Defamation legal eagle Patrick George lands new role at top firm
When leading defamation lawyer Patrick George quietly left Kennedys last month, no one knew what he would do next. Until now.
When defamation lawyer Patrick George quietly left his role as senior partner at global firm Kennedys in February after 20 years, he left no clues to his next move.
The legal industry was alight with rumours of what caused his resignation, and what he would do next to further an already illustrious 40-year-long career.
The Australian can reveal Mr George has joined the boutique firm of reputational risk lawyer Rebekah Giles, Company (Giles).
Mr George, who literally wrote the book on defamation law here (Defamation Law in Australia, 4th edition, LexisNexis), has been an adviser to two prime ministers, the long-term lawyer to the Australian Olympic Committee, and an associate to former governor-general William Deane.
He told The Australian a swift uptick in social media use could be blamed for a huge increase in defamation cases in Australia. Because of this, defamation law is better practised in small, specialist firms where lawyers have specific expertise, he said.
Such is the reason for his move to Company (Giles). “I’ve been tracking the social media information litigation since 2010, when it was really in its infancy,” he said.
“What I could conclude is anyone and everyone was publishing stuff on social media without having any regard for people’s reputations, and in fact, there would be pile-ons when someone criticised another person.
“It’s terribly damaging, and can be very destructive.”
Former prime minister Paul Keating, who has been advised by Mr George in defamation proceedings, says his work is “characterised by careful perusal of facts and, in the area of defamation, of imputations”.
“Patrick George’s principal attribute is judgment – capital J judgment,” he said. “He is not for grandstanding or beat-ups.
“Nevertheless, he has many victories.”
Mr George famously defended Chinese businesswoman Helen Liu in a successful preliminary discovery action for disclosure of sources against The Age newspaper from 2010 to 2017.
He was the principal lawyer in a first of its kind judgment that saw a NSW schoolboy ordered to pay $105,000 in damages for defaming a teacher on social media.
Acting for former AOC president John Coates in a case against 2GB and Alan Jones in 2008, Mr George recovered an award for $360,000. “Patrick is an outstanding lawyer. His advice is always considered and pragmatic,” Mr Coates said. “I relied greatly on him during my lengthy tenure as AOC president.”
Mr George opened Kennedys in Australia 17 years ago with his then associate Ms Giles and others, leaving Minter Ellison where he had been a partner for almost 20 years.
In 2014, he joined Kevin Rudd’s legal team, alongside Bret Walker SC, to defend the former prime minister in a royal commission into Labor’s home insulation scheme.
“I’ve worked with a lot of legal minds over the years but Patrick stands apart,” Dr Rudd said. “Not only for his command of the law, but as a deep thinker on the role of the justice system and debates on law reform.”
Ms Giles, who has defended Brittany Higgins and former attorney-general Christian Porter, described Mr George’s appointment as “an acknowledgment of the value of a small specialist reputational risk practice that is able to quickly respond to threats free from the constraints of conflicts and large firm bureaucracy”.
“(Mr George is a) lawyer’s lawyer – a brilliant strategist who executes to plan with surgical like precision,” she said.
Mr George said he would continue to agitate for changes to Australian defamation laws in his new role, to prevent social media platforms from gaining greater protections.
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