All posts
23.05.22
SLAPPs: A real problem or a defendant’s wildcard?
Brett Wilson LLP partner Iain Wilson argues that problems regarding so-called SLAPPs are overstated and that further defamation reform is unnecessary In our blog In defence of privacy and the judiciary we discussed how the press had misreported the decision in HRH the Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 1810 and,…
Read more18.05.22
Blacklisted: Removing a marker from a fraud database
Fraud databases effectively act as blacklists for financial institutions. An individual with a fraud marker against their name on a fraud database will normally only discover its existence after they have had to deal with the adverse effects that it can cause, such as being refused credit, or an abrupt (and often unexplained) closure of…
Read more11.05.22
Depp v Heard: the perils of live-streaming and trial by TikTok
Following on from recent blogs on derogations from the principles of open justice and closed materials, we look today at the other side of that coin: wide-open justice. At the time of writing, the US defamation case of John C. Depp II v Amber Laura Heard (CL-2019-2911) is just past its half-way point in Fairfax,…
Read more27.04.22
Sex offender’s attempt to hold law firm to ransom over data breach backfires
In Chief Constable of Kent Police & Anor v Taylor [2022] EWHC 737 (QB), Mr Justice Saini considered a claim for breach of confidence, arising from the Defendant’s refusal to delete videos that a law firm that had accidentally disclosed to him and which contained sensitive information about a vulnerable minor. The videos were taken…
Read more26.04.22
Closed judgments and national security
In this blog we examine the decisions in The Queen on the application of Privacy International v Investigatory Powers Tribunal [2022] EWHC 770 QB and Her Majesty’s Attorney General for England and Wales v British Broadcasting Corporation [2022] EWHC 826 (QB), and the topic of closed judgments. Neither judgment fully explains the reasoning behind their…
Read more24.03.22
Anonymisation in civil proceedings
There has long been a tension between the principles of open justice and the desire of parties litigating sensitive matters to keep their identity, parts of the litigation, or even the fact of the litigation itself, private. The default position for almost all civil litigation is that (i) parties are named in proceedings, (ii) non-parties…
Read more7.03.22
Lexis Nexis Interview: Reasonable expectation of privacy in information relating to criminal investigations (Bloomberg LP v ZXC)
Percy Preston of Brett Wilson LLP is interviewed about the Supreme Court’s decision in Bloomberg LP v ZXC [2022] UKSC 5. What was the key issue on appeal? The central issue on the appeal was whether, in general, a person under criminal investigation has a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of information…
Read more14.02.22
Lexis Nexis Interview: Trade secrets, breach of confidence and conspiracy
Adham Harker of Brett Wilson LLP is interviewed about the decision in Salt Ship Design AS v Prysmian Powerlink SRL [2021] EWHC 2633 (Comm). Introduction The High Court has upheld a claim for breach of confidence and unlawful means conspiracy in this case which involved a design document being misused by a third party, after…
Read more10.02.22
Defamed in the workplace: a guide to recent caselaw
Three cases heard in the past year in the High Court – George v Cannell [2021] EWHC 2988 (QB), Parris v Ajayi [2021] EWHC 285 (QB) and Kostakopolou v University of Warwick and others [2021] EWHC 3454 (QB) – have raised some of the difficulties confronting claimants who wish to bring a defamation claim in relation…
Read more4.02.22
In defence of privacy and the judiciary: the fall-out from HRH the Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd
Brett Wilson LLP partner Iain Wilson tries to unpick some of the misreporting following the Court of Appeal’s decision in HRH the Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 1810 Here we are again. The press doesn’t like us having private lives and the government doesn’t like judges making decisions it disagrees…
Read moreLegal Disclaimer
Articles are intended as an introduction to the topic and do not constitute legal advice.
