Peter Carter-Ruck

Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck (26 February 1914 – 19 December 2003) was an English solicitor, specialising in libel cases. The firm he founded, Carter-Ruck, is still practising.

Personal 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 Adolf Hitler and attending a rally in Freiburg. Upon his return, he trained and qualified as a solicitor.

His daughter Julie Scott-Bayfield also became a libel lawyer.

Career
He was Senior Partner, Oswald Hickson, Collier & Co (1945-1981) until he founded and was Senior Partner of his own eponymous firm, Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners (1981-1998). He was Chairman, Law Society Law Reform Committee (1980-1983) and a Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies (1998-2003).

Carter-Ruck's first major case was defending the Bolton Evening News successfully against a libel action brought by the Labour MP Bessie Braddock, who, the paper had claimed, had danced a jig in Parliament.

In December 1995, Carter-Ruck acted for the royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke in the matter of an allegation by Diana, Princess of Wales, that Legge-Bourke had aborted a pregnancy in which Prince Charles was the father.

Criticism
In 1980, the Daily Express editor Derek Jameson was advised by Carter-Ruck that if he sued the BBC over their portrayal of him in a Week Ending 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 plus costs. Carter-Ruck did not disclose this advice to his client. The jury found the broadcast defamatory, but also fair comment and Jameson had to pay costs, receiving 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". Carter-Ruck later claimed that he did not want to undermine Jameson's morale in court.

Personal life

 * A yachtsman, he owned a succession of boats which he christened "Fair Judgment". He was a member of the Law Society Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the Royal Yacht Squadron, and the Garrick.


 * Carter-Ruck was the founder-governor of Shiplake College at Henley.