Worked as a legal advisor to News International in his role as a partner at Harbottle & Lewis. Was questioned on his involvement in, or knowledge of, the surveillance of two prominent lawyers, Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris. Later fined £20,000 after a tribunal found that he failed to read an email containing evidence of widespread phone hacking at the News of the World. He said he was asleep when it was sent.
Francis Aldhouse, solicitor, worked as deputy to the first Information Commissioner (formerly Data Protection Registrar) from 1985 to 2006. Gave evidence on his involvement in Operation Motorman during that time.
In-house lawyer at Times Newspapers Ltd (TNL), publisher of The Times and The Sunday Times, for 33 years (1977-2010), becoming head of The Times’ Legal Department. He was questioned at the Inquiry on his knowledge of Nightjack, an anonymous police blogger whose identity The Times had revealed. It later emerged that the identity was discovered via phone hacking and a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal later ruled that Alastair Brett knowingly allowed the high court to be misled over the hacking of Nightjack's email account.
Solicitor and Director of Legal Affairs at News International until 2011. He had given advice on the dismissal and employment-tribunal case of Clive Goodman, former royal editor of the News of the World, who had been convicted of criminally hacking phones.
Divisional managing partner at law firm Lewis Silkin specialising in intellectual-property, advertising and marketing, privacy and data-protection, regulatory and reputation-management work. Crown represented the Bowles family at the Inquiry in relation to unwanted and invasive media attention following the death of their 11-year-old son in a coach accident that killed him and 27 others.
British solicitor and Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament since 1982, first for Peckham, and then for successor constituency of Camberwell and Peckham from 1997. Harman was Shadow Deputy Leader at the time of the Inquiry. She had served in various Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positions and, in her role as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party served twice as Acting Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. Her evidence covered consideration of regulation and the need for the Inquiry to address media ownership.
Head of Editorial Legal Services at Associated Newspapers Limited ("ANL"), having joined ANL in 2009 after acting for them while a partner at solicitors Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). All ANL photographers had to adhere to a code of practice, she said.
British Liberal Democrat politician and solicitor. Member of Parliament for North Norfolk since 2001 and chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee since 2017. Gave evidence that he had met News Corporation executive Fred Michel on two occasions and that the proposed takeover of BskyB had been raised. Lamb told the Inquiry that Michel suggested it would be a "pity" if the "fair" coverage given by News Corporation papers to the Lib Dems could not be continued. Lamb reported the conversation to the party leader.
English Solicitor and Head of Reputation Management Practice at Farrer & Co. Advised News International and its forerunners for some 25 years until 2011. He told the Inquiry that he had realised in 2008 that the NI "one rogue reporter" defence was not credible. He confirmed that his firm had not been asked to advise NI on retaining private investigators or on the legality of paying police officers.
Solicitor who appeared on behalf of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association (BIOA), established 1993. He gave evidence on the role that a Press (or Media) Ombudsman scheme could fulfil in any new arrangements that might emerge as a result of the Inquiry’s work.
Solicitor, specialising in working with individuals and companies in managing unwanted media attention. He told the Inquiry that leaks under the guise of unnamed police sources could cause serious damage to individuals, citing the example of Parameswaran Subramanyan, a Tamil hunger striker. Though Mr Subramanyan had successfully sued the Daily Mail for the libel that he was in fact eating, Boyd related that he suffered significant damage to his reputation and received death threats.
Lawyer and General Counsel for Financial Times Limited at the time of the Inquiry. Described the nature of advice that he had given journalists including on the legality of recording phone conversations and the status of leaked documents. He had never been asked to give advice on phone-hacking, he said. Bratton gave his opinion that the authority of the Press Complaints Commission had been seriously harmed by the revelations of illegal press activity.
Legal consultant at Yahoo! at the time of the Inquiry, where his work involved a wide range of issues, such as audience, content, product compliance and litigation. Giving evidence on behalf of the web services provider, he described how its search engine worked and the processes of removing material with or without a court order.
Solicitor representing News International at the Leveson Inquiry. Experienced in a broad range of commercial and financial-services litigation, having worked on a number of high profile cases including advising the administrators of the Lehman Brothers companies following the bank's collapse in September 2008.
Solicitor and Head Counsel at Sky at time of Inquiry, having joined in 2010 as a legal advisor. Gave information on training materials, guidance and practice for journalists working at Sky.
Director of Editorial Legal Services at Guardian News and Media Limited at time of Inquiry. Phillips had previously worked for other media companies, having also spent time as a senior lecturer at the College of Law specialising in Criminal Law, Civil and Criminal Litigation and Employment Law. She worked as an assistant solicitor at the BBC from 1987 to 1996, dealing with a range of media issues including libel, contempt, court reporting, disclosure of sources, breach of confidence and the Official Secrets Act. She gave evidence that she had had no written or other communications at The Guardian on the subject of any journalist obtaining information by illegal means.
Phillipson was Professor of Law at the University of Durham and a qualified solicitor at the time of giving evidence. His research interests were in public law, particularly areas of European and UK human rights law, he said. He offered evidence of the notion of "public interest" and noted that without adequate protection for privacy, there was the risk of a situation in which rights and freedoms of individuals were sacrificed to the commercial interests of the mass media and the idle curiosity of the majority.
As solicitor and Partner at WH Matthews, specialising in criminal law, Tribick represented Colin Stagg in his case against the Metropolitan Police Service after he was falsely charged and later acquitted of the murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common in 1992. Tribick gave evidence that he believed the MPS had leaked information to the Daily Mail about the case which later appeared in the press.
Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at All Souls College, Oxford, Professor at New York University Law School and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand at the time of the Inquiry. Submitted evidence on broad issues of political morality and the public interest in relation to a free press.
Solicitor and Partner at Linklaters, the legal representatives of News International at the Inquiry and inhouse lawyer. Walls had been appointed a partner in 1987 as an expert in contentious commercial practice, principally fraud investigation and asset recovery, insolvency and banking. The Inquiry requested Linklaters’ assistance in identifying those involved in the sourcing, preparation, writing and editing of a News of the World story in 2008 concerning Kate McCann’s diary. The NoW had ceased publishing in July 2011 and Linklaters informed the court of the difficulties this presented.
