Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

I had a civil law suit filed against me in Federal court , it contained several false accusations, the filing along with the content was published in a national newspaper. Two years later the entire lawsuit was dismissed by the judge for lack of any legal basis. Do I have any legal recourse toward the plantiff and his attorney?


Asked on 4/05/12, 9:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kevin Connolly Kevin J. Connolly

Maybe. Statements in a pleading in court are conditionally privileged. For example, if I sue you for breaking a million-dollar contract, you won't be able to sue me for filing my lawsuit as long as the complaint is "colorable." But if I added an allegation that you have syphilis and you owe thousands of dollars in unpaid child support, steal candy from babies and kick sweet little dogs, you could sue me for the irrelevant matter.

You're up against some tough rules. The courts "disfavor" claims of defamation generally, and even more so if the defamation was uttered in court. But there are times these cases do succeed. You should speak to an attorney.

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Answered on 4/12/12, 11:11 am


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