Defamation and privacy in London Bar

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Defamation And Privacy

5RB

Matrix Chambers

11KBW

Doughty Street Chambers

Leading Silks

Desmond Browne QC - 5RB ‘An excellent barrister in the field of defamation law.’

Andrew Caldecott QC - 5RB ‘A beacon of clarity and charm.’

Gavin Millar QC - Matrix Chambers ‘The best of the senior QCs in this field both in writing and in court, he is never afraid to pursue a difficult case.’

Heather Rogers QC - Doughty Street Chambers ‘Exceptionally forensic, she has a clear understanding of the client's objectives and their needs.’

Hugh Tomlinson QC - Matrix Chambers ‘A doyen of media law, razor-sharp and one of the most respected and revered barristers in this area.’

Antony White QC - Matrix Chambers ‘Exceptional on all fronts, an excellent advocate in the courtroom but equally skilled at providing clear advice to clients on complex areas of law.’

Catrin Evans QC - Matrix Chambers ‘An outstanding advocate who continues to impress. Superb, incredibly bright and simply does not miss a beat.’

Adrienne Page QC - 5RB ‘Able to process complex legal issues and potential hurdles in order to formulate a strategy which is so often successful.’

Justin Rushbrooke QC - 5RB ‘Obviously at the top of his game, handles pressure very well.’

Alex Bailin QC - Matrix Chambers ‘A real leader in the field of defamation and privacy.’

Lord Edward Garnier QC - 4 Pump Court ‘His experience is second to none and he is a true leader in the field.’

Anthony Hudson QC - Matrix Chambers ‘He has an excellent client understanding.’

William McCormick QC - Selborne Chambers ‘An absolute star at the Bar, he stands out for his forensic ability to focus on the relevant issues in hand and as a superb courtroom performer.’

Anya Proops QC - 11KBW ‘Outstanding. A real star. Always amazingly well prepared, in command of the law and her papers.’

Guy Vassall-Adams QC - Matrix Chambers ‘A tenacious and forceful advocate, completely on top of the technical detail in his field.’

2019 Silks

William Bennett QC - 5RB ‘Calm and confident and tends to win nearly every matter that goes to a hearing - instruct him before your opponent does.’

Christina Michalos QC - 5RB ‘Extremely practical and a calm head in a crisis.’

Adam Wolanski QC - 5RB ‘The best of the new libel QCs around, brilliant in written submissions and strategic advice.’

2020 Silks

Adam Speker QC - 5RB ‘Easy to work with and confident both in the advice he gives and on his feet in court.’

Leading Juniors

Jacob Dean - 5RB ‘He has superb attention to detail and is extremely creative and always produces for a wide range of clients.’

Aidan Eardley - 5RB ‘He is not afraid to tell the client what they need to hear.’

David Glen - 11KBW ‘Undoubtedly the go-to senior junior for media defendant work in his field, a formidable opponent with razor-sharp intellect and astute judgement.’

Sara Mansoori - Matrix Chambers ‘Impressive in terms of her ability to quickly get to the heart of the case, to pre-empt the other side’s arguments and to develop a strategy to get the better of them.’

Alexandra Marzec - 5RB ‘A strong and extremely effective advocate, more than capable of winning arguments against leading counsel.’

Jane Phillips - 5RB ‘First class all round, understands the lie of the land from a practical, strategic and political point of view.’

David Sherborne - 5RB ‘His abilities as an advocate are second to none, he is persuasive and charming which appeals both to lay clients but also to the court.’

Caroline Addy - Doughty Street Chambers ‘An able and experienced senior junior with a broad practice.’

Jonathan Barnes - 5RB ‘Very knowledgeable in this field, approachable, collaborative and very hard-working.’

Godwin Busuttil - 5RB ‘Very knowledgeable, knows the technical details really well.’

Clara Hamer - 5RB ‘A future star of the bar and a fantastic advocate with an exceptional grasp of media law.’

Ian Helme - Matrix Chambers ‘Smooth as a silk to deal with, very calm and thorough.’

Richard Munden - 5RB ‘He has a brilliant command of the details and his advice is always extremely sensible and commercial.’

Hannah Ready - 11KBW ‘Fiercely intellectual, meticulous in her preparation and attention to detail and provides shrewd advice far beyond her year of call.’

Jonathan Scherbel-Ball - 5RB ‘Impressive speed of turnaround and strength of drafting, enthusiasm, engagement and encouragement in difficult cases.’

Lorna Skinner - Matrix Chambers ‘Superb at deep-diving into the detail of a case and getting quickly to the key issues.’

Timothy Atkinson - Hatton Chambers ‘Bright, articulate and explains everything carefully and in a manner which can be easily understood.’

Greg Callus - 5RB ‘His encyclopaedic knowledge of media law (and law more generally) is scary.’

Edward Craven - Matrix Chambers ‘Excellent grasp of the law, proactively comes up with ideas on a case.’

David Hirst - 5RB ‘A very sound grasp of the law relating to internet technology, undoubtedly one of the best juniors for matters involving social media and actions against internet intermediaries.’

Victoria Jolliffe - 5RB ‘Extremely skillful, vastly experienced and much in demand in the market.’

Claire Overman - Doughty Street Chambers ‘Exceptionally intelligent, forward thinking, practical, pragmatic, collaborative, insightful, hard working, pleasure to work with, client focused, great knowledge of the wider sector and industry issues.’

