Can you sue someone that is sueing you for defamation of character if they are falsley accusing you?
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Can you sue someone that is sueing you for defamation of character if they are falsley accusing you?
Asked on June 17, 2009 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
Yes. Misuse of the legal process is itself a tort. It's not an easy one--there's a predisposition in this country and the judicial system to allow people to bring their claims, even weak ones, and allow the courts to sort the worthwhile ones from the worthless ones; and that predisposition makes it an uphill battle to actually prove that claim was SO worthless that someone has incurred liability by bringing it.
However, while you should be prepared that proving it enough to win is uphill, you *can* bring the claim against them. You could also move for sanctions against their attorney, if you can show there was no way for a lawyer to bring the case in anything like good faith. For both, you need to be able to prove that the accusations are false and that any reasonable person would know they are false.
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