Tamsin Allen

Practice Areas

Partner and Head of Media and Information Law.

Tamsin manages a wide-ranging media practice with emphasis on defamation and privacy, whistleblowing, information and data protection, copyright and human rights.

Tamsin has acted for Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, since Autumn 2017, as well as Shahmir Sanni who exposed criminal offences inside the designated campaign to leave the EU (Vote Leave), and Carole Cadwalladr in a libel claim brought against her by Leave EU founder, Arron Banks. Tamsin set up the Claimant Group in the hacking litigation against News Group Newspapers and has represented very large numbers of high profile people in phone-hacking claims.

She is experienced in public inquiries and represented Core Participant Victims in the Leveson Inquiry. She now represents a number of Core Participants in the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. She also provides advice to publishers and NGO’s and charities on publication risks, GDPR and in litigation; including Mirror Group, the National Union of Journalists, Animal Aid, LUSH, Amnesty International, The New Statesman, Greenpeace, Index on Censorship and many others.

Career

Tamsin qualified 1998. She joined Bindmans in 1999 and became a partner in 2004.

She has acted for Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, since Autumn 2017, advising on strategy and wider legal issues arising out of the information he has brought to light about Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and the Brexit Referendum. These have included advice in relation to exposing confidential and contentious information safely; giving evidence to Parliament, Congress, the Senate, and the European Parliament; and advice on media strategy.

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Tamsin Allen is a senior consultant at Bindmans and Head of the Media and Information Law team. She manages a wide-ranging media practice with an emphasis on defamation and privacy, whistleblowing, information and data protection, copyright and human rights.

Tamsin works closely with crime, employment, family, public law and actions against the police to provide a seamless reputation and crisis management service.

She was awarded Solicitor of the Year – Private Practice by the Law Society for her pioneering work successfully defending high-profile whistle-blowers – most notably in the Cambridge Analytica and ‘Vote Leave’ cases. You can read Tamsin’s interview with the Law Gazette here.

Tamsin is an experienced and skilled media lawyer. She has acted for Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, since Autumn 2017, advising on strategy and wider legal issues arising out of the information he has brought to light about Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and the Brexit Referendum. These have included advice in relation to exposing confidential and contentious information safely; giving evidence to Parliament, Congress, the Senate, and the European Parliament; and advice on media strategy.

I want to give a shout out to my brilliant lawyer, Tamsin Allen. Because of her, I have been able to tell this story. Whistleblowers need protection, they need help, they need defence. We often forget there are a lot of people behind people, and Tamsin is the Captain of the ship.

– Christopher Wylie, Wired Next Fest 2018

Tamsin also acts for Shahmir Sanni, who exposed criminal offences inside the designated campaign to leave the EU, Vote Leave, guiding strategy and obtaining the evidence and statements that led to a finding by the Electoral Commission that Vote Leave breached campaign spending rules.

She also represents Carole Cadwalladr in a libel claim brought against her by Leave. EU founder, Arron Banks.

She currently represents a group of women who are defendants in a libel claim brought by a musician relating to allegations of inappropriate behaviour, including sexual assault; a group of individuals in a proposed claim against Facebook in relation to the use of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica and others; the claimant in a privacy claim against Associated Newspapers Limited in relation to publication of the name of a person wrongly suspected of an offence in connection with the Manchester bombing; various clients in litigation against Refinitiv’s financial risk profiling database, WorldCheck and a number of other libel, DPA and privacy claims.

Tamsin set up the Claimant Group in the hacking litigation against News Group Newspapers and has represented very large numbers of high profile people in phone-hacking claims. She is experienced in public inquiries and represented Core Participant Victims in the Leveson Inquiry. She now represents a number of Core Participants in the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Phone hacking: Solicitor believes ‘important questions finally answered’.

