SMB’s Louis Charalambous recalls his role in the groundbreaking Murat case in new Netflix documentary

When Robert Murat took on the British media to win back his good name, he turned to our leading libel expert, Louis Charalambous. This extraordinary case is featured in the recently released Netflix documentary, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Louis, head of our Media: Content & Disputes team, discusses why he took on the case and describes our client having resembled someone who had “just walked off a battlefield” when he first came to see us. He mentions the task of sorting through hundreds of articles before settling on 92 which he went on to successfully pursue in a High Court claim against 11 newspapers and a national TV broadcaster. The film features archive footage of him and Mr Murat being surrounded by scores of cameras and journalists to hear them make statements outside the court immediately after the media all apologised to our client in court. Just a few weeks after Mr Murat came in to our Soho office he achieved the justice he was looking for.

Speaking to the media at the High Court Robert Murat said:

“I wish to pay tribute to my legal team at Simons Muirhead Burton, led by Louis Charalambous. It is due to their professionalism, dedication and assistance that I am able to be here today.”

Mr Murat recovered over £650,000 damages and a dozen apologies in open court. The apologies were also published in each offending publication. It is thought to be the largest number of publications successfully pursued in a multi-title libel claim.