Culture, Media and Sport CommitteeLetter from the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to Michael Silverleaf QC

On 19 October 2011 Julian Pike, a Partner at Farrer & Co, gave evidence to the Committee as part of its work on phone-hacking.

In his evidence, Julian Pike stated that you provided an opinion to News Group Newspapers on the amount that Gordon Taylor would have been likely to have been awarded had he taken his case to trial and won (Q 1116). According to written evidence from Farrer & Co (PH 27), the advice that you gave was as follows:

The court might award a sum at any level from £25,000 to £250,000, or possibly even more, although that was extremely unlikely.

The Committee would be very grateful if you could:

1. Provide an account of the reasoning that informed this opinion.

2. Give your view on Julian Pike’s assertion that offering £100,000 more than the maximum amount cited in your opinion amounted to “a perfectly standard approach” (Q 1084) in view of the “economics of litigation” (Q1087).

3. State whether or not you agree with Julian Pike’s assertion that the Gordon Taylor case “was an unprecedented case full stop” (Q 1085), and explain why.

4. State whether or not you considered the final settlement amount (£425,000) in the Gordon Taylor case to be reasonable or not, and why.

I enclose a transcript of the evidence session on 19 October and a copy of the written evidence from Farrer & Co for your reference.

I would be grateful if you could send your response to the Clerk of the Committee at the above address by no later than noon on Monday 31 October.

24 October 2011