At the High Court in London, Mark Manley of Manleys Solicitors, headquartered in Chester, appeared before Mrs Justice Steyn, the judge from the Wagatha Christie trial in Rooney v Vardy, to represent their client, Emmy Tayler.
The lawsuit was against HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (UK) by Ms. Tayler following the release of “The Perversion of Justice” by Julie K Brown, which focused on the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The publication erroneously linked Ms. Tayler to Epstein’s crimes and falsely claimed she was present at the sex offender’s residence, even though she was actually far away and had long stopped working as Maxwell’s junior assistant. This misrepresentation caused Ms. Tayler great distress, especially since she had earnestly cooperated with the FBI and other investigations to help the victims of Epstein and Maxwell. Ms. Tayler argued that her wrongful inclusion in the book was intentional, a claim denied by HarperCollins. However, Mr Justice Pepperall ruled at a 2022 “meaning hearing” that the book defamed Ms. Tayler and was likely to inflict serious harm on her.
Manleys sought immediate redress for Ms. Tayler, demanding HarperCollins withdraw unsold books and halt all sales. The firm contended that the publisher’s actions to limit the book’s distribution were inadequate.
Mark Manley took a significant step by representing Ms. Tayler in the Southern District of New York at an appeal hearing in late 2023. In addition to the UK libel lawsuit, he also arranged for legal proceedings against “The Perversion of Justice” in the United States by hiring attorneys in Miami and New York.
At this week’s High Court hearing, HarperCollins issued an “unconditional” apology to Ms. Tayler, admitted the publication’s errors, and confirmed it had compensated Ms. Tayler for damages and her legal expenses. Mark Manley shared his client’s gratification at achieving full vindication and receiving an apology from HarperCollins, stating, “This hearing is the culmination of over 2 years of persistence and resilience by Emmy Tayler. Not many people have the courage to take on one of the World’s largest publishers. Emmy was naturally devastated at the false allegations in the book and was determined to set the record straight. I’m delighted we were able to help her do that in this libel case about false allegations in a book somewhat ironically called ‘The Perversion of Justice’.”
This victory comes shortly after Manleys announced it is representing Nazrin Choudhury, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter based in Los Angeles.
