A lawyer can help when you think your reputation has been damaged by someone else’s published content. The content must be damaging to your reputation. A statement that merely hurts your feelings or makes you annoyed is generally not defamatory. A defamation lawyer will be able to advise you whether the content is likely to satisfy this test and the appropriate steps to take.

Another situation might be if someone claims you have published content that has the potential to damage their reputation. In this case a lawyer can advise you about any arguments you can raise in your defence and how to mitigate (lessen the damage from) any claim made against you.

A further reason might be when you want to make sure that something you want to publish will not be defamatory. A defamation lawyer can review your work for potentially defamatory statements and advise you whether to leave the statements or information out or change the way it is presented to avoid a defamation suit against you.