Lawyer in the news

Who? John Kings (pictured), 67, consultant for south-east firm Buss Murton.

Why is he in the news? Represented former diplomat John Yapp, who was suspended as high commissioner of Belize in 2008 after false claims he touched a woman inappropriately at an official function. He sued the Foreign Office for breach of duty of care and of his employment rights.

Last week a High Court judge ordered the FCO to pay Yapp £320,000 in damages and £150,000 in legal costs.

Who? Adam Copeland, 48, clinical negligence associate at east England firm Tees Law.

Why is he in the news? Acting for the mother of a severely disabled child whose sudden death has left her liable to repay £375,000 of an interim payment she spent funding his care programme and modified home.

Deborah Mackay’s son, Calum, was born with spina bifida and other conditions that rendered him unable to have a mainstream education or obtain future employment. He was dependent on 24-hour care.

Who: Tamsin Allen, 49, media and information law partner at London firm Bindmans.

Why is she in the news? Acted for Hackney resident Leslie Austin who during the August 2011 London riots helped victims and the police, but in May 2012 found that his photograph was on wanted posters in shops and other public places and also on a police website for having been ‘involved in the disorder’.

Who? Kathy Mathews, 32, media solicitor at London, Belfast and Dublin firm Johnsons.

Why is she in the news? Acted for former police ombudsman Baroness Nuala O’Loan in her defamation action against the Democratic Unionist Party’s chair of the Stormont Justice Committee, Paul Givan.

Who? Stephen Chittenden, 62, senior partner and head of crime at East Midlands firm Smith Partnership.

Why is he in the news? Acted for Michael Philpott, 56, jailed for life on 4 April after being found guilty of killing six of his children in a house fire that Philpott started.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Philpott had started the fire in an attempt to frame his former girlfriend, Lisa Willis, 29, after she had left the family home with her children three months earlier.

Who? Shamik Dutta, 34, police misconduct and civil rights solicitor at London firm Bhatt Murphy.

Why is he in the news? Acted for political campaigner John Catt, 88, from Brighton, who took to the Court of Appeal a claim that the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Metropolitan Police commissioner had acted unlawfully in retaining data about him on an extremism database.

Who? Anthony Wilson, 52, professional support lawyer at Merseyside firm Camps.

Why is he in the news? He acts for over 4,500 clients in Merseyside who are part of one of the largest group actions in the country. Over 10,000 people have joined the action over claims that toxic fumes caused health problems to residents after an eight-day fire at a local factory in 2011. The Portuguese company Sonae Industria, which owned the factory, has admitted liability for the blaze, subject to causation.

Who? Natalie Prosser, 35, head of legal at examinations regulator Ofqual.

Why is she in the news? Helped Ofqual rebuff an attempt by a consortium of 167 pupils, 150 schools, 42 local authorities and six professional bodies, including teachers’ unions, to overturn GCSE English grades awarded in summer 2012. The consortium brought judicial review proceedings against Ofqual and two exam boards because, it was claimed, the marks required to achieve a grade C had been increased unlawfully between the January 2012 GCSE exams and the June 2012 exams.

Who? Kevin Skinner, 33, family and children’s solicitor at London firm Goodman Ray.

Why is he in the news? Acted in a landmark case where the High Court ruled that sperm donors who know the parents to whom they donated may apply for contact with their biological children.

This was previously prohibited under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 because donors had no legal relationship with the children.