Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's trial gets official date

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's trial has been set for next year.

Judge Lewis J. Liman outlined in an order filed Monday that the trial for both cases in Lively v. Wayfarer Studios will begin on March 9, 2026.

In the meantime, Lively and Baldoni have a pretrial hearing on February 3, which was previously slated to be held on February 12.

The trial will see Lively lock horns with Baldoni in her sexual harassment lawsuit against him, including claims of a smear campaign launched with the aid of Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis publicist Melissa Nathan. It Ends With Us producer Jamey Heath has also been named in the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Baldoni will be taking on Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist Leslie Sloane in his defamation and extortion lawsuit.

Legal expert Gregory Doll, a lawyer and partner at Doll Amir & Eley in Los Angeles who is not representing either party, has hinted at the possibility of both parties agreeing to a pretrial settlement.

“Ninety-two percent of all civil cases settle, so odds are overwhelmingly that the case will settle,” Doll told People Magazine, noting that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s 2022 defamation trial was the “rare exception."

However, he shunned the chances of the Lively vs. Baldoni lawsuit getting televised.

“By filing in federal court, they foreclosed the possibility that there will be any cameras in the proceedings,” Doll said, noting that the legal battle will be unfolding in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

More information will likely come out during the February 3 pretrial hearing, set by Lewis Liman—the judge overseeing the case.

The pretrial conference meeting will decipher how many witnesses each side expects to depose as well as the timeline and length of the potential trial.