DMS has appointed WP Tweed & Co to advise the group and The Caymanian Journal on media-law matters, adding specialist defamation and privacy expertise to its existing legal team.

The firm will provide pre-publication advice and, when instructed, representation in disputes involving defamation, privacy, reputation and the public interest. It will work alongside Appleby and DMS’s in-house counsel.

DMS said the appointment was not prompted by any particular dispute or legal action and would not replace its existing advisers.

“DMS is exceptionally served by Appleby and our experienced in-house counsel, and we are pleased to welcome WP Tweed & Co as a further addition to that legal team,” a DMS spokeswoman said.

“The firm brings specialist international experience in media, defamation and reputation law, providing additional expertise to DMS as the group continues to develop its media portfolio.”

Paul Tweed

The firm is led by its founder and senior partner, Paul Tweed, who has worked in media and reputation law for more than four decades. His practice covers both sides of media disputes. On the defence side, he has acted for newspapers including The Sunday Times and The Irish News, as well as book publishers Random House and Penguin and a number of investigative journalists.

Among Tweed’s best-known claimant cases was the 2012 settlement of a defamation action brought by music manager and television personality Louis Walsh against News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Irish edition of The Sun.

The newspaper had reported that Walsh was being investigated following a sexual-assault allegation. The allegation proved false. In the High Court in Dublin, the publisher apologised, accepted that the alleged assault had not occurred and agreed to pay Walsh €500,000 plus legal costs.

Tweed has also given evidence to the UK Parliament on defamation and press freedom. He appeared before the Joint Committee on the Draft Defamation Bill on June 22, 2011 and before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on February 5, 2025 during an evidence session on the surveillance of journalists and press freedoms in Northern Ireland.

The appointment follows Tweed’s participation in the inaugural TCJ Forum, in Grand Cayman, where he discussed media fairness, evidential standards and the responsibilities accompanying freedom of expression.

Asked how journalists could remain fair to the subjects of their reporting while still holding power to account, Tweed distinguished fairness from balance and stressed the importance of protecting professional journalism.

“We have a finite reserve of platforms and publishers who can hold people to account, stand up for the truth and have the expertise and knowledge to be able to communicate it to the broader public,” he said.

Joseph Hayat, The Caymanian Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, said the appointment would strengthen the publication’s pre-publication safeguards. Hayat has previously been represented by WP Tweed & Co in a personal capacity.

“We are committed to fearless, fair and independent journalism,” Hayat said. “That commitment requires us both to uphold the rigorous standards of the IPSO Editors’ Code and to defend responsible public-interest journalism vigorously when it is challenged.”

WP Tweed & Co will provide pre-publication advice and representation in disputes when instructed. The appointment gives The Caymanian Journal access to specialist media-law advice as it expands beyond its existing digital publishing operations.