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    Libel, Defamation and Reputation

    WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE PRAGMATIC COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS

    Healys Libel and Defamation specialists are experts in their field. We regularly advise individuals and companies on defamation (libel and slander), malicious falsehoods and on protecting their reputation.

    We act for a broad range of clients encompassing those in the print media, including newspapers and magazines, the television industry, new media and other online services. We frequently act for high-profile businesses, as well as high-net-worth individuals.

    We can advise on:

    • Advertising compliance
    • Broadcast licensing/compliance
    • Data protection (privacy)
    • Editorial and professional guidelines/codes of conduct
    • Emergency injunctions/advice
    • Freedom of information and expression
    • International libel and privacy
    • Media law and regulation
    • Pre-publication clearance for content
    • Publishing
    • Reporting restrictions in the UK and abroad
    • Right to be forgotten
    • Social media
    Call Us Today
    Call our London office on 020 7822 4000 or our Brighton office on 01273 685 888. You can also contact us online.
    Call Us Today
    London: 020 7822 4000 Brighton: 01273 685 888 Or you can contact us online: Contact Us
    Key Contacts
    Headshot of Nicholas Taylor
    Nicholas Taylor
    Partner (LLP Member)
    Headshot of David Bailey
    David Bailey
    Partner (LLP Member)
    Meet the team
    Libel, Defamation and Reputation capabilities
    Libel, Defamation and Reputation experiences
    • A claim for fraud arising out of the dishonest diversion of business, clients and income by the Managing Director and others. The Defendants had dishonestly diverting payments and used the client’s news feed to provide services to other customers. After obtaining a Freezing Injunction against the Defendants and having settled the claim there will be a near total recovery: £3,000,000
    • Defending a claim pursuant to a personal guarantee and legal mortgage on the basis that the underlying contract was illegal: $350,000
    • Acting for a bank in a claim under a personal guarantee. The guarantor has alleged that the company was not indebted to the bank because fraudulent and/or unauthorised payments were made by it to the company’s suppliers: £150,000
    • Defending a claim by two investors in the company who had failed to complete an arrangement to pay £2.8m for the purchase of plant and machinery and then claimed title to the plant and machinery and its delivery up. The shareholders then commenced proceedings in Court in Kaliningrad, Russia and we liaised with our client’s Russian lawyers on issues of company law and title to goods. Our client was successful and we are now advising on potential claims against the two investors for losses arising from their failure to complete the arrangement: £2,800,000
    • Shareholder dispute where a principal shareholder refused to participate in the company where a shareholder agreement in effect prevented any decision regarding the running of the company to be made without the consent of the two principal shareholders, which had created deadlock. Advising on s459 and on just and equitable winding up: £6 million
    • Shareholder dispute arising from the ownership of a company by one shareholder which the other claimed should be a subsidiary: £10,000,000
    • A claim against the seller of a company for failure to disclose material information regarding the use of land and reports as part of the due diligence exercise: £5,000,000
    • Shareholder dispute regarding liability for payments to the group pension scheme and who should bear the shortfall under sections 75 and 75A of the Pensions Action 1995: £1,000,000 per year
    • Defending a claim regarding the contamination of land (phthalate and DOP contamination) that had leaked from the client’s site onto a neighbour’s land and liaising with the Environmental Agency given the presence of hazardous substances and hydrocarbons entering a local river.
    • A claim by a property agent for unpaid introductory commission arising from the purchase of a plot of land for £13,000,000: £195,000
    • Acting for a charity hospital in claims for increased patient fees from placing Care Commissioning Groups. This claim involves 12 CCG’s and a total claim in excess of £1,000,000.
    • Advising a hospital in relation to an attempt by the responsible CCG that the hospital should be responsible for collecting payment of future costs of prescriptions of £1,200,00 per year.
    • Claim against a company for breach of copyright and fraud by using our client’s test results to obtain a licence granted by a local authority (A9 approval) and against the local authority for incorrectly granting the approval.
    • A claim against former directors arising out of the dishonest diversion of income by selling products at cost to a separate company owned by them and then on selling the product whilst under-cutting the client on price: £750,000
    • A claim for the recovery of a loan made by an on-line lender fraudulently obtained by impersonation, involving pursuing the receiving bank for failure to follow anti-money laundering proceedings, resulting in a full recovery: £80,000
    • Acted for two shareholders against a majority shareholder, trading company and parent company in a claim to recover the shares/their value which had been acquired by the Defendants through misrepresentation, duress, undue influence and/or breach of fiduciary duties. Multi-million pound settlement achieved on the first day of trial
    • Acted for claimants (many on some sort of no-win no-fee basis) in professional negligence claims against solicitors, architects, surveyors, accountants and tax advisors of which 8 settled (without trial) this year in an aggregate amount of damages of about £2 million
    • Acted for energy supplier company in defence of claim by a competitor for the economic torts of conspiracy, inducement to breach, tortious interference and misuse of confidential information
    • Acted for 4 of 18 individuals/companies in defence of claims alleging fraud, misrepresentation and conspiracy in respect of multi-million pound London property developments
    • Acted for in excess of 100 individuals against Cypriot banks, developers and lawyers in relation to the mis-selling of property in Cyprus
    • Acted for 18 shipping companies in relation to disputes regarding various asset finance related agreements, guarantees and mortgage documents involving proceedings in England, South Africa, New York and Cyprus
    • Acted for 1 of 18 Defendants in claims for damages for conspiracy to injure by unlawful means/deceit for misrepresentations involving many jurisdictions, application contesting jurisdiction and anti suit injunction
    • Acted for a client in a multi-party breach of contract and competition law claim for a sum in excess of £5 million arising out of an agreement to provide advertising on the London Underground
    • Acted for property developers in regards to a multi-party dispute arising out of the failure on the part of a number of leaseholders to complete purchases on two blocks of flats after the “credit crunch”, involving claims for sums in excess of £2 million
    Libel, Defamation and Reputation insights
    • Spring Budget 2021 Change ‘Generation Rent to Generation Buy’

