Dr. Laurence Godfrey (born 21 November 1952) was educated at the independent The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, at Westfield College, University of London (BSc Physics, first class honours, 1975) and at University College London (PhD, High Energy Nuclear Physics, 1982).

He established a legal precedent for libel on Usenet, in the landmark Godfrey v Demon Internet Service case.

He is self-employed inter alia as an expert witness, consultant and technical adviser in Internet-related litigation.

In 1993 he and CERN colleague Phillip Hallam-Baker became immersed in a very public dispute on Usenet, which culminated in a libel action (settled out of court in Godfrey's favour).

[citation needed] He launched a series of court cases including Godfrey v Demon Internet Service.