Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

This forum is inappropriate to explain to you all the steps in drafting a complaint and filing along with the proper documents in court. Such instructions would take about 50 pages for me to write.

If you do not have the money to retain an attorney to assist you, you are not going to have the money to pay the other side's attorney's fees when you lose a SLAPP motion, which is what a lawsuit for slander and defamation always triggers. You can believe that your opponent will be able to afford his or her own attorney.

I agree with Mr. Roach, and would add that if you actually have a legally valid case supported by clear evidence for $1 million in damages for defamation, you can find a lawyer who will take the case on contingency fee basis. In fact, if you have a good case for $1 million, you should have lawyers lined up begging to take it. If you can't find a lawyer who will take your case on contingency, it either means you don't have a case that will stand up in court, or you don't actually have real, collectible damages that will provide reasonable compensation to an attorney on a contingency percentage basis. There are enough hungry lawyers out there that if you can't find one for the case you describe, your faith in the validity and/or value of your case is misplaced.