Defamation Attorneys

Dozier Internet Defamation Attorneys

John W. Dozier Jr. is the author of the "Ten Personas of Scofflaw Bloggers", the first widely acclaimed document aimed at identifying and categorizing the scofflaws attacking business and professionals online. It is available on the main Dozier Internet Law website. John is rated by other lawyers and judges as having reached the height of professional excellence and the highest levels of skill and integrity (AV rating), is a "SUPER LAWYER" (Law and Policy Magazine) in the law of the Internet, and is a "legal elite" among Virginia attorneys for 2007 in intellectual property. John is licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of Virginia, and he appears nationwide as lead counsel as a defamation attorney pursuing the scofflaws of the web.

Below are some of John's thoughts on the online defamation issue and the biggest of all...how the courts will treat your efforts to protect your reputation. When you go to your business lawyer, or big law firm, and they come back with a legal opinion about the merits of pursuing legal remedies for defamation, you really should consider getting a second opinion:

I get a report every day of many of the important judicial decisions relating to Internet and ecommerce law. I have to review a court's decision in detail before I begin to understand the ruling, the facts and the law as applied.

Judges are oftentimes only as good as the briefs submitted by the lawyers. In other words, well briefed and well argued issues facilitate good decisions. Sometimes a court relies upon the wrong law, or fails to consider other interpretations, and that leads to a bad decision. Sometimes the facts before the court can cause a judge to decide a matter without due regard of the law. "Bad facts make bad law" is a principle every law student hears over and over again as professors try to explain judicial mistakes.

The third variable in trying to understand court decisions is human nature. Areas of the country look at matters differently, and the opinions and beliefs of the public often are mirrored by judges, particularly those elected by the public or appointed by a representative body. Certain states are pro- consumer, others are pro-business and judges often reflect those attitudes.

In today's world, the minute a legal decision is made public we are bombarded with news articles, online newsletters and bloggers commenting on the decision. Legal issues arise and are blogged about by people who do not put the ruling in the proper context. Often we see reports about a case of "first impression," which means that the issue has not been decided before, and everyone assumes that the ruling is now the law of the land.

Many times I have clients who heard about a court decision and therefore concluded they had no relief available for a problem. Just as often I receive inquiries from prospective clients who erroneously cite a particular case or statute as support for taking legal action.

Here’s the problem. On the state and federal trial level, judges make rulings all the time that you never hear about. These are unpublished (and sometimes unrecorded) decisions. A formal opinion by a trial judge has no binding effect on other trial judges. No one is bound to follow the decision, not even the judge who made it. These types of decisions carry little weight. Likewise, federal district courts often publish opinions made by the judges, but these opinions are not binding on other judges.

Appellate courts make decisions and lower courts within that circuit must follow them. But the decision of one circuit court is not binding on courts outside the circuit. So, as new issues arise, the courts often end up with different opinions, and if the differing opinions are at the federal circuit court level, then the law would mean one thing in one area of the country and mean something else in another area of the country. One reason we have the Supreme Court is to resolve such conflicting legal decisions. Unfortunately, many of the issues we face in the online world will no longer be issues by the time a case reaches the Supreme Court.

So, the next time you read about a court deciding a case, go search the web for comments on the decision. Then, don't follow the advice offered or buy into the interpretation. Just don't rely upon what you are reading. There are way too many variables in play to know what impact any court decision will have on your business.

Defamation Attorneys for Web Businesses

Dozier Internet Law is a pre-eminent top rated (AV) defamation attorneys firm and is the largest Internet defamation attorneys firm in the world specializing exclusively in the law of the Internet. We help Internet business interests negotiate some of the most challenging issues of law.

CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. The information on this site is not intended to constitute legal advice and communication via email, telephone, or in writing with an attorney does not constitute the creation of an attorney-client relationship until a formal, written legal retainer agreement is signed. We rarely set forth case results on this site because of lawyer ethics considerations. Sometimes we will link to a decision involving our law firm. Whatever the reference to legal results in a particular matter, please understand that case and matter results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each such case or matter, and prior case or matter results do not predict or guarantee a similar result in future cases or matters. John W. Dozier, Jr. is the responsible attorney for this website, which is Attorney Advertising. A legal ethics requirement is that we state the following: CASE RESULTS DEPEND ON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE, AND PRIOR CASE RESULTS DO NOT PREDICT OR GUARANTEE A SIMILAR RESULT IN FUTURE CASES. Our refund policy is to refund all remaining fee deposits at the end of the month of a file closing.

Remember, you can visit the main Dozier Internet Defamation Attorneys Website for more information on our defamation attorneys and our services, and to access a library of information about the law of the web, including podcasts, videos and articles.

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