DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00870.png
Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 18-2868, Document 280, 08/09/2019, 2628232, Page51 of 74
Similarly, in Black v. Green Harbour Homeowners’ Ass’n, Inc., 19 A.D.3d 962, 963, 798
N.Y.S.2d 753, 754 (2005), cited by Defendant, the Court held a privilege applied to a letter sent
by a home owner’s association board of directors to the association’s members informing them
of the status of litigation to which the association was a party, and to the association’s letter to
the state attorney general sent to discharge it’s duties to the association. In this case, litigation
was actually pending, the communication was sent by a party to that litigation as part of its
duties, and the communication itself concerned the litigation. Defendant’s press release fits none
of those descriptions.
Unsurprisingly, Defendant cites to no case in which a Court has held that this or any
qualified privilege extends to internationally disseminated press releases defaming a non-party to
the purported “anticipated” litigation. Regardless of whether or not Barden had a hand in drafting
the statement (another disputed issue of fact for the jury), Defendant issued the statement,
instructed that it be published, and the statement she issued was attributed to her, and not to her
attorney (or his agents). Accordingly, all the case law Defendant cites about an attorney making
a statement (or a client making a statement to their attorney or malpractice carrier) is inapposite.
2. Defendant is foreclosed from using the pre-litigation privilege because
she acted with malice.
In any event, because Defendant acted with malice, she cannot avail herself of the pre-
litigation privilege. As this Court has explained denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss, ““There
is no qualified privilege under New York law when such statements are spoken with malice,
knowledge of their falsity, or reckless disregard for their truth.’” Giuffre v. Maxwell, 165 F.
Supp. 3d at 155 (citing Block, 691 F. Supp. at 699 (Sweet, J.) (S.D.N.Y. 1988). There is ample
record evidence that Defendant acted with malice in issuing the press release, thereby making the
litigation privilege inapplicable. See Block, 691 F. Supp. at 700 (Sweet, J.) (“Here, sufficient
43
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00870.png |
| File Size | 306.3 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 95.1% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,201 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:26:44.390593 |