Keith Schilling

Spear’s Review

A giant in the British legal scene for more than three decades, Schillings founder and senior partner Keith Schilling is credited with groundbreaking rulings and changing UK privacy law. His firm has achieved many firsts since its founding in 1984 – not least the landmark House of Lords decision in favour of Naomi Campbell’s 2004 breach of privacy claim against the Daily Mirror. ‘I felt such invasions of privacy and unjust damage to reputation weren’t right. It didn’t feel fair,’ he tells Spear’s. 

Since 2014, the firm has more than doubled in size and opened an office in New York. In 2019, Schillings was famously chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to act for them in their case against the Mail on Sunday.

Adviser Profile

Credited with creating a right to privacy in the UK following a landmark ruling by the House of Lords in 2004, Keith Schilling has paved the way in the sphere of reputation and privacy law. 

His pioneering work– which began in the realm of the printed press – has evolved into tackling reputation and privacy concerns in the digital world; holding social media platforms and online publishers to account whilst fighting passionately to safeguard the privacy, security and reputation of some of the world’s most successful individuals and businesses. 

The only lawyer lauded as an Eminent Practitioner in his field by Chambers and Partners’ High Net Worth Guide, Keith is additionally recognised as a Spear’s Top Recommended Reputation and Privacy Lawyer. He is, as commended by an industry peer, ‘the definitive privacy and reputation lawyer, a legal pioneer and one of the leading lawyers of our time’. 

Keith’s 2004 precedent-setting case – in which supermodel Naomi Campbell won a breach of confidentiality claim against the Daily Mirror – fought to balance press freedom with the right of every individual to a private life. Since then, in a long line of ‘firsts’, Keith has also led in developing the law of privacy for children of parents in the public eye, establishing protections against intrusive photography. He additionally achieved one of the first-ever front-page apologies on behalf of a client when a tabloid published false allegations about them. 

As Schillings’ Senior Partner, Keith supports global corporations and high-profile individuals, providing strategic advice on reputation and privacy threats. He is often involved in providing advice on issues that emanate from digital or non-traditional media sources, using his expertise in cyber, copyright, data protection and commercial litigation to empower his clients’ control even in times of pressing crisis.