The Legal 500

Schillings is one of Britain’s top law firms dedicated to safeguarding the reputations of international corporations, brands, celebrities and high-profile business people. The firm’s track-record in defamation, privacy and copyright cases is second-to-none.

The firm: Schillings provides extensive litigation and commercial legal advice to top international companies, governments, politicians, chief executives, high-profile business people, Hollywood film stars, musicians and celebrities from the world of entertainment and sport.

Schillings has represented commercial and corporate clients including Stelios Haji-loannou and his company EasyGroup, Ryman the stationer, Arcelor Mittal, Icelandic bank Kaupthing, Grant Thornton, GlaxoSmithKline and Northern Rock. The firm has also acted for private clients including Madonna, David Walliams, JK Rowling, Nicole Kidman, Will Smith, Nicolas Cage, Keira Knightley, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Roman Polanski and former BP group chief executive Lord Browne of Madingley. Defamation, privacy and copyright are at the heart of the firm’s work, prompting The Independent newspaper to call Schillings a ‘spectacularly efficient media law firm’. From newspapers, television and radio to the internet, Schillings has the expertise to respond rapidly and effectively to protect corporations, high-profile individuals and celebrities when their reputations are threatened in the media. In addition to media law, Schillings has flourishing sports, music and matrimonial practices. The firm also have an active commericial dispute resolution department, combining the same skill and tactical excellence to commercial litigation as it does in media litigation. The firm is at the cutting-edge of reputation management. Schillings is characterised by its dynamic, flexible approach. It also has a track-record of achieving results over the last 25 years. With unrivalled skills and connections, Schillings ensures that its clients’ cases are handled with absolute discretion. Clients value Schillings for its incisive judgment, rigour and speed. For Schillings, legal advice is not just about litigation. The firm strives to ensure that high-profile court cases are the last resort: the exception, not the rule. The firm uses the law to protect the reputations, privacy and confidentiality of clients by helping them and their PR advisers to manage what is published and broadcast about them. It is their ability to adapt to the threats posed by the ever changing media landscape which keeps them at the forefront of this specialist area. The firm’s partners have won a reputation for securing landmark rulings. Its ground-breaking privacy work in a claim by Naomi Campbell against the Daily Mirror in 2004 secured a landmark ruling by the House of Lords to protect personal privacy, while in 2006, Schillings helped City stockbrokers Collins Stewart Tullett plc to resolve a major defamation case against the Financial Times. The newspaper agreed to publish a frontpage apology and to pay £300,000 in damages as well as legal costs. The firm also won a landmark injunction on behalf of the Law Society which ultimately protected the privacy of thousands of solicitor’s clients.

Types of work undertaken: Schillings’ main practice is dedicated to protecting the reputations of both corporate and private clients.

The sports practice mainly acts in contentious and crisis matters involving regulatory bodies, the decisions of selectors, in criminal cases and matters of reputation. The firm’s clients include the Wasserman Media Group, Rio Ferdinand and Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp. Solicitors in the music practice act for artists, managers and record companies providing commercial, practical and timely contractual and media management advice to clients such as Britney Spears, and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. The commercial dispute resolution practice is involved in significant litigation and intellectual property disputes. The firm’s industry expertise and tenacity ensures swift solutions to disputes. It handles high-profile employment matters and specialises in acting for senior-executives in dispute with their employers, including Piers Morgan in relation to his departure from the Daily Mirror newspaper. The matrimonial practice has considerable experience representing high-profile and wealthy clients, especially in divorce cases with substantial assets at stake. Schillings represented the first wife to be awarded half the marital assets in a high-net-worth divorce in a 2002 ruling by the court of appeal, a landmark decision recognising the work of wives as homemakers.

Breakdown of work %
Defamation, privacy and contempt 70
Commercial litigation 10
Music 5
Sport 10
Matrimonial 5

Number of UK partners 6
Number of other UK fee-earners 15