Regan Filing $100M Suit Against HarperCollins

Judith Regan wants her day in court.

I just spoke with celebrity litigator Bert Fields, who told me that the former publishing powerhouse will file suit today against HarperCollins, CEO Jane Friedman, and parent News Corp. Regan is seeking damages of $100 million for injuries including libel and breach of contract.

Attorney Brian Kerr, of New York law firm Dreier LLP, is handling the suit. (Gawker reported earlier, but incorrectly, that Milberg Weiss was representing Regan.) Fields says Regan is still his client, however: "It's a New York lawsuit, so I would always work with a New York firm. In this instance, it's being handled on a contingent basis so that Judith doesn't have to worry about being outspent by News Corp."

The basis of her suit, says Fields, are the reports that Regan used an ethnic slur during a telephone call while still employed by HarperCollins. "The dispute is the same dispute that existed some months ago: This bogus claim that Judith used an anti-Semitic remark, which she did not. We have a witness who heard the conversation who said she didn't."

A HarperCollins spokeswoman said the company had yet to be served with papers, and thus had no comment. And I left messages for Kerr but haven't heard back yet.

Here's a New York Times story from January, when Regan first threatened to sue.