Kingsley Napley continues to enhance its dispute resolution offering with the hire of high profile media litigator and Mishcon de Reya partner, Charlotte Harris.
Harris will join the firm’s disputes team in January 2015 and will be tasked with launching the firm’s new media and reputation management unit in order to strengthen and underline the firm’s existing expertise in the field.
A leading individual in the Legal 500 and described as ‘exceptionally bright and well informed’, Harris joined Mishcon in March 2011 from Manchester firm JMW where she was head of media. She has been heavily involved in the exposure of the phone hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry; serves as a board director at Hacked Off, a lobby group advocating for press regulation; and has previously acted for clients including Max Clifford in his High Court battle against News Group Newspapers.
Disputes partner Gerard Cukier said he is ‘delighted Charlotte will be joining us. She brings immense experience in the areas of media and reputation where she has been an innovator and a fearless advocate for her clients over the last few years.’
On her appointment, Harris commented: ‘Kingsley Napley is an influential top player, and everybody I have met there has been first class. In an environment where reputational management has become part of an everyday agenda, clients are more savvy as they face the challenges of media exposure to avoid a crisis, to manage their image and in the glare of the spotlight. The calm and collaborative approach of Kingsley Napley is just what is needed for the smooth and rough times.’
The arrival of Harris follows that of former DLA Piper partner Jo Rickards, a leading criminal litigator who represented former News of the World editor Andy Coulson in the phone hacking trial, and who joined Kingsley Napley’s disputes team in August.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
For more on press regulation and the phone hacking scandal, see Shock and Flaw – is Leveson workable?
