Ghislaine Maxwell is a lot of things: an Oxford University graduate, a helicopter pilot, and a student of numerous languages. What she isn't is Jeffrey Epstein, her lawyer told a jury on Monday.

"She is filling that hole and filling an empty chair," attorney Bobbi Sternheim said. "She is a brand name, she is a lightning rod, she is a convenient stand-in for the man who cannot be here."

Maxwell's lawyers have long contended that she's being scapegoated for Epstein's crimes, and Sternheim hit that point hard in the opening statement she delivered for the defence in Manhattan federal court.

Prosecutor Lara Pomerantz meanwhile argued that Maxwell and Epstein, her ex-boyfriend, were "partners in crime" and described in graphic detail how the British socialite lured girls as young as 14 into the financier's luxurious world, where they were subject to sexual abuse.

"She preyed on vulnerable young girls, manipulated them and served them up to be sexually abused," Pomerantz said in the opening statement for the prosecution.

The opening arguments marked the first skirmish between prosecutors and defence in front of the 12 jurors and 6 alternates selected earlier on Monday to hear what's expected to be a six-week trial. Maxwell is facing multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking which carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. Epstein, who was also charged with sex-trafficking, took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial.

Four women who say they were abused by Epstein as teenagers between 1994 and 2004 will take the stand against Maxwell. Pomerantz said the witnesses will describe how Maxwell took them shopping and made them feel at ease before encouraging them to give "massages" to Epstein.

"She knew exactly what she was doing. She was dangerous. She was setting young girls up to be molested by a predator," Pomerantz said. The prosecutor said Maxwell was motivated by greed, as Epstein paid her millions of dollars, ostensibly to manage his several luxury properties, including an Upper East Side townhouse, Palm Beach estate, private Caribbean island and New Mexico ranch.

But Sternheim claimed it was the prosecution witnesses who were motivated by "a desire for a big jackpot of money." She said the women's memories of events that took place, in some cases, nearly three decades ago were likely "contaminated" by press accounts and also the civil claims they had advanced against Epstein's estate.

"Each accuser" who will testify here "received millions of dollars" from the estate's victim compensation fund, Sternheim said. She accused the women of tailoring their accounts to get more money from the fund, which she said never properly vetted their claims.

"They have been impacted by lawyers, by media, by things they have read, things they have heard. And by money. Big bucks," Sternheim said.