Forum shopping in defamation actions – on the increase?

The trend for litigants to "forum shop" - actively selecting the jurisdiction in which to raise their legal action - seems to be on the increase. This is particularly so in defamation actions, because in our increasingly technological world the dastardly untruths are often "published" (repeated or reprinted or broadcast) in more than one country.

The flamboyant boxing promoter, Don King's recent litigation in the English Court of Appeal (King v Lewis) is a fine example of this. Although both parties were resident in the US, Mr King was still able to pursue an action against Lennox Lewis in England, claiming that the boxer's attorney had represented Mr King as an anti-Semite in articles published in two US based websites. The approach (established in the Gutnick case) was based on the premise that each time the information is downloaded, or read, it constitutes a fresh publication in that jurisdiction. This means that in cases of internet defamation, parties have