Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
The New Reality: Accusations Before Investigation
In the modern environment, a single social-media post can trigger a storm of attention, formal investigations, and sometimes a lawsuit. We have dealt with this type of situtation in many of our lible and business control cases.
Our firm represents pleaintiffs and defendants in these highly chargds cases that sit at the intersection of social causes and modern defamation or business control law.
Discovery Battles Over PR Firm Documents
A major battleground in these case can be obtaining through discovery outside public relations firm documents and communciations when the opposing side has relied on such a firm. Those documents can matter if for instance they show whether the lawsuit is a genuine attempt to vindicate a reputation—or part of a broader public-relations campaign and lawfare as opposed to legitimate libel or business control suit
Illinois law treats discovery as broadly relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact in issue more or less probable. A 2019 appellate decision reported at 2019 IL App (1st) 182354, ¶ 35, and another at 2017 IL App (1st) 161918, ¶ 14, emphasize that discovery is not limited to what will be admissible at trial, but also includes what may lead to admissible evidence. That principle supports our effort to obtain communications with the public relations firm that helped craft talking points, draft emails to classmates, and shape threats to witnesses.
Courts have also recognized that public-relations work is generally not protected as attorney work product, even if it touches on litigation strategy. Decisions reported at 265 Ill. App. 3d 654 (1st Dist. 1994), 329 F.R.D. 628 (N.D. Cal. 2019), and 290 F.R.D. 421 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) hold that communications with outside consultants like publicists are ordinarily discoverable. We rely on that authority to argue that the PR firm documents must be produced.
Defamation in the Age of Anonymous Accounts
Because the original accusations in some of cases were posted through social-media accounts that sometimes hid the poster’s identity, we also deal with the cutting edge of online defamation. We regularly work with subpoenas to platforms such as Yelp, Google and SnapChat, IP and device information, and cross-referencing of screenshots, deletion logs, and metadata to tie anonymous statements back to real people.
Our role is not to silence legitimate speech about misconduct, but to defend people who tell the truth and to prosecute peole who libel our clients.
What Sets Our Firm Apart in Defamation Work and Business Dispute Work
Our lawyers have handled complex libel and business control suits that blend:
- High-profile media coverage, social-media and PR campaigns;
- Aggressive discovery disputes over expert witnesses, PR firms, and internal investigations.
Because we routinely litigate both defamation and business torts, we are comfortable with large-scale document collections, forensic email and text discovery, and cross-border issues when the parties and witnesses are in different states. Continue reading ›