As libel trials are usually long and expensive, news organizations try hard to avoid them.

A libel trial is in large parts intensely soporific, if you are not on the receiving end.

There are several unusual things about this libel trial.

Lord Archer, 61, was found guilty last month of asking a friend to lie in a 1987 libel trial.

After defending himself in a libel trial, Wakley lost, but the profile of the magazine was raised.

During the libel trial he was called "house counsel for the mob."

He lost his libel trial against the newspaper when justice cleared him of any suspicion.

The libel trial collapsed on its second day, soon after Barnes had taken to the witness stand.

Recent studies show that the press lost three out of four of the 176 libel trials between 1980 and 1986.

The award for punitive damages was the largest against a news organization in a libel trial.