A legal claim of slander or libel can be brought by anyone who has been harmed or has felt personally affected by someone else’s word, whether called to be heard on oath or not. These lawsuits can be brought by anyone who feels wronged due to the other person’s failure to fulfill his or her duties. Personal injuries lawsuits are one area where people often bring lawsuits. In this article, you’ll learn about the basic elements involved in a wish lawsuit, what is a slander case and what is the general rule of civil law regarding lawsuits like these.
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First, we must understand what it is.
This type of lawsuit occurs when another person, not the plaintiff, says something about you or about someone you know in a way that tends to reflect badly on you. If there is no physical damage to you, but you feel otherwise, this may constitute a defamation case. The other person’s words can damage your reputation, leading to actions you believe are wrong (like losing your job, getting bad reviews, etc).
Slauson v. Lanham, an Illinois court case, is an example of a defamation case.
plaintiff had filed a claim against another person, the person who denied her lawsuit; the defendant, the person who made the statements, denies he said those things; and the court found in favor of plaintiff. The court awarded her damages based on the amount of emotional pain and suffering she had gone through because of the defendant’s refusal to pay her claim. This case is more common among small towns than in bigger cities.
Whichever form of lawsuit you choose to pursue, the first thing to be aware of is that these lawsuits will almost always be expensive to pursue because they involve quite a bit of expense, time and effort for the plaintiffs.
There are many laws and statutes governing these types of lawsuits. You must hire a lawyer who knows these laws and statutes well, or else you could spend a lot of money trying to figure out the jigsaw puzzle that is a slander case.
It has been found that defendants in cases such as this are very reluctant to settle out of court, because they don’t want to risk going to trial and having to have their reputation tarnished by having to go to trial.
Often times, defendants will offer extremely low settlement amounts and try to scare the plaintiff into believing they cannot afford to pay the case. The threat of a large judgment, which includes legal fees, can often be enough to force defendants into accepting a settlement offer, even if they really do not have the financial means to pay it. Sometimes the plaintiff decides to file a case against someone who refused to settle the case, in an effort to force the other person to settle, and this often results in a slander suit being filed against innocent people, who were never the target of the defendant’s venomous words.
If you are the type of person who wants to have your day in court, who wants fair and just compensation for your injuries, and who is willing to put in the time to get a fair case, a wish lawsuit might be right for you.
A lawyer experienced with these types of lawsuits will help you understand your rights under the law, your remedies, and your chances of obtaining compensation. Although these lawsuits are often unsuccessful, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be worth pursuing. Many plaintiffs have received significant monetary awards from these lawsuits.
