Lee & Thompson LLP

Dispute Resoluition and Reputation protection 

Mike is a partner in the Dispute Resolution department and head of the firm's Reputation Protection Group.

He joined Lee & Thompson in 1998 and has played a key role in creating the firm's reputation for quality dispute resolution, handling the full range of copyright and contractual disputes for clients within the industries of music, film, television and sport, and ranging from artists and actors to record labels and production companies.

Much of his work involves protecting the reputation of some of the firm’s highest profile clients. Various battles with the press have been fought and won for well-known names, such as One Direction and its members, Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne, Frankie Boyle, Paul Hollywood, Christopher Eccleston and Charlotte Church. He has also acted for a number of prominent figures in industry and politics, even royalty.

In 2017, Mike successfully represented His Highness Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco in the Court of Appeal in a libel and Data Protection Act claim against the online publisher Elaph.  The case has been the subject of much academic discussion in the ongoing debate as to whether claims under the DPA for the “tort of inaccuracy” now provide Claimants with an alternative, often easier, route to vindication than the traditional libel route.

In 2016 Mike obtained the much talked about privacy injunction against the Mail on Sunday preventing it from publishing details of a police investigation which the Court found attracted a “reasonable expectation of privacy” (ERY v Associated Newspapers). 2016 also saw Mike and his team acting for dozens of claimants and recovering substantial damages for them in the high profile hacking litigation against the Daily Mirror.

In 2014 Mike secured a rare anti-harassment injunction against the paparazzi for Harry Styles, for which he was acknowledged as Lawyer of the Week by The Times newspaper.

In 2012 Mike ran what is likely to have been the last ever trial by jury in a defamation action, successfully suing the Mirror on behalf of longstanding client Frankie Boyle who obtained damages of over £50,000 after the paper wrongly labelled him a racist.

Also fully immersed in the film and television world, Mike has a significant copyright and defamation clearance practice acting for producer clients on major feature films and television productions, including the Oasis documentary “Supersonic“, “The Theory of Everything” and “The Darkest Hour” for Working Title; and “Broadchurch” for Kudos.

Qualified 1995.