Christina Michalos KC
Call: 1994 Silk: 2019
Call: 1994 Silk: 2019
Christina Michalos KC is a leading specialist in media and privacy law, reputation management and soft intellectual property law, particularly copyright law. She also specialises in related work, including data protection, freedom of information and sports law. She is known as a leading practitioner in image rights work and is the author of The Law of Photography and Digital Images (Sweet & Maxwell). She has a particular interest and expertise in issues arising from internet user generated content and social networking sites.
Before taking silk Christina was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel of advocates and has extensive public law experience, particularly in relation to prisons and the armed forces. Appointment to the AG’s Panel is by open competition and highly competitive and automatically ceases upon a barrister becoming King’s Counsel.
Christina was appointed Silk in 2019. In the 100 years in which women have been able to become barristers (since the Sex Disqualification Removal Act 1919), at the time she was appointed Queen’s Counsel, she became then only the fifth female QC specialising in media and defamation law to attain that rank.
Her high profile work includes acting for the successful defendant in Sube v Newsgroup & Express Newspapers (harassment by media publication): for the Met Police throughout the Leveson Inquiry (phone hacking); for Ministry of Defence in Axon v MoD (successfully defeating privacy claim brought by a Naval warship commander); as counsel for the successful Claimant in Clift v Slough Borough Council (jury trial & Court of Appeal) the leading decision on Article 8 and qualified privilege and acting for Associated Newspapers Ltd in the copyright and privacy claim brought by HRH the Prince of Wales.
Since taking silk, Christina has been instructed by leading media organisations and broadcasters to conduct independent internal reviews into allegations of breaches of ethics and best practice. She has also provided expert defamation and Maxwellisation advice to a number of very high profile independent inquiries across a wide variety of fields including banking, finance, social services and media.
Christina has acted for many high-profile celebrities and, in particular, premiership footballers in respect of privacy matters, the details of which are necessarily confidential. She has a reputation for being particularly skilled at resolving such matters at a pre-publication stage without the need for litigation. She successfully acted in a landmark case for a footballer in persuading the FA Regulatory Commission to remove a copy of a historic tweet from its decision prior to publication: Bola v FA.
She acted for the Attorney General in The Board of the Tate Gallery v Her Majesty’s Attorney General in relation to reporting restrictions concerning the recovery by the Tate gallery of two paintings by J.M.W. Turner which had been stolen when on loan from the Tate Gallery to the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt following an insurance settlement and option to re-purchase for £24 million if recovered. Christina has a special interest in art and art law related matters. She has been instructed by the Attorney General and by the CPS to act as amicus curiae.
In addition to her intellectual property and media work, she has wide experience of commercial and general common law litigation. Christina has enormous trial advocacy experience having appeared without a leader in numerous trials, in particular appearing on behalf of government departments and cross examining experts. Prior to joining 5RB, she gained considerable experience of commercial cases acting for the Nationwide Building Society and lenders in mortgage litigation, insurance claims and also general common law litigation. She has a strong sense of commercial expediency and practicality which informs her advice.
Media Appearances, Lectures & Seminars
Christina has regularly appeared as a legal commentator on media and sports law issues on Sky News, BBC News 24 and radio. Christina has been a contributor to The Times’ law section since 1999. She appeared as a legal expert on The Grand Tour with Jeremy Clarkson.
Christina has been regularly invited to speak on copyright and media law issues and to chair conferences & panels including: Commonwealth Law Conference, Melbourne (2017); Commonwealth Law Conference Glasgow (2015); MBL Privacy Law Seminar (2011); Press Gazette Media Law Conference (2009, 2008); chaired the Management Forum Media Law Conference (2003, 2005); IBC Protecting the Media Conference and the IBC International Copyright Law Conference (2006).
In October 2003, she was invited to give a series of lectures in Khartoum to the Sudanese Judiciary and lawyers in the Sudan on intellectual property law as part of a Bar Human Rights Committee & British Council joint project.
Christina acts for both Claimants and Defendants in defamation claims. She has extensive experience acting for media defendants and public bodies. Christina has appeared in the Privy Council in respect of defamation matters. She is also regularly instructed in defamation claims within Caribbean jurisdictions including Trinidad & Tobago and the Cayman Islands.
Christina has acted in many high profile cases involving misuse of private information and personal privacy both for Claimants and media defendants.
In addition to expertise in claims concerning personal privacy and misuse of private information, Christina also has vast experience in claims concerning classic breach of confidence and commercial trade secret claims. She has advised and acted for businesses, public bodies and government departments, in many cases involving ex-employees who have been alleged to remove confidential or commercially sensitive information. She also has expertise in overlap with ex-employees seeking to start a new business in breach of restraint of trade clauses using confidential material and passing off claims.
