The reputation you’ve built for your business can be damaged in a short space of time by defamatory comments. If your business needs to take action over libel or slander, or defend a claim against it, we can help.
How DAS Law can help
Our experienced team of dispute resolution lawyers can provide you with practical legal advice and representation if defamatory comments have been made about your business or if your business is facing a claim from another party.
Outcomes we can achieve for you
These are some of the possible outcomes we can achieve for you:
Compensation for any damage made to the reputation of your business and/or distress to individuals affected by the defamation.
An injunction prohibiting the republication or broadcast of defamatory statements by third parties.
An apology or retraction of comments which could be in private, in the public domain or a statement in the High Court.
Important things to consider
Here are some things you should be aware of should you bring a claim for defamation.
- There is a time limit of one year for bringing a defamation claim from the date of the publication or broadcast.
- If you want to stop a party from making further defamatory comments or from continuing to publish defamatory material, for example via a court order/injunction, you will need to act quickly. If you take too long to act, a court may decide that you do not really need any urgent intervention (although you may still be able to claim damages if you have issued a claim within a year).
- Libel is defamation in the written form whereas slander is defamation via words expressed orally. Slander cases are far harder to prove because they require convincing witness evidence as to the precise words spoken and the party accused will often deny that they used those words.
- In order to succeed you must usually prove that you have suffered, or are likely to suffer, financial loss as a consequence of the defamatory statements (the situation is different for individuals who are claiming Libel, who do not always need to demonstrate actual or potential financial loss).
- The requirement in a Libel case that defamatory words were published simply means you must prove that comments were made to a third party (i.e. a party that is not the subject/focus of the defamatory remarks).
- You can defame someone by simply repeating someone else’s defamatory statement or re-sharing a defamatory statement on social media.
How much will it cost?
If you would like DAS Law to help you with your defamation dispute, there are a number of ways to fund your legal costs.
Legal expenses insurance (LEI)
If you have a commercial insurance policy this may include LEI cover. If so, your legal costs may be covered by that policy, subject to its terms and conditions. If you are unsure if your insurance policy includes LEI cover, we will check this with you.
Business LEI
No legal expenses insurance
Unfortunately we are unable to take on private instructions at the moment, and can only work with customers who have legal expenses insurance.
What should I do next?
If you have legal expenses insurance with DAS, please call us on the number listed in your policy.