Defamation/ Libel

20.09.15

Iain Wilson listed as Thomson Reuters Defamation Super Lawyer

Brett Wilson LLP Partner Iain Wilson has been listed in the 2015 Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers directory as a leading defamation practitioner. Iain has appeared in all three editions of the London directory. Click here to access Super Lawyer directories.

16.09.15

Brett Wilson LLP awarded damages and injunction for defamatory posting

Brett Wilson LLP has been granted an injunction prohibiting the publication of a false and defamatory posting at a successor website to the controversial Solicitors from Hell website. The law firm acted for the Law Society in the landmark class action which saw the original website closed down by the High Court in 2011 (The Law Society & Ors v Kordowski…

11.09.15

Law firm judicially reviews Court over finding of fraud against them in judgment

In MRH Solicitors Ltd v Manchester County Court and others [2015] EWHC 1795 (Admin) (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2015/1795.html), a solicitors firm brought a judicial review against the County Court on the basis of comments made about them by a Recorder in his Judgment. Following a four day trial in October 2014, Mr Recorder Osborne dismissed a personal injury…

3.09.15

London clinic leaks HIV status of hundreds of patients

The NHS sexual health clinic 56 Dean Street has apologised for a data leak, in which it is understood the HIV status of 780 patients has been disclosed.  The breach occurred when an email newsletter sent to patients was ‘cc-ed’, rather than ‘bcc-ed’ to patients, thus disclosing the identity of the patients to every recipient of the newsletter. …

25.08.15

ICO serves first 'right to be forgotten' enforcement notice on Google

The Information Commissioner’s Office (the ICO) has served an enforcement notice on Google Inc requiring it to delist nine specific search engine results within 35 days.  This is understood to be the first formal enforcement notice served by the UK regulator on the US online giant in relation to a ‘right to be forgotten’ request. The anonymous complainant originally requested that…

7.08.15

FCA "identified" Respondent in Notices

In Financial Conduct Authority v Macris [2015] EWCA 490 the Court of Appeal heard an appeal by the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] against a decision that notices served by it had identified the Respondent and accordingly he ought to have been served with it. The central issue was whether the Respondent was “identified” within the…

4.08.15

A new era for privacy law: substantial damages likely to be commonplace

In Gulati & Ors and MGN Limited [2015] EWHC 1482 (Ch) Mr Justice Mann set out guidelines for assessing damages in privacy cases. As well as providing a helpful framework for determining damages, the judgment recognised that the level of damages awarded in earlier privacy cases have often been inadequate. The facts The claimants were…

Libel no longer actionable without proof of damage, but damage can be inferred

In Lachaux v Independent Print ([2015] EWHC 2242 (QB) the High Court sought to clarify the meaning of section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013: the requirement for defamation claimants to show that a publication has caused serious harm to reputation or is likely to cause serious harm to reputation. It has been a matter…

30.07.15

Airbnb ordered to disclose details of complaint by guest who gave B&B owner a ‘long massage’

In Mark Howell v Airbnb UK Ltd (23 July 2015) Airbnb, an online company facilitating a bed and breakfast booking service from local hosts worldwide, was ordered to disclose full details of a complaint from a female guest against a male host which had resulted in his membership being withdrawn and 21 future bookings via…

Statistics show that the number of defamation claims are on the rise

The number of defamation claims that were issued in 2014 have risen by 60% when compared to 2013 figures according to Judicial Statistics published in June by Court Statistics Quarterly: Jan-Mar.  This is a surprising trend given the widespread suggestion that the implementation of the Defamation Act 2013 would dissuade a large number of people…