Megan Cox

Megan is an experienced reputation and privacy lawyer. She specialises in advising individuals and companies on resolving media law disputes, mitigating risk and crisis management.

She has extensive litigation experience within the full legal arsenal of claims that can be used to protect a client’s privacy and reputation including defamation, malicious falsehood, misuse of private information, breach of confidence, right to erasure/right to be forgotten and other data protection rights, blackmail, harassment, passing off and infringement of copyright.

Megan is experienced in managing claims from inception to trial as well as complex appeals in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. She is an expert in applying for urgent interim injunctions including worldwide freezing orders, Norwich Pharmacal orders and reporting restrictions and anonymisation orders.

Megan is known for her methodical approach to legal problem solving. Her clients’ commercial and non-monetary objectives shape her strategy. She has achieved countless successful outcomes for clients—both claimants and defendants—across a broad spectrum of sectors at the pre issue stage (including pre-publication), post issue stage and by alternative dispute resolution means, including mediation. She has secured many settlements involving six figure damages, public apologies, undertakings and joint statements in open court.

She routinely acts for clients in their disputes against publishers and broadcasters including The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Mirror, ITV, the BBC, the London Evening Standard, The Independent, the HuffPost, Sky, Conde Nast, as well as social platforms and international conglomerates.

In addition to her reputation and privacy work, Megan has acted in numerous breach of contract, breach of trust, fraud and negligence claims.

Recent testimonials

“We were struck by Megan’s exceptional legal knowledge, clarity of thinking and ability to assimilate the complexity of our case at speed whilst always delivering her advice in a clear and compassionate manner.”

Dr Lisa Gibbons and Professor Michael Gibbons

 “I am forever grateful you were able to secure the order without going to trial and am extremely pleased with the outcome. Your deep knowledge of media law and calm guidance were exactly what I needed. I’m incredibly grateful for your support and would highly recommend you to anyone facing challenges in the media space.”

Anonymous

 Notable cases:

FKJ v RVT and Others [2023] EWHC 3 (HC) – Megan successfully acted for a solicitor in respect of her claim for misuse of private information against her former employer arising from alleged interception, and later deployment in associated Employment Tribunal proceedings of highly sensitive and private communications. She successfully opposed numerous interim applications including an application for summary judgment/strike out, an application for specific disclosure and an application to refer to a Part 36 offer of settlement at pending interlocutory hearings (contrary to well-established legal principle prohibiting the same). She also obtained a reporting restrictions and anonymisation order to protect the claimant’s identity.

Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd and Evening Standard Ltd [2021] EWHC 1797 (QB); [2019] 3 WLR 18;[2017] EWCA Civ 1334; [2015] EWHC 2242 (QB) – Megan successfully acted for the claimant in this landmark libel case against two national newspaper publishers. The case involved multiple appearances in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Megan advised on and prepared for a trial of preliminary issues on defamatory meaning, reference and serious harm; this was one of the first cases to test the construction of section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013 (otherwise known as the ‘serious harm threshold’). The defendant newspapers appealed to the Court of Appeal and subsequently the Supreme Court, whereupon their appeals were dismissed on each occasion. The case proceeded to a trial on the public interest defence under section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013 and was determined in the claimant’s favour, resulting in public vindication for the claimant through the award of substantial damages and non-monetary relief.

Rashed v Deane [2023] EWHC 3324 (KB) – Megan acted for the managing director of an international risk management and security consultancy company in his claim against a former consultant for libel arising out of a series of defamatory LinkedIn posts. Megan successfully applied for default judgment resulting in an award for substantial damages, an injunction restraining further publication of the statements complained of, and an order that the defendant publish a summary of the Court’s judgment on his LinkedIn page pursuant to section 12 of the Defamation Act 2013.

Art Incorporated Ltd v Gulbenkian and Others [PT-2018-000501] – Megan acted for an international art dealer in its claim for breach of contract and breach of a Quistclose Trust following its purchase of a sculpture by renowned artist Yayoi Kasuma (valued at approx. US$1.4m) from a third-party vendor. Megan successfully applied for a worldwide freezing injunction and third-party disclosure application against the defendant’s bank on behalf of the claimant, which enabled the claimant to trace the proceeds of sale and identify enforceable assets.

Reay v Beamont [2018] EWHC 2172 (QB) – Megan acted for the claimant husband in a defamation and privacy claim against his ex-wife, a comedian, who had included material about him in her show.

Scuderia v Malik [2021] EWHC 2744 (Ch) – Megan successfully applied for a freezing injunction and thereafter summary judgment for the claimant, a supercar dealership, in its claim for fraudulent misrepresentation arising out of its intended purchase of a Ferrari GTO, which, on a post purchase inspection turned out to be a Ferrari GTB (an inferior model worth approximately £185,000 less than a Ferrari GTO).