Ben Hamer - 5RB Barristers - media and communications law barrister

Ben joined 5RB in 2018. He specialises in privacy, defamation and data protection law, acting for both claimants and defendants. Examples of Ben’s recent work include:

Acting for the successful claimant in Blackledge v Person(s) Unknown where libel and harassment damages of £70,000 were awarded against the Defendant. This was the first case where a section 13 order has been made against Google (the operator of the defamatory blog) to remove a site.
Acting for actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard in a privacy claim against the Mail Online in Bell Shepard v Associated Newspapers (led by Greg Callus).
Acting for Coleen Rooney in the ongoing Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney libel action (led by David Sherborne).
Acting for the Claimants in the ongoing phone hacking litigation against The Sun and former News of the World relating to a large number of claims from celebrities and others in respect of phone hacking and other unlawful activities.
Advising the successful claimant in the first privacy injunction of a British Overseas Territory.
Instructed by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in the ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry, chaired by Sir John Mitting.
Advising and successfully resisting a data protection appeal in the First-Tier Tribunal on behalf of a non-departmental public body.

Ben provides pre-publication advice to various publications such as The Times and The Sunday Times as well as HarperCollins and Bloomsbury publishers. He is security cleared to SC level.

Ben began as a tenant at 5RB after successful completion of pupillage at Chambers. His supervisors were Adam Wolanski QC, Jonathan Barnes QC, Richard Munden and Adam Speker QC.

During pupillage, cases with which Ben assisted included:

NT1/NT2 v Google: the first ‘right to be forgotten’ case in England & Wales
Monir v Wood: a week-long Twitter libel trial
Zarb-Cousin v ABB: preliminary issue of meaning and serious harm in a defamatory broadcast
Reid v Price: interim injunction in privacy and confidence

Ben was called to the Bar in 2017 at Lincoln’s Inn, where he was a Lord Bowen and Lord Denning scholar.

In 2017, Ben was presented with the Benjamin Franklin House Literary Prize, run in conjunction with the Daily Telegraph, for his writing on free speech, social media and ‘fake news’. As an undergraduate, he edited Palatinate, where he won the Hunter Davies Prize for Student Journalism.

Scholarships and Awards

Hubert Greenland Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
Lord Denning Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
Lord Bowen Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
Hardwicke Entrance Award (Lincoln’s Inn)
Buchanan Prize (Lincoln’s Inn)
Advocacy Scholarship (University of Law, Bloomsbury)
Law First Scholarship (University of Law, Moorgate)
5 Paper Buildings Prize for Cross-Examination (University of Law, Bloomsbury)
Resolution of Disputes Out of Court Prize (University of Law, Bloomsbury)
Judicial Review Prize (University of Law, Bloomsbury)
Maltby Exhibition (best dissertation)
How Prize (top First in Finals)
Maltby Prize (best mark in year)

Called

2017 Called to the Bar of England and Wales

Education

University of Law, Bloomsbury (BPTC: Outstanding)
University of Law, Moorgate (GDL: Distinction)
University of Oxford (MSt)
University of Durham (BA (Hons): First Class)

Areas of work

Privacy and Confidence
Harassment
Defamation and Malicious Falsehood
Data Protection and Information Law
Pre-publication Advice
Reporting the Courts and Contempt
Human Rights
Injunctive Relief