Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me
Some Top Tips on making and dealing with irrational and dishonest complaints against a regulated professional
Every few weeks or so, someone will announce their intention to complain about me. Because I am ever public spirited and willing to help, I offer the following discussions to try and save some people some time and enable them to focus their efforts.
1. My regulator is the Bar Standards Board, not the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Please do remember to address your complaint to the correct regulator.
2. Before making your complaint, remember to read again the decision of the Court of Appeal in Miller v College of Policing and the determination of Holbrook’s appeal against sanction by the BSB - the mere causing of offence was not enough to diminish public trust in the profession given the fundamental importance of freedom of expression. At the very least, the relevant speech would have to be “seriously offensive” or “seriously discreditable”,
3. Remember that if what you are seeking is to cause distress and anxiety, rather than raise any genuine complaint that requires settlement, do consider the temperament of your victim and whether its a strategy that is going to bear fruit. It hasn’t worked against me in over 4 years and it isn’t suddenly going to start working now.
4. If you genuinely feel you have a serious complaint, remember that you will require evidence to make it. What is asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without consideration.
Some of the complaints I receive are comical, some are vile, disgusting and defamatory. I reject them all. I remain practising and hope to for many years to come. My clients do not care about my politics – if they did, then they have every right not to instruct me and I would of course respect that. My clients want a robust and effective advocate who they can trust to fight their corner. That I hope I deliver. I have never discriminated against a client for their age, their religion, the colour of their skin, their sexual orientation, their transgender identity or their disability and I never would.
Regardless of my ability to be robust in the face of dishonest and irrational complaints, it is still the reality that each complaint represents a waste of many people’s time. The person who has to receive it. The time I have to take to respond to it. And of course the time of the person who felt they had to make it.
I appreciate that not all are fortunate enough to share my robust temperament. If this happens to you, do not suffer in silence. Get help and support from colleagues if you can, from organisations such as the Free Speech Union if you can’t.
I urge all those who wish to complain to keep their complaints rational and relevant. And all those regulators who handle complaints to remember that they are subject to the law and must afford particular protection to political speech. I hope that sometime soon, the current unsatisfactory and toxic mix of irrational offence takers and insufficient respect for the fundamental human rights of the regulated, will settle down.
Everyone has a right to complain about a professional who brings their profession into disrepute – the privileges of membership of a profession brings with it responsibilities to behave in a way to merit that privilege. But no one has a right to elevate their claimed offence as a stick to beat others with or to attempt to stifle their fundamental human right of freedom of expression.
Such is the irrational and dishonest nature of many of the complaints made against me, I simply don’t accept that many of you felt genuinely aggrieved. I think rather that you were motivated by anger and dislike of someone – me - who had either challenged you directly or pointed out the inadequacies of an ideology you felt invested in.
If nothing changes, the Law of Diminishing Returns will work its usual magic and this will harm us all. Genuine complaints will be overwhelmed by a growing mountain of the irrational and the ridiculous.
Some of the complaints made about me.
It [SP’s tweet] is intended to mean Jews are unclean, animal- like and subhuman … The language was abusive and had clear overtures of the type of language and violent actions used by historic persecutors of Jews, most notably the Nazis, who in their wholesale murder of two-thirds of all Jews in Europe, burnt down almost all synagogues, often with victims inside.
[SP’s tweet] contained a threat of a criminal offence of arson, racially and/or religiously aggravated
A complaint asserted that retweeting an article from the Illinois Family Institute is akin to retweeting white supremacist material from ‘Stormfront’
Sarah has been prolific across Twitter at promoting hatred of transgender people. This also includes sharing of materials from established anti-LGBT groups such as Illinois Family Institute here:
Sarah also works as part of the Fair Cop (https://twitter.com/WeAreFairCop) initiative that actively goes out to bully any police force that shows any support for LGBT people (displaying rainbows, showing support of LGBT charities etc). They also seek to attack and bully Europe's largest LGBT organisation Stonewall and the UK's biggest charity supporting young trans people, Mermaids. Nobody should be permitted to work in family law if they are actively trying to harm LGBT people specifically including trans young people. Most of her Twitter profile is outright transphobia (while claiming to be supporting women - which any real feminist will understand that this is not how it's done): https://twitter.com/SVPhillimore
Sarah’s recent social media account has been very erratic. She has been accusing people of things with no basis, including an actor of inciting hatred towards her but then saying the police would find no link if anything happened to her. She is lashing out at people who ask her questions, she is part of an organisation called we are dare cop who tweeted out last week that say yes to hate. She freely says she wants hate crimes laws changing because it affects her personally and raising funds via a crowdfunder to do so. Concerned about her current health status, can not honestly say her behaviour is being rational and concerned she maybe bringing herself and her reputation into disrepute.
Complaint asserting that SP would not hesitate to share private data particularly if the person was a ‘man or transgender woman’.
Complaint asserting that SP had published ‘homophobic’ tweeting about Brokeback mountain.
Complaint that SP had repeated a libel made by journalist Andy Ngo
Complaint that SP had raised money via a crowdfunder
Complaint that others had commented on tweets by SP which was distressing to him
Sarah Phillimore's behaviour has caused huge anxiety and distress and caused L to come off Twitter altogether, this is entirely unacceptable conduct by a barrister and a woman who is meant to be dealing with and protecting the right of vulnerable people in the Court of Protection and also the Family Court. I have cc'd the head of the Family Court here, so he is aware of her harassment and bullying and inappropriate tactics, especially for an officer of the court. His court. I intend to file a formal complaint, if these tweets which are causing alarm and distress and are harassment and possibly stalking of F are not removed immediately. Please revert as a matter of urgency. She brings your chambers and the entire legal profession into disrepute.
Complaint that SP should not talk to the press ‘personally I believe all public officials should be barred from going to the media. The phone hacking scandal and data breaches where private information has been dumped in skips for the media to end up in possession of are just one reason.’
Her own criminality is bringing the reputation of the Bar into disrepute and is in direct breach of several parts of your code of conduct – most notably code 5. Miss Phillimore has overstepped her boundaries of behaviour by consorting and actively inciting others to again against me… is constantly lying about people she dislikes because they disagree with her..
I do strongly believe though is Sarah not only openly transphobic but is inciting violence against people on her Twitter account. Her words to me, are being very Trumpian. I’m worried for my friends and family in the UK, that she’s going to cause another “Pizzagate’ situation. It’s very concerning… I feel like she might be taking this now to a almost hate crime level.
The example complaints above show breathtaking levels of inanity and animosity. I admire your determination to fight these malicious and groundless diatribes of people who strangely believe that their fantasies must override our rational faculties and consciences.
It’s an absolute tragedy seeing you destroy your legacy and reputation by working with the utterly evil hate figures in the bully boy group The Bad Law Project. Please pause and think about this. You’re such a heroine but this is the most disappointing move. I can’t believe it and just hope that you’re overworked and will see that partnering with hate never helps our cause. Please don’t reply criticising me, just pause and reflect for a minute. Will you be proud of this association when you’re retired? Will your family? No. It will be a stain that spreads down the decades.