2021 Careers Handbook

Page 225

Media and Defamation Law Fabienne Sharbanee

Principal Associate, Bennett + Co I have been in practice just over 20 years. I was admitted in 1999 and had my first dance with defamation law a few years later in 2002. It was an appeal to the Full Court of the Supreme Court from an interlocutory decision that had resulted in our client’s claim being struck out (without leave to replead – so the claim was done and dusted, unless we got up on the appeal). It was a pretty ‘sexy’ introduction to defamation – a high profile client (with associated media attention), counsel who I later learned were some of the best in town (1 now the 2nd most senior defamation judge sitting in the Supreme Court), an appeal to the Full Court with a bench of 3 (including the then Chief Justice). Not bad stuff 3 years out. But the law was interesting too and the story – as with all defamation matters – was necessarily personal in nature. The outcome affected people and that was immediately apparent to me. For me, that is where part of the attraction has always been – the stories are human stories, and the clients are people to whom you can relate (at some level) and not corporates. I have almost always done plaintiff defamation work, which is why that perspective still works for me I guess. Defamation gives me the opportunity to do what so many of us chase as altruistic law students - to ‘do the right thing’ and ‘stand up for the little guy’. Defamation sparks my ‘you can’t do that!!!’ instinct.

so that suits me. The dependability and process of civil procedure also makes sense to me and defamation is usually pretty heavy on interlocutory skirmishes and procedural hurdles, so that part of the sport of it can be fun and often challenging. What does practising in media and defamation law really mean? I’m a litigator. I do ‘court stuff ’. I write a lot of letters and I prepare a lot of Court documents. I prepare quite a lot of Concerns Notices (s14 of the Defamation Act 2005). I stare at news stories and Facebook posts, to decide if they damage reputation and if so, why. I sometimes ask the same questions after listening to radio or TV broadcasts repeatedly, and once, after reading a book. I meet with clients. I go to Court, usually around once or twice a month, either to instruct Counsel at a contested interlocutory hearing or appear at a directions hearing or mediation conference. I was junior counsel in 2 trials last year – 1 of them was a defamation trial. A handful of times, I have been asked to ‘legal’ a document before its published (known as ‘prepublication’ advice, and much more common to those advising the media).

But, as I say, I usually come at things from the perspective of a claimant. If you’re big on freedom of expression, free speech and freedom of the press, then you might be more suited to a similar role on the other side of the fence acting for the media, and other defamation defendants. The other aspects of defamation that appeal to me are the words and the procedure.

Since that first case in 2002, I have been fortunate to work on cases for all sorts of people –sports people, government officials and various types of professionals accused of fraud, incompetence bullying and more, people wrongly accused of crimes, companies unjustifiably bad mouthed on Facebook (okay, it’s not always for the little guy), and one of my most memorable, a little old lady who was devastated to have been accused of infidelity in front of a crowd of people at her local sermarket.

Defamation is all about words – what they mean, who they identify, how pervasive their reach may be. I’m a ‘grammar nazi’ and a ‘word-nerd’,

I say ‘fortunate’ because there are not a lot of opportunities to work in media and defamation law, particularly in WA. Bennett + Co have a

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Victorian Clerkship Applications

4min
page 233

Tips for Law Students

3min
pages 231-232

Life as an Employment Lawyer

3min
pages 229-230

Kimberly Land Council and In House at Chevron

3min
page 228

Life as a Graduate at Clayton Utz

3min
page 225

Media and Defamation Law

4min
pages 226-227

Innovation in the Law

3min
pages 222-223

Academia

3min
pages 219-220

Life as a Criminal Lawyer

3min
page 221

Life as a Graduate in a National Firm

3min
page 224

Solicitor’s Office

3min
page 218

Q&A: Journey To Becoming a Barrister

4min
pages 210-211

A Day in the Life of an HSF Graduate

4min
pages 208-209

Life at a Global Law Firm

3min
page 207

Sussex Street Community Law Service Inc

1min
page 201

Women’s Legal Service WA

3min
pages 203-206

Street Law Centre WA Inc

2min
pages 199-200

Welfare Rights & Advocacy Service

2min
page 202

The Mental Health Law Centre

2min
page 197

Midland Information Debt and Legal Advocacy Service

2min
page 198

Gosnells Community Legal Centre

1min
page 196

Fremantle Community Legal Centre

3min
pages 194-195

Environmental Defenders Office (WA

2min
pages 192-193

Citizens Advice Bureau

2min
pages 189-190

Consumer Credit Legal Service

2min
page 191

Circle Green Community Legal

2min
page 188

Aboriginal Family Law Services

2min
page 187

WA Ombudsman

2min
pages 182-186

State Solicitor’s Office

5min
pages 180-181

Australia

2min
page 178

Legal Aid Insurance Commission of Western

1min
pages 176-177

Department of the Premier and Cabinet

5min
pages 174-175

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

3min
pages 172-173

Prosecutions

2min
page 171

Corruption and Crime Commission The Office of the Commonwealth

1min
page 169

Ombudsman Commonwealth Director of Public

2min
page 170

Australian Law Reform Commission

2min
page 166

Australian Taxation Office

2min
pages 167-168

Williams + Hughes

3min
pages 152-156

WA Supreme Court

3min
pages 157-158

Tottle Partners

4min
pages 149-151

WA Supreme Court of Appeals

2min
pages 159-162

Thomson Geer

5min
pages 146-148

Steinepreis Paganin

3min
pages 143-145

Squire Patton Boggs

5min
pages 140-142

Sparke Helmore Lawyers

4min
pages 137-139

King & Wood Mallesons

8min
pages 122-126

Norton Rose Fulbright

6min
pages 130-133

Jones Day

4min
pages 119-121

Johnson Winter & Slattery

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pages 115-118

HWL Ebsworth

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pages 108-111

Jackson McDonald

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pages 112-114

HHG Legal Group

10min
pages 100-104

HopgoodGanim

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Gilbert + Tobin

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Herbert Smith Freehills

8min
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DLA Piper

6min
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Corrs Chambers Westgarth

11min
pages 84-88

Clifford Chance

10min
pages 79-83

Clayton Utz

5min
pages 76-78

Bain & Company

2min
pages 68-69

Baker McKenzie

15min
pages 70-75

Ashurst

6min
pages 64-67

AGH Law

8min
pages 55-58

Allens

10min
pages 59-63

Allen & Overy

9min
pages 51-54

Leo Cussen

3min
pages 44-45

Piddington Society

3min
pages 46-50

Curtin Law School

2min
pages 42-43

The College of Law

3min
pages 39-41

Practice Group Insights

18min
pages 31-38

Graduate Positions

3min
page 28

Admissions

5min
pages 29-30

Interviews

8min
pages 25-27

Writing a Cover Letter

5min
pages 21-22

Clerkships

3min
pages 11-12

Crafting Your CV

1min
pages 17-18

Applications

1min
page 14

Sample Curriculum Vitae

2min
pages 19-20

Application Tips

1min
page 15

Sample Cover Letter

2min
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