Appointment to the Attorney General’s Regional Civil Panel B

We are delighted to announce that Sophie Mitchell has been appointed to the Attorney General’s Regional Civil Panel B to accept instructions from the Government Legal Department.

As Treasury Counsel, formerly on the C Panel, Sophie regularly acts for the Government and other public bodies (eg NHS, Police) in sensitive data, privacy and human rights matters. She had sole conduct of one of the only defamation trials by jury at Leeds High Court. Sophie is able to provide urgent advice about injunctive relief.

Sophie provides bespoke training to her instructing solicitors upon request.

Recent seminars include to the Leeds Law Society, October 2019: “Defamation, Privacy and Harassment – an Overview”.

Recent case examples:

  • Successful strike-out hearing in a large scale data release case for the NHS.
  • Pre-publication advice to the Home Office.
  • Representing the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office in a Data/ GDPR trial.
  • Regularly defending / advising the Ministry of Justice and the Police in misfeasance in public office and unlawful detention claims.
  • W v CC of X Police – Urgently instructed to draft a defamation defence for the police, denying that a press release was defamatory; it was true, honest and published in the public interest. The case settled shortly after the defence had been served on the Claimant as he decided not to pursue his claim.
  • R v P – Advised R, an elected, high-profile individual, following comments made in Parliament which were twisted by a whistle blower seeking to blackmail R.
  • D & Others in a Representative Capacity v S – Acted for over 50 Claimants (corporate and personal) suffering harassment, advising on an urgent basis, drafting documents and successfully appearing in the High Court for an urgent injunction.
  • RD v IS – Urgently advising and drafting a pleading in a harassment, defamation and contempt of court case.
  • KL v BN – Advising RL in a malicious prosecution, defamation and harassment case, stemming from a former family law case.
  • S v L – Advising on issues involving defamation, harassment and res judicata (relating to a potential prohibition on re-litigating matters previously litigated: cause of action estoppel, issue estoppel and Henderson v Henderson).
  • M v S – Advised throughout the case and represented M at trial. M, a well-known international businessman, was accused of corruption. Sophie successfully pursued the case through to trial, resisting defences of truth, honest opinion and qualified privilege/public interest, securing M damages, a retraction / apology in his favoured terms and full costs on an indemnity basis.
  • D & Others v S – Acting for D & Others, a worldwide chain of companies and personal Claimants, suing for defamation, malicious falsehood, data protection/privacy breaches, following a social media campaign accusing them of fraud, falsely alleging that their products breached safety standards.
  • S v Y – Advising and successfully settling an action for S in defamation and under the Data Protection Act, a locksmith falsely named and shamed by a national newspaper as a burglar and one of the region’s ‘most wanted criminals’, preventing his ability to trade.
  • P v R – Advising P, maliciously accused of being a paedophile.

Related areas

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Sophie Mitchell

Sophie Mitchell

Call: 2010

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