Suing For Slander

We live in a democracy and this means that every person has the right to freedom of expression. However, many times this freedom is used to damage the reputation of another person. This damage can be intentional or unintentional. Nonetheless, it does not give right to a person to malign someone else's name.

A slander is a type of defamation where false information about a person is spread. Even a company or business can be a victim of slander. Anything that damages the reputation of a person or entity and it results in a financial loss is termed as slander. However, the financial loss is not always a criterion. A slander is always verbal and this is what separates slander from libel. And, this is also the reason why slander is difficult to prove in a court of law.

The moment you come to know that you have been a victim of slander, you should make attempts to stop the offender from spreading false information about you. This is not as easy as it sounds. If the person does not pay heed to your request, you can sue to person. You will need to hire the services of a lawyer to help you out.

When suing for slander, you and your lawyer will have the burden of proving that the offender made slanderous remarks about you and these remarks hurt your image and the perception others have about you. For this, you will need an eyewitness who should be willing to testify on your behalf. If financial damage resulted on account of the slanderous remarks, you will also have to proof that.

In case a slanderous remark was made about you on the Internet, then you will have to take screenshots of the webpage that contains these remarks. In case the comments were deleted from the webpage, get in touch with the website administrator and typically request him or her to furnish the records.

Once all the evidence has been collected, your lawyer will file a case against the offender. Then the offender has to answer the summons. Either the person will deny any wrongdoings, or he or she may accept the charges. If the person denies the charges, you would have to furnish all the proof and evidence you have collected. If the person accepts the charges but refuses to compensate you financially, then you need to prove how his or her remarks caused you financial harm. Based on all the evidence presented in court, the judge will make a ruling and the offender will have to compensate you financially.

However, suing for slander is not easy as gathering the necessary evidence is difficult. That is the reason why people who are victims of slander invariable settle for out of court settlement.

Source by Kum Martin