Congratulations to solicitor (and Gazette friend) Mark Stephens on his appointment as co-chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. The institute, which is autonomous and financially independent, works with the global legal community to promote and protect human rights and the independence of the legal profession worldwide. It’s a big remit.
Stephens, whose day job is head of media law and regulatory at Howard Kennedy, London, succeeds the Hon Michael Kirby, former Justice of the High Court of Australia. He joins existing co-chair Anne Ramberg, immediate past secretary general of the Swedish Bar Association, as co-chair for the calendar years 2022 and 2023.
Apart from his legal skills, Stephens is an accomplished media performer. Indeed Obiter was in the very act of composing a message of congratulations when up he popped on the BBC 6 o’clock news being grilled on the settlement in the US legal action against Prince Andrew.
As our lawyer in the news four years ago - when he was representing Zelda Perkins, a former personal assistant to Harvey Weinstein - Stephens was forthright in attacking the role of lawyers in the abuse of non disclosure agreements.
He also shared a memorable career low: ‘Losing in the House of Lords over the ban on broadcasting the voices of representatives from Sinn Féin and loyalist groups by Margaret Thatcher’s government – it was a case I really believed in. I did have a clue we’d lose when the IRA fired rockets at 10 Downing Street on the second day of the hearing.’
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