Jo is a partner and leads the media and reputation team in London.
Jo joined in 2019 with 15 years' experience of looking after the reputation and privacy of some of the world's most well-known individuals and businesses.'She is sensible and she doesn't grandstand; one can have a normal conversation with her' (Chambers UK), and ‘She is hugely competent, extremely experienced, with the ability to cut straight to the issue at hand', (Chambers HNW 2018).
Her practice comprises all aspects of reputation and privacy law, such as libel, misuse of private information and breach of confidence, media regulatory codes, and protection from harassment. Reflecting the expansion of the global trade in information, Jo's practice has grown to include contentious data protection, including litigation over data subject access rights and data breach compensation claims.
Jo was previously a news journalist and PR adviser before becoming a media litigator.
Recent recognition
Me in a minute
I feel strongly that all individuals should have the chance to be represented in the media fairly and truthfully and there is nothing wrong with appointing knowledgeable representation to achieve that.
When I trained as a lawyer, one aspect of the study that I loved most was reading case law and that has turned out to be lucky as I qualified into one of the most fast-developing areas of law. In fact, media law cases are just as likely to be on the front pages of the newspapers, as in the legal pages which is always fun – but usually better if I am not acting in them - many clients prefer to stay under the radar and value their privacy highly.
I often see clients, both individuals and businesses, at a very low point when they are facing serious challenges to their reputation or dealing with press intrusion and it feels good to be able to provide reassurance to them at that time. That experience of ‘becoming the story’ can be out of the comfort zone of even the most accomplished and successful people, so I often work with other advisors, like in-house counsel or family office counsel, communications directors, public relations or HR, to provide a calm steadying team around the client to work through whatever challenge has arisen. It’s good to see clients weather the storm and get back to business as usual.
Although in some quarters so-called ‘libel lawyers’ have been depicted negatively, I feel strongly that all individuals should have the chance to be represented in the media fairly and truthfully and there is nothing wrong with appointing knowledgeable representation to achieve that.
One of the most frustrating aspects of my practice area is that it means I am unable to talk about many of my successes as they are all private. I think my greatest case was representing an entirely innocent victim of blackmail and protecting their anonymity throughout the legal process; the blackmailer went to prison for seven years.
Unfortunately, my work in protecting clients’ privacy has shown me some of the worst pitfalls and risks of social media so you’re unlikely to find me there!