Peter Carter-Ruck

Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck (26 February 1914, Steyning, West Sussex – 19 December 2003, Uttlesford, Essex) was an English lawyer, specialising in libel cases.

Early life

Carter-Ruck was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford. He spent three months in Germany during the 1930s, observing the rising popularity of Hitler, an experience that greatly affected him. Upon his return, he trained as a solicitor.

Career

Soon after qualifying as a solicitor, Carter-Ruck served as in the Royal Artillery during World War II, joining as a gunner and obtaining his commission in 1940. The same year, he married Ann, while on leave. By the time he left the armed forces in 1944, he was a Captain.

Carter-Ruck's first major case was defending the "Bolton Evening Post" successfully against a libel action brought by the Labour MP, Bessie Braddock, who, they had claimed, had danced a jig in Parliament. He worked for many years at Oswald Hickson Collier & Co and set up his own firm in 1981 when it was suggested that he should retire.

He was known for several high-profile cases against British media outlets such as "Private Eye", the BBC and Channel 4. His clients included Princess Elizabeth of Toro, Jani Allan, Randolph Churchill and Sir James Goldsmith , plus many Conservative and Labour politicians including Neil Hamilton, Cecil Parkinson, Norman Lamont, Robert Maxwell and Harold Wilson. He also represented Laurence Olivier, Spike Milligan, Cary Grant and Ranulph Fiennes.

He did legal aid work, and said it was wrong for successful firms to decline it. He was frequently referred to by "Private Eye", a regular target of his libel cases, as "Peter Carter-Fuck". Despite being ousted from the firm bearing his name, he continued to act on many high-profile cases during the 1990s. In 1989, he criticised the £600,000 pay-out to Sonia Sutcliffe, who sued Private Eye for libel as excessive. The amount was later reduced to £60,000 on appeal.

In December 1995, Carter Ruck acted for the royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, in the matter of an allegation against her by Diana, Princess of Wales, that she had aborted Charles's child. [ [http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/diana/readingroom/9697/21296.html Diana Draws Blood Lashing out at Tiggy brings a legal warning and enrages the Queen] in "Time", February 12 1996 (accessed 31 January 2008)]

At one time, he was the oldest practising solicitor in the country. He finally retired in 1998.

Criticism

In 1980, Daily Express editor Derek Jameson had been advised by Carter-Ruck that if he sued the BBC over their portrayal of him in a "Weekending" 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 ("sic") plus costs. Carter Ruck did not disclose this advice to his client and Jameson duly lost the case and received 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". [ cite web | title=The Carter-Ruck chill | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1112022,00.html | first=David | last=Hooper | work=The Guardian | date=23 December 2003 | accessdate=2008-05-01 ] Carter-Ruck later claimed that he did not want to undermine Jameson's morale in court.Fact|date=May 2008

Victories could also be pyrrhic, as in the case of William Roache whom Carter-Ruck encouraged to sue "The Sun" for saying he was boring. Roache was awarded £50,000 but as the paper had already paid that amount into court, Roache ended up having to pay his own costs and those of "The Sun". He tried to sue Carter-Ruck but was unsuccessful and declared bankruptcy.

Despite working for the Law Society between 1971 to 1984, Carter-Ruck was not above disreputable practices. His partner in the firm, David Hooper recalled a case where Heinemann had asked him to check Robert Lacey's biography of the Ford family. He found Carter-Ruck's secretary photocopying the book to submit to the Ford family, whom Carter-Ruck was advising to sue because of libels in the book. Hooper resigned in protest.

Carter-Ruck and his parter Andrew Stephenson were also investigated by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors in 1998 after a complaint from one of their clients, Chequepoint, which had been engaged in lengthy litigation with a rival firm of bureaux de change, Maccorp, and then discovered that Carter-Ruck and Stephenson were also acting for Maccorp. They were both found guilty of a flagrant conflict of interest.

The late Michael Wheeler QC also delivered a damning verdict on Carter-Ruck after he arbitrated a dispute between Carter-Ruck and his partners at Oswald Hickson during which Carter-Ruck attempted to blackmail his colleague to falsify his testimony. Wheeler wrote "it seems to be... to be a gross interference with the course of justice such as would (if this had been a court case and not simply an arbitration) have constituted a blatant contempt of court. Certainly, if a member of the bar had behaved as Carter-Ruck has done, I should have no hesitation in reporting his conduct to the Bar Council."

Carter-Ruck's former firm remains active in high-profile defamation cases. Not all clients are satisfied, one former client Adam King who won a libel case against the Telegraph opened several web sites against the firm.

Private Life

Carter-Ruck did not speak to his daughter, Julie Scott-Bayfield, for many years. His son Brian died in a sailing accident in 1973. His wife Ann Maxwell died in March 2003, after 62 years of marriage during which time they appeared to be inseparable. Carter-Ruck himself died nine months later.

References

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1112022,00.html 'The Carter-Ruck chill', "The Guardian" comment, December 2003]
* [http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/22/db2201.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/12/22/ixopright.html Obituary] "Daily Telegraph"