Lawyer: Judith Regan Suit Against HarperCollins, News Corp., and Friedman "Was to Be Filed Today"

Judith Regan, the book publisher who was fired from HarperCollins last December amid controversy over her acquisition of O.J. Simpson's If I Did It, was scheduled to file a libel and breach of contract lawsuit today against HarperCollins, its CEO Jane Friedman, and its parent company News Corporation, according to Ms. Regan's lawyer Bertram Fields.

Mr. Fields, who is based in Los Angeles, said he is not representing Ms. Regan in the suit. He did work on the case "in the beginning," but has since handed the reins over to Brian Kerr of New York-based firm Dreier LLP. (Gawker posted an anonymous letter earlier this afternoon incorrectly stating that the firm Milberg Weiss is handling the case.)

Mr. Fields said Ms. Regan's suit "was to be filed today" but could not confirm that it actually was.

News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher said News Corp. was not aware of the suit.

“We don’t have it,” Mr. Butcher said. “We haven’t seen any suit.”

A spokeswoman for Dreier LLP also could not confirm that the suit had been filed, and Mr. Kerr could not be reached for comment.

According to Mr. Fields, the suit alleges that HarperCollins, News Corp, and Ms. Friedman did damage to Ms. Regan's reputation by accusing her of making anti-Semitic remarks to a company lawyer and that they fired her on false pretenses.

A call to HarperCollins was not immediately returned.