Consequentials hearing in Lawrence & Ors v Associated

The High Court has made various orders in the misuse of private information actions brought by seven Claimants against the publisher of The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, and the MailOnline website.

Nicklin J had, in a judgment handed down on 10 November, dismissed an application by Associated Newspapers Limited seeking summary judgment on (or the striking out of) the Claimants’ claims on the basis that they were time-barred. An application seeking to have parts of the Claimants’ claims struck out unless Ministerial permission was sought to vary restriction orders made during the Leveson Inquiry had succeeded on one of the grounds advanced by ANL.

Today, Nicklin J heard submissions on costs and other consequentials. Among other matters, the Judge ordered ANL to pay the Claimants’ costs of the limitation application, and the Claimants to pay 75% of ANL’s costs of the restriction order application; he rejected a submission that the Claimants should pay those costs on the indemnity basis. Temporary reporting restrictions sought by ANL and granted at the March hearing concerning restriction order-related material remain in force for the time being.

5RB’s David SherborneJulian SantosBen Hamer and Luke Browne act for the Claimants, instructed by Hamlins LLP, gunnercooke and Thomson Heath & Associates.