Price offers tricks of the trade

Defamation Law, Procedure and Practice, Second EditionBy David PriceSweet & Maxwell, 75Amber Melville-BrownThe foreword to this book was written by the late...Defamation Law, Procedure and Practice, Second EditionBy David PriceSweet & Maxwell, 75Amber Melville-BrownThe foreword to this book was written by the late, great libel lawyer George Carman QC, loved by those in the security of the jury box, but feared by those in the witness box.

Mr Carman was happy to warmly recommend the book.

For the author and young pretender to the libel throne, this must be a treasured reminder of the silk many consider to have been the greatest ever libel barrister.

Sentimentality aside, I am happy to follow in the footsteps of Mr Carman and warmly recommend this book.It was in 1997 that the first edition of Defamation Law, Procedure and Practice muscled its way onto the bookshelves, between the defamation textbook stalwarts of Gatley and Carter-Ruck.

This paperback first edition, an impudent newcomer alongside these respected and traditional texts, was well received as a readable and informative alternative/addition.

Four years on, and the second edition is a bigger and more mature version of the first.David Price and his trainee, Kate Lissanevitch, have had their work cut out for them.

Much has changed in the world of defamation.

The civil procedure rules are now well in place, the remainder of the Defamation Act 1996 has been implemented, as has the Human Rights Act 1998, and significant impact has been made through the extension and clarification of the defence of qualified privilege in Reynolds v Times Newspapers and its progeny.

In addition, the Internet has become an important means of communication whereby defamatory allegations can be published worldwide at the touch of a button.

This book deals with all those issues, updating the chapters in the first edition and including new chapters specifically on these new matters.The book is divided into three parts.

The first deals with what the claimant must prove to bring an action in defamation.

There are the usual chapters on, for example, defamatory meaning, publication, slander and malicious falsehood.

The second part deals with defences, including justification, fair comment and privilege.

These chapters have had to be updated as a result of extensions to the defence of absolute privilege through the Defamation Act 1996 and qualified privilege on matters of public interest through the case of Reynolds; there is a whole chapter relating to the implications of this case.The third section deals with remedies and includes, as one would expect, chapters on damages, injunctions and apologies.

However, Mr Price includes advice as well as law in chapters such as General considerations for the claimants; only start if you intend to finish and General considerations for the defendants Hold or fold from day one.

Unusually for a defamation textbook, Mr Prices work does not stick to the letter of the law, but also hypothesises on procedural and practical considerations which should be of interest and of use to the practitioner.

Indeed in his preface, he says he seeks to provide a solid and clear exposition of the law and to reveal some of the tricks of the trade.

That surely will be enough to send a number of defendant practitioners, who lock horns with Mr Price, out to buy the book.This joint practical and procedural approach is one of the driving forces behind the book.

According to Mr Price (one hopes tongue in cheek given the overblown prose): Success cannot be achieved by virtue of compendious legal erudition.

It is the practical advice and assistance that makes this book different.The reader is taken through a trial from start to finish, from the statement of case, through summary disposal, disclosure and case management to trial and appeal.

It includes advice on summary disposal, disclosure, exchange of witness statements and a detailed analysis, described as a brief step-by-step guide of the trial itself.It is clear from this practical analysis that the author is himself a solicitor-advocate and used to appearing before the court.

This might prove to be of assistance and interest to those who rarely do so themselves, or to trainees and others who aspire to do so but have lacked the opportunity and/or confidence thus far.In this same vein, there is a thorough chapter on the difficult subject of costs, in which Mr Price was assisted by the costs draftsman Andy Ellis of Ellis Grant.

This chapter includes advice for the practitioner which may seem obvious, such as keeping good notes and records, but which is no doubt often forgotten, to the detriment of the quaking lawyer before the costs judge.As with the first edition, this book concludes with useful appendices, including a section of precedents from the letter of claim to a consent order on settlement and a statement in open court.

It also includes the Defamation Acts 1952 and 1996, and the Human Rights Act 1998.

An exceptionally well-organised and useful appendix is the schedule of defamation trials since 1990, which sets out briefly the matter of complaint, the defence pleaded, a short commentary and details of the result including any damages awarded.And if all that is not enough to persuade you, then one final thought.

The book is environmentally friendly, proudly proclaiming that No natural forests were destroyed to make this product; only farmed timber was used and replanted.

Well done to Mr Price and to the publishers.Amber Melville-Brown is head of defamation at London firm Finers Stephens Innocent