In the UK:

The International Family Law Group
May 9, 2007 -
London specialist lawyers in child abduction and international family law, hired to set up and maintain Madeleine's Fund, as well as receive non-Internet donations by mail on behalf of the McCanns. "We regularly act for the Central Authority of the UK government. We have a specialist contact with the Legal Services Commission."

http://www.divorceaid.co.uk/legal/solicitors/international.htm

This firm was responsible for the early press releases on the fund, including the all-important one announcing the formation of Madeleine's Fund at the football match in Leicester on May 16, 2007. Their lawyers include:

Ann Thomas
Ann Thomas, Managing Partner of The International Family Law Group, flew to Portugal in early May 2007 to meet with the McCanns and set up Madeleine's Fund. She is also a member of the lawyers network of Reunite, the leading UK charity specialising in international parental child abduction, which is partly funded by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and the Home Office.

Previously, Thomas had set up The International Family Law Practice Group, while at Ross & Craig, Solicitors, before starting her own firm. The aims of that group were:

�?To establish a network of law firms in Europe having a specialist family practice.
�?To be able to offer professional expertise to fellow members of LawNet (UK) and Eurojuris firms on a reciprocal basis.
�?To locate specialist mirror professionals in family law in other jurisdictions to act on an agency basis as and when required.
�?To be of assistance to fellow professionals with cross border issues in the field of family law.
�?To establish a Database of enquiry agents, notaries, process servers and Counsel.
�?To exchange information and advise fellow practitioners in respect of family law and enforcement in other jurisdictions.
�?To meet on at least two occasions each year (one being at the Eurojuris Congress).
�?To arrange specialist speakers to give seminars on topics relevant to family law practitioners.
�?To raise awareness of family law issues common to family practitioners within Europe.
�?To advise practitioners in other jurisdictions, as required, of the procedural requirements in respect family law cases.
�?To be of mutual benefit to family lawyers in our respective jurisdictions.

http://www.eurojuris.net/eng/pg-country.asp?PracticeGroupId=7

David Hodson
Consultant at The International Family Law Group and a family practitioner with a top-class reputation, who is also a deputy district judge at the Principal Registry. He was responsible for drafting the press releases on the founding of Madeleine's Fund.

Lubna Shah
Partner and specialist in abduction cases at The International Family Law Group.

In addition, The International Family Law Group was accompanied on the visit to Portugal by:

Michael Nicholls, QC
Early-May 2007
A Queen's Counsel and family lawyer in the Official Solicitor's Office with chambers at 1 Hare Court, Temple; Head of Lord Chancellor's Child Abduction Unit 1983-1998; Member of the Family Justice Council's International Family Law Committee; Consultant to the Council of Europe's Family Law Committee; Chairman of Appeals Panels of the Specialist Training Authority of the Medical Royal Colleges (1997-2001); legal adviser to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's advisory group leading to "Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Saving treatment in Children - A Framework for Practice" (September, 1997).


Bates Wells & Braithwaite
Early-May 2007
London law firm, who filed the original trademark application for Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned with the UK's Intellectual Property Office for the McCanns in mid-May 2007. Later, along with Christopher McCall, QC, the firm advised the Board of Directors on whether the legal costs of the defence of Gerry and Kate McCann should come from the fund. (see also Christopher McCall, QC, below).

Amongst its specialties is its Charity Department, which is recognised as one of the two leading charity law practices in the country. It acts for many household names and international charities. It has particular expertise in obtaining charitable status for innovative organisations and for initiatives within the charity sector. The team provides extensive training on a variety of topics and has been responsible through the years for many books, articles, and other publications. Particularly noted within the last year has been the department's leading edge advice on social enterprise; and its close liaison with the DTI, its creation of the idea behind community interest company and its leading role in helping community sports organisations become charities.

Another department used for the trademarking of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned would have been The IP/IT & Information Law Department, which has significant experience in advising clients on branding, domain name and internet issues, particularly in the context of electronic publishing and website services. The FindMadeleine website is now hosted by Fasthosts and no longer by Infohost.


Christopher McCall, QC
A Queen's Counsel in the Maitland Chambers in London and a former junior counsel to the Attorney-General on charity matters, who, along with Bates Wells & Braithwaite, was asked to advise the Board of Directors on Madeleine's Fund on whether it would be legally permissible to pay the costs of Gerry and Kate McCann's legal defence from the fund. They advised in the affirmative, but that these costs would be subject to conditions of repayment in the event of a guilty conviction. With that advice, the Board then decided against paying these costs.

Legal directories rate Christopher McCall in the front rank in the fields of private client work, traditional Chancery and charity. On charities, Chambers rates him as "one of the sharpest minds in the country"; "... engages his superior technical knowledge of the subject." (2008); "very much ahead of most at the charities Bar." "His "encyclopaedic knowledge of charity law", particularly in tax-related matters, complemented by his "elegant and learned style," earns him a reputation for being a true leader in this field."


