Harbottle & Lewis to face investigation
By Phil ScullionFollow @PhilScullion
Harbottle & Lewis are to face investigation over their role in the events surrounding the phone-hacking scandal.
The formal investigation was announced today by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and will focus on the actions of all solicitors connected with the crisis.
Tom Watson, the Labour MP and leading phone-hacking parliamentarian, had reported the law firm Harbottle & Lewis to the SRA over their conduct.
Harbottle & Lewis were initially called in by News International in 2007 following the imprisonment of then News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman over phone-hacking.
The firm was the subject of thinly-veiled criticism from James and Rupert Murdoch at Tuesday's media, culture and sport select committee hearing.
Paul Farrelly, one of the MPs on the committee, told the Guardian: "Harbottle & Lewis stand right up there with all the other people who have come to us and maintained there was only one rogue reporter.
"As events have unfolded that letter [from Harbottle & Lewis] provided by News International to us is clearly not showing an accurate picture.
"That letter has been allowed to lie on the record for four years when Harbottle & Lewis had other evidence from emails of wrongdoing that have now been finally provided to the police, so Harbottle & Lewis have a lot of questions to answer."
However Anthony Townsend, SRA chief executive, stressed that their investigation remained "at an early stage".
He added: "No conclusions have been reached about whether there may have been any impropriety by any solicitor."
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