Gibson Quoted in American Lawyer Story Titled “One Company's Battle Against an Internet Smear Campaign”

Whitney Gibson, head of the firm’s internet defamation group, was quoted in an American Lawyer story about an internet defamation attack on a company and its CEO. According to the story, Dealing with the internet attacks and trying to stop them have cost the company at least $700,000 in legal and associated expenses (not including staff time).

The story states:                             

“Anderson suggested that they call in the cavalry. On difficult cases, he often works with a group of specialists from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease in Cincinnati. Ina Scher wasn't thrilled that her client was bringing in another firm, but Hopkins explained that they needed all the firepower they could muster.

Whitney Gibson, the Vorys partner who heads the firm's Internet defamation practice group, took on the case. Anderson estimates that there are around 30 firms nationwide that have similar practices, and they don't include the big ones. Gibson predicts that this will change in the next few years. He gets more and more calls from big companies whose reputations have been besmirched and whose executives have been defamed. ‘It's definitely an emerging area,’ he says.

Gibson needed a court order to get Comcast, the ISP for the poster, to reveal who it was. It took some time, but in January his efforts finally paid off. A Florida court issued the order, and Comcast turned it over.

Howe and Old Hill finally learned who had been smearing their reputations. He turned out to be a small-time professional who uses the handle Sloane. He's paid to post what his clients provide, and to spider their work for maximum search engine optimization.”

To read the entire story, visit the American Lawyer website.