The Montfort Communications Litigation & Disputes team explore how reputation management plays a crucial part in determining who is the ‘right winner’ or the ‘wronged loser’ in high profile litigation.
Chancery Lane Chats features interviews with leading lawyers, journalists and business leaders who have found themselves at the centre of a dispute. They all have one thing in common: a perspective which can deliver insights into why litigation communication matters.
Tune in to our office on the junction where Fleet Street and Chancery Lane meet in the heart of London, as we explore the intersection of law, journalism and crisis management.
Don’t miss Tracy Alexander, Director of Forensic Services for the City of London police, discussing the current state of forensic science, her work with Inside Justice, and, having worked in forensic science for 29 years, she shares the biggest changes in the industry and how TV has skewed people’s perception of forensic scientists.
Don’t miss Jasper Helder, senior partner at Akin Gump, and one of the most experienced professionals advising on national security, trade policy and export controls issues in the country. Jasper talks to our Senior Consultant Kiran Nagendran about the 2002 Enterprise Act, and the new National Security and Investment Act which will come into force in January 2022.
Karlia Lykourgou is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. She was called to the bar in 2013 and specialises in criminal defence cases. However, in 2020, she founded Ivy & Normanton, the first legal outfitter specialising in legal attire for women, with the aim of portraying real women and a diverse image of what it means to be a woman in law.
Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe is the former Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police. Currently he’s an adviser to the Financial Crime department at city law firm Rosenblatt. What you might not know is that he has made an arrest at every single rank, has ridden a horse at the Grand National, and has ridden a police horse at every London football ground during his term
David Marchant is an investigative journalist, the founder and editor of OffshoreAlert, the leading online portal for news on insolvencies, disputes and other problems in high value cross border finance. He discusses getting kicked out of Bermuda, starting OffshoreAlert, dealing with being sued and death threats, and the moral and ethical boundaries he won’t cross as an investigative journalist.
What made renowned litigation funding pioneer, Susan Dunn, founder of Harbour Litigation Funding, get into the business in the first place? In this Chancery Lane Chat, Susan shares her fascinating journey into litigation funding, the cases she’s most proud of, what Harbour looks for in a claim, and how litigators can access funding from Harbour.
Tracy Dovaston is partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, with over two decades experience in financial services regulatory investigations, and corporate investigations and disputes. What has been Tracey’s experience working in the traditionally male dominated area of investigations? And why is it mainly men who are attracted to it? And finally, what is Tracey’s top tip for women in law? Don’t miss all this and more in this special International Women’s Day episode.
Charlie Holt is a campaign lawyer for Greenpeace International who advises the charity on its legal strategy and the use of strategic communications around environmental litigation.
He discusses the rise of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), why he thinks they harm free-speech and the creation of the anti-SLAPP coalition, Protect the Protest.
This special episode delves into the complex world of whistleblowing with an impressive panel of experts. Constantine Cannon’s whistleblower lawyers, Mary Inman and Henry C Su, alongside investigative journalists, Martin Bright and Katherine Eban, paint a fascinating picture of the US and UK legal and social landscapes within which whistleblowers have to operate. From a recent $48 million whistleblower reward in the US, to possible new whistleblower legislation in the UK, the panel are clear – with reporting under siege, whistleblowers must be protected and valued more than ever before.
In 1982 Sharon Jones graduated with honours from Harvard Law School and, yet, she felt she was met with the assumption of being an incompetent lawyer by virtue of not being a white man. Sharon became a highly successful federal prosecutor, in-house counsel to Fortune 500 Corporations and CEO of diversity consultancy, Jones Diversity. Deconstructing implicit bias, Montfort hears that Black Lawyers Matter and becoming an ally requires pushing for change.
Montfort Communications is proud to provide pro bono support to a range of initiatives that encourage diversity and inclusion including: 100BlackInterns, The 30% Club, The Taylor Bennett Foundation and the Gray’s Inn Mentoring Scheme.
With eyes glued to Netflix and Zoom meetings replacing office space, lockdown has accelerated a ‘digital transformation’ across the world. At the intersection of this new online society is the tech industry, which this week’s guest, Ashley Hurst, International Head of Technology, Media and Comms at Osborne Clarke, says is one of the ‘winning sectors’ of the pandemic. From broadcasting and cyber security to the explosion of internet legislation, Ashley shares technology expertise, advice and predictions.
As a result of Covid-19, the year 2020 will mark historic global change. Alongside geopolitical tensions which some think are reminiscent of the build up to World War 2, we have the added threats of global economic turbulence and climate change.
