So what are you allowed to write online when you want to share a critique of a commercial service?
An instructive local verdict has been handed down after immigration lawyer Colin Singer sued Aynur Arife Yorulmaz $125,000 for defamation for a comment the Turkish man posted online.
Singer has been practicing immigration law in Westmount for about 25 years and has a high-profile sideline managing the career of actor-model Rico the Zombie, aka Richard Genest.
Yorulmaz, who is in Egypt, didn't show up to defend himself or his post entitled "been cheated by private immigration service in Qubec" (sic).
Quebec Superior Court Judge Robert Mongeon noted that Yorulmaz, in his note, complains that he was encouraged to pay $3,000 after the site suggested that he would be a good immigration candidate - something that proved untrue after recent updates to Canada's immigration code.
Mongeon noted that "nowhere is it directly or indirectly suggested that Colin R. Singer personally is responsible for the alleged cheating."
The judge noted that claiming to be cheated by a website is not the same as accusing a lawyer of being a cheater.
Judge Mongeon said that the demand for $125,000 is "grossly exaggerated" and "flirts with frivolity and abuse." So the judge awarded Singer nothing.
An instructive local verdict has been handed down after immigration lawyer Colin Singer sued Aynur Arife Yorulmaz $125,000 for defamation for a comment the Turkish man posted online.
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| Lawyer Singer, right, seen with show biz friends |
Yorulmaz, who is in Egypt, didn't show up to defend himself or his post entitled "been cheated by private immigration service in Qubec" (sic).
Quebec Superior Court Judge Robert Mongeon noted that Yorulmaz, in his note, complains that he was encouraged to pay $3,000 after the site suggested that he would be a good immigration candidate - something that proved untrue after recent updates to Canada's immigration code.
Mongeon noted that "nowhere is it directly or indirectly suggested that Colin R. Singer personally is responsible for the alleged cheating."
The judge noted that claiming to be cheated by a website is not the same as accusing a lawyer of being a cheater.
Judge Mongeon said that the demand for $125,000 is "grossly exaggerated" and "flirts with frivolity and abuse." So the judge awarded Singer nothing.