Right to substantive criticism – how we helped our client to keep the reputation

In 2020, our client, a well-known and widely respected commentator in the maritime industry, was sued by a large state-owned company for a critical social media post. The company, whose management had long been criticized in the industry and media for incompetence, lack of experience, and mismanagement, accused our client of defamation and demanded substantial compensation.

After a thorough analysis of the case and the collection of extensive documentation, we were able to build a strong defense. We demonstrated that the criticism in the post was justified and based on facts. Additionally, we identified several irregularities in the lawsuit filed by the company.

The court of first instance found that our client’s post did not constitute defamation and that nearly 75% of the content was truthful. However, the court ordered our client to issue a partial apology to the company, noting that he had slightly overstepped the bounds of permissible criticism when he stated that the shipyard’s docks were empty. Nonetheless, the court refrained from imposing any financial penalty and ruled that the plaintiff company had lost the case to a significant extent, awarding legal costs to our client.

We were not satisfied with this outcome and filed an appeal, emphasizing the public nature of the company (which was involved in implementing government policies) and the citizen’s right to critically assess such an entity.

The court of appeal fully agreed with our position, overturning the lower court’s decision and dismissing the company’s lawsuit in its entirety, requiring the company to bear the full costs of the proceedings.

Thanks to our assistance the client:

• avoided any legal liability for his bold journalism,
• emerged victorious from the media storm, confirming the truth of his statements,
• obtained even greater trust from the public, especially within the maritime industry.

If your reputation has been unfairly tarnished or if someone wrongly believes you have tarnished theirs, don’t hesitate to contact us.

We can help you restore lost trust. We are experts in handling legal disputes.