Defamation cases in Minnesota, as in most jurisdictions, are built on a delicate balance between protecting free speech and providing recourse for individuals who have suffered reputational harm due to false statements. The offending language must be a statement of fact that can be proven true or false and not...
Reducing the Cost of Free Speech: Minnesota Revives a Tool for Dealing with Defamation Lawsuits
Politically active citizens and media occasionally find out the hard way that freedom to speak can be quite expensive, when they are sued for speaking out about controversial political issues. A defamation lawsuit is nothing to sneeze at, even if the speaker expects to win because they do not believe...
Million-Dollar Verdict For Plaintiff Experiencing $1 In Damages: The Michael Mann Defamation Suit
Michael Mann is a professor of climate science at the University of Pennsylvania. He rose to notoriety for a graph he published in 1998 in the journal Nature, meant to illustrate the dramatic warming of the planet. The curve in the graph resembled a hockey stick and, as such, was...
So You’ve Been Sued. Now What?
Being served with a lawsuit is a disorienting experience, one that tends to raise the same basic questions regardless of who has been sued: What am I accused of? How much will this cost? Can I sue this plaintiff back?