As the pressures of lockdown preys on our morale, the question is – are there any reasons to be optimistic?
Yes, says Professor Malik R. Dahlan, who thinks there is a growing appreciation of legal ethics, the Golden Rule and their application through the Rule of Law amongst the global legal community.
When it comes to state endorsed sanctions, Investigative Lawyer and Partner, Matt Getz, tells Montfort Communications that business reputation is at the mercy of geopolitics, complex law and inaccurate reporting. Matt tackles cases on corruption and white-collar crime and represents multinational corporations in their moment of crisis for his internationally revered firm, Boies Schiller Flexner.
In an educational account of financial crime, Matt unveils the differences between the EU and the US model of sanction endorsements, predictions on what the UK’s post-Brexit freedom may entail and how media consultants are ‘invaluable’ when it comes to protecting businesses from uncorroborated press accounts.
In a special collaboration between Montfort Communications and Institution Quraysh (iQ), Professor Malik Dahlan has the privilege of discussing the role the Rule of Law has to play in current world events with one of the greatest jurists of our times, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Woolf CH. As a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords with a rich international career, Lord Woolf shares tales of dramatic interactions with Russia’s President Putin, his experience of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Hong Kong and his wisdom on the historic, but temporary, waves of global political tensions.
“There are problems, and there are things to be very worried about, but in general, my feeling remains that looking at the matter globally, across countries, the appreciation of the Rule of Law is continually growing”, Lord Woolf reassures.
When international criminal tribunals deal with accusations of crimes against humanity, media scrutiny is ferocious and reputations fragile. With experience on landmark cases, Steven Kay QC, one of the world’s leading criminal lawyers, reveals that in high profile international criminal cases there are often blurred lines between the law, politics and a ‘narrative’ woven by the media. In a globalised world where lies travel faster than the truth, Montfort hears that multidisciplinary collaboration is the way of the future.
A professional who ‘defies categorization’, Michele DeStefano is a highly ranked ‘Legal Rebel’ who researches and writes about the growing intersections between law, business, and legal innovation. As a professor at the University of Miami School of Law and Affiliated Faculty at Harvard Law School, Michele understands why communications and law are becoming like yin and yang professions in reputation management. Michele predicts that the success of law firms in the future will depend on what she calls ‘proactive co-collaboration’.
With lawyers underwhelmed by litigation evidence, Nick Bortman co-founded Raedas, a corporate investigations consultancy purely focused on contentious work. Credible evidence for Raedas means evidence that can stand up in court and make a real difference in resolving a dispute.
In this episode recorded during the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown, Montfort Communications hears how this specialist consultancy thrives in a niche where contentious work and high stakes are the name of its game. Plus, Nick’s prediction that COVID-19 will lead to relief fund fraud.
What exactly are McMafia laws and what does it have to do with Mrs Hajiyeva spending £16 million in Harrods? Alan Ward, a senior lawyer at Stephenson Harwood specialising in corporate and white-collar crime, uncovers the details of the UK’s controversial anti-money laundering powers in Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) to begin combating £4.4 billion of London’s criminal assets – both its background and its problems including unfairness and resourcing shortages to an accounting nightmare.
In 2014 when film, The Interview, about the assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un went from being a harmless spoof to the cause of a mass cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, Jonathan Pearl was Sony’s General Counsel in the USA. Bringing together his legal expertise and technological savvy, Montfort hears Jonathan’s crisis management pearls of wisdom on communications, how to mitigate long-term reputational damage and retain public trust when hackers do their worst.
In an age of fake news, ‘black PR campaigns’ and ‘anti-immigration propaganda’, communications expertise is ‘pivotal’ for success, immigration solicitor Elena Tsirlina advises. With immigration being a hot topic in the media, be it accurate reporting or the proliferation of misinformation online, Elena gives communications consultancy Montfort her ‘winning formula’ for cases with ferocious public interest – along with a powerful message for the media to educate on immigration, not misinform.
From A-listers Naomi Campbell to Sir Cliff Richard, lawyer Gideon Benaim gives Montfort the inside story of what makes communications and legal expertise a ‘fundamental’ partnership in protecting the reputation of his many and varied high-profile clients. As Head of Reputation at law firm, Simkins, Gideon uses reputation law to help companies in a range of sectors and high net worth individuals when crisis strikes. How does he do it? With the ‘best people advising’ from the earliest possible moment.
The Montfort Communications Litigation & Disputes team explore how reputation management plays a crucial part in determining who is the ‘right winner’ or the ‘wronged loser’ in high profile litigation.