The High Court hearing on Thursday at which the settlements were detailed was a humiliating occasion for Mr. Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, which published the now-defunct tabloid at the heart of the hacking scandal, The News of the World. In a courtroom so jammed with lawyers, victims and members of the news media that some people had to sit on the floor, News Group’s lawyer, Michael Silverleaf, repeatedly expressed the company’s “sincere apologies” for “the damage, as well as the distress” caused to victim after victim.
The list of 37 victims settling with the company included politicians, celebrities, actors and sports figures, as well as people in their inner circles — employees, spouses, lovers. It is unclear how much News Group will end up having to pay after all the cases are finally settled, but the total bill for the 18 victims whose settlement details were disclosed Thursday reaches well above $1 million.
According to the police, there may be as many as 800 victims.
Perhaps two dozen suits are pending. News Group says it is eager to settle all the cases, but it was not clear, during extensive discussions in court, that it was able to placate all those who have brought claims.
The settlements disclosed include those of the actor Jude Law, who received £130,000, about $200,000; Sadie Frost, his ex-wife, who received $77,000; Ben Jackson, his assistant, who received $61,000; Gavin Henson, a Welsh rugby star, who also received $61,000; and Denis MacShane, a member of Parliament, who received $50,000.
In each case, News Group also agreed to pay the complainant’s legal costs, any of which could easily have run into six figures. One complainant, speaking on the condition on anonymity, said that his came to more than $300,000 — an amount that does not include News International’s fees.
But perhaps more damaging to the company than the financial penalties was a statement from lawyers for the hacking victims.
“News Group has agreed to compensation being assessed on the basis that senior employees and directors of N.G.N. knew about the wrongdoing and sought to conceal it by deliberately deceiving investigators and destroying evidence,” the statement said, referring to News Group Newspapers.
The lawyers also said they had obtained, through nine disclosure orders from the court, “documents relating to the nature and scale of the conspiracy, a cover-up and the destruction of evidence/e-mail archives by News Group.”
In a statement, News International, the British newspaper arm of Mr. Murdoch’s global empire and the parent company of News Group, said it had “made no admission as part of these settlements that directors or senior employees knew about the wrongdoing by N.G.N. or sought to conceal it.” It added, “However, for the purpose of reaching these settlements only, N.G.N. agreed that the damages to be paid to claimants should be assessed as if this was the case.”
Lawyers said, however, that it was unlikely that the company would have agreed to calculate settlements on the basis that there was a cover-up if there were in fact no cover-up.
Until the end of 2010, News International denied that The News of the World engaged in any phone hacking and vehemently vowed to fight any legal claims. After that, it admitted that some of its reporters and editors knew about the hacking. Now it has acknowledged that hacking was pervasive, and with hundreds of potential victims still left to deal with, it recently set up a Web page where people who believe their phones were hacked can file claims electronically.
More than 20 people have been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking or illegally paying the police for information. No criminal charges have been filed yet.
Alan Cowell contributed reporting.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/world/europe/murdoch-company-settles-with-36-hacking-victims.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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