If your reputation is damaged by false accusations, specialist lawyers can see to it that you are not only vindicated but fairly compensated. Exactly such a scenario happened in one case in which a businessman successfully sued a neighbour who he claimed had branded him a wife-beater in public.
The man claimed that his neighbour had uttered the accusation in a public street – in the presence of her husband, the man’s son and one of his employees. After lawyers launched High Court slander proceedings on his behalf, the neighbour accepted that she had not the slightest reason to believe that he had been violent towards either of his former wives and that such a statement would be untrue and defamatory.
The woman’s lawyers explained that she had never intended to cast any such aspersion. However, she unreservedly apologised if any of those who heard her words had interpreted them in the manner claimed. She also agreed to pay the man compensation and a contribution towards his legal costs. Having achieved vindication of his reputation, he was content to let the matter rest.