civil case against dorset county council

[mance]

i lost my job with dorset county council. ive been told i have a good deformation of character case against them. but i cant find a local solicitor who deals with civil matters. im also on benefits so will need legal aid or no win no fee. can anyone help as this is driving me mad.

[woofgang]

Who told you that you had a good case?

[boxtops]

Who told you - what were the circumstances (if you can tell us)? And it's Defamation, by the way...

[Prudie]

Successful defamation of character cases are rare and long drawn out affairs aren't they. Better go for unfair dismissal if you really think you've got a case and start with Citizen's advice or Acas.

[boxtops]

Good idea, ACAS is a good place to start, their helpline is free.

[xxxjanetxxx]

do you have a union, if so see them

[daffy654]

You cannot get legal aid to bring a defamation case to court.

[Eve]

If you do consider the tribunal route then there are time limits of making a claim for unfair dismissal - in the main 3 months from the date of dismissal. So you may need to act quickly if you are in time. There are also restrictions on length of service so you would need proper advice as to whether you are able to and have any claim.

[Peter Pedant]

Defamation cases are very expense for the claimamt - you

Better to follow the advice above and go to the employment tribunal


if you give more info we can give more advice

[cathfromsaron]

you would need to be very eminent and lose reputation and financially for a defamation case to succeed!

why not just go for the cheaper option of unfair dismissal and then set the record straight ... ?

[tonywiltshire]

Deformation is usually the publication of a statement that lowers your reputation in the opinion of right thinking members of the community. In English law, the basis of the tort is injury to reputation, so it must be proved that the statement was communicated to someone other than the person defamed.
If you contact The Law Society of England & Wales 020 7242 1222 they should be able to find you a local solicitor who may take your case on a Conditional Fee Arrangement (CFA, no win no fee). They will probably only accept your case if it has a good chance of success which is a good test of the strength of your position.

[tonywiltshire]

For deformation please read defamation, sorry just copied your word.