5RB : Barristers : Andrew Monson

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Andrew Monson

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Andrew is a versatile barrister with extensive experience of, and expertise in, jury advocacy; heavyweight IP, commercial and common law litigation, including advocacy in the Chancery Division against leading IP silks; media, entertainment and sports law.

Over the years he has acted against for and against all the national newspapers; major broadcasters such as the BBC, ITN and Channel Four; and various internet service providers. Claimant clients include many well known figures from the worlds of entertainment, the media, sport and politics. Identified as a leader in his field by Legal 500, he was described as "a cool customer" who delivers "sound, down to earth advice" (Legal 500, 2007 edition).

He is the lead author of Privacy and the Administration of Justice, and a co-author of Privacy and Copyright, chapters in Privacy and The Media (OUP, 2002). His human rights expertise has been enhanced through sitting as an Immigration Judge since April 2002 and deciding asylum and deportation appeals.

His recent reported cases include acting for the claimant in Sharma v Associated Newspapers (Eady J and Jury April 2008: successful libel claim by Air India executive falsely accused of sexually molesting staff at Heathrow); two long-running libel claims by champion jockey Kieren Fallon against The News of the World and The Racing Post over false race-fixing allegations, which have been resolved in his favour; defending jockey Stuart Webster against corruption charges in HRA discplinary proceedings (Webster was found not guility of stopping horses or of promising to do so); Kewell v Lineker (Eady J and Jury: acted for Australian international in libel trial over article by Gary Lineker in Sunday Telegraph about his transfer to Liverpool - the result was a draw); Unicorn Strategies PLC & Anor v London General Holdings & Ors (defended multinational insurance group in heavweight IP action concerning allegations of breach of copyright and commercial confidentiality and involving difficult questions about the scope of protection afforded by legal advice privilege after Three Rivers, questions which were largely resolved in the defendants' favour; he also succeeded in Court of Appeal in overturning an award against the defendants for loss of profit damages); Vassiliev v Frank Cass & Co (Eady J and Jury: successful fair comment and qualified privilege defence of publisher over allegations in learned article published on internet that a former KGB officer turned journalist had misrepresented the content of secret KGB files when seeking to prove that a high-ranking official in the US government was a Soviet agent during the Cold war).