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{{Short description|English solicitor (1914–2003)}}
{{use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter Carter-Ruck
| image = PCarterRuck.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|02|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Steyning]], Sussex, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|12|19|1914|02|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Great Hallingbury]], [[Uttlesford]], Essex, England
| nationality = British
| known_for = Specialising in [[libel]] cases
| education = [[St Edward's School, Oxford]]
| employer = [[Carter-Ruck]]
| occupation = [[Solicitor#England and Wales|Solicitor]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Ann Maxwell|1940|2003|end=her death}}
| children = 2
}}

'''Peter Frederick Carter-Ruck''' (26 February 1914 – 19 December 2003) was an English [[Solicitor in England and Wales|solicitor]], specialising in [[libel]] cases. The firm he founded, [[Carter-Ruck]], is still practising.

==Biography==

===Personal life===
Carter-Ruck was educated at [[St Edward's School, Oxford]]. He spent three months in Germany during the 1930s, observing the rising popularity of [[Adolf Hitler]] and attending a rally in [[Freiburg]]. Upon his return, he trained and qualified as a solicitor.<ref name=IndieObit>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-carter-ruck-37675.html|title=Peter Carter-Ruck – Eminent libel lawyer with a reputation for aggressive tactics|last=Wade|first=Alex|date=22 December 2003|work=[[The Independent]]|location=London|accessdate=12 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224202237/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-carterruck-549131.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=24 February 2009}}</ref>

His daughter Julie Scott-Bayfield also became a libel lawyer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/dec/22/pressandpublishing.guardianobituaries|title=Obituary: Peter Carter-Ruck – Scourge of Private Eye and master of the libel laws|last=Morton|first=James|date=23 December 2003|work=[[The Guardian]]|accessdate=12 December 2011}}</ref>

===Career===
He was Senior Partner, Oswald Hickson, Collier & Co (1945–1981) until he founded and was Senior Partner of his own eponymous firm, Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners (1981–1998). He was Chairman, Law Society Law Reform Committee (1980–1983) and a Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies (1998–2003).<ref name="IndieObit" />

Carter-Ruck's first major case was defending the ''[[Bolton News|Bolton Evening News]]'' successfully against a libel action brought by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament#United Kingdom|MP]] [[Bessie Braddock]], who, the paper had claimed, had danced a jig in Parliament.<ref name="IndieObit" />

In December 1995, Carter-Ruck acted for the [[British Royal Family|royal]] [[nanny]] [[Tiggy Legge-Bourke]] in the matter of an allegation by [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], that Legge-Bourke had aborted a pregnancy in which [[Prince Charles]] was the father.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/diana/readingroom/9697/21296.html |title=Diana Draws Blood Lashing out at Tiggy brings a legal warning and enrages the Queen |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=12 February 1996 |accessdate=31 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223172142/http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/diana/readingroom/9697/21296.html |archivedate=23 December 2007 }}</ref>

===Criticism===
In 1980, the ''[[Daily Express]]'' editor [[Derek Jameson]] was advised by Carter-Ruck that if he sued the [[BBC]] over their portrayal of him in a ''[[Week Ending]]'' sketch, he would win at least £25,000 in damages. The [[barrister]] in the case, [[David Eady]] [[Queen's Counsel|QC]], however advised Carter-Ruck to accept the BBC's [[Settlement (litigation)|offer to settle]] for £10 plus [[costs (English law)|costs]]. Carter-Ruck did not disclose this advice to his client. The [[jury]] found the broadcast defamatory, but also fair comment and Jameson had to pay costs,<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1587543.no_pain_no_gain
|accessdate=17 March 2009
|publisher=[[The Northern Echo]]
|title=No pain, no gain
|date=1 August 2007
}}</ref> receiving a bill for £41,342.50 from Carter-Ruck. Jameson learned by chance of the QC's advice and Carter-Ruck's former partner David Hooper claimed that "Carter-Ruck told him a string of lies".<ref>{{cite news
|title=The Carter-Ruck chill
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,1112022,00.html
|first=David | last=Hooper
|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]
|date=23 December 2003
|accessdate=1 May 2009}}</ref> Carter-Ruck later claimed that he did not want to undermine Jameson's morale in court.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Hooper|first=David
|year=2000
|title=Reputations Under Fire: Winners and Losers in the Libel Business
|publisher=[[Little, Brown]]
|pages=234–241}}</ref>

==Personal life==
* A yachtsman, he owned a succession of boats which he christened "Fair Judgment". He was a member of the Law Society Yacht Club, the [[Royal Ocean Racing Club]], the [[Royal Yacht Squadron]], and the [[Garrick Club|Garrick]].<ref name="IndieObit" />

* Carter-Ruck was the founder-governor of [[Shiplake College]] at Henley.<ref name="IndieObit" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,1112022,00.html 'The Carter-Ruck chill'], ''[[The Guardian]]'' comment, December 2003
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1450022/Peter-Carter-Ruck.html Peter Carter-Ruck obituary], ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', 22 December 2003

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter-Ruck, Peter}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford]]
[[Category:English solicitors]]
[[Category:20th-century English lawyers]]
[[Category:People from Steyning]]

Peter Carter-Ruck - Revision history

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