Taylor Wessing's Head of trade marks, copyright and media is listed in The 1000 London's Most Influential People
Taylor Wessing's Head of trade marks, copyright and media, has been listed in the up and coming law section of the Evening Standard's latest edition of The 1000 London's Most Influential People, ranking alongside the likes of the Shadow Home Secretary, the Lord Justice of Appeal and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Niri Shan is Taylor Wessing's youngest partner leading a practice group. He is regarded as one of the UK's leading defamation and privacy lawyers: "Experienced at advising newspapers seeking clearance for high-profile exposés, he is one of the few defence lawyers to have won a defamation case against a claimant funded on a conditional fee agreement - leaving the claimant's solicitor with a bill estimated at £600,000" [The 1000 London's Most Influential People 2008].
Niri has acted in privacy cases, both for media clients and individuals, including acting for Abbie Gibson (the Beckhams’ nanny) and Dannielle Heath (the Beckhams’ beautician) in claims brought by the Beckhams. He is also a highly regarded IP lawyer, recovering in excess of £1 million on a copyright claim against a major mobile phone company over the use of unlicensed music and has just conducted one of the biggest oppositions to proceed through the Trade Mark Registry.
Niri has a great deal of experience on doing radio, TV and print interviews on media and IP issues, and is available for interview.
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Notes to editors
For more information please contact Sarah le Cheminant at Taylor Wessing:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7300 4930
Email: s.lecheminant@taylorwessing.com
Niri Shan biography
Niri qualified as a solicitor at Taylor Wessing in September 1995 after being awarded first class honours in his Law Society Finals. He obtained a diploma in Intellectual Property law at Bristol University in 1996 and was made a Partner in May 2002. Niri heads up the highly rated Trade Marks, Copyright and Media Group, one of the largest practice groups in Taylor Wessing.
He has been described by Legal 500 as "a good tactician" and "wins widespread plaudits from clients for his responsiveness and is considered "a joy to work with"". He is recommended in Legal 500 for defamation/privacy .
Chambers and Partners describe him as "a superb litigator" who gives "clear, smart, creative and effective advice", and as being "a superb negotiator who is on top of his game and comes prepared – you feel comfortable around him as he always knows straight away what needs to be done". He is recommended in Chambers for his defamation/reputation management work and for publishing.
He is also recommended in Legal Business' Legal Experts and Best Lawyers in the UK.
Niri is a member of the Advertising Lawyers Group (which consists of the leading lawyers who specialise in advertising), the legal group of the Publishers Association, the Anti-Counterfeiting Group and the Media Law Resource Centre. He is regularly asked to give expert comment by the news media and on radio and TV, most recently quoted on (amongst others) BBC News, BBC Radio London, Bloomberg, the FT and the Times in connection with the Robert Murat and Max Moseley cases.
He advises on all aspects of soft IP (both contentious and non-contentious). As well as this Niri advises organisations within the publishing, advertising, sport and film/tv sectors on defamation, contempt, obscenity and privacy issues (both non-contentious pre-publication issues and contentious issues). He has also been intimately involved in giving pre-publication contractual and clearance advice regarding high profile exposés in newspapers, for political lobbying/campaigns and provides reputation management advice to corporations and high profile individuals. His most notable cases are:
- Recovering in excess of £1million on a copyright claim against a major mobile phone company over their use of unlicensed music.
- Acting on one of the biggest oppositions to proceed through the Trade Mark Registry which involved over 30 witnesses of fact, 6 experts and numerous documents (including 2000 survey questionnaires).
- Obtaining the first costs capping order awarded against a claimant bringing a defamation claim on a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
- Successfully defending a claim by an owner of a care home who was the subject of an undercover investigation by the Evening Standard who claimed in a front page piece that some of the residents were being treated in a cruel and neglectful way. The Claimant was represented on a CFA and withdrew her claim shortly before trial. If the trial had gone ahead this would have been one of the biggest libel trials in recent years with 50 witnesses due to give evidence.
- Acting for Abbie Gibson (the Beckham's nanny) in a seminal case that recognised that claimants can bring false privacy claims.
- Acting for Dannielle Heath (the Beckhams' beautician) and Abbie Gibson in connection with their exposés
- Acting on the case of Lowe v Associated Newspapers Ltd which is widely regarded as one of the most important recent cases in shaping the law of fair comment.
Taylor Wessing LLP is a leading law firm providing legal support for commercial organisations doing business in Europe, the Middle East and China. Based in Belgium, China, Dubai, France, Germany and the UK, Taylor Wessing provides the full range of legal services to major corporations and growing enterprises. Taylor Wessing boasts a strong reputation in the corporate, finance and real estate sectors alongside in-depth experience across the full range of legal services including intellectual property and technology, tax, litigation & dispute resolution, employment & pensions and private client.