An impeccable reputation opens doors, increases profits and defines how others perceive and treat you. Without a good reputation, employment opportunities diminish, social ties reduce and one's life position is at risk. When your reputation is tarnished by the untrue and slanderous statements of another individual or organization that directly or indirectly cause negative financial, social or other consequences, you may consider filing a defamation lawsuit.

Defamation and libel are legally defined as untrue or false statements, which cause injury or harm to another individual's reputation and that expose them to condemnation or ridicule, hatred or public contempt. False statements that are simply spoken are called slander, whereas fault statements that were disseminated through media such as magazines, newspapers, radio or television are called libel.

Defamatory statements might include: statements that imply or directly accuse the victim of a lack of moral dignity, statements that falsely claim the victim has some form of unsavory and infectious disease, statements that falsely claim that the victim committed a crime and any statement that injures the victim in regard to his or her business, trade or official standing.

Internet defamation cases are becoming more common and are more complicated than claims of libel or slander, because context and proper jurisdiction must be considered. For example, if a group of friends on Facebook accuse another friend of having a highly communicable sexually transmitted disease, the statements - no matter how hurtful -would not be considered to have been made in the correct context to qualify as defamatory.

Defamation Defense

The best defense against defamation is the truth, as libel and slander only exist when the negative statements themselves are untrue. An insult, while unpleasant, is not automatically defamation unless it is a completely untrue and harmful statement against one's character, health or morality.

In order to successfully file a claim against someone for defamation the plaintiff is obliged to prove that the individuals who made the false statement both said or wrote the lies with full knowledge that they were not true and/or with the intention of causing harm.

Additionally the plaintiff must show that the libel or slander had direct negative consequences beyond simply hurting someone's feelings. Defendants in defamation lawsuits might be able to argue the statement was made as an opinion, not a fact, and was therefore not a lie. Another defense which is both difficult to prove or disprove is that the defendant believed the untrue statement to be true at the time that it was made, and would never have said anything if they had known otherwise.

Proving all three or even one of these situations to be the case is quite challenging; it is always best to consult a personal injury lawyer experienced in defamation lawsuits to analyze the alleged defamation and examine the facts before moving forward with a time-consuming and expensive court trial that will only add fuel to the flame of the defamatory statements.