Adam Wolanski QC

5RB

Few could have missed Adam Wolanski QC’s headline-making case in 2020 when he was in court for News Group Newspapers with 6KBW’s Sasha Wass QC to defend a high-profile libel claim by actor Johnny Depp against The Sun. The case was about as Hollywood as it gets with Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard, turning out as the star witness for The Sun over a 2018 story in which it described Depp as a “wife-beater”. The ruling for NGN came as a result of forensic analysis of the evidence and was widely welcomed as a victory for a free press.

As well as being in demand by major publishers, Wolanski picked up a mandate to represent recently retired Dechert partner Neil Gerrard last year and successfully resisted a strike out attempt by surveillance company Diligence. This complex piece of litigation has ramifications for all litigators and looks to lift the lid on the murky world of disputes investigations when it gets to court later this year.

In this particularly fierce corner of the disputes market, Wolanski, who only took silk in 2019, has marked himself out as one of the leading minds at the Bar.