#libel case

Ever since I wrote my story on surviving a libel case about two years ago, there were a couple other people who asked recommendations for legal counsel (apparently, encountering the same situation I had). Back then, news about online libel are very few and far between; the only other case I knew of was the TRO against PCIJ's blog in 2005 (now there's your precedent). Those who are not familiar with my case can read thru my lawyer's explanation here. True, very few get convicted of libel -- the only one that I knew of was the 6-month prison term for a guilty verdict against The Daily Tribune publisher and editor-in-chief Ninez Cacho-Olivares in June of last year. Unfortunately, the problem starts even before the case goes to court. Libel is about power, influence and money, the latter carrying the most weight. Today, libel on the internet seems too common and we hear/read a lot of lawsuits being filed left and right. (I won't enumerate them here anymore as those issues have been debated way too much, IMO.) What's more ironic is that "free speech or freedom of expression", which is supposed to be literally free, isn't cheap when confronted with a libel suit. Read more in our articles including "The Anatomy of a Blog Libel" and "Tangram Smart Case 2 for the iPhone 4 and 4S".