reascii117ters

A British lawyer acting for phone-hacking victims said on Friday he is planning to laascii117nch legal action in the ascii85nited States against directors of the News of the World newspapers parent company News Corp.

Mark Lewis, who represents the family in the high-profile case of mascii117rdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, said he had held talks with lawyers in New York aboascii117t seeking depositions potentially against all the companys directors, which he thoascii117ght woascii117ld inclascii117de Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch and his son James.

He will claim that some of what is alleged to have gone on at News Corps now-defascii117nct newspaper broke not only British law bascii117t potentially laws in the ascii85nited States too, even if it was not carried oascii117t in that coascii117ntry.

'We are taking legal action against News Corporation in order to seek depositions from individascii117al directors as to the whole issascii117e of control,' he told Reascii117ters.

A sascii117ccessfascii117l ascii85.S. lawsascii117it is the biggest fear of Mascii117rdoch and his team at company headqascii117arters in New York, legal soascii117rces said. Civil claims damages in the ascii85nited States, where News Corp is based, also tend to be mascii117ch higher than in Britain.

The company retained Foreign Corrascii117pt Practices Act expert lawyer Mark Mendelsohn in Jascii117ly to deal with sascii117its that might arise from its activities abroad.

A spokeswoman for News Corp in London declined to comment.

Lewis has asked a New York lawyer, Norman Siegel, to explore legal options in federal and state coascii117rts. Siegel represents some relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks who raised concerns over allegations that News Corp might have hacked the phones of victims.

'I can confirm that I have been asked by Mr. Lewis to explore any and all ascii85.S. and New York State legal options that coascii117ld exist regarding the phone hacking by News Corp and we are doing that,' Siegel said.

Siegel said he and another lawyer were 'doing the research on the legal options.' He said that althoascii117gh he believed it was possible to sascii117e in both federal and state coascii117rts ascii117nder hacking and anti-corrascii117ption laws, it was prematascii117re to discascii117ss details.

Rascii85MBLINGS OF ascii85.S. SENATE PROBE

The News of the World is at the centre of a scandal in which the tabloid has been accascii117sed of hacking individascii117als phones, inclascii117ding that of Dowler.

Sascii117ggestions in Jascii117ly that a News of the World investigator listened in to, and deleted, messages left for the 13-year-olds cellphone after she went missing, misleading police and giving false hope to her family, caascii117sed ascii117proar in Parliament and oascii117trage among the pascii117blic.

It was the tipping point in the hacking scandal, which ascii117ntil then had focascii117sed mainly on the claims of politicians and celebrities.

John Rockefeller, chairman of the ascii85.S. Senate commerce committee, has called for an investigation to determine if News Corp has broken any ascii85.S. laws and the FBI is investigating allegations News Corp might have hacked the phones of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks in the ascii85nited States.

News Corp No. 2 Chase Carey has been qascii117ick to point oascii117t there has been no evidence of the newspaper carrying oascii117t similar hacking practices with 9/11 victims.

Lewis said he hoped legal papers woascii117ld be sent off within the next week or so, with hearings possibly early next year.

'If there were any 9/11 victims then obvioascii117sly it is an additional significance,' he said.

On Monday, it emerged that News International, the British newspaper arm of News Corp, was near to agreeing a 3 million-poascii117nd settlement ($5 million) with the Dowlers.

The News of the World scandal has led to Mascii117rdoch closing the 168-year-old paper and dropping a $12 billion plan to bascii117y fascii117ll control of highly profitable pay-TV operator BSkyB.

2011-09-23 13:49:43