BBC News – Success for phone-hacking victims kept in the dark by the police

Tamsin Allen speaking at “Voices of the Spied on” public meeting, University of London

She also provides advice to publishers and NGO’s and charities on publication risks, GDPR and in litigation; including Mirror Group, the National Union of Journalists, Animal Aid, LUSH, Amnesty International, The New Statesman, Greenpeace, Index on Censorship and many others.

We won’t be silenced over threats to Oxford’s cancer care (Tamsin speaking about libel threats at the Oxford branch of the National Union of Journalists)

She works closely with barristers from Matrix and 5RB to provide additional expertise in all these areas, bringing and defending claims in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights.

Tamsin was featured in The Law Society Gazette in November 2018 following a successful claim against Newsquest Media Group. You can read the full article here.

Tamsin is regularly invited to speak about media law and recently she gave give evidence to the Joint Human Rights Committee during their inquiry, The Right to Privacy (Article 8) and the Digital Revolution.

You can see Tamsin give evidence here and a copy of the Committee’s report can be found here.

Tamsin’s cases include:

Fox v Wiggins & Ors

Defending a group of women who have published blogs online raising concerns about the Claimant, a musician. The case is ongoing

King Blues singer Jonny Fox suing five women over ‘sexual predator’ allegations

Sicri v Associated Newspapers Limited

A privacy claim against Associated Newspapers in relation to publication of the name of a person wrongly suspected of an offence in connection with the Manchester bombing

Hakim v Crane & Oths

Acting for the Third Defendant, an NHS Consultant in defending a libel claim brought in relation to edits on the Claimant’s Wikipedia profile. The claim was discontinued shortly after an interim hearing, where the Claimant’s statement of case was struck out

Banks v Cadwalladr

Acting for the Defendant, Features Writer for The Observer, in a libel claim brought by the founder of Leave.EU

Salman Butt v Secretary of State for Home Department

A libel claim on behalf of Dr Salman Butt against the Home Secretary following the issuing of a press release in which Dr Butt was named as an extremist and hate preacher

Sicri v Newsquest Group Limited

A libel claim against Newsquest Group in relation to a publication in the Argus Newspaper. The case concluded with the Defendant, in a statement read in open court in November 2018, apologising to the claimant over an article alleging that he was an ISIS sympathiser who had publicly mourned the death of an ISIS leader

TLT and others v Home Office [2016] EWHC 2217 (QB)

Successful Privacy and Data Protection Act claim for 6 asylum seekers in relation to a data breach by the Home Office. Damages recovered at trial and Appeal successfully defended (Home Office v TLT & TLU [2018] EWCA Civ 221)

Case Law: TLT v Home Office, Damages of £39,500 for asylum seeker spreadsheet blunder – Aidan Wills

Case Law: TLU v Home Office, Misuse of Private Information and Data Protection Appeals dismissed, Durant further explained – Lorna Skinner

HZG v Captive Animal Protection Society [2016] EWHC 1370 (Ch)

A successful defence of animal charity in a copyright, contract and breach of confidence case brought by a private zoo in relation to images obtained by undercover investigators and published online to expose conditions for animals in the zoo

Case Law: Heythrop Zoo (t/a Amazing Animals) v Captive Animals Protection Society, Application for Interim application to restrain NGO from using zoo photographs dismissed

IMPRESS 2016-2018

Advising UK press regulator on its application for recognition and, with John Halford, successfully representing IMPRESS in a judicial review of the decision to recognise IMPRESS and in subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal

News Media Association v Press Recognition Panel [2017] EWHC 2527 (Admin)

High Court Rules on Judicial Review of PRP Decision to Recognise IMPRESS

High court rejects challenge to status of UK press regulator

OPO v James Rhodes and Canongate Books [2015] UKSC 32.

Successful defence in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of author and musician, James Rhodes, to establish his right to publish his memoir of sexual abuse and music. The Supreme Court gave important guidance as to the ambit of the tort of intentionally causing harm, and applications for prior restraint.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s concert pianist friend wins right to publish child abuse memoir

Professional Memberships

On the Board of Hacked Off.