FSI's Ian Ryan appeared on behalf of the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take disciplinary proceedings against a solicitor Timothy Drukker for his conduct in Shaun Wright-Phillips' transfer to Chelsea from Manchester City in July 2005.

Mark Stephens comments on BBC News 24, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio 5, BBC Radio Scotland and the Henry Bonsu Show regarding Jon Venables being sent back to prison over alleged child porn offences.

Robert Lands was interviewed on Radio Five Live in connection with the ownership of a band's name

Ian Ryan comments in the Express & Star on the lawyer found guilty of paying £50,000 to an unlicensed agent when negotiating the transfer of footballer Nwankwo Kanu to West Bromich Albion.  The lawyer was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £11,000 in costs.

Alan Kaufman comments in The Telegraph on Cheryl and Ashley Cole's split.  Alan said Cole's rumoured move to Spain or Italy could have a bearing on the divorce settlement.  He said: "They are both multimillionaires and so it could be a very quick divorce with no claims on either side. They will keep their independent wealth and go their separate ways."

Mark Stephens comments in The Independent, The Guardian, The Telegraph and other associated press on Government lawyer objecting to Binyam Mohamed judgment.  A top Government lawyer protested over the strength of a judge's "exceptionally damaging" criticism of the British security service in the Binyam Mohamed case, it was revealed today. Jonathan Sumption QC wrote a letter to the Appeal Court on Monday after seeing a draft copy of the judgment of the Master of the Rolls (MR), Lord Neuberger. 

Mark Stephens said: "It is a breach of the long-standing constitutional principle (from the 1637 Ship Money case) that governments may not secretly communicate with the court or with judges."

Mark Stephens commented on the front page of The Telegraph, The Times and Associated Press about Judges wanting to see terrorist suspects named.  Terrorist suspects were exploiting the British legal system to try to "hide behind a cloak of anonymity", the country's most senior judges warned yesterday.

Mark Stephens comments in The Financial Times on how five news organisations battling to protect their sources won an important victory for press freedom yesterday in the European Court of Human Rights.

Mark Stephens comnmented in the Scotsman about Stephen Gough, the 50-year-old Naked Rambler who has become notorious for walking the length and breadth of Britain wearing only a hat, a pair of stout walking boots and a rucksack, was warned in a Perth court last week that he risks spending the rest of his life in jail unless he puts his clothes on.

Mark Stephens comments in Times Higher Education on how academy's freedoms are threatened as libel law lands scholars in dock.

Mark said: "the number of academics and scientists approaching his firm after receiving threats of libel action had risen from none just a few years ago to an average of one a month."

Mark Stephens comments in the EU Observer on East European criminals and politicians taking 'libel tourism' trips to UK.

Mark explained how things have accelerated in the last few years. "It really started off [in the 1950s], with Liberace suing over accusations that he was a homosexual, which he won. This opened the floodgates to a large number of celebrities doing the same thing for many years. This died away more recently when they began to realise that it was cheaper and more effective to spend a million on a PR man than a team of lawyers, and with much less reputational damage,"

Mark Stephens comments in the Daily Mail on Mr X, soccer boss in a brothel: His name's all over the internet but British press can't identify manager in massage parlour.  A married Premier League football manager has been caught visiting a brothel - but the British Press cannot reveal his identity on human rights grounds.

Mark Stephens comments in The Sunday Times on equality chief threatening BBC after ‘kill gays’ debate.  The BBC has been warned by the government’s equality czar that it could face legal sanctions if comments made by the public on its website fall foul of Labour’s new anti-discrimination laws.

Mark Stephens comments in The Times on Trafigura accepting £25,000 damages from BBC over waste dumping allegations.  The oil-trading company Trafigura accepted £25,000 libel damages and an apology today over a BBC Newsnight claim that its actions had caused deaths, miscarriages, serious injuries and long-term sickness.

Mark Stephens comments in the Financial Times on the media win European ruling on press freedom.  Five news organisations battling to protect their sources won an important victory for press freedom on Tuesday in the European Court of Human Rights.   Mark said: “This reinforces the right of journalists to keep sources anonymous. People so often point to America and to the protection of free speech over there, but in the right to protect journalistic sources the UK is actually further ahead, and this ruling reinforces it.”

Lawyers acting for Tiger Woods have been accused of using a High Court injunction obtained in London in an attempt to stop possible nude photographs of him being published in America. Mark Stephens, said yesterday that he had been contacted by several US media organisations which had received copies of the injunction from Lavely & Singer, Woods’s Los Angeles law firm.

