When
Tuesday July 30th, from 6pm - 7:30pm BSTWhere
Online via Zoom.Format
There'll be a great line-up of speakers plus ample scope for discussion and debate.About the book...
This timely and important book focuses on the controversial issue of SLAPP cases – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – which are designed to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with aggressive opposing lawyers, heavy legal costs and enquiry agents until they abandon the case.
David Hooper, veteran media lawyer, explores how the power of money enabled the very wealthy to crush their critics and outlines the tactics they used.
He examines how billionaire oligarchs, often ex-convicts and linked to organised crime, have tried to launder their reputation in this country by suing for libel, and how they have found lawyers only too happy to pocket their roubles.
Hooper describes his experience with some of these oligarchs, including Boris Berezovsky when Hooper needed an armed bodyguard while collecting evidence in Moscow. It was a case where both plaintiffs were ultimately murdered, as was his client, the editor of Forbes Russia.
The UK also has its home-grown Slappsters, of whom Nadhim Zahawi and Mohamed Amersi are the most recent examples. They also come from Greece, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Malta and the United States. Hooper describes how those with something to hide tried, with varying degrees of success, to stop you knowing about it, and how their lawyers were willing to help them. The well-paid legal profession does not emerge with credit.
About the author...
DAVID HOOPER
David Hooper is a veteran media lawyer who has predominantly acted for defendants championing the cause of free speech. He has represented newspapers, news agencies, publishers, magazines, television, insurance companies, charities, and not for profit organisations in United Kingdom, United States and in Europe. He has also represented a serving President, a serving Prime Minister, politicians, members of Special Forces, actors, musicians, impressarios and businessmen.
David Hooper took on the early SLAPPsters like Maxwell, the Aga Khan and Al Fayed and acted in cases against the likes of Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch, and required an armed guard while gathering evidence.
He represented the Sunday Times in a key freedom of speech case when it was established that a county council could not sue for damage to its governing reputation. He acted for Peter Wright in the Spycatcher case in Australia and for the publishers of the Harry Potter books and represented Andy McNab when the Ministry of Defence tried to injunct his memoir Immediate Action. However, he has never acted for an oligarch.
Before writing Buying Silence: How Oligarchs, Corporations and Plutocrats Use the Law to Gag their Critics, he has written three widely acclaimed books on media subjects, “Public Scandal, Odium and Contempt,” “Official Secrets: The Use and Abuse of the Act,” and “Reputations Under Fire: Winners and Losers in the Libel Business”. He has written many articles on media law topics, lectured to journalists and publishers on media law and participated in television and radio programs and podcasts.
