In conversation with... Athalie Matthews - reputation management lawyer

This month, we interviewed Athalie Matthews, Counsel in Farrer & Co’s Dispute Resolution team, experienced in all aspects of the law surrounding reputation management, particularly from a claimant perspective.

Could you tell us about your journey into reputation management law and what inspired you to specialise in this field?

I was a newspaper journalist before becoming a lawyer and had to liaise with in-house lawyers about what could and could not be published. I became increasingly interested in the law, particularly defamation, privacy and freedom of expression. Gradually I became more interested in these questions than the news stories I was writing and decided to retrain. As I had valuable first-hand knowledge of the media industry, I was taken on by a firm that specialised in bringing libel cases against the media.

What are some of the most challenging aspects of handling reputation management cases?

Your client may be going through the absolute worst time of their life and be looking to you to fix it, and fast. The pressure can be very intense, both in terms of timing and potential consequences for the client’s public profile, livelihood and marriage or relationship if you can’t help, for example by preventing the release of private material, getting online coverage removed or stopping a blackmailer. When the phone rings you sometimes have to switch immediately into crisis mode, no matter what time of the day or night.

How do you manage complex cases involving both legal and public relations aspects?

In an urgent, high-stakes situation, practical steps are often needed in the immediate term, regardless of whether your client also ends up turning to the law. In the event of hostile journalistic inquiries or damaging articles, for example, it will be vital for any statement given by a client to the press or stakeholders to send the right message. I therefore often work alongside communications strategists, particularly where fierce media interest is anticipated and preparation is key. Once the situation is under immediate control you can decide whether to wade in with the law, or whether that will be counterproductive.

Could you share some key cases or experiences that were pivotal in your career?

I have been fortunate to work on some very inspiring cases, including one which involved advising the then Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem in a libel case against a London-based Arabic newspaper. I found myself taking witness statements in a Greek Orthodox monastery in the Old City of Jerusalem and managing an extensive document translation project involving Hebrew, Arabic and Greek from inside a Jerusalem law firm. No one can say that the work of a London libel lawyer is not international.

How has reputation management evolved with the rise of social media, and what new challenges have emerged?

The legal practice area now known as ‘reputation management’ used to be known as ‘media law’. The fact that it is no longer called that tells you that the importance of the mainstream media in forming and destroying reputations has arguably diminished (although obviously it still plays a large part).

We now operate in a much wider – and often much more unpredictable – landscape, where reputational threats emanate from all angles, whether that is a viral Tik-Tok video, online harassment or blackmail, company activism, employee misconduct, or defamatory deepfakes and AI-generated fake content.

How do you balance legal strategy with the fast-paced nature of online crises?

When harmful or unlawful content is appearing online, every minute counts and you must be responsive, practical and flexible in meeting your client’s needs. It is important to establish early on whether a client should ‘go legal’ straight away, pursue practical solutions first, or both.

Legal remedies, for example applying to the court for an anti-harassment or privacy injunction are usually the ‘nuclear option’ in terms of both cost and risk. Therefore, we usually look at deploying practical solutions first, such as making take-down requests to social media companies and/or engaging digital investigators to try to trace an anonymous harasser.

What excites you most about the future of your work?

Its unpredictability. In 1982 the internet had not been invented, but today there are about 5.5 billion internet users. Here in 2025, we think of ourselves as ‘modern’ and at the cutting edge, but in another 42 years, today’s online communication methods may seem as quaint as typewriters do now. What will come next, and how will – or can – the law as we know it adapt?

© Farrer & Co LLP, February 2025