      3rd March 2021

      In a bid to keep the UK economy stable, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces new plans to support home buyers

      During today’s Spring Budget announcement, the chancellor confirmed that he would boost support for home buyers through a mortgage guarantee.

      Several major lenders including Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, Santander and HSBC have agreed to provide 95% mortgages to home buyers in return for a government guarantee on those mortgages.

      Low-deposit mortgage accessibility has declined since the pandemic started, which has made home-ownership unreachable for many. But the government hopes that these plans will give more people the support and opportunity to buy their own homes.

      It was also announced that the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday in England and Northern Ireland will be extended for purchases up to £500,000 until the 30th June, meaning home buyers avoid the stamp duty levy on purchases under that amount. After this date, the starting rate of Stamp Duty will be £250,000 until the end of September, before returning to the previous level of £125,000.

      Daniel Winslow, Partner and Head of Leasehold Services at Healys LLP comments:

      “In the end then the announcement was largely as anticipated, but for perhaps a few additional reveals here and there. In my view extending the SDLT holiday will provide a much needed crutch for the economy to rest its weight whilst its other limbs scramble for footing as we move out of lockdown. The tapering back of the SDLT thresholds is also an interesting development and one which I am in favour of. Suddenly stopping the SDLT holiday (whether at the end of March or the end of June) would have almost certainly lead to a shock to the market and to the economy as a whole. By delaying and then tapering back the SDLT limit (and introducing the 95% mortgages) the government clearly hopes to either stop that from happening completely or at least turn that cliff edge many have been talking about into a downward hill to an eventual (hopefully high) plateau. If property transactions do decline then by the time we all get to that plateau the economy will hopefully be ready to throw away its crutch and start running!

      “In terms of the 95% mortgages, I think this is an excellent introduction, provided of course it is done safely. It will give many perfectly worthy potential homeowners the chance to achieve their dreams where previously they would have been priced out of the market. Much talk has been made of a lack of housing stock, but when has there ever been enough housing? Also, who says only the cash rich should be entitled to be homeowners? I think it helps provide a level playing field, and it is one that I am all for.”

      Healys LLP are award winning conveyancing solicitors based in London, Brighton & Sussex. Our conveyancing solicitors have a vast amount of experience in property law and we deal with all aspects, including the purchases & sales of homes, freeholds, leaseholds, shared ownership schemes, remortgaging, lease extensions and more. For more legal updates or legal advice, please visit Healys LLP’s website.

