Slander, in its broadest terms, is the act of publicly speaking injurious statements about another party, when the statements are known by the speaker to be false. You can sue someone for slander only if the false statements they spoke resulted in financial or personal loss.
Instructions
Bring a Slander Lawsuit Against Another Party
1. Check your state's statute of limitations regarding personal injury law, which defamation law falls under. FreeAdvice (see Resources below) offers a helpful chart as well as direct links to state-specific information.
2. Refrain from making false public statements and/or accusations against other parties. The best way to avoid having someone sue you for slander is to avoid making slanderous statements. Only publicize those thoughts that you have reasonable grounds to believe are true.
3. Gather witnesses. Because slander, by its nature, is transitory in form, you will need eyewitness testimony to show in court that the slander actually occurred. You must also be prepared to offer hard proof that the slander harmed you in a significant way. This may mean gathering additional witnesses or disclosing financial information to the court.
4. Hire a qualified personal injury attorney or libel and slander specialist to bring a lawsuit against the party who slandered you. Browse for specialists in your state by visiting AttorneyPages.com's personal injury pages (see Resources below).
5. Try to settle your slander case out of court, if possible. It will save you considerable time and money in legal proceedings and expenses.
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