Brown Rudnick ‘Phone Hacking’ Law Expert Heads for the Small Screen
A forthcoming television drama will feature a portrayal of Charlotte Harris, a so-called ‘hacking lawyer’ who acted for victims of phone hacking victims at the hands of the now defunct News of the World.
The lawyer will be portrayed by Rose Leslie, best known for Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, in a seven-part TV drama written by award-winning dramatist Jack Thorne.
The Hack TV drama digs into the phone hacking scandal and the explosive investigation into the axe murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, a case that sent shockwaves through British media, law enforcement and Westminster alike. Harris was a key figure in the story.
She is also a leading figure in the rarefied corner of legal practice where celebrity egos, media frenzies, and strategic litigation collide, co-chairing Brown Rudnick’s reputation unit, a practice that sits at the intersection of courtroom and press room tactics.
From Courtroom Strategy to Scripted Drama
Reputation law has always flirted with the spotlight, but this is different. The decision to dramatise Harris’s work suggests television producers think the legal end of media manipulation is compelling enough to rival your average murder mystery.
Harris’s role will reportedly be central, not a glorified cameo. It’s the kind of portrayal that can both burnish a lawyer’s profile and invite uncomfortable scrutiny. It also underscores how reputation lawyers increasingly shape, not to mention shield, the narratives around high-profile clients.
She told the Levenson Inquiry how obstructive and worrying the surveillance of herself had been.
“As a mother it’s natural to feel terribly uncomfortable with anyone looking into your family,” she said.
“It has been very obstructive. I was trying to sort out some very difficult litigation, very difficult issues, and I wish it hadn’t happened … as it throws a spanner in the works in terms of just trying to get down to the groundwork.”
Brown Rudnick has form here. The firm gained global attention for its starring role in the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation trial, where its courtroom strategy was also played out as a media spectacle. The overlap between legal work and cultural theatre isn’t accidental. It’s business.
Why This Matters
- Reputation work is mainstreaming and many biglaw firms are all-in on the trend. The days when reputation lawyers operated in quiet corridors are over.
- Brown Rudnick’s brand is growing and so too its reputation management practice, which has over two dozen lawyers practising in the US and UK. The firm has leveraged high-profile work to build a reputation at the top end of this increasingly public practice area.
- The line between legal ethics and entertainment is thinner than ever – Expect more shows, more “legal consultants,” and more viewers confusing plotlines with precedent.
For Harris, this TV moment may be equal parts PR coup and professional tightrope. In an era where law firms fight for visibility almost as hard as their clients fight for vindication, being cast in prime time is an unexpected turn of events in an age when privacy and reputation are front-and-center issues garnering high law firm interest.
