Reputation & Media

Reputation Management

Atkins Dellow > Reputation Management

Expert Reputation Management Lawyers

Why Reputation Management lawyers?

People are quicker to judge in a polarised world of quickfire opinions and online threats, “fake news”, and “clickbait” journalism. Falsehoods can now spread and damage at great speed. In this environment, publications and broadcasts can swiftly cause substantial harm to both your professional and personal reputation. With more than thirty years’ experience in matters of libel, privacy, and reputation management, our solicitors can plan to prevent and handle the spread of misinformation, to counter and correct the narrative, and to repair any damage to your reputation.

The results we have obtained for our clients speak for themselves. We have prevented defamatory material from being broadcast or printed on countless occasions, and have won very substantial damages for libel (including some of the largest pre-action awards). We have secured hard-earned apologies from the world’s most high-profile newspapers and broadcasters, and have successfully coordinated the removal of online material worldwide.

Whether we are serving as legal counsel on a communications campaign or are parachuted in to prevent a threatened publication or broadcast urgently, all our clients can expect the same personalised, scrupulous, and decisive service. Our clientele has included royalty, heads of state and public officials, CEOs, actors and influencers, as well as private citizens subjected to unwarranted attention.

The requirements of reputation management have become more nuanced and sophisticated than traditional libel advice. Whether you are seeking a discreet resolution or public vindication, we take a short, medium, and long-term view, tailoring our services to your individual needs and circumstances. Our holistic advice bridges the gap between the law and other professionals within PR and communications, business intelligence, as well as those in and around politics and elections. We often liaise with other experts in these fields to produce the most impressive results for our clients.

Our Practice Areas

Defamation (Libel and Slander)

Crisis Management

Online threats / digital / social media

Pre-Publication and Broadcast Advice

Strategy

Electoral and Political Law

Defamation (Libel and Slander)

The endless ways in which we can now communicate and spread false and damaging material means that the risk of significant falsehoods going viral has never been greater. That is alongside threats from the traditional media. We will help to ensure a quick, cost-effective, and conclusive solution to your problem, nipping threats in the bud, preventing further harm in the wake of a publication or broadcast, and helping to set the record straight through apologies, damages, costs, and statements in open court. Our expertise in defamation law spans more than thirty years in the field, working with clients ranging from Royalty and Heads of State, CEOs and business owners, actors, playwrights, authors, and high net-worth individuals from across a wide range of industries.

Crisis Management

Sometimes it is impossible from the outset to stop defamatory or private material from being published. This can be a very distressing time for clients caught in the eye of the storm. We have substantial experience in reputation and crisis management. We work to achieve the desired outcome alongside a network of esteemed experts in communications; public relations; business intelligence; and related industries. Complex problems require sophisticated solutions, and we can draw on our experience to help minimise any further harm, collaborating with you and our network to develop and explore solutions that are both robust and pragmatic.

Online threats / digital / social media

For all the wonders of the information age, online communities have the potential to encourage situations that get unpleasant, and quickly. They can descend into anonymised trolling, abuse, libel, harassment, and intellectual property theft. This may be by design, as part of someone’s coordinated and concerted campaign against you. If you are under siege, we can help. We will draw on the law, follow multiple procedures and channels of complaint, and utilise our many contacts within related industries to develop a joined-up strategy to combat and remove this material and to stop its spread.

Pre-Publication and Broadcast Advice

It is essential to act immediately to prevent harmful falsehoods from gaining traction. Dissuading a prospective publisher from acting on their threats requires the ability to apply a nuanced area of the law to the facts, and our experience in this field uniquely positions us to do just that. For decades, we have stopped harmful allegations from going public. Conversely, if you are an author, editor, broadcaster, or publisher, the same expertise is required to inform whether or how to publish or broadcast, and we can advise on this as well. We also libel read to check suitability for publication or broadcast.

Strategy

If you are an individual or business of public interest, your reputation needs to be carefully managed and protected from exposure to harmful publications. Being proactive and anticipating problems is key. We can help to audit, stress-test and discuss your reputation with honesty and creativity, thereby allowing you to be prepared for the threat of reputational harm that could be coming down the pipeline from traditional and non-traditional media.

Electoral and Political Law

We have a sophisticated knowledge of the legal obligations and regulations applicable to MPs, Cabinet Ministers, Political Parties, and Government. We have advised on parliamentary standards and been involved in a number of Leadership campaigns, and elections both here and abroad. We have advised on strategy, publications, funding and other strategic matters. We draw on our longstanding expertise in reputation management, defamation, and privacy law to plan for the wide-ranging media challenges and considerations that our clients face in the run up to both Leadership and General elections, when the media are fully engaged in attempts to damage individuals who are seeking to lead a political party or to be the Prime Minister. We succeeded in a substantial libel claim for President Poroshenko of Ukraine against the BBC, the first time a foreign leader succeeded in a libel claim in this jurisdiction. We have also represented a number of high profile politicians and their parties both here and abroad.