Solicitor wins libel against The Mail on Sunday

Maria Fernandes (left), solicitor and wife of Labour politician Keith Vaz, last week won her second libel action against The Mail on Sunday. The newspaper alleged in June 2001 that Fernandes, principal of Fernandes Vaz solicitors, had used her contacts with senior immigration officials to bypass the procedures for the regulation of UK passport applications to enable a Venezuelan client facing a criminal prosecution for fraud to obtain a passport. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com/ lawyernews 22 January