The lawsuit was a rare public movement by Ms. Maxwell, who has kept a low profile since Mr. Epstein’s death last August in federal custody. She remains a central figure in the investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are looking into associates of Mr. Epstein. Investigators are trying to determine who may have assisted him in recruiting young girls and women to be sexually abused and who may have moved money to further his efforts.

Ms. Maxwell, whose father was the British media mogul Robert Maxwell, has hired a team of lawyers from New York, Colorado and California to monitor the criminal investigation and defend her in lawsuits filed by Mr. Epstein’s accusers.

In her complaint, Ms. Maxwell, 58, alludes to the once-intimate relationship she had with Mr. Epstein, describing herself as a longtime employee who formed “a legal and special relationship” with him. But the complaint said Ms. Maxwell “had no involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s alleged misconduct.”

The suit says she “has incurred significant legal fees, personal security costs and other expenses” because of her work for a number of Mr. Epstein’s businesses from 1999 to 2006. Among those tasks, the lawsuit said, was managing Mr. Epstein's homes in the Virgin Islands, New York, Paris, Florida and New Mexico. The suit says she also worked for his C.O.U.Q. Foundation.