Payne Hicks Beach

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This year the firm represented Georgia Harrison, The Only Way is Essex reality TV star, in her successful civil claim against Stephen Bear, her former partner. Bear, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, was jailed after he shared a sex tape of Harrison without her consent. Harrison obtained £207,900 in damages, including special damages, which was the highest sum to be awarded in an image abuse case.

It also acted pro bono for the mother of a 15-year-old who a local authority had tried to prevent from going abroad for gender reassignment surgery. The teenager, referred to in the judgment as Sam, was born abroad and remained a citizen of the county he wanted to travel to with his parents for a double mastectomy. The Access to Justice Foundation revealed that it had received the second-largest ever pro bono costs order after the anonymous local authority dropped its case.