Fieldfisher's Senior Partner has taken a job on the board of the new press regulator.
Matthew Lohn, a regulatory law specialist by trade, started work this week as the only solicitor on the board of the new Independent Press Standards Organisation. IPSO has been set up by a group of newspaper companies to investigate complaints against the press in the wake of the discovery that its predecessor, the Press Complaints Commission, had singularly failed to prevent the majority of journalists from hacking phones and the rest from bribing police.
But furious campaigners from Hacked Off are already giving Lohn and his fellow committee members a hard time. 30 victims of press intrusion, including the McCanns, have written to IPSO Chairman Sir Alan Moses claiming IPSO is a "sham regulator" because it ignores many of the Leveson Enquiry's recommendations.
Sir Alan has responded that the body isn't "fake", although it would not muzzle the press. He promised that IPSO would never intervene to "prevent publication in advance" and that "of course I want a wild, unruly press. The last thing I want is a boring press". Which is an interesting statement that might clash with the Fieldfisher mindset. Another partner at the firm (not Lohn) recently responded to a legitimate enquiry from RollOnFriday with a frothing letter before action threatening to sue. So much for encouraging a wild, unruly press RollOnFriday's editor quietly sobbed.
Lohn told RollOnFriday he was "delighted" with the appointment and that he looked forward to "engaging with the challenges involved in the resolution of complaints about the press".
Tip Off ROF
Matthew Lohn, a regulatory law specialist by trade, started work this week as the only solicitor on the board of the new Independent Press Standards Organisation. IPSO has been set up by a group of newspaper companies to investigate complaints against the press in the wake of the discovery that its predecessor, the Press Complaints Commission, had singularly failed to prevent the majority of journalists from hacking phones and the rest from bribing police.
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Lohn: a fresh start for the press |
But furious campaigners from Hacked Off are already giving Lohn and his fellow committee members a hard time. 30 victims of press intrusion, including the McCanns, have written to IPSO Chairman Sir Alan Moses claiming IPSO is a "sham regulator" because it ignores many of the Leveson Enquiry's recommendations.
Sir Alan has responded that the body isn't "fake", although it would not muzzle the press. He promised that IPSO would never intervene to "prevent publication in advance" and that "of course I want a wild, unruly press. The last thing I want is a boring press". Which is an interesting statement that might clash with the Fieldfisher mindset. Another partner at the firm (not Lohn) recently responded to a legitimate enquiry from RollOnFriday with a frothing letter before action threatening to sue. So much for encouraging a wild, unruly press RollOnFriday's editor quietly sobbed.
Lohn told RollOnFriday he was "delighted" with the appointment and that he looked forward to "engaging with the challenges involved in the resolution of complaints about the press".