Offshore law firm Appleby has launched legal action against the BBC and The Guardian over the Paradise Papers leak.  The law firm is represented by Osborne Clarke commercial litigation partner Ashley Hurst. It is demanding the disclosure of documents used by the news outlets in their reporting of the hack where some 13.4 million documents were released. Appleby is also seeking damages for reporting on what it says is confidential information. The law firm claims it was 'obliged' to take legal action to find out what documents were taken and how many of their clients were affected.

Overwhelming responsiblity

In a statement, the law firm said: 'Our overwhelming responsibility is to our clients and our own colleagues who have had their private and confidential information taken in what was a criminal act. We need to know firstly which of their – and our – documents were taken. We would want to explain in detail to our clients and our colleagues the extent to which their confidentiality has been attacked.'

News organisations

The ICIJ coordinated the Paradise Papers project, which included 380 journalists from 96 media organisations across 67 countries. The consortium included the New York Times, Le Monde, the ABC in Australia and CBC News in Canada. The BBC and the Guardian said they would "vigorously" defend the revelations, which were in the "highest public interest". The BBC said its "serious and responsible journalism" had revealed matters which would otherwise have remained secret and that authorities around the world were taking action as a consequence. The Guardian said the legal action was an attempt to "undermine responsible public interest journalism".