Top Ten Reputation Lawyers

Jenny Afia is in an excellent mood when she meets Spear’s. Last year she had told us: ‘I want two of the world’s most influential women in particular as my clients.’ This year, one of those women became her client. ‘I really admire talent, I love the celebrity world, and it’s amazing that these people who are world leaders – I mean, they have to pay to speak to me,’ she confides, incredulous. However, just because she has bagged a ‘bucket list’ client, it doesn’t’ mean she can relax. ‘I lie awake worrying about how to be better,’ she says.Entertainment clients are her niche, and she’s bullish about the need to defend their privacy. ‘We turn away a lot of clients, on a daily basis. Everyone nowadays has to be careful of who they associate with, so when we take on a case it’s generally something we really believe in,’ she says. ‘Despite all their resources, I see how distressing unfair attacks on reputation can be.’ Afia, a Schillings lawyer since 2006 and a partner since 2012, is also a member of the Children’s Commissioner’s Task Force on Growing Up in the Digital Age. ‘We should be extremely concerned about the effect the digital media is having on children,’ she warns. ‘Some of the research coming out on that is terrifying.’