Simon Smith, Managing Partner, Schillings tells us about his work with footballers protecting “image and reputation.”

We’ve acted for seven players for the England first team and in some cases we’ve acted for their girlfriends too. Some of the results you may read about involve libel actions which end up with prominent apologies or statements in open court - many with substantial damages awarded. Others you won’t read about, if we secure an injunction in privacy, confidence, copyright or other area of law which prevents the press reporting the information or publishing images. We were the first firm to establish the ‘privacy right’ in the UK at the House of Lords in a long-running action we brought for supermodel Naomi Campbell against the Mirror. Her case has enabled footballers to protect elements of their private life they’ve not put into the public domain themselves.

We also have strong links with three Premiership Clubs (two of which are regular Champions League qualifiers), and our intervention is sought by a wide network of agents – very often on a Friday night or Saturday, usually to stop a front page in a Sunday tabloid newspaper. Unlike some, I’ve never found agents difficult to deal with, on the contrary, they are happy to take and heed advice. Another part of our business is negotiating image endorsement deals for players and we specialise in the protection of image. (See my book by Sweet and Maxwell “Image, Persona & The Law” (2001).

Traditionally, we developed our skills for celebrities, but as sportsmen, particularly footballers, receive as much paparazzi attention as Hollywood stars in the UK, we have found that there is a need for our skills.

Examples of our work have included:

The Evening Standard’s front page splashed a story in respect of a successful libel case we brought for Teri Hatcher against the Daily Sport (the Sport published a front page apology, paid substantial damages and all her costs). You would have seen a very similar front page report of a libel case we brought for Wayne Rooney against the Sun (he had been accused of assaulting his girlfriend Colleen in a nightclub, which the newspaper accepted was totally false).

Protecting corporates

Interestingly, corporates have a need for this style of media management too. See, for example, the Lawyer magazine’s editorial last month following a successful injunction we obtained on behalf of Glaxo to protect its shareholders from animal rights extremists. Board members, their families, and the company itself all require protection from the trade or other press from time to time, and all wish to keep their private life away from the glare of publicity.

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