notwithstanding the “litigation privilege,” if the statute of limitations has long passed and there is therefore no reasonable prospect of meritorious litigation.

From Ralston v. Garabedian, decided Thursday by Judge Mark Kearney (E.D. Pa.):

A lawyer representing a former student may notify a school of a former teacher allegedly sexually abusing his client twenty-plus years earlier. The lawyer may privately do so with no court or media involvement when the former student does not want public review of the sexual abuse claim. But assertions of student sexual abuse may harm a teacher's reputation. And valid policy reasons protecting lawyers' advocacy fade when the lawyer does not seriously contemplate litigation.

We today address whether a lawyer's two letters to a private school headmaster in 2018 containing allegations of sexual abuse against a former teacher from 1993 to 1995 and demanding a million dollars in compensation even though his claims are barred by the statute of limitations may be defamatory. The lawyer and his client seek summary judgment. They argue, among other things, the private letters are privileged and the former teacher accused in the letter cannot show the lawyer possessed actual malice necessary to proceed on the defamation claim.

We balance the right to fully report sexual abuse with the teacher's rights to protect his reputation from false statements. The lawyer and his client have not shown they are entitled to summary judgment dismissing the...

Read Full Story: https://reason.com/volokh/2021/12/27/lawyers-letter-to-school-seeking-money-f...