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Originally appeared on E! Online<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Justin Baldoni<\/a> is adding a big name to his legal team<\/a>.<\/p>\n The “It Ends With Us” director has enlisted criminal defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro to represent him in his ongoing dispute with Blake Lively<\/a> over the 2024 film, according to court records obtained by People<\/a> Sept. 18.<\/p>\n Shapiro \u2014 who was part of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs<\/a>\u2019 defense team in his sex trafficking trial earlier this year and served as one of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg\u2019s first clerks on the Supreme Court \u2014 formally declared her role on Baldoni\u2019s team in a notice of appearance filed last week, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n E! News has reached out to Shapiro as well as Baldoni\u2019s rep for comment but has not heard back.<\/p>\n While the Jane the Virgin alum\u2019s $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds<\/a> \u2014 in which he accused the couple of defamation\u2014was dismissed by a New York court<\/a> in June, the legal matter seems to be far from over.<\/p>\n READ<\/b> Taylor Swift Will Only Be Deposed in Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Case If “Forced,” Her Lawyer Says<\/a><\/p>\n In court documents obtained by NBC News earlier this month, the actress\u2019 lawyers argued that Baldoni should cover her legal fees<\/a> as the \u201cprevailing defendant\u201d in the case. They also stated that she is \u201centitled to compensation for all harm caused to her\u201d by Baldoni and his team, including his Wayfarer Studios company and his lawyer Bryan Freedman.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Wayfarer Parties \u2014 with and through their lead attorney, Mr. Freedman \u2014 brought and maintained claims that were not based on factual or legal merit,” Lively’s attorneys wrote in the filing, \u201cbut instead a deliberate plan to discredit Ms. Lively and to harm her and her husband by suing them.\u201d<\/p>\n The Gossip Girl alum\u2019s team also asked that the motion be approved \u201cprior to, and separate from\u201d her upcoming trial against Baldoni, stemming from the sexual harassment lawsuit<\/a> she filed against him in December. That matter is slated to go before a jury in March 2026, with him denying all allegations.<\/p>\n (E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)<\/p>\n