Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

Re: Any Safe Way To 'Tell Someone Off'

1. The best legal advice is not to do it. Even if you are perfect in saying what you can say, the extra exposure to future problems is unnecessary. That said and assuming that you insist ...

2. If you write, write to each one of these people separately and don't mix one person's transgressions with another's.

3. Keep copies of what you write.

4. Don't make blanket accusations of wrongdoing; those may be libelous unless you can prove that they are true. Instead, stick to what you know and can prove to be true. Frequently it helps to express things in terms of your opinion. To use an outrageous example for emphasis, the statement, "I believe that you are a sexual predator who should be locked up forever," is not libelous. Leave off the first three words and you will cause problems for yourself.

5. Similarly, even if you know something to be true does not mean that you can prove it. To be safe a statement such as, "My recollection of our conversation is ...," as opposed to, "you said."

6. Get a second opinion on what you write before you send it. It's likely that what you say to another person will sound no less damaging that what you might have to say to a jury. To be safer, get an opinion from a lawyer familiar with the law of defamation.

7. Re-read paragraph 1.