Areas of Practice

Politicians and professionals who believe they have been defamed, as well as print and online media accused of defamation, both retain the services of Owen Bird’s defamation and publication management lawyers. We have extensive experience litigating libel and slander cases, but we are equally adept at negotiating quick clarifications, apologies, and retractions that eliminate the need to go to court.

Owen Bird’s defamation law team includes leading counsel in the area of online defamation who have particular experience in the removal of defamatory websites and postings from the Internet, including blogs and social media websites. Even in cases where the author of the publication appears to be anonymous, we have obtained court orders to compel disclosure of the anonymous poster’s personal information by website hosts and telecommunication companies, leading to successful trial and settlement outcomes for our clients.

Preventing a potential defamation is even more valuable than remedying one. Accordingly, Owen Bird’s lawyers also help media and publishing clients develop their news stories or messages in ways that minimize the risk of publishing sensitive information, and to implement internal strategies to help assess whether to publish private or sensitive information in future.