In a case which will drive the online publication of defamatory content, we have brought a claim for our client in the European Court of Human Rights. Google did not remove anonymous defamatory remarks about our client, despite being notified, and we have progressed the claim to the ECHR having pursued a remedy against Google in the English courts.

During our client's highly sensitive and hard-fought divorce, our Media and Reputation team played a key role to ensure that our client's public reputation was protected in the face of significant media interest. The team also provided counsel on communications from our client, which were required to uphold his rights in balance with the other party's.

We represented a businessman based in the Middle East in relation to bringing urgent injunctive proceedings against an individual in the UK. The claim included elements of harassment, breach of confidence, misuse of private information and breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998. We successfully obtained undertakings in the form of the Order which we had applied for to stop the campaign of harassment over social media against our client.

We assisted a Russian client wrongly classified as a politically exposed person (or 'PEP') working with his German law firm. His incorrect classification as a PEP led to financial and reputational harm not to mention the delay caused while he was forced to produce substantial due diligence ahead of potential business deals. We liaised with the third-party organisation who had categorized our client as a PEP swiftly to ensure they understood the complexities of the background and the true position. This resulted in his PEP-status being removed accordingly mitigating the damage caused by clearing up the misreporting and helping them update their records.

Working with our employment team, we represented an Azerbaijani national in respect of reputational advice regarding a settlement agreement. This included detailed advice on confidentiality undertakings and ensuring the enforceability of the agreement.

Withers was called on to act for a well-known managing partner of an international investment firm when his reputation was under threat. Our robust approach to reputation management prevented the filing of false statements in a form U-5 (Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration) that would have had a detrimental effect on his future career and earnings.