Spear’s Review

Dominic Crossley is the head of Payne Hicks Beach’s dispute resolution and privacy and media law practices.

He has been involved in privacy and reputation law for over 20 years and has seen the space evolve as new digital threats emerge. ‘The capability to damage someone’s reputation is now much wider,’ he tells Spear’s. ‘Information can be dispersed very widely from all different sources, some of which are outside the jurisdiction of the UK court, but you need to be agile and equipped to be able to respond to it.’ 

Praised as ‘terrific litigators and tacticians’ by one client, Crossley and his growing team have been involved in many of the leading privacy law cases, including acting for Princess Haya of Jordan in establishing that the controversial Pegasus spyware was used to hack her phone. ‘We’ve seen an explosion in the demand for our work,’ he says, with clients wanting to resolve conflicts at ‘the earliest possible stage’.

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Adviser Profile

Dominic is head of the firm’s dispute resolution department and privacy and media law team.

He is a highly experienced litigator who is well known for his specialisms in the law of defamation, privacy, breach of confidence and harassment. However, the nature of his clients has led to him being instructed in cases covering a multitude of issues relating to complex business and personal disputes.

For over two decades he has acted in leading cases for high-profile individuals (including well-known actors, pre-eminent businesspeople, politicians, sportspersons and musicians) and large multinational companies. He is often instructed at times of crisis and in relation to sensitive issues.

Clients regularly contact Dominic when they are subject to unwanted media intrusion, malicious reputational attacks, social media misuse, breach of privacy, loss of confidential information (including by way of phone hacking or cybercrime), stalking or harassment. He is also often asked to advise in connection with court hearings where the balance between open justice and privacy needs to be considered by the court, for example on the question of reporting restrictions.

Inevitably, the majority of Dominic’s work is highly confidential. However, instructions in the public domain include acting for Princess Haya in her proceedings against Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum (in the High Court and Court of Appeal). Dominic also acted for all of the 53 ‘Core Participant Victims’ in the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, as well as in groundbreaking privacy claims in all appellate courts including the European Court of Human Rights.

Dominic has received a host of industry accolades throughout his career. He is the author of numerous articles written for the legal press and served for five years on Payne Hicks Beach’s management board.