Helen Rainford
Helen is an Associate specialising in defamation and complex commercial litigation, with a focus on high-stakes media and technology disputes. She acts for clients in sensitive, high-profile matters where reputational risk is paramount, often involving cross-border and jurisdictionally complex issues.
Helen is a highly effective litigator, known for delivering clear, strategic advice and for protecting clients’ reputations in complex, high-stakes disputes, through to trial. She has experience advising in significant defamation proceedings before the courts of England & Wales, Norway and Eastern Caribbean. Her practice spans both claimant and defendant work, including matters involving litigation funders and parallel proceedings across multiple jurisdictions.
Helen’s experience before joining Slateford includes:
- Acting for a high net worth individual in a defamation claim arising from publications on social media, the outcome of which had a significant impact on related proceedings and the wider commercial business interests of the client;
- Acting for the Defendant in reverse defamation proceedings in Norway, alongside parallel Claimant proceedings in the High Court of England & Wales. The trial held in the Courts of Norway was streamed internationally and attracted extensive global media coverage (including by the client’s own PR and media team), reflecting its broader significance in the technology sector;
- Bringing defamation proceedings in the Eastern Caribbean Courts against a public figure in the technology and digital asset sector;
- Drafting pre-action correspondence for an international businessman to various news and media organisations in relation to inaccurate reporting concerning a client, seeking prompt corrections thereby managing reputational risk and the client’s wider business interests;
- Acting for two defendants in a substantial international multi-party civil fraud claim; and
- Instructed to act on behalf of a Claimant for the return and control over several digital asset wallets with a multi-billion combined valuation.
Prior to joining Slateford, Helen trained at a specialist London litigation firm, where she worked on high-profile defamation, civil fraud and technology disputes.