Jonathan Price - Doughty Street Chambers ‘A fabulous client barrister, technically very good and hugely persuasive and articulate.’

Jeremy Reed - Hogarth Chambers ‘An experienced media and privacy litigator.’

Julian Santos - 5RB ‘He understands where clients and solicitors are coming from and can communicate in a way which is straightforward and easy to understand.’

Kate Wilson - 5RB ‘A superb advocate, extremely knowledgeable and an excellent tactician.’

Dr Anton van Dellen - Fraser Chambers 'Anton is without any doubt a counsel and fighter for justice without borders. He perfects his legal submissions and advocacy by attention to subtle details, scrutinised analysis of the circumstances, and dauntless approach to the challenges. Very knowledgeable, approachable, and reliable.'

Felicity McMahon - 5RB ‘Regularly goes the extra mile and is very good at explaining complicated matters to lay clients. She has a very good grasp on all aspects of media law.’

David Mitchell - 39 Essex Chambers ‘David excelled at providing practical and thorough technical advice which, in conference with our lay client, he was competently able to condense and explain.’

Rupert Paines - 11KBW ‘His attention to detail is extremely impressive and his drafting is really first class.’

Jennifer Robinson - Doughty Street Chambers ‘Calm and very committed, an accomplished lawyer and extremely well connected on the international advocacy circuit.’

John Samson - Hatton Chambers ‘His strength is his ability to look at the wider picture and highlight avenues for exploration that may not otherwise have been unearthed.’

Tom Blackburn SC - 5RB ‘He has many strengths and qualities including a deep level of knowledge and experience in defamation and privacy matters and superior judgement in decision-making.’

Ben Silverstone - Matrix Chambers ‘Fantastically bright, able to grapple with immense detail and apply it to a bigger picture.’

Victoria Simon-Shore - 5RB ‘Confident and reassuring throughout difficult cases and is always able to put the client at ease.’

Kirsten Sjøvoll - Matrix Chambers ‘Very calm, considered and thorough.’

Chloe Strong - 5RB ‘Always delivers extremely thorough advice in a helpful and digestible manner.’

Gervase de Wilde - 5RB ‘Detailed, thorough and approachable, he takes on challenges that often create legal precedents within a fast developing area of law.’

Rising Stars

Ben Gallop - 5RB ‘A great barrister with helpful experience gained at the regulator, IPSO. He has an exceptional knowledge in this area of law, well-above his level of call. Ben is certainly one to watch for the future!’

Beth Grossman - Doughty Street Chambers ‘Absolutely excellent, very conscientious and focused on a strategic approach.’

John Stables - 5RB ‘He brings a great regulatory background to the table.’

Aidan Wills - Matrix Chambers ‘Excellent on online defamation issues and data protection in the context of media law cases.’

Tier 1 sets

5RB

The 'fantastic' 5RB continues to be the 'go-to set for media litigation', offering 'an extremely efficient service' and 'the top barristers in the field' when it comes to defamation and privacy issues. Members of chambers are regularly instructed by famous individuals, the media, corporate bodies and public authorities alike. In a recent example, Adrienne Page QC and Godwin Busuttil represented the claimant in Bruno Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd & Evening Standard Ltd, a Supreme Court appeal related to the serious harm requirement of the Defamation Act 2013. Before taking silk in 2020, Adam Speker QC appeared as sole counsel for the media appellants in Simon v Lyder & Another, a case concerning reference innuendoes in libel. David Sherborne and Kate Wilson have been part of the legal team acting for Johnny Depp in the Hollywood star's highly publicised libel action against News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun; the paper has been represented by Adam Wolanski QC and Clara Hamer. Rising stars Ben Gallop and John Stables bring great experience to the set and clients via their previous roles at the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and Ofcom, respectively.

Tier 2 sets

Matrix Chambers

'A fantastic all-round set in privacy, defamation and GPDR', Matrix Chambers 'continues to get stronger' each year. The 'well-clerked' set is known to be the home of privacy injunctions, where Hugh Tomlinson QC usually appears for claimants, while Gavin Millar QC and Antony White QC are predominantly instructed by defendants. A recent example of such work is CG v Facebook Ireland Ltd in the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, where Tomlinson QC and White QC assumed their usual roles. In another highlight, Catrin Evans QC acted for the BBC in seeking the imposition of a privacy reporting restriction related to Samira Ahmed's equal pay case.

Tier 3 sets

11KBW

Having 'significantly strengthened' its defamation and privacy offering thanks to 2019 arrivals David Glen and Hannah Ready from the now-dissolved One Brick Court, information rights hub 11KBW covers cases at the nexus of data privacy and defamation. A particular strong suit is disputes in the online environment: Glen defended Facebook against a defamation claim brought by consumer affairs journalist Martin Lewis about adverts bearing his endorsement and Anya Proops QC, one of the set's 'absolutely outstanding people', was instructed by the same client to challenge an ICO penalty in connection with the Cambridge Analytica affair.

Doughty Street Chambers

Doughty Street Chambers 'offers a wide range of services' and has a 'deserved high reputation' for domestic as well as international media and information law issues. Recent work saw a number of chambers' members, who are known to 'offer in-depth analyses in their specialist areas', appear in landmark Supreme Court cases: Claire Overman and Jonathan Price were instructed for the claimant and the defendant, respectively, in social media defamation case Stocker v Stocker. Together with Heather Rogers QC, Price also acted for the Media Lawyers Association in Serafin v Malkiewicz, the first defence of publication on a matter of public interest case based on section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013.

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