For over 20 years, Christina has acted in Freedom of Information cases and Data Protection cases for numerous government departments before the Upper and First Tier Tribunals. She has vast experience defending FOIA claims in tribunals for public bodies involving difficult and sensitive information. Christina was instructed by the Information Commissioner (interested party) in O’Carroll v Meta, a high profile data protection claim concerning direct marketing by targeted advertisements.
Christina has considerable experience in obtaining injunctions in cases that involve blackmail or allegations of blackmail. She has particular expertise in commercial cases where ex-employees have stolen commercial information or otherwise have a vendetta. She has successfully acted in numerous cases involving non-consensual intimate image abuse (‘revenge porn’) including secret video taping.
Christina Michalos has a particular expertise in dealing with harassment of businesses by disgruntled former employees and obtaining injunctions swiftly. She also has acted in obtaining injunctions for those under threat from group action such as animal rights protesters. Christina acted for the successful defendant in the high profile case of Sube v Express Newspapers , which effectively ended speculative claims for harassment by media reporting holding that freedom of expression requires that nothing short of a conscious or negligent abuse of media freedom could justify a finding of harassment by media publication
Christina is regularly called on to advise media defendants in difficult and sensitive cases requiring senior pre-publication advice including cases where there is a risk of contempt of court.
Since taking silk, she has also provided expert defamation and Maxwellisation pre-publication advice to a number of very high profile independent inquiries across a wide variety of fields including banking, finance and sports law, prior to publication of their reports.
Prior to taking silk, Christina regularly provided pre-publication advice to tabloid newspapers, sports publications and also to news broadcasters in respect of live broadcasts (Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITN News). She also legalled a former daily magazine television show for the entirety of its two year run. She therefore has a great deal of practical experience and understanding of the workings of both print and broadcast media organisations. She is used to advising in a news room and in high pressure situations that are time critical.
Christina Michalos advises regularly in respect of matters concerning media regulation including strategic and tactical advice in respect of correspondence with regulators carrying out investigations such as OFCOM and the Advertising Standards Authority. The hallmark of the success of such advice is a satisfactory resolution without public censure.
Christina acted for the Metropolitan Police during the entirety of the Leveson Enquiry. She gained considerable public law experience acting for the government, including successfully resisting injunction applications to prevent publication of public reports. Christina has acted in a wide variety of judicial review applications ranging from immigration to prisoner categorisation decisions to handling of confidential information. She is well placed to advise in respect of media regulation cases that may have a public law element.
Christina is the Independent Complaints Commissioner to the Financial Times, determining appeals from editorial decisions under the Financial Times Editorial Code of Practice. She is also appointed to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) arbitrator panel and has acted as an arbitrator in disputes under the IPSO Scheme.
Christina has an unusual breadth and depth of experience in the law of contempt. She has both prosecuted and defended committal applications. She has successfully defended newspaper editors required by a Judge to answer apparent breach of a court order. Her expertise in the law of contempt is such that she was instructed by the CPS to provide in effect amicus advice to the Court in R v Harwood (issue of removal of historical newspaper website reports in relation to inadmissible material in a manslaughter trial). She appeared in the Court of Appeal acting for the National Farmers’ Union in relation to committal for breach of an order by an animal rights protester. Christina Michalos was also instructed by the Attorney General to act as an amicus (friend to the Court) in a contempt case before the Court of Appeal.
Christina Michalos has been instructed in reporting restrictions case of particular sensitivity involving death threats and the right to life (Re Al M (Reporting Restrictions Order) [2020] EWHC 702 (Fam)) and allegations of terrorism offences / child radicalisation cases (London Borough of Tower Hamlets v B [2015] EWHC 4159 (Fam).
Christina specialises in all forms of soft intellectual property and has a particular interest and expertise in copyright cases. She has extensive experience in advising in relation to arising from internet user generated content and social networking sites. She is the author of the practitioner text The Law of Photography and Digital Image and is well known as a leading specialist in this field. Cases in which she has acted include leading cases on fair dealing such as Fraser-Woodward Ltd v BBC & Brighter Pictures Ltd and HRH The Prince of Wales v Associated Newspapers Ltd. She acted for ITN in a copyright claim concerning the alleged worlds longest love poem Tumber v ITN.
Character merchandising.
For more information
For more information or to instruct Christina please get in touch with our clerking team, who can deal with your enquiry and provide any required information: