Summary judgment in a “Solicitors from Hell” case

This post originally appeared on Media Lawyer, the indispensable subscription service from the Press Association covering all aspects of media law.  It is reproduced with permission and thanks.

A solicitor who was defamed by an anonymous posting on the Solicitors from Hell website won summary judgment and libel damages of £17,500 from Rick Kordowski, the man who set up and runs the site. Courts rarely grant summary judgment in defamation cases, doing so only when a defendant has no defence to the action.

Grand Chamber Hearing: Von Hannover (No.2) and Springer v Germany

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human rights yesterday heard the conjoined applications in Von Hannover v Germany and Springer v Germany. At the two hour hearing a bench of 17 judges heard oral submissions from Professor Walter on behalf of the German government, Dr Börger on behalf of Axel Springer  and Professor Prinz (who appeared in Von Hannover (No.1)) on behalf of the Von Hannover applicants.  Judgment was reserved and is unlikely to be given for at least 3 months.  There is a webcast of the hearing (best viewed using Internet Explorer).