Mark Stephens (solicitor)
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* Mark Howard Stephens (born 7 April 1957) is an English solicitor specialising in
media law Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
,
intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
,
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
and
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
. He is known for representing
James Hewitt James Lifford Hewitt (born 30 April 1958) is a British former cavalry officer in the British Army. He came to public attention in the mid-1990s after he disclosed an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, while she was still married to then-Pri ...
when allegations of his affair with
Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
first emerged. In 2010, he represented
Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, the founder of the whistle blower website,
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
, defending him against extradition to Sweden. and also he is the founder of law firm Howard Kennedy LLP, and has represented a number of high-profile clients in
media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
and entertainment law cases.


Personal life and education

Stephens was born in
Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old ...
, Berkshire, on 7 April 1957. His father was an artist, and his mother a secretary and later a social worker. He attended St Paul's Secondary Modern School and Strode's Grammar School, followed by the Cambridge Manor Academy for Dramatic Arts, before going on to study law at
North East London Polytechnic , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...
. He went on to study
European Community Law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...
at the
Vrije Universiteit The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...
in Brussels and was then admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in England and Wales in July 1982. He married Donna Coote in 1982, and they have three daughters.


Legal career


1982–1992

In 1983, with Roslyn Innocent, he established Stephens Innocent as a law firm to specialise in visual arts and intellectual property. In February 1991, Stephens was acting as a solicitor for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) when John Hendy, Geoffrey Robertson and two other QCs defended
Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984–85), a major event in the history of ...
and
Peter Heathfield Peter Heathfield (2 March 1929 – 4 May 2010)Geoffrey Goodmanbr>Obituary: Peter Heathfield ''The Guardian'' (website), 4 May 2010Paul HastObituary, '' Morning Star'', 4 May 2010 was a British trade unionist who was general secretary of the Nation ...
against claims that they had handled funds inappropriately during the miner's strike of 1984–85. In 1992 he worked on a case brought by the NUM against the government that saw an earlier decision to close 31 coal mines overturned after it was deemed unlawful. When allegations of an affair between
James Hewitt James Lifford Hewitt (born 30 April 1958) is a British former cavalry officer in the British Army. He came to public attention in the mid-1990s after he disclosed an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, while she was still married to then-Pri ...
and
Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
were published by '' The Sun'' in 1992, Stephens claimed through the
Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...
he had issued proceedings against the newspaper for defamation, even though he had not actually served the writ. Princess Diana later admitted the affair on television.


1993–1999

In 1993, Stephens helped the MP
Clive Soley Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005, and has since then served as a Member of the House of Lords. Early life He w ...
to draft a parliamentary bill on press regulation. Stephens commented that people thrust into the public light needed protection from the press but that "astronomical" fines would be needed to be able to achieve this. According to ''The Guardian'', his public profile was further raised by defending
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
in 1995 against litigation brought by
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...
over an alleged illegal occupation of the
Brent Spar Brent Spar, or Brent E, was a North Sea oil storage and tanker loading buoy in the Brent oilfield, operated by Shell UK. With the completion of a pipeline connection to the oil terminal at Sullom Voe in Shetland, the storage facility had cont ...
oil platform. Stephens provided ''pro bono'' assistance to two activists,
Helen Steel Helen Steel (born 1965) is an environmental and social justice activist who is known for her involvement in the McLibel case, an English lawsuit for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation that lasted for 10 years and was eventually taken to the Eu ...
and David Morris, who had handed out leaflets entitled "What's wrong with
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
?" in 1985 and were subsequently tried for libel. The case began in 1990 and became the longest running court case in UK history. After the defendants were fined £60,000 he took their case to the ECHR in 2004, where they successfully appealed against the fine.


