header-logo header-logo

21 March 2025 / Clare Hughes-Williams , Megan Hill
Issue: 8109 / Categories: Features , Profession , Dispute resolution
printer mail-detail

SLAPP happy?

211929
Where to draw the line between aggressive litigation tactics & misconduct? Clare Hughes-Williams & Megan Hill explore a recent tribunal decision
  • Sets out the facts of Solicitors Regulation Authority v Hurst, which considered the publication of Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs.
  • Highlights the need for meaningful supervision of junior lawyers as the distinction between working hard for a client and committing misconduct can be difficult to identify.

Strategic lawsuits against public participation—or SLAPPs, as they are often referred to—remain a hot topic for law firms, given the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA’s) continuing focus on addressing what it sees as the abusive litigation tactics deployed by some litigators.

In what was widely reported to be the first prosecution on this issue, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) handed down its decision in Solicitors Regulation Authority v Hurst (Case no 12612/2024) on 20 December 2024.

The case

Mr Hurst had been instructed by former minister, Nadhim Zahawi (pictured), to consider the legal position in relation to articles that had been published about

To access this full article please fill the form below.
All fields are mandatory unless marked as 'Optional'.
If you already a subscriber to New Law Journal, please login here

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Paula Myers to private capital team in Leeds

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

Law firm mfg Solicitors announces five promotions at Birmingham office

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners adds six to partnership in record year for partner promotions

NEWS

Family set expands with the formal integration of 4 Brick Court into 42BR Barristers

The Court of Appeal has issued a stern warning to lawyers engaging in the practice of ‘privilege hunting’—obtaining an opponent’s legally privileged information through dishonest means
Legal executives have given a lukewarm reception to the Legal Services Board’s (LSB’s) final report from its regulatory review into Mazur advice and guidance
A homeless single parent offered accommodation in Derby has lost her Supreme Court appeal against the London council making the offer
The Kingdom of Bahrain does not enjoy sovereign immunity from allegations it used surveillance software to spy on dissidents in the UK, the Supreme Court has held
back-to-top-scroll