WRIT LARGE
Marcel Berlins
The Guardian December 5, 1995
ON Friday, or perhaps next Monday, the trial in which McDonald's is suing
two unemployed environmental campaigners for libel becomes the longest civil
trial in English legal history. On its 199th court day, it will break the record
set earlier this year by the case of Graham v Rechem International, in which a
Scottish couple unsuccessfully sued a chemical company they claimed had polluted
their farm. The ludicrous McLibel case, which has already cost the hamburger
company at least $ 10 million - and they've admitted that even if they win,
they'll never recover any money from the penniless defendants - is expected to
go on until next spring or summer.
