Category: Defamation

newspaper-the-mirror-phone-hacking-roxanne-pallett-proceedings-litigation-offer-settlement-part-36-costs

Claimant wins battle over Defendant’s late acceptance of Part 36 offer in phone hacking claim

In Pallett v MGN Ltd, a case concerning the newspaper phone hacking scandal, the High Court orders the Defendant, owner of the Mirror newspaper, to pay all of the Claimant’s costs of the proceedings, despite arguments that they had accepted the settlement offer outside of the 21 day relevant period under CPR Part 36.

norwich pharmacal order pre-action disclosure CPR application litigation high court twitter social media defamation libel

Norwich Pharmacal Pre-Action Disclosure Order granted for barrister to disclose defamatory Twitter messages

In the High Court case of Collier & Ors v Bennett, three claimants obtained a Norwich Pharmacal order against Doughty Street Chambers’ barrister, Daniel Bennett for pre-action disclosure of messages and details of a Twitter account to assist victims of libel and harassment.

part 36 settlement offer litigation advice

High Court rule service of Claim Form to be ineffective

Piepenbrock v Associated Newspapers [2020] EWHC 1708 is another case concerning where and when service may occur on the Defendant’s solicitors. The facts are similar to the Court of Appeal case of Woodward v Phoenix Healthcare Distribution (which Lexlaw were instructed on). The Claimant, a litigant in person, purportedly served the Claim Form on the last day of its four month validity period via email on the Defendants’ solicitors, who had not confirmed whether they were authorised to accept service. This amounted to a failure to effect service of the Claim Form. Applications to the Court to validate service were refused and the claim dismissed highlighting the dangers of ‘DIY litigation’ and the importance of instructing a specialist litigation team.