Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: E-mails

Not quite sure what you are asking here.... Are you asking if you can sue them for libel? If that is the question then it depends on what was written. As far as getting a hold of your address book, it could or could not be illegal. You might have a variety of claims ranging from libel to statutory violations dealing with electronic privacy laws. Regardless, you probably don't want a business attorney on this. Instead you want a civil attorney and they are going to need a lot more information.

Re: E-mails

We can render a legal opinion on your matter for a reasonable fee but the facts are going to decide your options.

Re: E-mails

There seem to be three issues here:

(1) The underlying dispute that made your client unhappy in the first place;

(2) The vicious e-mail which is probably tortious as an invasion of privacy, as defamatory, and as a malicious interference with your economic advantage; and

(3) The obtaining of your e-mail address book.

You said nothing about the underlying dispute, and I therefore assume that if it is something a lawyer could assist you with, it's taken care of, or not important.

With respect to the vicious e-mail, it is likely but by no means certain that it fits the description of one or more of the three torts I've named. Defamation (libel) is perhaps the most obvious, but a trial based on libel brings up the defense of truth, and in attempting to assert that defense, the defendant here would be dredging up and reasserting in court all the facts he can find. A case based on interference with your business or public disclosure of private facts can perhaps be as effective in shutting him up and getting an award of damages.

As to how the e-mail addresses were obtained, you can perhaps find this out in the course of doing discovery for a lawsuit on the other issues, then amend your complaint to allege the additional transgressions.

You need a sit-down consultation with a tort lawyer in your community, or maybe in Sacramento. Avoid lawyers who specialize in physical injury cases like motor vehicle and slip-and-fall. A specialist in defamation or privacy torts would be best. A problem here is that in most cases the awardable damages are not large, and lawyers who do contingency type personal injury cases may not be interested, or may give your case short shrift. Possibly, however, you can get a large award if you can prove severe damage to a profitable practice.