       

    Libel, Defamation and Reputation awards
    • Legal 500 2018: TMT (technology, media and telecoms): Media and entertainment (including media finance) – ranked: Tier 5 (London) “Healys LLP’s expertise spans publishing, broadcasting, music, digital media, TV and film and it handles a range of contentious and non-contentious matters. It advised Empress Films on a private investor finance agreement; advised Huda Cotran on an investment proposal for the launch of a daytime television channel; and acted for Hereford Films on a post-production agreement with BCL Finance. Brighton-based department head Nicholas Taylor specialises in media disputes, and is active across defamation, IP and rights protection cases. Martin John handles non-contentious matters media law matters and consultant Andrew Sparrow is experienced in commercial digital media instructions.”
    • Robert Johnson has been shortlisted for the Lawyers Monthly Legal Awards Commercial Litigation Solicitor of The Year 2017
    • Finance Monthly - Robert Johnson Commercial Litigation Solicitor of the Year 2017
    • Acquisition International Excellence Awards Best for Commercial Litigation 2017 – London
    • Shortlisted for the Lawyers Monthly Legal Awards Commercial Litigation Law Firm of The Year
    • Legal 500 2017: TMT (technology, media and telecoms): Media and entertainment (including media finance) – ranked: Tier 5 (London) "Healys LLP is praised for its ‘entrepreneurial approach’ and advice on IP, disputes, licensing, commercial matters and rights protection in the media and entertainment sector. David Schollenberger acts for broadcasters, production companies, social media websites, musicians, actors, content suppliers and authors on commercial matters, agreements and licences. Nicholas Taylor ‘has great instinct for the strengths in cases’ and specialises in media law, including defamation, IP and rights protection. Martin John handles non-contentious media matters and Andrew Sparrow is noted for his expertise in internet and digital commercial instructions.”
    Libel, Defamation and Reputation news
    • Spring Budget 2021 Change ‘Generation Rent to Generation Buy’

      3rd March 2021

      In a bid to keep the UK economy stable, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces new plans to support home buyers

      During today’s Spring Budget announcement, the chancellor confirmed that he would boost support for home buyers through a mortgage guarantee.

      Several major lenders including Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, Santander and HSBC have agreed to provide 95% mortgages to home buyers in return for a government guarantee on those mortgages.

      Low-deposit mortgage accessibility has declined since the pandemic started, which has made home-ownership unreachable for many. But the government hopes that these plans will give more people the support and opportunity to buy their own homes.

      It was also announced that the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday in England and Northern Ireland will be extended for purchases up to £500,000 until the 30th June, meaning home buyers avoid the stamp duty levy on purchases under that amount. After this date, the starting rate of Stamp Duty will be £250,000 until the end of September, before returning to the previous level of £125,000.

      Daniel Winslow, Partner and Head of Leasehold Services at Healys LLP comments:

      “In the end then the announcement was largely as anticipated, but for perhaps a few additional reveals here and there. In my view extending the SDLT holiday will provide a much needed crutch for the economy to rest its weight whilst its other limbs scramble for footing as we move out of lockdown. The tapering back of the SDLT thresholds is also an interesting development and one which I am in favour of. Suddenly stopping the SDLT holiday (whether at the end of March or the end of June) would have almost certainly lead to a shock to the market and to the economy as a whole. By delaying and then tapering back the SDLT limit (and introducing the 95% mortgages) the government clearly hopes to either stop that from happening completely or at least turn that cliff edge many have been talking about into a downward hill to an eventual (hopefully high) plateau. If property transactions do decline then by the time we all get to that plateau the economy will hopefully be ready to throw away its crutch and start running!

      “In terms of the 95% mortgages, I think this is an excellent introduction, provided of course it is done safely. It will give many perfectly worthy potential homeowners the chance to achieve their dreams where previously they would have been priced out of the market. Much talk has been made of a lack of housing stock, but when has there ever been enough housing? Also, who says only the cash rich should be entitled to be homeowners? I think it helps provide a level playing field, and it is one that I am all for.”

      Healys LLP are award winning conveyancing solicitors based in London, Brighton & Sussex. Our conveyancing solicitors have a vast amount of experience in property law and we deal with all aspects, including the purchases & sales of homes, freeholds, leaseholds, shared ownership schemes, remortgaging, lease extensions and more. For more legal updates or legal advice, please visit Healys LLP’s website.

       

    Call Us Today
    London: 020 7822 4000 Brighton: 01273 685 888 Or you can contact us online: Contact Us
    Dispute Resolution