Fairfax’s lawyers on Friday settled a long-running defamation case with Nick Di Girolamo after the businessman and lawyer filed a notice of discontinuance in court on Friday.

Fairfax’s barrister, Tom Blackburn, said in a statement to the court that the articles “did not say … and did not intend to say that Mr Nicholas Di Girolamo was corrupt”.

The settlement came swiftly after The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Kate McClymont, one of three journalists who wrote the articles contested (the others being Linton Besser, now with the ABC, and state political editor Sean Nicholls), took the stand. In comments to his own paper, SMH editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir said he was “very happy” with proceedings and the fact that “these important pieces of journalism remain on the public record”. Despite the Oz stating this morning that Girolamo got a “six-figure” settlement, Crikey is told the settlement is being viewed as a win at Fairfax. The case was costing the company $20,000 a day.