Suggestion

• As actor Hugh Grant’s decision to settle his privacy claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN) shows, sometimes principles just cost too much.
• Grant announced he had reluctantly accepted an “enormous sum of money” to settle his claim against the Murdoch-owned NGN, the publisher of The Sun.
• He has accused the publisher of “phone hacking, unlawful information gathering” and “landline tapping” among other allegations, which they have denied.
• If he took the case to trial, he risked being ordered to pay NGN’s legal costs, which his lawyers advised could exceed £10 million.

What is a trial worth?

• They avoid the costs, stress and delay of a trial, and the court service is better able to cope with the high volume of other cases in the system.
• It is clear from Grant’s statements that his motivation was to hold NGN to account for unlawful information gathering.

Holding companies to account

• There is arguably a balance to be struck between the individualistic view of this case as just an issue between one person and a media company, and the wider public interest angle: that it should be possible to use the court system to hold big companies to account.
• There has always been an element of bigger companies using their deep pockets in litigation, but this rule adds another layer of protection for those that can afford to make a generous offer.

Megan Shirley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.