Senior
Claim
Law
Associate
The Ultimate in Claims Law Professionalism!
Our Mission
The Society of Claim Law Associates (SCLA), formed in 1992, is an organization of claims people whose purpose is to promote claims professionalism through education. The Society is a not-for-profit corporation governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees who are elected by the general membership every two years.
The primary mission of the Society is to improve the level of understanding, knowledge, and expertise of its members in the area of claims law and provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas relating to claims law. The Society will help to establish, maintain, and promote a level of professionalism among its members through its activities and encourage and assist others to become the most proficient and knowledgeable claims professionals they can be.
Winter, 2008 |
CLAIMS LAW
A SUPPLEMENT TO CLAIMS LAW COURSES IN CASUALTY, PROPERTY, WORKERS
COMPENSATION, FRAUD INVESTIGATION AND AUTOMOBILE |
DEFAMATION: FACT v. OPINION
[Ref.: Tort Concepts, Para. 2.05]
Defamation can be a covered risk under personal and commercial liability policies. As with any tort action, defamation requires that the claimant prove all of the tort’s legal elements. Failure to prove any of the required elements will relieve the insured of liability.
Although the definition of defamation includes several distinct legal elements, our focus will be on the first element: a false and defamatory statement. The challenged assertion must be a false defamatory statement of “fact” – “pure opinion” is not actionable. That is, if the statement of opinion does not also make an express or implied statement about some fact that supports the opinion, there can be no liability. The reason is that a defamation action requires a false statement, and a pure expression of opinion is neither true nor false. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 US 1 (1990), the statement must be “provable as false.”
Recognizing the distinction between an actionable false statement of fact and a non-actionable opinion can help you resolve a defamation claim in its earliest stages. And an early disposition of any claim always reduces the cost of litigation. However, this seemingly simple proposition involves the often complicated task of distinguishing between potentially actionable statements of fact and non-actionable expressions of opinion.
Defamation is the publication of written or oral statements that damage a person’s reputation. Defamation is subdivided into the torts of libel and slander. Libel involves permanency, usually as a writing, while slander is transitory and concerns speech.
2008 SCLA Class Representative–$1,000 Award
If you earned your SCLA designation between August 1, 2007 and July 31, 2008, you are eligible to be the 2008 SCLA Class representative and receive a cash award of $1000 along with a complimentary conference registration for you and a guest. The selected designee will address the new designees at the Conferment Ceremony on Saturday evening, November 15, 2008. The duration of the talk should be a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 15 minutes. The substance of the talk should be the significance of the SCLA designation to you. For example, you could talk about how what you have learned has helped you in your claims work, or how your designation has given you more confidence in dealing with attorneys. Interested designees must possess strong public speaking skills and submit a letter of recommendation from their manager attesting to those skills, along with a typed copy of the presentation no latter than September 12, 2008. Send the letter of recommendation and copy of the presentation to the attention of John Berko, J.D., SCLA, Director of Education, American Educational Institute, P.O. Box 356, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920-0356. For more information about the 2008 SCLA Class Representative, e-mail jchiara@aeiclaimslaw.com