After starting out at the libel bar in the early 90s, followed by six wonderful years working in-house within Channel 4’s legal and compliance department, Nigel set up his own legal consultancy practice in 2002, quickly establishing himself as the ‘go-to’ legal and compliance adviser for a large number of independent television production companies, broadcasters and individuals working in the creative industries.

In 2011, Nigel re-joined leading media barristers’ chambers 5RB in order to practise litigation alongside his advisory practice. In 2015 Nigel decided to take advantage of a change in the law allowing barristers to own and practise through companies and set up specialist media firm, Abbas Media Law.

Over the last 25 years, Nigel has been at the ‘coalface’ of developments in media law and regulation and has advised a huge number of media clients on some of the most cutting-edge content in that time across all genres: investigative, documentary, factual, fact-ent, specialist factual, features, drama including many fact-based dramas and drama-docs, as well as film and comedy. 

He has advised on thousands of hours of content, creatively managing legal and regulatory risk in order to realise content producers’ editorial ambitions, pushing at the boundaries whilst keeping them out of trouble.

Some highlights over the years include: being one of two lead C4 lawyers advising on Big Brother series 1 and 2, advising numerous editorial teams and drafting all the legal and compliance guidelines for the various platforms (see Media Guardian article); being lead lawyer on C4’s ground-breaking gay drama series Queer as Folk, reviewing and advising on the series, as well as successfully defending it against approximately ten thousand complaints to the then regulators the ITC and BSC; advising on a number of Peter Kosminsky’s films over the years including The Government Inspector, Britz, and The Promise; working on numerous documentaries in Channel 4’s Cutting Edge stand, numerous current affairs programmes in both Channel 4’s Dispatches and the BBC’s Panorama strands, and advising Channel 4 News over many years in particular with regard to special reports commissioned by C4 News’s Indie Growth Fund.

More recently, some highlights include being the UK lead legal advisor on My Scientology Movie (Louis Theroux, John Dower, Red Box Films); McQueen (Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui, Salon Pictures); Harvey Weinstein feature, Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein (Ursula Macfarlane, Lightbox, BBC); Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAffee (Charlie Russell, Curious Films, Netflix); Shooting Joe Exotic (Jack Rampling, Mindhouse Productions, BBC); The Grand Tour (Expectation, Grand Tour Productions, Amazon) and Kingdom of Dreams (Misfits Entertainment, Sky).

Nigel has worked with Love Productions since its inception and is proud to have worked and advised on most of its shows over the last fifteen years, particular highlights being The Baby Borrowers, Boys and Girls Alone, Benefits Street, The Piano, and, of course, The Great British Bake Off.

Nigel has vast experience of dealing with high-profile post-publication and broadcast legal and regulatory complaints, particularly to Ofcom and the ASA: advising on merits, tactics, drafting submissions and pleadings, as well as advocacy.  He has represented clients as a barrister in most types of media claims before the English courts, including defamation, privacy, copyright and judicial review cases.