When someone tells lies about you, it can do more than sting – it can ruin your life. Spreading falsehoods like this is called libel if written and slander if spoken, and both are types of defamation. In Virginia, you won’t find a more knowledgeable and experienced attorneys than those in the law offices of Howard, Morrison, Ross and Whelan http://www.hmrwlaw.com/virginia-personal-injury/.

1. What Counts as Defamation?
When someone tells lies about you, it can do more than sting – it can ruin your life. Spreading
falsehoods like this is called libel if written and slander if spoken, and both are types of defamation.
If you are defamed, you have a right to compensation. Defamation isn’t illegal, but when it causes
damages the person responsible has to pay. However, defamation has a very strict definition. To count
as defamation a comment must meet all of these criterion:
 The comment was public. If someone slanders you to your face, in private, it doesn’t really
cause any damage to your life and livelihood. For a statement to count as defamation it needs
to, at the very least, be spoken in public – and more often, recorded or broadcast in some way,
such as on signs, in books or papers, by radio or TV or, of course, on the internet.
 It was false. It doesn’t matter how much criticism damages you – if it was accurate, it was
merited and the damage was really your own fault. Thus, calling a convicted burglar is a thief is
not defamation, but saying your ex-spouse has kleptomania (if they don’t) does count as
defamation.
 It’s more than an opinion. This is really part of the “is it false” criterion. When someone gives
their opinion – “I think he’s a bad boss,” or “That was the worst movie I’ve ever seen” – it
never counts as defamation. Opinions are expressions of a personal view and can never be
proven false.
 It caused actual injury. “Injury” is a broad term in law practice but it does set a bar for what
counts as defamation. The false, public statement made against you has to do more than just
hurt your feelings – it has to cause provable damage. If the statement got you fired, for example,
or caused all your friends to abandon you, there is a real and injurious change in your life. In
other words, defamation causes your quality of life or your livelihood to decline in a clear,
measurable way.
 It was not made under privilege. Under certain circumstances, the statements someone makes
are protected by law even if they turn out to be false and injurious. For example, witnesses in a
criminal trial can make their statement without fear of legal retribution, and lawmakers
speaking in their official role have similar protection.
If you’ve been defamed, you need to speak to a personal injury lawyer. In Virginia, you won’t find a
more knowledgeable and experienced attorneys than those in the law offices of Howard, Morrison,
Ross and Whelan http://www.hmrwlaw.com/virginia-personal-injury/.