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05 March 2010 / Clare Rodway
Issue: 7407 / Categories: Features , Media , Profession
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Controlling the beast

Contrary to popular belief, “litigation PR” is not a dark art: it is much better described as conducting PR in a strait-jacket—the key difference with litigation PR being that it operates in an unusual, highly regulated environment because of the various court reporting restrictions and sub judice rules and so forth.

In essence, litigation PR is the art of managing media coverage around cases, either to manage the impact of the litigation on the client’s ongoing reputation, or to encourage early or favourable settlement in the case of civil cases. There is an entirely ethical way to run litigation PR programmes, so there is no need for clients to be deprived of the benefits that good media handling in these situations can offer: the benefit of an additional tool in their litigation armoury; the benefit of protection to reputation; and the benefit of ensuring their side of the story is clearly heard and understood by those audiences most important to them.

For those considering making use of what litigation PR has to offer, or

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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