Michael Coyle, Lawdit Solicitors

Who? Michael Coyle, 41-year-old managing director and commercial and intellectual property solicitor-advocate at Southampton law firm Lawdit Solicitors.

Why is he in the news? He has offered to represent free of charge people facing prosecution by games creator Topware Interactive (TI) for alleged copyright infringement.

The offer follows the prosecution of Isabella Barwinska, who was accused of putting the TI game Dream Pinball 3D on to a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Barwinska, a single mother from London, has been ordered to pay more than £6,000 in damages and £10,000 in legal costs.

London law firm Davenport Lyons says it has been instructed by TI to bring ‘a substantial number of new cases’.

Thoughts on the case: ‘The case appeals to my sense of fair play. TI is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

‘And yet no case has ever been tested in court. Isabella Barwinska failed to make an appearance or enter a defence.

‘By offering to defend future cases for free, I am encouraging defendants to fight the charges. That way we can ensure legal arguments are heard and nobody is too scared of legal costs to stick up for themselves.’

A Davenport Lyons spokeswoman said it was confident it would win cases when a defendant was both present and represented.

Dealing with the media: ‘The phone and email haven’t stopped. I hadn’t expected such a response, particularly over a bank holiday weekend.’

Career highpoint: ‘Starting my own firm, Lawdit, seven years ago and becoming a solicitor-advocate in October 2006.’

Career lowpoint: ‘I was a trainee making a police station visit. The officers, who thought it was a huge joke, directed me to the exit from the cells – except the ‘exit’ brought me to the dock in the courtroom above. There was no defendant, just me and a judge who looked decidedly unamused.’