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Some Personal Injury Settlements
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A 40 year traffic officer was hit by a vehicle making an illegal u-turn, hitting his
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A woman slipped on ice and fell, breaking her leg. It was found that the ice had
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A 40 year old worker in a cardboard manufacturer had his foot irreparably crushed in
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The plaintiff in this products liability case, which settled out of court, had
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Defamation of Character
In many circles a person’s reputation is extremely important, particularly in business and for those regularly in the public eye such as sports people and celebrities. Defamation can take the form of either slander or libel, spoken and written defamation of character respectively, and the law exists to protect the individual from unfair criticism and attack as well as public disgrace and ridicule. Due to the high cost of a defamation case, it is usually only the rich and famous who have recourse to this law.
It is common that the threat to sue for defamation of character comes before actually filing a suit, a threat to sue for defamation quite often requests a retraction of any statements made as a way to head off an expensive court case. Most defamation cases are settled out of court and it is not uncommon for the settlement not to be in money but rather a printed retraction.
Generally speaking, there are three defenses in a defamation case:- The statements made were true, in which case they are not defamatory comments but statements of fact.
- The person making the statement was duty bound to make the comments or that they were in the public interest.
- The statements made were a statement of opinion rather than a claim to fact.
The threat of a suit for defamation of character is often used as a tactic to prevent people from making negative comments about the rich and famous, if you have been threatened with being sued for defamation you should contact a specialized lawyer dealing with defamation of character law suits.