2000–2009

In August 2000, Stephens was retained by heavyweight boxing champion
Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
for a hearing before the
British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...
. The disciplinary hearing related to 2 counts relating to Tyson's behaviour after his 38-second victory over Lou Savarese in Glasgow in June that year, Tyson escaped a ban from fighting in Britain. Tyson was acquitted on one charge but convicted on the other count and fined. In January and December 2002 Stephens was retained by the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' to represent its veteran war correspondent, Jonathan Randal, in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
at the United Nations Court, the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...
, establishing the principle of qualified privilege for the protection of journalists in war crimes courts. In early 2007, instructed by aboriginal lawyer
Michael Mansell Michael Alexander Mansell (born 5 June 1951 in northern Tasmania) is a Tasmanian Aboriginal leader who, as an activist and lawyer, has worked for social, political and legal changes to improve the lives and social standing of Tasmanian Aborigi ...
, Stephens launched proceedings for the
Tasmanian Aborigines The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...
to recover 15 sets of their stolen ancestral remains at the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
in London, although the case was not seen through to completion. He accused the museum of wishing to retain them for "genetic prospecting". In 2008, he won an apology from a former police driver who had written "appalling lies" about the novelist and essayist Sir
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
in a book he wrote. One allegation was that Rushdie had profited from the
fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
issued against him after publishing ''
The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
''.


2010 onwards

January 2010 brought the first – known colloquially as the ''alphabet soup case'' – in the (then) new UK Supreme Court Stephens represented several media organizations to argue that the names of several people who were accused of funding terrorist organizations should have their anonymity stripped. The judges agreed with the media and ruled that the names should be released, noting that anonymity orders had become "deeply ingrained" in court cases in the UK. In 2010, Stephens began to defend the founder of
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
,
Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, against extradition to Sweden, where allegations had been made against Assange. Soon after the
WikiLeaks cables The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and ...
disclosure began, Stephens told ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that he thought he was being monitored by the security services and that his home was being watched. In January 2011, Stephens claimed that United States authorities were trying to develop a criminal case against Assange, citing, for example, a subpoena against Twitter issued by the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
to demand private information on Assange and other people associated with WikiLeaks. ''The Guardian'' reported that Assange ended his relationship with Stephens after he accused Finers Stephens Innocent of withholding a £412,000 advance for his autobiography to cover legal fees. Assange accused them of "extreme overcharging" which Finers Stephens Innocent denied. The firm sued Assange in January 2012 to recover fees. In July 2011, it was reported that Stephens had been one of a group of high-profile lawyers who may have been the victim of the
News International phone hacking scandal The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...
.


