Before her appointment as Queen's Counsel in October 2006, Heather has been ranked for years as leading junior in Defamation by both the Legal 500 and the Chambers & Partners directories and in September 2005 was named Defamation Junior of the Year in the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards. She was appointed as Queen's Counsel in October 2006.

Heather has appeared in numerous libel trials since 1987, including:

Roman Polanski v Condé Nast 
With John Kelsey-Fry QC for film director Roman Polanski who sued over an article in Vanity Fair. In July 2005, the jury awarded him damages of £50,000.

Harry Kewell v Gary Lineker and others 
For the defendants, in an action brought by Harry Kewell, of Liverpool FC, over a Sunday Telegraph article, which Gary Lineker and the newspaper maintained was critical of the transfer system in football, not Kewell. In June 2005, the jury was discharged, after it failed to agree on whether the article was defamatory. The case later settled.

George Galloway MP v Telegraph Group  
With Richard Rampton QC, for George Galloway MP, who sued over the publication of defamatory articles in April 2003 in The Daily Telegraph. At trial in November 2004, the judge rejected the newspaper’s defence of qualified privilege and awarded damages of £150,000.  In January 2006 the Court of Appeal refused the newspaper’s appeal.

Condliffe v Pressdram 
With Ron Thwaites QC, for Private Eye. The claimant discontinued his claim after six weeks in court at trial (November 2001).

David Irving v Penguin Books/Professor Deborah Lipstadt 
With Richard Rampton QC, for Penguin in its defence of the action brought by David Irving over the book ‘Denying the Holocaust’. The trial took place over three months. Judgment in favour of the Defendants was given in April 2000; Irving’s application for permission to appeal was refused by the Court of Appeal in July 2001.

Neil Hamilton v Mohamed Al Fayed 
With George Carman QC and James Price QC, for Mr Al Fayed in the ‘cash for questions’ libel action brought by the former MP. The jury found in Mr Al Fayed’s favour in December 1999. Hamilton's application for permission to appeal was dismissed in December 2000.

Branson v G-Tech/Guy Snowden  
With George Carman QC and Hugh Tomlinson for Richard Branson in his libel actions against Guy Snowden and G-Tech (part of the Camelot lottery consortium). Mr Branson was awarded £100,000 by the jury in February 1998. Guy Snowden's appeal against that decision failed in May 1999.

The Hutton Inquiry
In 2003, Heather represented BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan in Lord Hutton’s Investigation into the Circumstances of the Death of David Kelly. http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk


For details of Heather Rogers QC's case law practice, please see Notable Cases.

For a printable version (.pdf) of Heather Rogers QC's CV, please download from here.

If you would like any further information regarding Heather Rogers QC's practice, please contact her Practice Team, or call +44 (0)20 7404 3447.