Scott Moss on the Imus Defamation Suit & Client Control
Professor Scott Moss of the University of Colorado has a great comment on the Imus defamation suitThis is a classic case of a plaintiff who's justifiably enraged about something that's not illegal (racist insults) and therefore filed a lawsuit dubiously asserting something that is illegal (false factual statements about sexual practices). When I was a full-time plaintiff's lawyer, I often had to talk clients off the ledge when they were upset at serious mistreatment but simply didn't have any real legal claim to file in court, telling them, "Look, I know you're upset about X, but you can't sue for X; you can sue only for Y, and you can't prove Y." (I'm paraphrasing for brevity; I usually tried to express a little more empathy in such situations). (source)
19 August, 2007
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