The Legal 500

5RB is recognised as a leading barristers’ chambers in defamation, privacy, confidence, intellectual property, sport and the human rights aspects of these areas of law. Members of the set write or contribute to the principal textbooks in their field: Gatley on Libel and Slander; The Law of Privacy and the Media; Arlidge, Eady & Smith on Contempt;

The Law of Photography and Digital Images; and Entertainment and Media Law Reports (editors Godwin Busuttil and former member Richard Parkes QC, now HH Judge Parkes QC).

The set: There are presently 30 tenants, including five Silks, who have wide experience in the High Court and appellate courts, including the ECHR, as well as in jurisdictions overseas. Junior tenants appear regularly in the High Court, county court and employment tribunals and provide pre-publication advice to newspaper, magazine, book and online publishers. Members also represent clients before professional, regulatory and disciplinary tribunals, such as the Press Complaints Commission, OFCOM, British Horseracing Authority and the FA. There are five accredited mediators in chambers. Most members of 5RB undertake public access work in their specialised fields.

Types of work undertaken: 5RB enjoys a pre-eminent reputation for defamation, malicious falsehood, trade libel, contempt of court and reporting restrictions but specialises across the broader spectrum of media, entertainment, IP and sports law, including: copyright, trade marks, designs rights, moral rights and performers’ rights; data protection; music, film, television, internet and book publishing and licensing; passing off; restraint of trade, particularly in sport and music; judicial review, particularly of regulatory decisions; hearings before regulatory bodies; EU and competition; regulatory multimedia, broadcasting and telecoms; freedom of information; law relating to the internet, including domain name disputes; trespass and protection from harassment. 5RB has also been involved in many significant developments in the law of confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property and pre-publication injunctions, including close consideration of articles 6 (fair hearing), 8 (privacy) and 10 (freedom of expression) of the ECHR.

Members recent cases include: Thorton v Telegraph Media Group; JIH v News Group Newspapers (CA); Clift v Slough BC (CA); Spiller v Joseph (SC); Flood v Times Newspapers (CA); Fiddes v Channel Four Television (CA); Ajinomoto Sweeteners Europe v Asda (CA); British Chiropractic Association v Singh (CA); Batuvina v Times Newspapers (CA); Financial Times v UK (ECHR); Donald v Ntuli (CA); Berezovsky v Russian State Television & Terluk (CA); Imerman v Imerman/Imerman v Tchenguiz (CA); White v Withers (CA); Desmond v Bower (CA); Ambrosiadou v Coward (CA); Cambridge v Makin; XJA v News Group Newspapers; McLaughlin v London Borough of Lambeth; Pitt & Jolie v News Group Newspapers Ltd; AMM v HXW; CDE v MGN Ltd; ABC Ltd v Y; Dee v Telegraph Media Group; Peacock v MGN Ltd.

Members are available to advise from the very beginning of a matter through to conducting advocacy at trial. In the early stages of a pre-publication matter, this may involve urgent advice followed by applying for or resisting a High Court injunction. There are out-of-hours contact arrangements and an on-call barristers’ rota for advice over weekends and public holidays. All members can be instructed directly for pre-publication advice. 5RB is sensitive to the fact that, as a leading specialist set, different members are often instructed on opposing sides of the same dispute. There are robust arrangements in place to preserve client confidentiality, including split clerking teams and systems for the separate receipt of incoming correspondence.