Posted: Wednesday 13 July 2011
Phone Hackers Beware
Every hour now seems to bring a new revelation in the News Corporation phone hacking scandal: as I write, a statement is expected shortly from the Prime Minister. It’s not hard to understand Parliament’s concern about an affair that has exposed some of the media’s less salubrious conduct to public view.
At Morton Fraser we’ve already had experience of fending off the less-ethical end of the tabloid journalistic market. Last year, one of our PAs took a call from someone describing herself as a Court clerk. She explained that the court’s IT systems were down and she needed to check if we were acting in a particular case – which just happened to be one of our high profile divorces. She was persistent and aggressive
It would have been easy just to say ‘yes’ automatically, but everyone in our team is alert to possible issues of confidentiality. Not only is it part of our professional duties, but we also understand that nobody wants to see their private business splashed over the front pages – or even just talked about at the school gates. While if you go to court some details may have to go on public record, we know it’s hard enough to go through a divorce, or deal with problems affecting your children, without having to worry about other people talking out about your private life.
All our clients can rely on our utmost discretion – even if it means we don’t get public credit for good outcomes where credit is due unlike some other firms. Indeed, you might not even want anyone to know you’re consulting a solicitor – so we’ll meet you somewhere else if you’re worried about being seen coming into our offices. Our reward is a content client and our steady personal recommendations
The journalist was disappointed, as we declined to confirm we were even involved in the case (despite some verbal abuse when she realised the game was up). It just goes to show that if anyone wants to know anything about our cases, they’ll have to hack our phones first.
