Who? Richard Slowe, 60-year-old head of advocacy at City firm SJ Berwin.


Why is he in the news? He acted for OK! in its dispute with rival magazine Hello! over the publication of 'spoiler' photographs of the wedding of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones.



OK! had entered into a £1 million contract for exclusive rights to the Douglas's wedding photographs, but an uninvited paparazzi managed to take his own pictures and sell them to rival magazine Hello!



After winning in the High Court and then losing at the Court of Appeal, Northern & Shell (the publishers of OK!) instructed SJ Berwin. The Law Lords ruled in favour of OK! on the question of breach of confidentiality but not on unlawful interference.



Background: Mr Slowe qualified as a solicitor by becoming an articled clerk in his father's firm, Malcolm Slowe & Co, for five years from 1964. He was called to the bar in 1975 and was head of chambers for 14 years before joining SJ Berwin as head of the advocacy group. He was the first solicitor-advocate to appear in the High Court.



Route to the case: He had acted for Northern & Shell on various matters before. The client was disappointed to have lost at the Court of Appeal and thought that a new legal team would bring some fresh thinking to the case.



Thoughts on the case: 'The case raised a number of important issues. One was that it is now possible to have confidentiality over the entire media aspect of an event and not just image rights over individual photographs.



'Another was that the ruling drew a clear distinction between the public and private lives of celebrities. Coverage of the Douglas's public life, for example when they are at the premiere of a film and are fully expecting to be photographed, is not confidential. But they are entitled to a private life too, such as on their wedding day. If there is media interest in their private life, celebrities are entitled to control it such as by, as in this case, choosing which photos are used.



'And thirdly, the Law Lords ruled that it was no defence to argue that Hello! hadn't intended to harm the complainant's business, but only to profit its own. The intention to use the "spoiler" photos to benefit Hello! was held to be an intention to devalue its rival's £1 million investment in an exclusive deal. This has wide implications for all economic torts.'



Dealing with the media: 'I've had many dealings with the media over the years, with such high-profile cases as the miners' strike, Michael Fagan's nocturnal visit to the Queen's bedroom, my representing Sandline in the arms-to-Africa affair - in which The Times publication on its front page of my letter to Robin Cook was the turning point - and advising various Lloyd's names. I believe it's helpful to have an open relationship with the press. If you normally give a fair answer, they will respect it if you have to tell them that - in this particular instance - you're not free to make a comment.'



Jonathan Rayner