Who? Howard Jones, 56-year-old managing partner at London firm Sheridans, who specialises in media and entertainment law.

Why is he in the news? With fellow media and entertainment partner Stephen Taylor, he represented pop singer Robbie Williams, who accepted substantial damages last week over false allegations that he is secretly homosexual. The People newspaper and Star and Hot Stars magazines published stories last year alleging that Mr Williams had picked up strangers in a Manchester nightclub and engaged in casual homosexual sex. The libel action settled after publishers Mirror Group Newspapers and Northern & Shell accepted at a hearing in the High Court that the allegations were untrue and agreed to pay undisclosed damages and print prominent apologies.


Background: After gaining a law degree, he completed his five-year articles with Guildford firm Hart Brown & Co. He qualified in 1975 and then joined Sheridans, becoming a partner in 1980. Mr Jones became managing partner in 2001.


Route to the case: 'We have acted for Robbie Williams for the last four years. He brought us in when he signed his big deal with EMI and we have done all his work since then.'


Thoughts on the case: 'The allegations made were that Robbie Williams had lied about his sexuality. He had recently had a very frank biography [Feel] published, and the publications suggested that he was lying about his sexuality in it. The case turned upon the veracity of what Robbie had been saying; it was not to do with his sexuality. The publishers involved rightly accepted that their allegations were false and agreed to pay damages. People with such a high profile are unfortunately subject to this type of wrongful claim - it's just a fact of life.'


Dealing with the media: 'As a firm we deal with a lot of this sort of work, but it doesn't always get publicised as much as in this case. It's understandable that because Robbie Williams has such a high profile, the media would be interested in it and report it widely. Most of the people we have dealt with have been very professional.'