George Festing

George has extensive experience in dealing with media matters that are unique to the North East. 

He has acted on many high-profile instructions relating to music, film, television, advertising and new media projects.  

Recent examples include advising in relation to instructions involving film and television rights, the collecting societies, James Lavelle, Duran Duran, Iron Maiden and Jay Sean.

The team has previously won Firm of the Year (TMT) in Legal 500’s Northern Powerhouse Awards.

George works with clients across a range of sectors in relation to crisis, press and reputation management issues, including advising on press inquiries, social media issues and dealing with urgent applications for interim injunctive relief.

An expert in contentious matters, George advises professional clubs and sports personalities on disputes arising from a range of issues, including reputation, data, sponsorship, and merchandising. He has acted for several high-profile clients, including NUFC and Sunderland AFC.

George has led the firm’s contentious intellectual property and IT work for years dealing with issues such as rights ownership disputes, software licensing problems and copyright, trade mark and patent infringement claims. He also advises on data, data breaches and GDPR issues and recently successfully defended a multi-million-pound damages claim brought under the Data Protection Act.

George has over 20 years’ experience advising on contentious issues in relation to IT and technology. As lead of the contentious IT team, George advises on a range of IT disputes across various sectors including TMT, sports, education, retail, travel and leisure, automobile, industrial engineering and pharmaceutical. His contentious IP and IT expertise is unique in the North East region.

George leads the firm’s contentious data protection work, handling high-profile data breaches, privacy, litigation and complex, cross-border work for clients across sectors including education, energy and technology.

George has over 20 years’ experience in handling complex dispute instructions.  He has significant High Court litigation experience and advises on a broad range of commercial issues including contractual disputes, minority shareholder actions, data and technology claims, intellectual property, media and entertainment matters and reputation and privacy issues.