Peter Carter-Ruck
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Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck (26 February 1914 – 19 December 2003) was an English solicitor, specialising in libel cases. The firm he founded, Carter-Ruck, is still practising.
BiographyEdit
Personal lifeEdit
Carter-Ruck was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford. He spent three months in Germany during the 1930s, observing the rising popularity of Adolf Hitler and attending a rally in Freiburg. Upon his return, he trained and qualified as a solicitor.<ref name=IndieObit>Template:Cite news</ref>
His daughter Julie Scott-Bayfield also became a libel lawyer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
CareerEdit
He was Senior Partner, Oswald Hickson, Collier & Co (1945–1981) until he founded and was Senior Partner of his own eponymous firm, Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners (1981–1998). He was Chairman, Law Society Law Reform Committee (1980–1983) and a Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies (1998–2003).<ref name="IndieObit" />
Carter-Ruck's first major case was defending the Bolton Evening News successfully against a libel action brought by the Labour MP Bessie Braddock, who, the paper had claimed, had danced a jig in Parliament.<ref name="IndieObit" />
In December 1995, Carter-Ruck acted for the royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke in the matter of an allegation by Diana, Princess of Wales, that Legge-Bourke had aborted a pregnancy in which Prince Charles was the father.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
CriticismEdit
In 1980, the Daily Express editor Derek Jameson was advised by Carter-Ruck that if he sued the BBC over their portrayal of him in a Week Ending sketch, he would win at least £25,000 in damages. The barrister in the case, David Eady QC, however advised Carter-Ruck to accept the BBC's offer to settle for £10 plus costs. Carter-Ruck did not disclose this advice to his client. The jury found the broadcast defamatory, but also fair comment and Jameson had to pay costs,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> receiving a bill for £41,342.50 from Carter-Ruck. Jameson learned by chance of the QC's advice and Carter-Ruck's former partner David Hooper claimed that "Carter-Ruck told him a string of lies".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Carter-Ruck later claimed that he did not want to undermine Jameson's morale in court.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
- A yachtsman, he owned a succession of boats which he christened "Fair Judgment". He was a member of the Law Society Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the Royal Yacht Squadron, and the Garrick.<ref name="IndieObit" />
- Carter-Ruck was the founder-governor of Shiplake College at Henley.<ref name="IndieObit" />
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- 'The Carter-Ruck chill', The Guardian comment, December 2003
- Peter Carter-Ruck obituary, Daily Telegraph, 22 December 2003