Law Firms in London Anticipating Wave of High Profile Lawsuits

Solicitors working in London, (such as IBB Solicitors), ought to prepare themselves for a chaotic beginning of 2011. The reason for the predicted swathe of new cases is essentially as a result of the case against News International which owns the News of the World (a British newspaper). The claims and convictions with regards to telephone hacking may well end up being an extremely costly mistake from the British newspaper.

Andy Coulson, who had been the editor of the newspaper and is now the British Prime Minister’s communications director, a top paid civil servant position, has been under significant pressure since the list of legal challenges keeps increasing.

Some might claim that the problems actually began in September 2010 when The Times (another British newspaper) reported that according to News of the World reporters, Andy Coulson actively pushed reporters to unlawfully access voicemail messages and that he was present during various talks on the matter.

Despite this, the Crown Prosecution service decided in December 2010 that there had been insufficient evidence to charge Andy Coulson with regards to accusations that he was aware about the phone-hacking at the paper. Supposedly, those that had made the suggestions were not ready to supply admissible evidence.

In 2006, private investigator Glenn Mulcaire’s home was searched by the police as part of the tabloid telephone hacking investigation. Until recently evidence obtained from the raid was not disclosed, but now London solicitors were able to force London's Metropolitan Police to at last disclose this evidence.

This could result in millions of pounds getting compensated by The News of the World, if the evidence demonstrates the newspaper's phone hacking was on a widespread size as opposed to only one person.

A further and even more significant consequence of these cases is the impact it may have on the Prime Minister’s director of communications, who would be the man accountable for such procedures. It is possible that under this kind of pressure his position would be untenable.

Regardless, it will be intriguing to see how solicitors in the UK, like IBB Solicitors, react to the reports, possible outcomes and any repercussions going into 2011.