Mark Manley, the Managing Director at Chester’s Manleys Solicitors, stood before Mrs Justice Steyn—the judge known for the Wagatha Christie trial in Rooney v Vardy—representing Emmy Tayler at the High Court in London.
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, a UK entity, faced a lawsuit from Ms. Tayler following the release of “The Perversion of Justice” by Julie K Brown. The narrative, centered on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s misconduct, erroneously implicated Ms. Tayler in supporting Epstein’s crimes. More critically, it positioned Ms. Tayler at the deceased offender’s residence during a period when she was verifiably distant by thousands of miles and had ceased her role as Maxwell’s junior assistant. Distressed by the baseless claim, especially given her proactive cooperation with the FBI and other probes to aid Epstein and Maxwell’s victims, Ms. Tayler contended that her misrepresentation in the publication was intentional—a claim HarperCollins refuted. However, in a 2022 “meaning hearing,” Mr Justice Pepperall ruled the content defamatory towards Ms. Tayler, posing a significant risk of harm.
Manleys pursued prompt redress for Ms. Tayler, requesting HarperCollins to withdraw unsold copies and halt sales across platforms. The firm argued the publisher’s containment efforts were insufficient.
In a notable appearance, Mark Manley represented Ms. Tayler in 2023 at the Southern District of New York during an appeal hearing. Advocating for Ms. Tayler, he also engaged attorneys in Miami and New York for legal challenges against “The Perversion of Justice” in the US, alongside the UK libel case.
This week, the High Court heard HarperCollins extend an “unconditional” apology to Ms. Tayler, acknowledging the publication’s inaccuracies, and confirmed the settlement for damages and legal expenses. Mark Manley expressed his client’s satisfaction in receiving full vindication and HarperCollins’s apology, 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’.”
Following this triumph, Manleys disclosed its representation of Nazrin Choudhury, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter based in Los Angeles.
