| Kevin
is Head of the Contentious Rights and Dispute Resolution
Department and is best known for his libel and media
practice which he has developed over the past 20 years.
Articled at Wright Webb Syrett, he qualified in 1979
into the firm’s Litigation Department where
he dealt with copyright and other entertainment related
disputes. He moved into libel work and has been involved
in many high profile and significant cases beginning
in 1986 when he represented Private Eye magazine against
a claim by Robert Maxwell who sued over allegations
that he was seeking to buy himself a peerage. He has
represented Private Eye in numerous libel actions
and given pre-publication advice.
Kevin has acted for a large number
of national newspapers, book and magazine publishers
and has gained a wealth of knowledge and expertise
in dealing with publishers, journalists and in-house
lawyers including the Mirror Group, Express Newspapers,
Centaur Media Plc, Penguin Books, Northern & Shell
and John Brown Publishing. He has been at the forefront
of “Reynolds privilege” in recent years
having acted in the well known cases of Al Fagih and
Galloway. In addition to defamation Kevin has represented
Defendants in claims for breach of confidence/privacy
and infringement of copyright. He acted for Marketing
Week in the claim by Lottery organiser Camelot for
breach of confidence which has been one of the leading
cases on disclosure of sources in recent years. He
has represented the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and
the People in numerous libel claims. He represented
Penguin Books in David Irving’s “Holocaust
Denial” libel claim.
With the introduction of the Human
Rights Act and Data Protection Act, Kevin has been
concerned with cases involving the implication of
those Acts on the existing law and in particular advising
Defendants on claims for invasion of privacy and data
protection issues. He recently acted for The Daily
Mirror in its defence of Naomi Campbell’s claim,
that went to the House of Lords (twice) for privacy/breach
of confidence and is continuing to act for the newspaper
in taking the case to the ECHR.
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