Kevin Joseph Conroy v Adrian Andrzej Stojek

Facts

The claimant is a solicitor and principal of K. J. Conroy Solicitors in Birmingham. The defendant, a former client, was unhappy with the firm's services and did not pay his bills. The firm obtained judgment against him for £16,026.31 in February 2024, followed by a charging order over his house. On or about 8 April 2025 the defendant posted a one-star Google review of the firm under his real name. It called the man providing the firm's services a person who "rips you off" and "a fraudster" who would take clients' houses over his own mistakes. The defendant refused requests to remove it, maintaining that it was his opinion. The claimant issued libel proceedings on 9 July 2025, claiming £30,000 for reputational harm, and served them by an alternative method authorised by the court. The defendant took no step, and default judgment was entered in the Birmingham District Registry on 2 October 2025 with damages to be assessed. The claim was then transferred to the Media and Communications List. At a case management conference on 18 February 2026, Deputy Master Marzec refused the defendant's application to set aside the default judgment and directed the claimant to plead his serious harm case more fully. The defendant gave an undertaking and removed the review on 25 February 2026. The assessment of damages was heard on 16 July 2026.