Details
Quick links
Adrienne Page QC
Profile
Adrienne Page QC is a leading defamation and media law silk. She acts for both claimants and defendants in high profile and heavyweight litigation. Between 2003 and 2011 she was joint Head of Chambers at 5RB.
Recent and ongoing cases include:
- acting for Channel 4 and Hardcash Productions in successfully resisting an urgent application by Viagogo, the secondary ticket website, to prevent broadcast of the Dispatches programme on 23 February 2012, both before the Judge and in the Court of Appeal;
- representing The Sun at first instance and in the Court of Appeal in successfully opposing the grant of a privacy injunction to Christopher Hutcheson (formerly KGM);
- representing Sylvia Henry, a Haringey social worker, in her successful libel action against The Sun after they wrongly targeted her in their 'Justice for Baby P' campaign;
- acting for Simon Singh against the British Chiropractic Association at first instance and on his successful appeal to the Court of Appeal, following which the BCA discontinued their libel claim against him - a case which featured in the BBC series "See you in Court" in 2011;
- acting for the North London Central Mosque in its libel claim against The Policy Exchange - which also featured in the BBC series "See you in Court" in 2011;
- acting for Channel 4 and production company, Studio Lambert, in their defence of the libel action by Matt Fiddes over their documentary about the Jackson family and in successfully upholding Judge alone trial in the Court of Appeal. The case settled upon the Claimant's discontinuance on the eve of trial in June 2010;
- appearing in the Court of Appeal for Tom Bower on an issue of similar fact evidence during his libel action against Richard Desmond;
- acting for the television channel Al Jazeera in a libel action brought by Palestinian politician Mohammed Dahlan which settled shortly before trial in January 2010;
- acting for the BBC in a long-running libel action brought by IVA doctor Mohammed Taranissi which settled in 2009;
- appearing for Frank Warren at first instance and in the Court of Appeal in his libel action against Random House;
- acting for Tesco in its libel claim against The Guardian;
- advising Gerry and Kate McCann in relation to their libel actions against Express newspapers
As well as the recent cases of Singh and Taranissi, a number of her other cases have also had a medical angle. She acted for Channel 4 when they were sued by Dr Andrew Wakefield, the doctor at the centre of the MMR scare, and for two nursery workers falsely accused of sexual abuse in a 6-month libel trial in 2002 (Lillie & Reed v Newcastle City Council & Ors). She has also been involved in many of the leading cases that, in recent years, have helped to shape the offer of amends procedure.
Career
Called
1974 Called to the Bar
1999 Silk
1999 Year of Recorder
Education
Godolphin School, Salisbury
University of Kent at Canterbury (B.A. Social Science)
Qualifications
Called to the Bar (Middle Temple)
Assistant Recorder (1995 - 1999)
Recorder (1999 - 2004)
Areas of work
- Defamation
- Privacy and Confidence
- Harassment
- Human Rights
- Injunctive Relief
- Media Law
Verbatim
‘utterly formidable’
Legal 500
Testimonials
Named "Defamation Silk of the Year" in the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards 2010.
Recommended as a "Leading Silk" in defamation and privacy in both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 every year since taking silk.
She has been described, in recent entries, as: a 'canny class act' … is valued for being conscientious and hard-working.
"She's very strategic, bonds well with clients and transmits her arguments to the court beautifully," say observers. Page represented Simon Singh against the British Chiropractic Association at first instance and on his successful appeal(Chambers & Partners, 2010);
'She has a good head for the law', 'an excellent grasp of the technical side and a full command of the interrelationship of different issues in any given case'" (Chambers & Partners, 2009); According to many, 'her calm, ice-maidenly style is extremely effective' and she has 'a wonderful way of putting everybody at ease when the pressure is on' (Chambers & Partners, 2008); "'Tough and gutsy, yet charming and elegant'….. Clients admire her 'engaging court manner'….They also point to the fact that she is 'incredibly nice, sympathetic and a joy to deal with'" (Chambers & Partners, 2007); "...a 'first-class advocate', much thought of because her manner is impeccable''' (Legal 500, 2007).
Earlier editions described her "like a Trojan yet is always available and approachable" (Legal 500, 2004). "She is good at quickly cutting through and finding solutions" (Chambers & Partners, 2005). She "puts in a 'frankly stupendous effort' according to rivals; she 'rolls her sleeves up and is a pleasure to work with'" (Chambers & Partners, 2003-4).
Jointly short-listed (with Adam Speker for the Liberty/Justice Human Rights Lawyer of the Year 2003 for Lillie & Reed v Newcastle City Council [2002] EWHC 1600.
Memberships
Bencher of the Middle Temple
Publications
(17 Oct 2002)