Keith Schilling

It is Keith Schilling’s 2004 landmark case in the House of Lords which is largely regarded as the case which changed the landscape of privacy in the UK, and ‘effectively helped to create a new form of privacy law’ .^[6] He has since built on this pioneering case, and has been instrumental in spearheading the development of laws to protect the privacy of children whose parents are in the public eye.^[7] As a result, Keith was placed 10^th in The Times’ newspaper’s inaugural list of the country’s 100 Most Powerful Lawyers; ^[8] the highest ranked media lawyer in the list.

When interviewed by the Sunday Times magazine, Private Eye editor Ian Hislop said that Keith Schilling

             ‘was exactly the sort of lawyer you need in the libel trenches with you in                    dangerous times. He was tough, brash, and always optimistic. Entirely               unbothered by the pomposity of the law, the absolute opposite of the cosy               Oxbridge-Temple conspiracy’.^[9]

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Over the years, Keith’s pioneering vision saw Schillings evolve into a ground-breaking multidisciplinary reputation and privacy firm. It was one of the first UK law firms to gain an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licence ^[10] and was awarded the FT Innovation Award for Strategy in 2016.^[11]

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Today, Schillings’ unique multidisciplinary model, an approach spearheaded by Keith, combines expertise in law, intelligence, communications, security and diplomacy to help clients when the stakes are high. Today, Schillings is ranked as a leading firm for business intelligence and investigations by Chambers & Partners, with a cutting-edge team of intelligence experts spearheaded by Partners Juliet Young and Lily Kennett.

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The firm's newest offering, Schillings Communications, led by Partners George Pascoe-Watson and Victoria O'Byrne, was ranked by PR Week as the top crisis and reputation management advisors for 2025, only a year after launching. ^[12]

Keith Schilling attended Bromley Technical High School for Boys (latterly Ravenswood), which - with David Bowie, Peter Frampton and Hanif Kureishi among its alumni - had a track record for producing graduates that would go on to make a name for themselves.

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Keith left Bromley Technical High School at 15 and got his first job aged 16 as ‘tea-boy, courier and photocopier’ at London entertainment law firm, Wright & Webb in 1972. Beginning his legal career without a degree was just the first sign of Keith’s non-conventional approach to law.^[13] Whilst working as ‘general gofer’, his potential was quickly recognised by Wright & Webb’s well-known media lawyer, Oscar A. Beuselinck.^[14] Oscar, who himself had begun work at 14 without qualifications, ‘enjoyed talent spotting’, and soon Keith became one of his ‘protegees’.^[15] When interviewed for The Times’ ‘Lawyer of the week’ feature, Keith commented that Oscar Beuselinck was ‘the most influential person as far as my professional life is concerned.’^[16]

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Keith began working as a clerk during the day and studying the Institute of Legal Executive exams by correspondence course in the evenings, in order to achieve the A Level equivalents required to begin his solicitor’s clerk training. In 1975, aged 19, Keith attended Chester College of Law and passed the Solicitors Part 1 exams before undertaking a four-year apprenticeship at Wright & Webb in 1977.

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Two years later, whilst still employed by Wright & Webb, aged 26, he enrolled on a two-year part-time evening course at The City of London Polytechnic, achieving an MA in European Business Law. Continuing his academic studies, Keith was subsequently accepted by the London School of Economics and Political Science to undertake postgraduate studies under world renowned Intellectual Property lawyer Professor Bill Cornish.

At the same time as completing his MA, Keith undertook two ground breaking cases: the first, for Sean Connery, against his former accountant Kenneth Richards where he obtained the largest personal damages award in British legal history (at the time);^[17] the other, Fraser & others v Thames Television & others [1984] 1 QB 44 (the “Rock Follies” case) which was a landmark decision in the field of plagiarism, and the first time a breach of confidence claim had been successfully employed to protect an oral idea for a TV programme.

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With the required qualifications achieved, in 1981, Keith was admitted as a solicitor and soon became partner at Wright & Webb. With an ambition to work on pioneering cases that could change the law, support the underdog, and rally against the increasing invasions of privacy by the media, Keith left the firm - aged 27 - to co-found his own law firm.

Keith’s founding of Schillings (initially Schilling, Gleadow & Lom, later Schilling & Lom) – at the time, a full-service media and entertainment firm - coincided with the explosion of tabloid journalism, which was increasingly creating unfair stories about those in the spotlight. Over the next few years, his cases were dominated by those involving individuals whose privacy had been unfairly breached in the press, and their reputations tarnished as a result, with early clients including Private Eye, Koo Stark and The Voice newspaper.

