Dentist Has To Pay Legal Fees For Suing Yelp & Reviewer Over Bad Review
from the anti-slapp-and-section-230 dept
We've had a number of posts lately about lawsuits over bad Yelp reviews, and it appears they're not going so well. We pointed out a doctor losing a lawsuit over bad reviews, but Eric Goldman has the latest, in which a dentist who sued has to pay $80,000 in legal fees, not just to the reviewer, but also to Yelp itself. You see, the dentist and/or his lawyer apparently didn't bother to understand that Section 230 of the CDA protects the service provider from such a suit (which doesn't say much good about the lawyer). Once the lawyer learned of Section 230 (a bit late), they dismissed Yelp from the case... but the court still awarded legal fees to Yelp's lawyers. Hopefully this helps lawyers learn that filing bogus lawsuits against service providers over the actions of their users is not a smart move.![Hide This Hide this](https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/topclose.png)
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Filed Under: defamation, legal fees
Companies: yelp
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Unfortunately...
Maybe that dentist should now take his lawyer to court so he doesn't have to pay all those costs himself.
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Re: Unfortunately...
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Re: Unfortunately...
The dentist himself should be on the hook for the costs relating to the reviewer for deciding to bring the case, but he should be able to reclaim the part awarded to Yelp from his lawyer.
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Re: Re: Unfortunately...
Sue.
Sue the lawyer for malpractice. That way the lawyer does share a part of the penalty for both of their stupidity.
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Re: Unfortunately...
ftfy
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Re: Unfortunately...
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I agree tha the dentist deserves to pay I just think that it's important that the lawyer also takes a hit - to reduce this stupidity in future.
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Couldn't we just apply this to ALL lawyers - on a regular basis?
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. . . the dentists needs to leave a nasty yelp
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Re: Unfortunately...
Not clear if it was the lawyers or the dentists idea to sue Yelp in the first place, but I can't imagine how the lawyer didn't know about 47 USC 230 before filing. The article also states that the Yelp portion of the damages is "at least $8k of the fees", which is a lot lower starting point than I would have guessed, so it appears the bulk of the damages are to the defendants. Also interesting is that there is an defamation claim still proceeding, so the dentist may get some of his money back.
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Re: Unfortunately...
The dumb lawyer probably would sue over bad reviews just like the dumb dentist did.
The dumb lawyer has demonstrated he is dumb.
The dumb dentist also has because if he were any good he'd be doing what he does best instead of suing. Oh, wait. The dumb suing dentist is doing what he does best.
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Re: Unfortunately...
Attorneys just do a cost/benefit analysis and go with whatever will work out for them long term, like the rest of us.
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Sleep is for the weak.
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There, fixed :-)
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This dentist is morally bankrupt and soon financially bankrupt. Nobody should trust him within inches of their mouth!
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See Mr. Dentist - you may not want customers who base their decision to go to a doctor solely on a web review.
Case in point here:
I was referred to a surgeon by my family doctor, who I trust. I read a couple reviews on this surgeon and in said reviews, one had commented that he was cold, uncaring, didn't explain things, was arrogant and had a bad bed-side manner.
I was cynical of the review, I trust my family doctor's *professional opinion* over the web review.
After meeting the surgeon, I found the review was horribly off; the guy explained everything to me, was very cordial, friendly, and most importantly - he was well experienced.
Don't trust your health to a web review, lol.
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Just so we keep the idiot dentist's name in lights.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=150711
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http://chattahbox.com/technology/2010/02/25/yelp-accused-of-user-review-extortion-racket/
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http://www.eastbayexpress.com/eastbay/yelp-and-the-business-of-extortion-20/Content? oid=1176635
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Mike
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Reality
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Dentist pays legal fees
Then, the couple she sued would be told they "won," after they've spent their children's inheritance or refinanced their house to keep up with the dentist's spending.
This is from
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MB0VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6682%2C2701449
and
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2001/08/27/bus_321610.shtml :
Message-board participants have the right under the First Amendment to voice their opinions. That freedom is troublesome for companies and their legal and public-relations staffs, which wince about the complaints and scramble to correct inaccurate information that could be posted by consumers, investors, employees or competitors.
If a company sues, alleging simple business disparagement or perhaps defamation, its goal isn't necessarily to win, said Marshall Tanick, a First Amendment expert at Mansfield & Tanick in Minneapolis. The strategy is "to force the other person to incur huge legal expenses that will deter them and others" from making such statements, he said.
Companies typically shy from suing customers because it creates bad publicity. Thus, much of the legal activity involves employees or former workers. "I'm seeing it happen with increasing frequency ... yet very few (cases) go all the way" to trial and verdict, Tanick said.
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Dentists and Lawyers Could Anything Be Worse?
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teeth whitening Orange County
This is some of the best work I�ve read on the Internet. Your points are unique, valid and very well thought out and written. I appreciate your hard work and thank you for writing it,thanks for sharing.
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Proper regulation
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Thanks for post this article..
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Yelp is a joke
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People in over seas pull down dictators by putting their lives on the line, why can't we have an organized demonstration to bring light and attention to this?
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People in over seas pull down dictators by putting their lives on the line, why can't we have an organized demonstration to bring light and attention to this?
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People in over seas pull down dictators by putting their lives on the line, why can't we have an organized demonstration to bring light and attention to this?
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Yell makes my headaches !
So my question is... are these reviews accurate ?
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Re: Yell makes my headaches !
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dental negligence
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