How can I find an attorney specializing in internet defamation and libel to write a cease and desist letter?
How can I find an attorney specializing in internet defamation and libel to write a cease and desist letter?
How can I find an attorney specializing in internet defamation and libel to write a cease and desist letter to a company located in Massachusetts. The material posted on line about me and my company is libel per se.
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2 comments
alicegirl71 on May 22, 2010 at 12:36 am
Contact the Bar Association in your city and ask for a referral to a libel lawyer. “Internet defamation” is pretty highly specialized, it’s not likely you’ll find a lawyer who specializes strictly in internet-based cases, but a good libel attorney in general should be able to help you. If you don’t know if there is a Bar Association in your area, start with the American Bar Association at http://www.abanet.org/.
Darren Chaker on May 22, 2010 at 1:13 am
A good place to start is simply googling “defamation lawyer” + you city. I would suggest you contact a firm who specializes in First Amendment law. I know the people at Bostwick Jassy,
http://www.bostwickjassy.com and would suggest you put in concise detail what is posted, a link to the post, and what you want done.
Be careful. Numerous federal and state laws allow people to excercise their First Amendment right. If you do not get a law firm that knows what they are doing, chances are the defendant will get a law firm who does and file a SLAPP motion to dismiss your complaint. A SLAPP allows the lawsuit to get dismissed based on the defendant had a First Amendment right to have posted/said what they were sued for + most states mandate the court to have the plaintiff pay out the defendant’s attorney fees. See, CyberSlapp.org
Also, if you sue to determine the identity of an annonymous blogger, chances are you won’t get to know who the real identity of that person is. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the First Amendment
right to speak anonymously. (Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation (1999) 119 S. Ct. 636, 645-646; McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm. (1995) 514 U.S. 334; Talley v. California (1960) 362 U.S. 60.)
Absent that, best of luck.