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David Sherborne
Profile
David Sherborne is a media and entertainment barrister practising at 5RB, who specialises in privacy, confidentiality and defamation, with additional expertise in sports and matrimonial cases. He is particularly well-known for his extensive reputation management practice, as well as his pre-publication injunction work.
Although the majority of the celebrities and high-profile individuals David has acted for are confidential, his representation of the following clients is a matter of public record: Diana, the late Princess of Wales; Benazhir Bhutto; Cherie and Tony Blair; Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones; Ewan McGregor; Sienna Miller; Nicole Kidman; Jennifer Aniston; Mick Jagger; Liam and Noel Gallagher; the Spice Girls; Claudia Schiffer; Kate Moss;; Mike Tyson; Ricky Hatton; Don King; Lewis Hamilton; Rio Ferdinand; Kieron Dyer; David Beckham; Ashley Cole; Craig Bellamy; Ledley King and Sven Goren Eriksson. He has also advised many well-known companies, such as Elite Model Agency, WPP, Norwich Union, MORI and Hays plc, as well as most of the press and media organisations in this country.
David has been involved in a number of landmark privacy decisions, such as Douglas v Hello! and McKennitt v Ash. He also represented Max Mosley in his action against the News of the World, as well as in his complaint to Strasbourg.
He is currently sole counsel for all the Core Participant Victims in the Leveson Inquiry (Including McCanns, the Dowler family, Chris Jefferies, JK Rowling and Hugh Grant). He is also one of the lead counsel for the claimants in the hacking litigation, individually representing amongst others Sienna Miller, Jude Law, Kelly Hoppen, Sara Payne, Charlotte Church and Shaun Russell in their claims.
In addition, he is representing Peter Andre in his libel action against Katie Price and the worldwide sports agency IMG in its defamation claim against Giles Clarke, the head of the ECB.
He has also been responsible for obtaining all of the anti-paparazzi injunctions on behalf of well-known people such as Cheryl Cole, David Walliams, Sienna Miller, Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, protecting them from being hounded by photographic agencies and paparazzi photographers. He recently obtained the injunction on behalf of the mother of Hugh Grant’s child who was being pursued following the disclosure of her relationship to the outspoken opponent of tabloid press culture.
As one of his additional specialisms, David has also carved himself a niche advising in relation to high net-worth or high-profile divorces, especially in respect of media, confidentiality and disclosure issues. As well as having been involved in almost all of the recent celebrity or big-money cases, he acted in L v L, the leading authority on the impact of the right to privacy on the Hildebrand principle in matrimonial proceedings, as well as Marco Pierre White v Withers LLP and Imerman v Tchenguiz, the leading cases in this specialist area.
Career
Called
1992 Called to the Bar
Education
University College School, London
New College, Oxford (Classics - 1st Class Honours)
College of Law, London (CPE exam - Commendation)
Inns of Court School of Law (Bar Finals: Very competent)
Qualifications
Senior and Junior Scholar of Gray's Inn
Areas of work
- Defamation
- Privacy and Confidence
- Sports Law
- Intellectual Property
- Human Rights
- Injunctive Relief
- Media Law
- Professional Negligence
Verbatim
"continues to be a leader in the privacy field and proves fantastically engaging in all he does." Known for his "sparkling advocacy," he has appeared in the landmark JIH v News Group Newspapers privacy cases, amongst others.
the ‘brilliant’ David Sherborne
has a niche practice relating to the media and confidentiality issues in high-net-worth and high-profile divorces
Testimonials
...'a combination of it all: academically cutting edge; commercially aware; and juries love him' [Chambers and Partners 2003]
...one of 'the legal stars of 2003...the senior junior of choice in almost every high-profile media case of the year.' [The Lawyer's Hot 100 for 2004]
'The 'brilliant' David Sherborne is for many 'the first port of call' and noted as a 'highflyer with exceptional efficieny and speed' [Chambers and Partners 2006, where he was recommended in both the Defamation & Privacy and Media and Entertainment sections]
'...charismatic and clever... Sherborne ('a silk in junior's clothing') has represented many celebrities, including Jennifer Aniston and David Beckham, and is a favourite for privacy matters and pre-publication injunction work.' [Legal 500 2006, where he was recommended in both the Defamation & Privacy and Media and Entertainment sections]
Profiled in June 2003 Legal Business "Rising above Hollywood"
Shortlisted in The Lawyers' 2004 Awards as Barrister of the Year.
“Privacy is not just about the right to be left alone. It’s far wider than that. It’s about the freedom to make personal choices. Choices which those outside the glare of celebrity take for granted but which for those within it may be seen as a luxury. What do I mean ? We make these choices everyday, without even thinking about it. We make choices as to what sort of personal information we disclose and to whom we choose to disclose it. You might only want to tell your partner or close family or you might wish to share something with a slightly wider group of friends or work colleagues. That doesn’t mean that you would choose to tell everyone, let alone a national newspaper. Although public figures have to accept a degree of interest and therefore intrusion into their private lives, why shouldn’t they share that freedom of personal choice?”
Speech to British Association for Sport & Law,
“Privacy and Personality rights” October 2003
Publications
(17 Oct 2002)