Sigrid McCawley: UF Law Alumna Champions Survivors in the Courtroom

Sigrid McCawley (JD 97, BA 94) found her voice at the University of Florida as an undergraduate – whether deejaying songs by The Rolling Stones on Rock 104 or honing her presentation skills at a campus television station. Years later, she would use that voice in a very different arena: the courtroom, where she has advocated for victims of sex trafficking, employees being denied pay, and others seeking justice through the legal system.

Before any of that could happen, she first had to realize she was destined for a legal career.

“I bounced around, thinking I might want to be a TV broadcaster … it was actually a history professor who asked if I had considered law school,” says McCawley, now a Managing Partner of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. “That opened my eyes to that opportunity and was certainly life-changing for me.”

She credits UF Law Emeritus Professor Dennis Calfee with helping to illuminate what a law school path would truly mean, and Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Lear with recognizing her growth as a law student and encouraging her to apply for a clerkship. That guidance ultimately led to a federal clerkship with Judge Jose A. Gonzalez, Jr. (JD 57), of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

“Without [Professor Lear] stopping me and telling me to try for this, my career trajectory could have been very different…” says McCawley, who participated in UF Trial Team and the International Law Journal as a law student. “Working with Judge Gonzalez, who I think is one of the best judges that has ever sat on the bench and is a former Gator, you learned how to write your briefs and how not to. When practicing commercial litigation, there isn’t a better way to start. His counsel to me and mentoring to me made such a difference. I witnessed great trial lawyers in action. I would not be the lawyer I am today without getting the chance to work with Judge Gonzalez behind the bench.”

McCawley is known as a high-profile commercial litigator, but the global legal reputation she has built was forged through her tireless, front-line advocacy for hundreds of women, including the late Virginia Giuffre, who survived Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal sex trafficking enterprise.

“The work I have had the privilege of doing with these Epstein and Maxwell survivors has changed me in profound ways and has made me a better person and a better lawyer,” McCawley says.

Her advocacy in the fight against sex trafficking has helped push the boundaries of the law, including through the use of novel beneficiary liability claims to hold financial institutions that enabled Epstein’s operation accountable. As part of several class action

lawsuits brought on behalf of survivors, McCawley and her team have helped recover nearly half a billion dollars.

“It focused on a bit of an expansion of the sex trafficking statute,” she says. “I have to say, it is an honor to help people brave enough to come forward. It is incredibly difficult to do what these survivors have done.”

McCawley was exposed to pressure early in her career as part of a $100 million settlement in a securities case involving Halliburton Co., a case that was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on multiple occasions. Working alongside partner David Boies, who argued the case, proved to be strong preparation for her future work.

“I did a lot of discovery-related work in this situation, finding information to help piece things together, along with research and writing on the briefing,” she says. “It was a very important experience.”

McCawley’s accolades are extensive. She is frequently featured by leading global print and broadcast journalists in connection with her work and has appeared in multiple Netflix documentaries. The American Lawyer named McCawley Litigator of the Year in 2020, Forbes has recognized her for several years running as one of America’s top women lawyers, and she joined the ranks of Inc. magazine’s “10 Most Empowering Women Leaders” list in 2023.

The former communications major has also drawn on her media background throughout her legal career, regularly appearing on television to discuss high-profile cases, including interviews on 60 Minutes and CNN. Yet while many know her from those public appearances, some of the cases closest to her heart are far less visible, including efforts to recover unpaid wages for working people who were denied money they had earned.

“I remember that I was maybe a sixth-year lawyer and I received a note from one of the individuals who had been helped, and he said with this money he’d be able to put his son through college,” she says. “It was such a moment for me as a young person to feel the impact of that work on somebody’s life … It is difficult to go up against an employer when it comes to a return of funds.”

As McCawley reflects on the guidance that led her to law school and helped shape her career, she strongly emphasizes the value of pro bono work for young attorneys – not only for the impact it has on others, but also for the experience and perspective it provides for lawyers as they head into their careers.

“It does so much for you, along with them…” she says. “Helping somebody who wouldn’t otherwise be able to get that same quality of legal counsel will make the dark days so much better. You can have burnout or moments where some clients are being less than kind … but for me the balance of some form of volunteer work thrills me and lifted me. It can keep you centered. We can all admit that the practice of law can be difficult. We need to remember that helping others can make the tougher times easier.”