Rise in defamation cases brought by businesses

The number of defamation court cases pursued by businesses jumped by more than 50 per cent last year.

Research by Thomson Reuters’ legal division shows that the number of court cases involving a business as the claimant jumped from 16 two years ago to 25 last year.

There was a drop in the number of cases with a media company as the defendant, from 24 to 20.

The number of public sector defendants fell from 10 to 9.