Spear’s Review

Drawing on 35 years of experience as a defamation and privacy lawyer, Hamlins partner Christopher Hutchings tells Spear’s that the firm’s media disputes department has gone from strength to strength. 

Hutchings continues to build on the momentum of winning the privacy case of Ali v Channel 5 in 2018, which he says ‘set a precedent for privacy cases, particularly those arising from TV broadcasts’.

While the department is well known for its expertise in libel, privacy and copyright claims, Hutchings notes that the focus of his practice has increasingly moved away from litigation and towards prevention. ‘There has been a huge shift towards pre-publication and pre-broadcast work,’ he says. ‘In most cases, it’s not about stopping something being published, but about ensuring that what is published accurately reflects the client’s position.’

Hutchings was involved in one of the earliest SLAPPs-related cases to come before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, and was cleared of all allegations in late 2025.