Kingsley Napley
September 10, 2007 -
A prestigious London-based UK law firm, retained by the McCanns for their defence. Ranked in Tier 1 of the Crime section of Chambers Commentary. This is a team which is "approachable and confidence-inspiring," according to clients. Kingsley Napley enjoys a reputation as one of the top white-collar crime firms, defending mostly private individuals against a range of criminal allegations. “Professional, reassuring and expensive - good advice does not come cheap" was the conclusion of one client. “They keep you well informed about what's going on," said another. The firm's senior partner John Harding covers the gamut of criminal offences from general crime and police station advice to serious fraud and business crime, often defending individuals against allegations of wrongdoing by government bodies. Christopher Murray has the sort of pedigree that makes a Crufts champion seem a mongrel: the current chairman of the Criminal Law Committee, he has particular expertise in white-collar crime and matters with an international element, such as mutual assistance. Angus McBride has particular expertise in dealing with the media and reputation management for high-profile individuals.

http://www.chambersandpartners.com/uk/resultseditorial.aspx?person=1&pid=347&aid=22596&fid=229&cid=6&solbar=1#22596

Their lawyers include:

Michael Caplan, QC
Partner of Kingsley Napley; best known for defending Chile's ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet and avoiding his extradition to Spain. Caplan visited the McCanns at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, unrecognized by the press shortly after their return from Portugal. He and partner Angus McBride flew to Northern Ireland in mid-September to meet with Kevin R. Winters, Solicitors, a Belfast-based firm, who successfully defended the Omagh bomber suspect Sean Hoey during his lengthy trial at the Old Bailey. The legal team from Kingsley Napley is anxious to gain that firm's expert knowledge of LCN DNA, obviously with the goal of having the DNA evidence found in the Renault Scenic and Apartment 5A also thrown out of court, should the McCann Case go to trial.

It will be interesting to see how Caplan and his colleagues will respond to the report of a recent UK government-commissioned study on LCN DNA, since they were planning on using the Omagh bombing case to dispute the PJ/FSS's LCN DNA evidence from Apartment 5A and the tailgate-well of the Renault Scenic in the McCann Case. Now Professor Brian and his team report that the techniques used in low-copy DNA analysis were "scientifically robust and appropriate for use in investigations." See the full article published on the BBC website on page 8 of this thread or click on the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7188027.stm

At the same time, the legal team contacted a US-based law firm, Hurley, Burish & Stanton, Attorneys at Law, of Madison, Wisconsin, over "sniffer dog" evidence in the Zapata murder case. Their defence team has already sent Kingsley Napley their files from that case.

Angus McBride
A partner at Kingsley Napley; a $1,200-an-hour lawyer, specialising in high-profile cases; represented the former Clash guitarist Mick Jones over allegations arising from the Kate Moss cocaine affair; was also involved in the John Terry and Chris Langham cases.

In mid-September 2007, as the Kingsley Napley media expert, McBride toured many national newspaper offices with Justine McGuinness, and, although he has not made any public statements, he is believed to have been behind the challenge to the sniffer dog 'evidence' and for having reports on DNA evidence suppressed in the media.

Christopher Murray
Current chairman of the Criminal Law Committee, he has particular expertise in white-collar crime and matters with an international element, such as mutual assistance. With his expertise in the latter area, was probably used by the McCanns to delay the submission of the PJ's rogatory letters to the Leicestershire Police.


Carter-Ruck
March 2008 -
London law firm specialising in defamation cases. Ranked in Band 1 of the Defamation/Reputation Management in Chambers Commentary. According to market commentators, “some of the toughest and brightest experts for defamation and libel are housed in this firm." Interviewees note that this "group of geniuses" provides "top-notch advice" on defamation, reputation management and privacy, predominantly acting for claimants. Interviewees also praise the team's “incredible panache," concerning work on behalf of regulatory bodies and governments. The firm has observed a steady increase in the volume of high-quality, fee paying and CFA defamation work....

The firm also advised former world heavyweight champion Frank Bruno and Yvonne Clydesdale in their successful libel complaint against the publishers of The People newspaper, and succeeded in obtaining a privacy injunction against The Sun; the firm continues to represent Bruno in further actions concerning privacy and libel. Additional clients include Kent Messenger; Penguin Books; Boris Berezovsky; Elton John; numerous solicitors and Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens).

http://www.chambersandpartners.com/uk/resultseditorial.aspx?cid=18&pid=20&solbar=1

Their lawyers include:

Adam Tudor
Partner at Carter-Ruck, specialising in defamation and media cases, as well as commercial litigation, representing both corporate and individual clients. He worked on the successful McCann settlement against Express Newspapers in March 2007.


Geoffrey Robertson, QC
Geoffrey Robertson is founder and head of Doughty Street Chambers, the UK's leading human rights practice, which comprises some 80 barristers and 30 staff. He is a Bencher of the Middle Temple; and a Recorder (part-time judge) in London; an executive Member of Justice, and a trustee of the Capital Cases Trust. He is visiting Professor in Human Rights at Queen Mary College, University of London.

A Queen's Counsel, he has been active in many landmark cases in constitutional, criminal and media law in the courts of Britain and the Commonwealth, and he makes frequent appearances in the Privy Council and the European Court of Human Rights. He helped the McCanns to draft their declaration, calling for an alert system which tells border authorities, customs, police and law enforcement agencies, as well as media outlets, when a child goes missing, for the European Commission. Included in the alert is the identity of the child, a photograph, information about potential abductors and a general telephone hotline for people to contact. It also calls for greater cooperation between countries and the creation of a central European body to provide assistance and training about missing children to the different member states.

Mr. Robertson was present with Gerry and Kate McCann, when they made their presentation at the European Parliament on April 15, 2008. The declaration has been backed by five MEPs - Edward McMillan-Scott MEP (England), Diana Wallis MEP (England), Roberta Angelilli MEP (Italy), Glenys Kinnock MEP (Wales) and Evelyne Gebhardt MEP (Germany). MEPs will be able to sign the declaration at the next plenary session in Strasbourg, where it will remain open for three months. A majority of 785 MEPs are needed for the document to be adopted by parliament.

http://www.geoffreyrobertson.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584458/Madeleine-McCann's-parents-to-address-MEPs.html

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