You often hear "Truth is the perfect defense against libel." A curious notion, not entirely supported by what goes on in the courts. Truth is a very good defense. It may prove an unshakable defense if you have $50,000 for lawyers to defend against a defamation lawsuit. If you don't feel like being on the frontier of legal theory, you should build a somewhat better defense. Add on these concepts:

Avoid the impression of malice.

State the facts, and then state your opinion separately. This keeps things clear in your mind.

All wrong: "My neighbor John Smith is a stinking lush." This is wildly defamatory: an unproven, judgmental ("stinking" and "lush" instead of "alcoholic") statement about a private individual.

Getting better: "Governor Smith consumed 14 glasses of whiskey last night at The Watering Hole Bar. In my opinion he's an alcoholic." The proof is a bit hazy – getting drunk once does not prove alcoholism – but a governor is a public figure with less protection than John Smith, you have clearly separated fact from opinion, and there is no particular evidence of malice.

Pretty safe: "Governor Smith consumed 14 glasses of whiskey last night at The Watering Hole Bar. I wouldn't be surprised to learn he's an alcoholic." This is entirely fact, with no clear evidence of malice, about a public figure.

What defamation is not.
Generally, a statement made about an undefinable group of people or organizations cannot be defamation. Take, "Real estate agents are crooks." It's defamatory enough, but there is no identifiable victim.

"Most of the agents at Smith Real Estate Company are crooks" is getting dicier, but it is still hard to define the victim.

"Smith Real Estate Company is a crooked company." Wham! You have a victim: Smith Real Estate Company.

This page was written to help people avoid slandering others. As we soon learned from reader emails, that isn't the problem at all. The people doing the slandering don't give a hoot about the law. It's the people getting slandered who have the problem – a much bigger problem than a couple of pages on the Net can handle. So – thanks to reader feedback – we asked the author of Dancing With Lawyers to write up a plain-English guide called Fighting Slander. Unlike the expensive lawyers' manuals that are about rich publishers' worries, this guide deals with the defamation ordinary people and businesses face: slander in the workplace, from former bosses, ex-spouses, competitors, and other situations found in daily life – including Internet libel. We are now offering it here as a downloadable guide.

The guide is applicable in all 50 states. Because most slander and libel law is a result of Federal appeals court decisions, or the U.S. Supreme Court, it applies across the country.

What The Readers Say

"You guys have written an EXCELLENT guide. Thank you. It's beautifully written, and perfect for a lay-person." – David C. Lowell, West Milford, New Jersey

" I can't thank you enough for such wonderful, fast, and hassle-free service." – Albert W. Weggeman, Green Valley, Arizona

"It was well worth the price. I wrote a letter to the judge using some really profound language I took from the guide, and the judge decided in my favor. So I want to say thanks. I got the result I wanted!" – Kathleen Diamond, Bay Shore, New York

Our Guarantee
If you are not satisfied with the guide, you may return it for a full refund, no questions asked. If you lose the file – computer crash, whatever – anytime in the next year, we will replace it at no charge. (Our privacy policy is short: we don't sell information, and never have.)

Fighting Slander - Personal Edition – a 66 page guide in PDF format. $19.95.    (A lot of research has gone into this guide. It would cost you several thousand dollars to reproduce it – or get it from an expensive libel lawyer. Table of contents at the bottom of this page.)

Fighting Slander - Business Edition – a 73 page guide in PDF format. $24.95.    This contains all the material in the personal edition, plus additional material – not listed in the table of contents below – about the particular problems businesses and organizations face with media exposure, competitors' slander, and whispering campaigns. It may also be useful for public figures, or those in the news a lot.

Fighting Slander Table of Contents
Third Edition, updated and expanded.