Montgomery v. New Era Printing Co.

Citations

• 229 Pa. 165
• 78 A. 85
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 565

Syllabus

<p>Libel — Newspapers—Prima facies — Privilege—Probable cause — AU torney at law — City councils — Report of meeting.</p> <p>1. Any oral or written words which impute to an attorney at law the want of the requisite qualifications to practice law, or with having been guilty of corrupt, dishonest or improper practice in the performance of his duties as a lawyer are actionable per so.</p> <p>2. Where, in an action of libel, plaintiff proves the publication of articles imputing dishonest and dishonorable action to the plaintiff in his professional conduct as an attorney at law, a prima facie case is made out, and the burden of proving privilege or probable cause is upon the defendant.</p> <p>3. Where, in such case, the defamatory articles are based in part upon a report of a meeting of a committee of city councils, it is the duty of the defendant to establish, by way of defense, if it can do so, the privileged character of its publication; either that the defamatory words substantially as it published them were spoken at the committee meeting, or that acting with due diligence, it was deceived into the belief that they had been so uttered; and in that belief had published them, with fair and reasonable comments upon the proceedings.</p>