In 2004, Keith’s landmark win^[18] for supermodel Naomi Campbell against the Daily Mirror^[19] in the House of Lords (Campbell v MGN Limited), set a precedent that effectively established a law of privacy in the UK for the first time.^[20] The case fought to balance press freedom with the right of every individual to a private life: in delivering its judgment, the House of Lords confirmed that even celebrities are entitled to a private life.

This case would define Keith Schilling’s career thus far, leaving ‘his mark in English law’, ^[21] and crediting him with ‘inventing the modern legal concept of privacy’.^[22] Through the groundbreaking Campbell case, Keith Schilling earned himself a reputation as the lawyer for high-profile individuals looking to protect their privacy: ‘If you're a celebrity in trouble with the tabloids’, said The Guardian, ‘he is quite simply the most expensive and probably the best legal advice you can get.’^[23]

Since then, Keith’s work has been dominated by protecting the right of high-profile individuals to a private life, both in and out of the court room. He has acted for some of the world’s most high-profile individuals including Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley, Gordon Ramsay,^[24] Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,^[25] Michael Hutchence and Nicole Kidman.^[26]

In a long line of ‘firsts’, he has led in developing the law of privacy for children of parents in the public eye,^[27] and additionally achieved one of the first ever front-page apologies^[28] on behalf of a client when a tabloid published false allegations about them.

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Further, Keith worked on the first case in which a libel claimant was permitted to give evidence via video link (acting for Roman Polanski against Conde Nast in 2005)^[29] and represented J.K Rowling in the first case in English law granting an injunction against “person or persons unknown” (a “John Doe” order) for over 200 years.^[30]

Other notable cases include acting for Marco Pierre White against two US newspapers over a syndicated article containing defamatory allegations,^[31] representing Monty Norman against the Sunday Times in a case concerning the composition of the James Bond theme tune,^[32] and representing Jason Connery in a libel trial against The Sun.^[33]

Keith has fought against the publication of misinformation and disinformation, which can effectively rob an individual of their free speech rights and which is ultimately not in the public interest. Through his work, Keith has sought to bring balance between supporting the right to free speech, holding the media to account, and preserving the truth in service of his clients’ privacy.

Over the next decade, Keith continued to work on cases for the world’s most scrutinised individuals and businesses - but recognised that he would be able to better serve his clients by anticipating threats to reputation. To address this, he initiated the creation of Schillings’ in-house Intelligence and Investigations practice.

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This would mark the start of Schillings’ multi-disciplinary approach to client problem solving which now comprises security, diplomacy and, most recently, communications, alongside the law and intelligence.

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As a result, Keith has built a Partnership not only of leading lawyers, but of experts from the military, corporate investigations, risk consulting, behavioural science and communications. Today, Schillings’ Senior Partners - Rachel Atkins, Rod Christie-Miller (also Executive Chair), CEO David Imison (who took the reins in 2022), Tim Robinson, (a former army general), and Jenny Afia, have supercharged both the firm’s legal capabilities and its multidisciplinary drive.

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Under Keith's leadership, Schillings has not only evolved its offering and approach, but broadened its global reach. The firm has offices in Dublin^[34] and Miami, and a recently formed strategic alliance with law firms Clare Locke and Giles George - in the US and Australia, respectively. ^[35]

Today, Keith supports clients by providing strategic advice on complex reputation and privacy threats, using his expertise in copyright, data protection and commercial litigation to empower his clients’ control even in times of pressing crisis.

His strategic and visionary counsel is sought by many international corporations and high-profile and high net worth individuals facing high stakes situations and threats to their reputation and privacy.

 Keith’s expertise has been recognised by various bodies and organisations in recent years. He was named in The Lawyer magazine's 'Hot 100' lawyers in 2007, and in 2008, was placed 10^th in The Times’ top 100 lawyers. In the same year, Keith was also recognised in the Evening Standard’s survey of the 1000 most influential people in London.

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In 2011, Keith was featured in the MediaGuardian100, the 'annual guide to the most powerful people in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, digital media, media business, advertising, marketing and PR. Keith received the renowned 'Super Lawyer' award in 2013 and was subsequently included in The Times' list of Britain’s 500 most influential people in 2014.^[34]

Today, Keith is ranked as a Senior Statesperson for defamation and reputation management by Chambers & Partners, a top recommended reputation and privacy lawyer by Spear’s and is included in Citywealth’s Leader’s List.