The Media Team deals with heavyweight defamation and privacy media litigation concerning highly sensitive and confidential matters where costs are important and contentious.
We are regularly instructed to deal with the costs arising from litigation relating to public figures and in high profile cases where the quality of services and confidentiality of instructions are paramount. These cases often involve the recovery of costs in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
The Media Team at Masters has been instructed in most of the leading media claims over the years from the ground-breaking privacy claim of Naomi Campbell v MGN which culminated in the House of Lords in 2004, to the ground-breaking privacy claim of Cliff Richard v BBC and South Yorkshire Police in 2018.
We act closely with the niche specialist firms in this field and also with the barristers’ chambers primarily instructed in this area of law. We were actively involved in the Defamation Costs Management Protocol quantifying costs budgets in 2009 and, ever since, have specialised in the justification of media costs at costs management hearings.
As specialists in this field we also routinely advise in respect of conditional fee agreements and funding issues and liaise with after the event (“ATE”) insurance providers in respect of both the provision of insurance and the recovery of ATE premiums.
Philip Daval-Bowden is the Claimants’ appointed costs expert in the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation (“MTVIL”) against Newsgroup Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers Hacking Litigation (“MNHL”) and has acted in many high profile media disputes, principally on behalf of receiving parties.
