The Solicitors Regulation Authority should investigate law firm Schillings over its work for David Walliams, the Good Law Project has said, after it emerged that the firm sent a young woman a letter warning her not to speak about the television star and author.

The call follows reports this week by The Guardian and ITV News that Walliams groomed teenage fans and harassed young female colleagues. Walliams denies the claims. The Guardian reported that Walliams’ solicitor at Schillings, Jenny Afia, wrote to a young woman insisting that she provide a written undertaking within 24 hours not to talk about her experience with him.

The letter said: “You are at a significant risk of committing a serious civil offence should you disclose, to the press or any other third party, private information or purported private information concerning our client.”

Why the wording matters

Matthew Gill, the Good Law Project’s defamation lawyer, said Schillings’ description of a breach of privacy as an “offence” was “shocking”. He said the firm “ought to have known that a teenager would likely understand the word ‘offence’ to suggest she faced consequences similar to committing a crime, including imprisonment”.

Gill said a young person receiving such a letter would be unlikely to have faced a legal threat before, let alone to be able to instruct lawyers and get advice within 24 hours. “Short deadlines like this are often imposed to silence people who have important stories to tell,” he said.

He called for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, to investigate Schillings’ work for Walliams, and said it was in Parliament’s hands “to ensure that women can no longer be silenced by rich and powerful men”.

What Schillings says

Schillings told The Guardian that it had been instructed to write the letter because it understood the woman was going to “sell her story”, which Walliams believed was “an untruthful account”, and that he was concerned about the impact such a story could have on his family.

The firm said: “These claims refer to a letter written in 2016 on behalf of former client David Walliams. It is a matter of public record that we were not part of current injunction proceedings.” It added: “We do not recognise or accept the characterisation of our correspondence by this individual.”

On Newsnight earlier this week, talent agent and publicist Dermot McNamara told a similar story on behalf of a friend who had been 16 years old at the time, saying he tried to push back against Schillings but ended up facing a similar threat.

Most adults could not afford to fight back

The Good Law Project commissioned a survey last month from Deltapoll which found that 71% of UK adults would not be able to afford a lawyer if they were targeted by legal action for speaking out on sexual violence. The same percentage also said that the law did not do enough to protect such women.

The row comes as ministers consider limits on non-disclosure agreements following the Walliams allegations, and as campaigners press for stronger protections for people who speak out about sexual misconduct. No finding has been made against Schillings, and the regulator has not said whether it will open an investigation.