You are a professional service provider and you pride yourself on the quality of your services. Odds are, you have a lot of experience and you've spent a great deal of time building your professional reputation in the community. Then it happens. You get hit with one or two negative reviews online about you or your business. You lose business and your reputation … [Read more...] about The Secret To Getting Negative Customer Reviews Taken Down Forever
Nguyen-Lam v. Cao: Amendment of Complaint After Anti-SLAPP Motion Filed
California Defamation precedent never ceases to amaze me due to its complexity and fact specific holdings. The case of Nguyen-Lam v. Cao (2009) WL 484589 illustrates my point perfectly. In Nguyen-Lam, a Vietnamese woman who was slated to become the nation's first Vietnamese superintendent of a public school district, sued the Defendant for slander per se, among other … [Read more...] about Nguyen-Lam v. Cao: Amendment of Complaint After Anti-SLAPP Motion Filed
A Defamatory Statement Must Be Of And Concerning The Plaintiff
Colloquium 1. The offer of extrinsic evidence to show that an alleged defamatory statement referred to the plaintiff even though it did not explicitly mention the plaintiff. 2. The introductory averments in a plaintiff's pleading setting out all the special circumstances that make the challenged words defamatory. Black's Law Dictionary, Seventh Edition, at p. … [Read more...] about A Defamatory Statement Must Be Of And Concerning The Plaintiff
New Libel Bill Introduced In The House Of Representatives
A new bill was introduced on March 4th by Peter King of New York that would create a federal cause of action in tort for so-called Libel Tourism. Libel Tourism is forum shopping. It is the strategic selection of plaintiff friendly jurisdictions in defamation cases. The bill is known as the Free Speech Protection act of 2009 and it lives up to its name. The … [Read more...] about New Libel Bill Introduced In The House Of Representatives
Surfing Legend Loses Libel Lawsuit
"Vaya con Dios, Brah." -Johnny Utah, Point Break Based solely on the movies and other anecdotal evidence, you would never think that a surfer would sue another surfer for libel. But it happened. And the surfer who brought the lawsuit lost at trial. Matthew Heller writes in On Point that Craig "Owl" Chapman sued a surf magazine for … [Read more...] about Surfing Legend Loses Libel Lawsuit