Epstein for five years after he pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to a charge of soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl.

The lawyers for the banks and the victims forged the respective settlements with the help of a mediator, court documents show.

Judge Jed Rakoff of the Manhattan Federal District Court, who oversees the lawsuits against both banks, has yet to approve the compensation requests. The judge gave provisional approval last week to the settlement agreement between the victims and Deutsche.

The victims’ attorneys and JPMorgan have asked Judge Rakoff to approve Simone K. Lelchuk as claims administrator for the settlement. Ms. Lelchuk, an attorney with mediation expertise, has already been approved to oversee the process of distributing funds from the Deutsche settlement. She also oversaw the settlement claim review process of victims of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein. The court petitioner said that when considering a victim’s claim, the fund manager should consider the extent of the alleged harm, the duration of the abuse and a victim’s willingness to cooperate with law enforcement.

The deal with JPMorgan also requires the trustee to consider any rewards a victim may receive from the Deutsche Settlement Fund. But it doesn’t preclude a victim from receiving compensation from both banking settlements, if the abuse overlaps during the years that both institutions had Mr. Epstein as clients.

Any money left over at the end of the trial would be donated to a charitable organization agreed upon by the victims’ lawyers and JPMorgan.

The combined settlements with the two banks more than double the approximately $150 million in restitution Mr Epstein’s estate has paid out to more than 125 victims.

JPMorgan’s settlement with Mr Epstein’s victims will not end all lawsuits.

The bank is seeking restitution from James E. Staley, a former JPMorgan executive who had close ties to Mr. Epstein and had lobbied to retain him as a client. JPMorgan is also being sued by the government of the US Virgin Islands, where Mr. Epstein owned a private island home and ran his businesses for nearly two decades. The trial in the Virgin Islands is led by lawyers from Motley Rice, a law firm with a advance agreement with the US territory.