London-based defamation specialist Schillings has opened its first European branch, in Dublin. 

The firm, which earned a fearsome reputation in the 1990s and 2000s for protecting the privacy of celebrity clients such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and JK Rowling, said the move was a “natural next step” in its expansion. 

The new office will add to the firm’s existing base in Miami and its alliances with law firms Clare Locke in the US and Giles George in Australia.

Partners Ben Hobbs and Phil Hartley, dual-qualified in Ireland and England and Wales, will be dividing their time between its London and Dublin offices, Schillings said. 

They will be joined by legal director John Curtin, who is also dual-qualified and will be relocating to Dublin, and new consultant partner Viv O’Connor-Jemmett.

“Further increasing our international reach, our Dublin office is a natural next step in the strategic expansion of Schillings,” said firm CEO, David Imison. “The city is home to many of the world’s largest technology and e-commerce companies, as well as a growing cohort of entrepreneurs and business leaders.

“With this new Irish base, we are pleased to provide new and existing clients with an opportunity to access legal services in the EU. We believe that this – combined with our expertise in intelligence, strategic communications, diplomacy and security – creates a new and compelling offer to the Irish market.”

Schillings was founded as a law firm 40 years ago but in 2013 secured an alternative business licence that meant it could relaunch as a multidisciplinary business, a move it said would enable it to better defend clients’ reputations and privacy. 

The firm has built an in-house intelligence and investigations unit and bought a cyber security business that it has developed into a critical risks consultancy. Earlier this year it also launched its own communications agency led by George Pascoe-Watson, a former political editor of the Sun who went on to be chairman of communications firm Portland, and Victoria O’Byrne, who worked in corporate communications for the Labour party under Tony Blair and later served as communications secretary for the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

For his part Hobbs has been a partner at Schillings for the past five years, having joined the firm as a solicitor 16 years ago. He works with FTSE 100 companies and business owners encountering reputational crises, and specialises in defamation, privacy, harassment and IP issues. 

Hartley is a media lawyer and litigator, with experience in defamation, privacy law, data protection, counter-harassment, confidentiality and IP. A Schillings lifer, he made partner at the firm last year. 

Meantime Curtin was previously a commercial litigation solicitor in Dublin and now specialises in pre-emptive reputation strategies and managing crises, while O’Connor-Jemmett, who has joined Schillings from business consultancy Penta Group, brings 15 years’ experience advising clients including boards and high-profile individuals on protecting their profiles online.

Schillings has grown to 98 fee earners in total, just under half of whom – 45 – are lawyers. The firm said it had increased turnover by 240% over the last decade.