Law firm sees Sorrell defamation suit dismissed

Sabharwal & Finkel, representing New Delhi Television in legal action (since dismissed) against several WPP companies, sued Sorrell over statements he made in an interview with Indian news site LiveMint.com, in which he referred to the law firm as being based in Florida, specialising in restaurant law and working on a contingency basis.

The lawyers claimed that the statements caused them to suffer various professional injuries, however Judge Cynthia Kern ruled that none of the above statements were defamatory, while Sorrell’s claim that NDTV’s legal action had been brought to “extort money from us” was not actionable as it was an expression of opinion rather than fact.

NDTV had sued WPP and several of its companies, including Kantar, for more than $810m in damages, claiming that false ratings data produced by TAM Media Research – a company jointly owned by Nielsen and Kantar – had caused it to lose ad revenue.

The lawsuit was dismissed in March, but NDTV has since filed an appeal – thought only in relation to the dismissal of its claims against Nielsen, not WPP.