Defamation

Wade, Grunberg & Wilson focuses on safeguarding your reputation from false and defamatory attacks. Our lawyers have exceptional experience in the field of defamation, having represented companies and individuals caught up in a media whirlwind and crisis. Your reputation has no geographical bounds, and neither does our practice, as our attorneys have litigated defamation cases in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, California, Michigan, and Nevada. Wherever defamation occurs – traditional media, the tabloid media, social media, or a smaller scale – we will marshal all tools available to protect our clients’ reputations.

Our defamation clients often come to us in the midst of a crisis unlike any they have faced before. The reputations they have built over a lifetime are at risk of irreparable damage. Our experience handling these unique circumstances allows us to quickly identify the issues and implement the correct strategy to redeem your reputation from false attacks.

Our experience is precisely what sets us apart from most firms. The law of defamation is nuanced, peppered with landmines under the First Amendment, Anti-SLAPP Statutes, absolute immunities, and qualified privileges. We know where those landmines are and, more importantly, how to navigate successfully around them.

Ideally, our clients find us when a false and defamatory story has been threatened but remains unpublished. Some of our best work in this area relates to stories you have never read, because they are stopped or changed before our clients’ reputations are damaged. In crisis situations, we take over communications with the would-be publisher or work alongside your public relations team. We demand that the reporting process be truthful and fair, and we demonstrate that you will not tolerate false attacks.

Even if a false and defamatory story gets out, it can often be reeled in without resorting to a lawsuit. False stories get published for any number of reasons: from sloppy journalism, to an intent to harm, to the misguided belief that the publisher won’t be held accountable. We unravel what occurred and clearly communicate to the publishers the legal risks of continuing to allow their false story to remain in circulation.

Some matters, however, can only be resolved by filing a lawsuit. The attorneys of Wade, Grunberg & Wilson have extensive litigation experience going toe-to-toe with media companies, such as CBS, CNN, Viacom, The Associated Press, and The Washington Post and many others, as well as the media defense firms they employ. Our attorneys have successfully fought off the media’s defenses at both the trial court level and appellate court level, placing clients in the position to resolve disputes on their own terms.

Representative Cases

• Amy Doherty-Heinze v. Michael Todd Chrisley, Northern District of Georgia, jury verdict for client in the amount of $755,000 (Apr. 4, 2024)

  • 2023 WL 8351550 (Oct. 12, 2023) (prevailing against motion for summary judgment)

  • 2022 WL 18938046 (Jul. 18, 2022) (prevailing against motion to dismiss)

• La Liberte v. Reid, Eastern District of New York, lead appellate counsel

  • La Liberte v. Reid, 966 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2020) (holding state anti-SLAPP statute inapplicable in Second Circuit federal courts)

• Coan v. Bruce Thompson for Georgians, Inc. et al., Superior Court of Bartow County Georgia

  • Case No. SUCV2022001350 (June 2, 2023) (obtaining denial of defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion)

• Haro v. City of Atlanta et al., Northern District of Georgia

  • Case No. 1:21-cv-04478-JPB (Sept. 23, 2022) (prevailing against motion to dismiss)

• The Gladiator’s Hub et al v. Katina Stuckey-Smith, Northern District of Georgia

  • Case No. 1:22-cv-4587-TCB (Sept. 7, 2023) (obtaining summary judgment on behalf of defendant)