The high-profile defamation lawyer – and JR's former honorary legal advisor – has died aged 82

Richard Rampton was hailed as the leading defamation barrister of his generation. His knowledge of the detail of the law, his razor-sharp mind and prodigious debating skills were unequalled. He made headlines when he won the McLibel case for McDonalds against two young climate activists. It lasted two and a half years – the longest defamation case in UK history.

But of all the cases Rampton fought in his 50+ years at One Brick Court, for him the most important was representing Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt against David Irving, author and Holocaust denier. In 1996, Irving accused Lipstadt of libelling him in her book Denying the Holocaust. Rampton was asked to take the case by Anthony Julius, a solicitor who had worked with him for 40 years. “He knew I was a philosemite,” he said in our 2017 interview with him (read it here).

Penguin commissioned expert witnesses, led by Cambridge historian Richard Evans, who spent two years examining Nazi documents, finding numerous forgeries and misrepresentations. Rampton, the leading barrister in the defence team, prepared himself by learning to read German and absorbing the history of the Third Reich. The team agreed that neither Lipstadt nor Auschwitz victims should give evidence, so denying Irving the opportunity to taunt them and to promote his ideology. It was Julius who convinced the court to dispense with a jury on the grounds that it might be swayed by Irving’s emotional rhetoric. The largest courtroom at the High Court was filled with Holocaust survivors every day of the trial, which lasted from January to April 2000. The policy of letting the facts speak for themselves ultimately won the day.

The case had implications for Rampton and the Jewish community that lasted well beyond 2000. In 2015, writer David Hare visited Rampton’s chambers to tell him the exciting news that he was writing a script for a film of the trial. Rampton was to be played by Tom Wilkinson, Lipstadt by Rachel Weisz and Irving by Timothy Spall.

The quality of the film and its star-studded cast brought many invitations for Rampton to Q&As at screenings and talks at synagogues, schools and universities worldwide, giving him a perfect platform to promote the urgency he saw was needed to fight antisemitism and ‘post-truth’.

I had known Richard for many years. We both lived in Barnes and his wife, Carolyn, and I were in the same book club. In July 2017 she and I organised a screening and Q&A for Rampton family and friends and JR subscribers. Eyes widened when he walked on stage after the film. Wilkinson had captured his mannerisms perfectly – although, as Richard told us, the two had not met. “When David Hare visited, he borrowed my glasses and hat, but Tom Wilkinson did not want to see me. He got all he needed from Hare’s writing.”

“What would you have done if Irving had asked you to represent him?” asked one questioner. “I would have pleaded conscientious objection,” replied Rampton. He had refused to shake the hand Irving offered after the trial. “This is not a tennis match,” he told him.

At this time Richard was starting to phase out his work at the bar and was pleased to accept JR’s invitation to be our honorary legal advisor. Those who met him at our annual parties for contributors were charmed by his warmth and wit. He loved to talk, but also to listen, to life experiences and different views. He added sparkle to the occasion – as well as a generous number of bottles of fine Burgundy.

He also contributed to JR’s pages. As well as being interviewed by Judi Herman about his experiences with Irving (January 2017), he wrote a critical review of Keith Kahn-Harris’s book Denial, suggesting that a more robust approach was needed to challenge antisemitism (January 2019) and the same subject was tackled, in addition to the challenges of human rights legislation, in his discussion with former Supreme Court Judge John Dyson (January 2020).

As much as Rampton loved his time in court, he also loved fun – and games – with his family. In the summer the Ramptons would take a large house where their children and grandchildren joined them for two weeks. And his wider family, including his three siblings and their offspring, met without fail twice a year. In his son Patrick’s words, “Dad brought his laughter, fun and sparkle and with them wove a silken web of love that enveloped us all.”

Richard and Carolyn often came to visit my late husband, lifting Peter’s spirits while his eyesight was diminishing. Classical music was important to both Richard and Peter and they enjoyed the same pieces; they shared the same views about our current politicians and laughed together at answers to their questions from Peter’s new best (AI) friend, Alexa.

So many benefitted from the huge Rampton generosity of heart and spirit.

By Janet Levin

Photos by Rob Greig