Practice areas
Courts
Counsel most often instructed
Judgments by year
Cases later courts cite most
Cases Patron Law acted in that later judgments cite most often.
| Date | Case | Cited by |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Apr 2021 |
[2021] EWCA Civ 567 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Whether allegedly defamatory words convey fact or opinion depends on how they would strike the ordinary reasonable reader or viewer in context. A broadcast…
|
68 |
| 24 Apr 2020 |
[2020] EWHC 977 (QB) · High Court: Queen's Bench Division
The natural and ordinary meaning of an allegedly defamatory publication is assessed objectively. The publisher’s intended meaning and individual readers’…
|
23 |
| 25 Aug 2023 |
[2023] EWCA Civ 1000 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
The natural and ordinary meaning of a social-media post depends on the objective impression made on the ordinary reasonable reader in its particular medium and…
|
21 |
| 11 Aug 2022 |
[2022] EWCA Civ 1146 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
A defence of truth requires the defamatory imputation to be substantially or essentially equivalent in gravity to the true position. An allegation that a…
|
16 |
| 15 Jul 2020 |
[2020] EWHC 1884 (QB) · High Court: Queen's Bench Division
Norwich Pharmacal relief requires a good arguable case of a recognised wrong, a respondent mixed up in the wrongdoing, possession or likely possession of…
|
15 |
| 20 Dec 2021 |
[2021] EWHC 3437 (QB) · High Court: Queen's Bench Division
In a libel claim, serious harm under Defamation Act 2013, section 1 must be proved as a fact by reference to actual impact and all relevant circumstances.…
|
13 |
| 8 Nov 2023 |
[2023] EWHC 2799 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
In defamation, serious harm under section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 requires proof that the particular publication caused, or is likely to cause, serious…
|
7 |
| 1 Nov 2022 |
[2022] EWHC 3542 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
The natural and ordinary meaning of a social-media publication is assessed objectively from the standpoint of the hypothetical ordinary reasonable reader. The…
|
7 |
| 17 Oct 2025 |
[2025] EWCA Civ 1321 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Serious reputational harm may be inferred from the gravity of a defamatory imputation, the scale and circumstances of publication, and the claimant’s…
|
5 |
| 14 May 2021 |
[2021] EWCA Civ 713 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
The defence of publication on a matter of public interest may protect a publisher who honestly and reasonably gets the facts wrong. Its reasonableness element…
|
5 |
Recent cases
| Date | Case | Cited by |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Oct 2026 |
[2026] EWHC 2466 (Admin) · High Court: Administrative Court
The exercise of a prerogative power is not automatically immune from judicial review. Justiciability depends on the subject matter, the court’s constitutional…
|
|
| 25 Sep 2026 |
[2026] EWHC 2451 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
A contractual undertaking not to “denigrate” is given its ordinary meaning. It covers blackening or belittling a person’s character or reputation and is wider…
|
|
| 1 Jul 2026 |
[2026] EWCA Civ 844 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Findings about a publication’s meaning and whether it states fact or opinion are factual evaluations. An appellate court must exercise disciplined restraint…
|
1 |
| 24 Apr 2026 |
[2026] EWHC 961 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
Meaning in defamation is determined objectively by the natural and ordinary meaning conveyed by the words read as a whole to the hypothetical ordinary…
|
|
| 20 Apr 2026 |
[2026] EWHC 911 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
A claimant alleging conversion of chattels must establish possession or an immediate right to possession. Ownership alone is neither necessary nor sufficient.…
|
|
| 12 Mar 2026 |
[2026] EWHC 564 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
In determining meaning and related issues in a libel claim, the court must assess the publication objectively and holistically, by reference to the natural and…
|
2 |
| 28 Nov 2025 |
[2025] EWHC 3004 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
In determining meaning at a preliminary issue trial, the court must identify the single meaning conveyed to the hypothetical ordinary, reasonable reader…
|
|
| 17 Oct 2025 |
[2025] EWCA Civ 1321 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Serious reputational harm may be inferred from the gravity of a defamatory imputation, the scale and circumstances of publication, and the claimant’s…
|
5 |
| 5 Aug 2025 |
[2025] EWHC 2043 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
Serious harm under section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013 requires proof of actual serious reputational harm or a factual likelihood of such harm. The court…
|
|
| 25 Feb 2025 |
[2025] EWHC 389 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
In determining whether defamatory statements in a broadcast interview are fact or opinion, the court must assess the programme as a whole and adopt the…
|
|
| 25 Oct 2024 |
[2024] EWHC 2704 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
In a libel remedies hearing following default judgment, damages must compensate injury to reputation, vindicate the claimant’s good name, and reflect distress…
|
3 |
| 25 Apr 2024 |
[2024] EWHC 956 (KB) · High Court: King's Bench Division
Libel damages are restorative, not punitive. Their assessment is broad, holistic and intensely fact-specific. The court should consider the gravity of the…
|
2 |
Based on judgments published by The National Archives (Find Case Law) in which Patron Law is named as solicitors, counted under the firm's current name. The figures are minimums: not every judgment names the solicitors, and a judgment is counted only when we are confident who acted. The selection of cases listed here is limited, and does not include family, criminal or anonymised cases. Firm details include data from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. zoomLaw is independent and not connected with Patron Law. Something wrong or missing? Tell us. All law firms.