Appointments

Stephens has held many charitable, regulatory, government and academic appointments. He is also a
Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...
of the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
. In 1986 he was appointed the treasurer of the North East London Law Society, and in 1989 was elected to the committee, becoming President. He was on
ICSTIS The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), known as PhonepayPlus until 1 November 2016, is the regulatory body for all premium rate phone-paid services in the United Kingdom. These are the content, goods and services that consumers can buy by ch ...
' (a premium telephone line regulator) emergency committee, but resigned in 1996, after it emerged he had not disclosed a possible
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
. Later that year, Stephens was appointed the first Chair of the Policy board of the
Internet Watch Foundation The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a registered charity based in Cambridge, England. It states that its remit is "to minimise the availability of online sexual abuse content, specifically child sexual abuse images and videos hosted anywhe ...
and became the vice-chairman on the merger of the Policy and Management Boards. He is currently a trustee of
Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...
, Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Media Legal Defence Initiative, the postgraduate course in comparative media law and social policy at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, the Solicitors
Pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
Group (now, LawWorks), and the
International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associa ...
's Human Rights Institute and Media Law Committee. Stephens sits on the Advisory Boards of Oxford University's Programme in Comparative Media Law & Social Policy, at
Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and ...
, the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
Media Law Course and
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
's Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies. On 1 April 2006 Stephens was appointed to be a trustee of the International Law Book Facility, a charitable organization whose objects are to donate lawbooks to improve access to legal information/access to justice where there is a need. From 2003-07, Stephens was a member of the board of governors of
Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipli ...
of Theatre & Performance. In August 2009 he was appointed Chairman of the Governors at the
University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...
and in October 2010 as Chair of the
Contemporary Art Society The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is an independent charity that champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft for UK museum collections. Since its founding in 1910 the organisation has donated over 10,000 works to museums ...
. He was appointed by the
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
to be a member of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...
's Free Expression Advisory Board; in January 2010, he was appointed to a working group on libel laws, set up by the then Justice Secretary,
Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
, which published a report in March 2010. Stephens is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the
Commonwealth Lawyers Association The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) is an organisation of lawyers, law societies and bar associations across the Commonwealth of Nations. The association hosts a conference in a member nation of the commonwealth biennially. History ...
and was elected President of its Council at the
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
Conference in April 2013. In January 2011 Stephens was asked to Judge the documentary ''Current Affairs – International'' category 2009/2010 and was invited back in January 2012 to judge the same category for the
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
. In October 2011, Mark Stephens was appointed as the new Chair of the
Design and Artists Copyright Society The Design and Artists Copyright Society is a British private limited company. It is a rights management organisation which collects and distributes royalties to visual artists. It was established in 1983 as the Design and Artists Copyright S ...
(DACS). Mark was instrumental in the establishment of DACS in 1984 – law firm Stephens Innocent was a home to DACS in the first years after its establishment. On 7 November 2011, Mark Stephens was appointed to the board of the
Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect independent schools in England. These schools are members of associations, w ...
. Stephens has become a patron of
International Alert International Alert is a global peacebuilding charity offering dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on solving the root causes of conflict with people from across divides. For over 30 yea ...
the independent peacebuilding organization that works to lay the foundations for lasting peace and security in communities affected by violent conflict. Most recently, Stephens has become a member of the legal panel of the Human Dignity Trust and a trustee on the UK board of the international media development organization
Internews Internews Network, now Internews, is a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in California, formed in 1982. It was founded by David M. Hoffman, Kim Spencer, and Evelyn Messinger. The president and CEO is Jeanne Bourgault. Internews Europe is an i ...
.


Publishing

Stephens has contributed to seven books, ''Miscarriages of Justice: a review of justice in error'' (1999), ''International Libel and Privacy Handbook'' all four editions (2005), (2009), (2013), (2016) published by Bloomberg Press, ''La Presunción de Inocenicia Y Los Juicios Paralelos'' (2013) published by
Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a ...
(Spain) for the Fundación Fernando Pombo/Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo., ''Media Law & Ethics in the 21st Century'' (2014) published by
Palgrave MacMillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...
, ''This is not a book about
Gavin Turk Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist from Guildford in Surrey, and is considered to be one of the Young British Artists.Tate Modern. (2009)'Pop Life: Art in a Material World' Retrieved 14 August 2012. Turk's oeuvre deals with issues of aut ...
'' (2014) published by
Trolley Books Trolley Books is an independent UK publisher, specialising in art and photography books. Areas covered by Trolley include social reportage, photojournalism/ current affairs and contemporary art and architecture. Founded in September 2001 by Gi ...
, ''Media Law and Policy in the Internet Age'' (2016) published by Hart an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
, ''Media Law International (3rd Edition) - Specialist Guide for Global Leaders in Media Law Practice'' (2016) published by Media Law International. He is also on the editorial boards of ''Communications Lawyer'', ''Copyright World'' and '' European Intellectual Property Review''.


Recognition

In 2001, Stephens was awarded an honorary doctorate in law by the
University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...
. He was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to the legal professions and the arts.


References


External links


Tweets, Beaks and Hacks: Regulation and the Law in the Age of New Media Journalism
Podcast of speech at a Foundation for Law, Justice and Society conference, Oxford {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Mark 1957 births Living people English lawyers English solicitors English legal professionals English legal writers English broadcasters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of East London Lawyers from London People from Old Windsor People from Chertsey People from Richmond, London People from West Ham Human rights lawyers People from Forest Gate People from Wanstead English sceptics