Can I Get Legal Aid Help To Fight A Slander Case Being Brought Against Me?

[RATTER15]

It appears my ex employer is suing me for slander, can I get legal aid help to fight this? apart from the financial aspect, does legal aid cover defending slander cases?

I will be seeking legal assistance later today, I was just wondering if you guys have any such knowledge.

[EDDIE51]

Not a hope of legal aid . Slander and libel are a very specialized and therefor VERY expensive area of law. It could easily cost £100,000 just to prepare a case. Even if you win the case you can't get the costs back from the other side. You need to be able to lose a £million or so with out noticing it to take on a slander case.

[RATTER15]

Not what I wanted to hear but thanks Eddie.

[murraymints]

might be cheaper to counter sue ?? you need legal advice...

[hc4361]

Are you extremely wealthy? If not, I can't see the point of pursuing you in court for slander.

[murraymints]

perhaps a solicitor's letter to your employer threatening to counter sue would be enough ? how sure are you they are actually doing this.?.if it were me I would simply ignore until I got court summons

[RATTER15]

I wish I were wealthy lol, but no!

I also think that he would need to prove that I was lying, to my knowledge I only wrote the truth!

[woofgang]

Are you absolutely sure he is doing this? We were in similar circs quite a few years ago, were very worried about it and so paid for some initial legal advice. The solicitor laughed (nicely) and asked “Is he filthy rich?”
He told us that bringing a case is very expensive and solicitors and barristers generally won’t take them on unless they are sure they will get paid. No win no fee-ers generally won’t even think about touching them. Unless the case is against a paper, where the paper can be made to print a retraction or apology AND to cough up; or against someone who themselves is minted, there is no point in doing it. If the person you sue has no money then the plaintiff won’t get money (and may not be awarded any anyway) and won’t get costs even if they are awarded, which they may not be. He will end up paying dearly for his fun.
In our case we did not respond to the letters or emails he sent and when he turned up at our door shouting the odds we told him to leave or we would call the police.

[woofgang]

I don’t think you can counter sue in the Uk....isn’t there some rule that says legal action may not beget legal action? PP used it on here recently.

[hc4361]

Read this to see if your employer has the basis to win a court case against you

http://findlaw.co.uk/law/accidents_and_injuries/defamation/slander.html

It is vital that he has proof that you said the thing he is accusing you of to somebody else.

[woofgang]

Its been made harder to sue as well
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/contents/enacted

[hc4361]

If you wrote it, it will be libel, not slander

[RATTER15]

No Woof, I am not sure. He told me on the phone yesterday that he is suing me, He was quite angry, I don't think he or the company has any money to be honest. Most likely just an empty threat!

[hc4361]

http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/A_quick_guide_to_libel_laws_in_England_and_Wales.pdf

[hc4361]

Can you tell us what you wrote and where it was published?

[RATTER15]

hc4361, yes, it is, I forgot that, he threatened Slander with what I had written, I think a solicitor would have corrected him on that if he had in fact sought legal advice as he has claimed.

[hc4361]

What did you write? And who read it?

[RATTER15]

I wrote about things that I witnessed in the care home where I worked that were abusive (mostly institutional abuse and neglect) I discussed this in a (closed) Facebook forum especially for this type of thing. The Name of the home was never mentioned and neither were any names. This was not a local forum!

[Tilly2]

Slander is spoken, not written

Libel is written.

[RATTER15]

as for who read it? I have no idea!

[RATTER15]

Do the above comments Re: slander also stand with libel?