A lawyers’ bill from Carter Ruck to the Sunday Telegraph has been reduced from £900,000 to £600,000 by a judge.
Adam
Musa-King engaged the specialist libel firm on a Conditional Fee
Agreement to sue the paper over two articles that suggested he was a
supporter of Al Qaeda, which appeared shortly after 11 September 2001.
Shortly
before an expected trial in June 2004 the case was settled on payment
of damages and expenses to Musa-King, as well as an
apology in open court.
Senior Costs Judge Peter Hurst made a
number of points that could limit the costs faced by the media from
libel claimants who engage lawyers on CFAs. Significantly, he curbed
the hourly rates that can be charged by lawyers in these cases. The
judge said that City rates were only recoverable when a City solicitor
is undertaking City work. He said defamation was unlikely to be in this
category.
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