Martin Soames
Simons Muirhead Burton
Simons Muirhead Burton
Client SatisfactionSimons Muirhead Burton fields an experienced and specialist publishing team led by Martin Soames, who is well-known in the industry for his work with editors, journalists, publishers and content providers. Covering both contentious and non-contentious matters, the practice has placed a recent emphasis on growing its IP, non-contentious technology and data capabilities to advise industry players on emerging issues such as AI. Regulatory matters involving IPSO, Ofcom and ICO also feature on the team's workload. Key names to note in the practice include: publishing specialist Simon Goldberg; Maninder Gill, who draws on his former experience as a legal director of a newspaper to assist publishers with commercial and IP issues; media disputes specialist Jeffrey Smele, who also advises on pre-publication clearance; Raoul Lumb, who focuses on digital content and distribution matters; and Stephen Shortnes, who concentrates on pre-publication issues.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘This is one of the best media defence firms in the country. It has great experience and expertise in defending journalists, writers and publishers.’
‘Simon Muirhead Burton is our go-to firm for libel reads and legal advice. We have been working with them for well over a decade. They are thorough and speedy in their responses, always giving, for example, a context and overview of UK libel law to be shared with author and literary agent. They are sensitive in their comments, have never let us down, and are incredibly supportive throughout even the most complex of legal reads.’
‘Martin Soames has worked with us for many years. I cannot praise his experience, his wisdom in all things legal and book-related, and his excellent manner of communication highly enough. His background is in publishing which means that he understands our needs, confidentiality, how fast we must move to turn around a legal read when a book is crashed into the schedule. He is calm and thorough in his approach, shows a real interest in the projects that he is working on and we know that we can trust him at every level.’
‘Jeffrey Smele and Emma Lynch are clever media lawyers who give careful and clear advice.’
'Strength in-depth when it comes to supporting media clients. It is not just the experience of working with clients at the highest level and on cases which can be very complex. It is the understanding of what the client is trying to achieve and the particular market and pressures they are under.'
'Martin Soames and Andrew Wheelhouse are responsive, positive and crystal clear in their advice. They all get what we are trying to do and will do their utmost to help us achieve that.'
Key clients
- Immediate Media
- Atlantic Books
- Penguin Random House
- Simon & Schuster UK, Simon & Schuster LLC
- Quarto
- Faber & Faber
- News UK
- Ahlebait TV Networks Limited
- LADBible Group
- The Royal Institute of International Affairs
- James Ball
Work highlights
- Advising Immediate Media on the regulatory position regarding the publisher’s existing and planned video on demand (VOD) services.
- Advised Atlantic Books on all its publishing matters, including the challenges posed by the popular use of AI chat bots and solution providers, and specifically on updating the publisher’s contracts to deal with this.
- Advised Penguin Random House on non-traditional media in the B2C field for publications such as "Talking Pen" language books (moving data from China to the UK, and from the UK to China).
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Emma Linch
Simons Muirhead BurtonPractice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Martin Soames