Protecting High Profile Reputations - Brownstein's $19 Million Verdict Stands After Appeal

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Contact

In the modern age of the Internet where “news”—whether or not it’s true—spreads worldwide in an instant, high-profile corporate and individual reputations are under attack every day from business adversaries, disgruntled employees, dissatisfied customers and others. First Amendment protections sometimes leave the targets of these assaults with no meaningful remedy. But, even the First Amendment has its limits. When these attacks consist of provably false statements, the target often has a valid defamation claim, even when no actual harm to reputation can be proved.

Such was the case in Stephen Wynn v. Joseph Francis. On June 23, 2014, the California Court of Appeal upheld a $19 million jury verdict that Brownstein’s Entertainment and Defamation Litigation Group secured on behalf of Steve Wynn in his slander suit against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis. Wynn filed the lawsuit after Francis falsely accused Wynn of threatening his life. Francis first blurted out (literally) the accusation in court during a hearing in an unrelated debt collection proceeding. Outside the courtroom, he repeated the accusation to a reporter who had witnessed the in-court outburst, and he confirmed that it was “absolutely true.”

Please see full publication below for more information.

LOADING PDF: If there are any problems, click here to download the file.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Attorney Advertising.

© Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Written by:

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Contact
more
less

PUBLISH YOUR CONTENT ON JD SUPRA NOW

  • Increased visibility
  • Actionable analytics
  • Ongoing guidance

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide