A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ordered parties to provide good cause why the court shouldn't follow its own precedent and unseal a lower court's summary judgment order and related documents in a lawsuit accusing an associate of the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein of human trafficking.

The case before U.S. Judge Robert Sweet of the Southern District of New York has generated a host of appeals to the Second Circuit, including by the plaintiff, Virginia Giuffre.

Giuffre has publicly accused Epstein of sexually abusing her for years, beginning at the age of 15. Giuffre sued Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015, accusing her of libel. Maxwell had been previously connected to Epstein romantically, and Giuffre alleges she was defamed by Maxwell's public statements disputing her sexual trafficking claims.