Robina Hussein

Meet Robina

Robina Hussein is a Consultant Solicitor with us. She joined in November 2022, drawn by our focus on social media and internet law and by a way of working that fitted the practice she had already built.

Areas of expertise

Robina qualified as a solicitor in April 2010 and by 2015 was a partner at Front Row Legal, a boutique sports, media and business law practice in Leeds. She advises on defamation, harassment and privacy, and brings to that a background in sports disputes and commercial litigation, including cases decided in the Court of Appeal.

That combination is less common than it sounds. Robina has acted for a publisher defending a libel claim as well as for people bringing them. She reads a case from both ends: what a newspaper or a website is likely to argue, where a claim will be resisted, and which points are worth pressing.

Notable cases

Johnston v League Publications Ltd [2014] EWHC 874 (QB). The former chairman of Barrow Raiders rugby league club sued the publisher of Rugby League Express and one of its journalists over articles about his time at the club. Robina acted for the publisher and the journalist at Front Row Legal. Sir David Eady decided what the words complained of meant at a preliminary hearing, shortly after the Defamation Act 2013 removed the presumption of trial by jury and put those decisions in the hands of a judge.

Lex Dominus Ltd v Panorama Magic General Contracting LLC (Court of Appeal, 2020). A dispute over who owned the company behind Charlton Athletic Football Club. Lex Dominus asked the court to stop the shares being sold while its claim was decided. The High Court in Manchester refused. In September 2020 the Court of Appeal granted the injunction and blocked the sale until trial.

Parr v Keystone Healthcare Ltd & Ors [2019] EWCA Civ 1246. A company director concealed a breach of his duty to the company and then sold his shares at full value. The question on appeal was whether he had to hand over the difference between what he received and what the shares would have fetched had the breach been known. Robina acted for the company at Front Row Legal. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and upheld a judgment of just over £650,000.

Outside work

Robina was nominated for, and is represented in, the Ribbons Sculpture as one of the inspirational women of Leeds. She hikes, including 26 mile walks in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, volunteers on tree planting projects, and cooks and delivers meals to elderly people in her area.