Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York
Libel suit for slander
I'm not lawyer, so help classify my question properly, please.
Someone who deliberately tries to ruin your image and reputation is what I refer to and to sue them for it is what I refer to as a Libel Suit for Slander and/or Defamation of Character. Either way, I am the one seeking the litigation against someone who is doing the above to me.
Please, give me a guideline how to initiate it and the limits of each, such as Small Claims Court has a $5,000 limit and so on. Even though my reputation has been ruined quite a bit, it isn't a hundred-percent, so there is a limit to my action against the defendant.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Libel suit for slander
The type of lawsuit you are proposing cannot be heard in Small Claims court, it does not have jurisdicution.
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Re: Libel suit for slander
You will not be able to prosecute your libel/defamation claim in Small Claims Court. It is also unclear what you mean when you say that the harm to your reputation was not 100 percent. In all events, as a legal matter, a successful defamation claim arises from a false statement that exposes a person to public contempt, ridicule, aversion or disgrace. Statements that tend to injure another in his business or profession constitute defamation per se, and thus damages are presumed and need not be alleged or proven. Ordinarily, statements of opinion are not actionable as defamation, and so the statements will have to be analyzed along these lines. However, accusations of criminal activity do not fall within the opinion privilege. You haven't provided information regarding the nature of the statements made against you, though.