Tiger Woods wins injunction banning reporting of new details about his personal life that were widely available in US.  "This injunction would never have been granted in America," the media lawyer Mark Stephens said. "It's unbelievable that Tiger Woods's lawyers have been able to injunct the UK press from reporting information here that is freely available in the US."

Mark Stephens comments in The Guardian on Mr Justice David Eady's criticism of the media that high profile judgments against newspapers were followed by the judges being subjected to "personal abuse".

The Queen decided to take action to prevent paparazzi taking photographs on royal estates after they obtained a series of photographs of senior members of the Royal family in private properties.  Mark Stephens said: "I think the Queen is asking for no more than the law provides. She is not asking for special treatment."

Druces’ former litigation chief, Tim Bignell, has joined Finers Stephens Innocent as part of its litigation practice.

Bignell, whose practice focuses on a mixture of insolvency, commercial litigation, professional negligence, chancery work and alternative dispute resolution, is the fourth lateral hire made by the firm this year and the second in the litigation team.

Mark Stephens comments in Time Magazine on English libel laws.  When it comes to suing for libel, London is the undisputed global capital. Exploiting English laws seen as skewed heavily toward claimants, and often involving publications with only a whiff of a link to the U.K., overseas plaintiffs have clamored to bring cases to London in recent years. So much so, says Mark Stephens, a leading media lawyer and partner at Finers Stephens Innocent in London, the city has become "a town called sue — anything viewed or read within the jurisdiction of the English courts can be sued upon."

Mark Stephens comments on the CPJ Blog about how free press advocates in Britain are looking to a bill stuck in the U.S. Congress for moral support in the fight to reform England’s draconian defamation laws.

Mark Stephens comments in The Sunday Times about human rights and anti-corruption organisations were now routinely threatened with London libel actions. He said: “NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and reporting organisations know even if they are right they may still be sued and the cost of defending themselves will be huge. We have threats against just about every reputable organisation you can think of, from Human Rights Watch to Greenpeace.”

Geoffrey Silman comments in the letter section of The Times Online about The Liberal Democrats’ proposed tax on mansions failing to recognise the reality faced by many pensioners.

Mark Stephens comments on the development of law whilst it is questioned whether the number of judges who can sit on defamation and privacy cases is wide enough.

"Mr Media Lawyer" Mark Stephens is described as "one of the best-known in the business" and is named one of Britain's most powerful lawyers in The Times Law100 2009.

FSI's recently refurbished offices on Great Portland Street received praise on the World Interior Design Network.

Mark Stephens comments on copyright issues relating to Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, while other authors are rushing out their latest books to avoid their publishing dates clashing with Brown's sequel, The Lost Symbol.

Mark Stephens comments on the film Bruno and the legal implications concerning those individuals who were required to sign consent forms before being filmed.

Alongside other lawyers, liverymen and freemen of the City of London Mark Stephens exercised his right to drive sheep "tax free" across London Bridge on 11 July 2009 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bridge and to raise funds for the Lord Mayor's Appeal 2009.

Alan Kaufman appeared on BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show commenting on the effect on the work place of Andy Murray being on TV. Alan argued that there are direct benefits of being a compassionate employer and that such an event can be used as a valuable workplace "bonding" event.

Jane Amphlett considers the legal implications of using Psychometric testing in recruitment and promotion decisions.

Neil Long appeared on Andy Townsend and Mike Parry's show on TalkSport Radio commenting on Michael Jackson's estate.

Mark Stephens comments on the custody battle for Michael Jackson's children following the performer's death. Mark says, "It looks as though she [Jackson's mother] wants to keep them as she has all the other children around her. Ms Rowe [biological mother of his two eldest children] says that she is entitled to them so clearly everyone is squaring up for a fight over the children." Further to this, Mark comments on the assets held in Michael Jackson's trust and the likelihood of his creditors being able to access this.

Mark Stephens comments on the fortune of the Jackson estate and suspects that Michael Jackson's creditors might launch a legal bid to break the singer's protected trust in order to gain access to the funds.

Jane Amphlett commenting on the recent request made by British Airways to their employees asking them to work unpaid in July. Jane says, "What makes BA stand out is that it is asking workers to work for nothing for a period, rather than simply reducing pay through fewer hours."

Mark Stephens comments, in Press Association Newsfile, on the £30,000 fine issued by Icstis to Channel Four's:  'Deal Or No Deal'