Legal landscape note: This article was originally published in 2014 and describes the law as it stood at that time. New Jersey law changes frequently.
Someone posted harsh complaints about you online, and your first instinct is to sue. Before you do, consider what happened in this Burlington County case: the plaintiffs who sued over online criticism were ultimately ordered -- along with their lawyer -- to pay $25,000 of the defendant's legal fees. When the complaints may have credibility and the lawsuit looks like a tool to harass or bully rather than a claim with merit, New Jersey courts can make the plaintiff pay for bringing it.
Burlington County Superior Court Judge M. Patricia Richmond awarded $25,000 in legal fees on Oct. 16 to Clifford Mintz, of East Windsor, N.J.--about half of the $49,732 requested.
She ordered the money paid by plaintiffs Donna Roberts and Dawn Abrams and their lawyer, Mark Molz, a Hainesport, N.J. solo.
The fee decision comes four years after Richmond granted summary judgment dismissing Roberts' and Abrams' claims against Mintz.
According to Mintz, Moose was not only sickly, but was not even a puppy or even truly Havanese, court documents said.