Defamation & Business Interference

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If false statements, smear campaigns, or frivolous lawsuits are threatening or impacting your brand, your name, your family or your business, you need experienced counsel.

Damage to your brand and reputation Is damage to your future. In today’s connected world, one false claim can spread like wildfire – damaging your professional reputation, business relationships, or customer trust. Whether it happens online, in print, or behind closed doors, defamation and interference can have very real financial consequences.

There is no substitute for experience. Whether someone is smearing your brand or threatening to sue you because your online brand or activity, the details matter.

Legislatures across the nation have passed anti-SLAPP laws to protect speech and punish wrongfully brought suits. Your attorney needs to see the difference and road to recovery immediately, not waste time figuring it out.

At The Law Office of Matt Bryant, P.C., we help individuals and businesses fight back against defamation, slander, libel, and unlawful interference. We build strong cases, move quickly, and fight aggressively to repair the damage and protect your future.

We Handle:

  • Defamation, slander, libel
  • Business defamation and trade libel
  • Interference and restriction on business relationships, clients and competition
  • Business revenue loss, damage to assets, reputation, and hybrid losses to revenue generating relationships
  • Cease-and-desist orders, retraction and extortion demands
  • Strategic Litigation Against Public Petition and Participation

Why Clients Trust The Law Office of Matt Bryant, P.C.:

  • Experience and preparation
  • We Understand Both Worlds – we have deep experience protecting free speech and standing up for legitimate business and reputational interests
  • Tough, Strategic Litigators – we know the difference between defending yourself and picking an unnecessary fight
  • You’re Not Alone – Team work. When your reputation or business is on the line, no amount of legal experience can replace yours.

Protect What You’ve Built. Let’s Talk.

When your good name or hard-earned business relationships are under attack, you don’t have to stay silent. Let our firm fight back on your behalf.

Schedule a Confidential Case Evaluation Today

Frequently Asked Questions

Online defamation is real, but so are our Constitutional rights to speak freely about matters of public interest. New York protects all public speech about public interest topics, even the stuff you see online, against SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) lawsuits. Providing good-faith consumer reviews of your public-facing business has been protected public interest speech since before Zagat became a household name.

If an actual customer has expressed a negative opinion about your goods and services online, the best approach is usually the three “Ps” to publicly, professionally, and politely address that complaint to show that you are attentive and responsive to customer feedback.

If a fake post presents objectively false statements or offensive or threatening information about you on a third-party website, your best approach may be to contact the host of the site.

If you have a viable revenue-generating brand or business and can show that you lost customers or opportunities because of that review, and those losses justify hiring a lawyer to demand that our public court system empanel a jury to resolve the issue, you may have a lawsuit. But our courts are not built for hobbyists to litigate grievances for vindication. If you can resolve your dispute without using public resources, you should. Litigation is not supposed to be fun or fast, and often going to court should be seen as a last resort.

Online speech about your business remains protected even though you suspect a competitor may be involved in sham posts. Trade libel remains actionable, but it’s not enough just to prove your trade has been harmed. If you believe a competitor is camouflaging unfair competition or business interference as protected online speech to capture your customer base with derogatory and false online content, you may have a claim, but ask yourself this: before you established your brand or business, how did you stand out from the competition? Don’t mistake ambition and confidence as a personal attack. A weak legal demand or flimsy complaint can ruin your public-facing brand more quickly than competition ever will.

Yes, we enjoy the right to speak freely, and when speaking on matters of public interest, that speech may carry extra protection. But free speech has never meant freedom from the consequences of your speech. Just because someone is in the news doesn’t make them a target for public foul play or disparagement.

If you are active online in your personal or business capacity, you may want to consult an insurance broker or check your homeowners, renters, or business policies for liability protection that includes defamation. Many general policies include coverage for personal injury or advertising injury that includes common law torts like defamation.

If you get sued for online speech, the first thing you want to do is assess your right to insurance defense under a homeowners, renters, or liability policy. Forward the demand, cease & desist letter, complaint, or suit to your insurer, agent, or broker. If you don’t have an insurer and do not have money to hire a lawyer, but you’ve received a cease & desist letter, you may want to consider whether your right to speech on this particular topic is worth the cost of defending it with a second mortgage or personal loan.

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