Hackgate committee recalls Farrers and Mark Lewis; Links letter released
Farrer & Co and Taylor Hampton Solicitors' Mark Lewis have been asked to appear in front of the Parliamentary committee investigating phone-hacking. The Culture, Media and Sport committee chair John Whittingdale on Tuesday (13 September) recalled News International advisers Farrers and Lewis, who has acted for a number of phone-hacking victims, to give evidence.
September 14, 2011 at 10:12 AM
3 minute read
Farrer & Co and Taylor Hampton Solicitors' Mark Lewis have been asked to appear in front of the Parliamentary committee investigating phone-hacking.
The Culture, Media and Sport committee chair John Whittingdale on Tuesday (13 September) recalled News International advisers Farrers and Lewis, who has acted for a number of phone-hacking victims, to give evidence.
Lewis is expected to appear in front of the committee on 19 October this year.
The news comes as the committee has also confirmed that it will recall News International chairman James Murdoch (pictured), following apparently conflicting accounts given of investigations regarding alleged phone-hacking at the newspaper group.
The evidence includes a claim from former News of the World (NoW) legal manager Tom Crone that he was "certain" he told Murdoch about an email suggesting that phone-hacking was more widespread at NoW than News International had previously indicated.
Whittingdale said: "There are further questions that we wish to have answered and we have today decided to recall Les Hinton and solicitors Farrer & Co and Mark Lewis, after which we intend to recall James Murdoch."
The Parliamentary committee also this week released further correspondence, including a letter from Linklaters – as adviser to News Corp's management standards committee – to Whittingdale.
The recall of Lewis and Farrers is the latest in a series of incidents in which legal advisers have been drawn into the prolonged controversy regarding alleged phone-hacking at News International, which led to the closure of the NoW in July.
Notably, West End media specialist firm Harbottle & Lewis was criticised by News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch for failing to identify potential problems as part of an instruction from News International in 2007. However, earlier this month former News International legal director Jon Chapman told the select committee that Murdoch "didn't have his facts right" when he criticised Harbottle's conduct.
The news also follows allegations that Lewis has been targeted by private investigators working for News International, along with fellow media lawyers Charlotte Harris of Mishcon de Reya and Atkins Thomson's Mark Thomson. The Law Society has written to the Leveson Inquiry – which is investigating the phone-hacking scandal – to express its concerns over these allegations.
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