Slander Attorney and Slander Attorneys

One of the most common issues today is defamation litigation, which is really all about "libel", and generally not about oral defamation, or "slander". But since many people think of all defamation as slander, we'll address the issues on this page as slander issues.

There are two types of subpoenas: those that seek discovery of information to support a claim against someone else, and those that seek discovery of information with the hopes of building a case against your company. The challenge, of course, is figuring out the motivation of the issuing party. This is hard to do, particularly for your typical slander attorney and slander attorneys.

The easiest situation is one in which you are able to contact the party who issued the subpoena, confirm to a reasonable degree of satisfaction that the issuer is only seeking information to support a claim against a third party, and then produce the documents requested. If the documents are not governed by a confidentiality agreement (you should review any written contract or emails you have that might create such an obligation) then you might consider responding with full disclosure. Doing this yourself without the assistance of slander attorneys may be fine, or it may create problems.

Dozier-Slander Attorney & Slander Attorneys

On the other hand, if you receive such a subpoena and you suspect it may relate to defamation, then you need to retain expert slander attorneys. Some indications that the subpoena is possibly targeting your business, even if the matter is not related to defamation, follow:

1. The subpoena is issued in a spam case initiated by an ISP and you provide support services to an alleged spammer, or you are a merchant and your affiliate is an alleged spammer.
2. You look up the case and find out that it is a "John Doe" lawsuit. This means that the plaintiff has sued defendants, but is yet to identify who they are. You may be, or become, one of the targets.
3. The subpoena is from a government agency. No telling where this could lead. It could be related to a sales tax matter, violation of some state law, spam investigation, franchise law violation, or just about anything. We are living in a day of quickly evolving legislation, much of it poorly drafted, creating liabilities not previously known or anticipated.
4. The subpoena also includes a deposition notice. Never, ever, ever go into a deposition without legal counsel. If you think you can say the right things and avoid the ever expanding scope of liability for actions you did not personally take, you may be right, or you may be wrong. If you are wrong, not only might you get added to the lawsuit, but you have already testified under oath and it is difficult to undo such testimony.

This entire analysis can become involved and complex. Why does it matter? Because you have a number of options available relating to responding to a subpoena, and a good lawyer can tell you what to do, and what not to do. For instance:

1. All emails and documents, even those generated after receipt of the subpoena, may be subject to production. That email you fired out to another employee about the customer whose documents are being subpoened may end up in that customer's hands.
2. You are required to respond only to the requests made in, or incorporated into, the subpoena. Quality slander attorneys can assist you with interpreting the document request and delivering no more than is absolutely essential if the matter relates to defamation.
3. There may be valid objections to the requests. These objections can sometimes protect you from exposure or liability, and the scope of the document requests is often a negotiable matter with opposing counsel. Retain a slander attorney as soon as possible in the process to maximize your defenses and attempt to resolve the matter without contentious litigation.
4. You may have potential liability, and your "case" needs to be presented in the light most favorable to your company. This generally requires an experienced Internet slander lawyer (if it involves defamation) to identify potential issues, and manage through them by building an appropriate wall around problems that could lead to your company being sued.
5. Your slander attorney can negotiate a protective order to limit the distribution of information into the public domain. If you are concerned about the information making it into the hands of a third party, be it a competitor or a government agency, there are processes in place to deal with privacy. If you are dislosing personally identifiable information of customers, for instance, laws now obligate you to protect that information, and the failure to do so could lead to expensive remedial actions and civil liability.
6. You may need to assert your 5th amendment rights against self incrimination and refuse to produce testimony or documents. As extreme as that sounds, it is happening very frequently and it is critical that your slander attorneys be up to date on the laws and prosecution history.

Is anything simple anymore? The answer as it relates to responding to subpoenas is a resounding "NO". This is an area full of landmines, and needs to be navigated carefully. The failure to respond to a subpoena could lead to a host of major problems. Retain an expert slander attorney and slander attorneys early on in the process.

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Just go to our contact page and give us a call for a free consultation with Mr. Dozier, an expert Internet slander attorney, and see what Dozier Internet Law can do for you as Internet slander attorneys.