22 Facts About Michael Tugendhat

Mr Justice Tugendhat, and referred to as Tugendhat J in legal writing, is a retired High Court judge in England and Wales.

Michael Tugendhat was the High Court's senior media judge, taking over that role from Mr Justice Eady on 1 October 2010.

Michael Tugendhat is the son of Georg Tugendhat, an emigrant from Vienna, Austria, who founded a petrochemical refinery in Manchester, and his British wife Marie Littledale.

Michael Tugendhat's father was from a Jewish family, and converted to Catholicism.

Michael Tugendhat attended Ampleforth College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied philosophy and classics.

Michael Tugendhat won the Henry Fellowship to attend Yale Law School and studied at the Hague Academy of International Law before being called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1969.

Michael Tugendhat then joined Five Raymond Buildings, a set of barristers' chambers specialising in media and entertainment law.

Michael Tugendhat became a Recorder of the Crown Court in 1994 and a deputy judge sitting in the High Court of Justice in 1995.

Michael Tugendhat was appointed a High Court Judge, Queen's Bench division, in April 2003.

Michael Tugendhat is a fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Michael Tugendhat was formerly on the management committee of the Advice on Individual Rights in Europe Centre.

In 2000 Michael Tugendhat acted for David and Victoria Beckham, who were petitioning the High Court to prevent the publication of a biography of them by Andrew Morton.

Michael Tugendhat called the bodyguard's conduct "a very bad case of disloyalty and breach of confidentiality" but opposing counsel, Geoffrey Robertson QC, argued that Morton and his publisher enjoyed protection of their free speech in this regard.

Also in 2001 Michael Tugendhat represented internet service provider Demon Internet, which sought to amend a ruling which would hold it responsible if any of its customers used the Demon service to identify the new identities of the killers of James Bulger.

In January 2010, Michael Tugendhat overturned a superinjunction imposed on the application of the footballer John Terry which prevented the media from revealing details of his affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend, Vanessa Perroncel, saying he did not feel the order was "necessary or proportionate".

Michael Tugendhat criticised Terry's lawyers for not notifying newspapers of the action they were taking.

Michael Tugendhat accepted the argument of the Telegraph Media Group that there should be a "threshold of seriousness" for libel claims to prevent trivial claims and that a claimant should be able to demonstrate a "substantial effect" on their reputation to prove defamation.

However, the case went to trial in 2011, at which point Michael Tugendhat ruled in favour of Thornton.

In May 2011 Michael Tugendhat partially lifted a gagging order brought by Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, just hours after details of his alleged extra-marital affair were made public in the House of Lords.

In November 2012, Michael Tugendhat presided over an attempt by the Metropolitan Police to force claims against them relating to relationships between undercover police officers and unsuspecting women to be held in secret.

In May 2013, Michael Tugendhat passed judgement in the landmark libel case McAlpine v Bercow, in which one-line tweet by Sally Bercow was judged defamatory and led to an out-of-court settlement.

Michael Tugendhat was appointed Knight Bachelor on 20 May 2003 upon his appointment to the High Court.