Solicitors in London, (such as IBB Solicitors), should ready for a chaotic beginning of 2011. The cause of the predicted swathe of recent cases is essentially as a result of the case against News International which owns the News of the World (a British paper). The suggestions and convictions in relation to phone hacking may end up being an incredibly pricey error of judgement by the UK tabloid.
Andy Coulson, who had previously been the editor of the News of the World and is now the British Prime Minister’s communications director, which is a top earning civil servant job, has faced considerable strain as the number of legal claims continues to grow.
Some may claim that the problems actually started in September 2010 when The Times (another British newspaper) revealed that as reported by News of the World staff, Andy Coulson encouraged reporters to unlawfully access voicemail messages and that he was present throughout numerous discussions on the matter.
Despite this, the Crown Prosecution service ruled in December 2010 that there was too little evidence to charge Andy Coulson with regards to claims that he was aware of the hacking at the newspaper. Apparently, those who made the allegations weren’t prepared to present admissible proof.
In 2006, private investigator Glenn Mulcaire’s house got raided by police as part of the newspaper telephone hacking investigation. Until recently the evidence collected from the raid had not been disclosed, but recently London solicitors were able to force London’s Metropolitan Police to at last disclose the evidence.
This may lead to millions of pounds being compensated by The News of the World, provided the evidence demonstrates that the newspaper’s telephone hacking was on a widespread size rather than just one individual.
A further and much more considerable impact of these cases may be the impact it may have on the Prime Minister’s director of communications, who would be the man accountable for such procedures. It is possible that under such strain his position may be untenable.
Regardless, it will be intriguing to see how solicitors in London, such as IBB Solicitors, respond to the reports, possible outcomes and any repercussions proceeding into 2011
