News Corp has agreed to pay £100,000 (€114,031) to actress Sienna Miller after admitting the News of the World hacked into her voice mail to get scoops about her private life.
Lawyers for the company and Miller today agreed to draft a final order and present it to a judge as soon as next week at a hearing in London.
News Corp will also disclose the relevant contents from about 8,000 documents related to phone hacking, possibly including journalists' notebooks and e-mails, as part of the settlement.
"Miller is proceeding in this way because all of her claims have been admitted," Hugh Tomlinson, her lawyer, said in court today. The company yesterday "capitulated" by admitting in court it used hacked voice-mails to publish 11 stories about Miller in 2005 and 2006, he said.
Miller (29) is one of more than 20 celebrities and politicians suing Rupert Murdoch's News Corp over the scandal that erupted more than four years ago.
The New York-based company last month apologised and offered to settle some of the cases after journalists linked to the paper were arrested.
Yesterday's admission by News Corp goes further than any other confessions the company has made in a hacking case, Mr Tomlinson said.
Michael Silverleaf, the newspaper's lawyer, declined to comment on the deal today. Hayley Barlow, a spokeswoman for News of the World, said she couldn't immediately comment.
Miller had been considered likely to participate in one of five test cases over News of the World phone hacking in a process that would set guidance on liability and damages for the remaining lawsuits.
Under UK law, Miller may have been liable for News Corp's legal costs if the judge awarded her less than the settlement offer at trial. Silverleaf yesterday rejected claims by Miller's lawyers that she might be entitled to as much as £400,000 (€456,202) in the case.
He compared the case to that of Former Formula 1 president Max Mosley, who won a record £60,000 (€68,430) from the News of the World in 2009 over a story claiming he engaged in a Nazi-themed sex party.
Mr Tomlinson argued the Mosley complaint related to one article while Miller was complaining about multiple stories and breaches of privacy.
Bloomberg