Cease and desist letter for defamation checklist

Read the document to make sure it meets your needs and that you’ve provided all of the necessary information about the alleged defamatory content. Remember that, if you have any questions, you can Ask a lawyer for advice.

Schedule 1 must be attached to your completed Cease and Desist Letter before you send it. The Schedule can be attached digitally (eg by adding your Letter and the Schedule into the same document) or you may print your Letter and attach paper copies of the Schedule. 

Schedule 1 should consist of a sample of the content that you consider to be defamatory. The sample should be clear and unique enough to help identify the content and to illustrate why you consider it to be defamatory. 

You should sign your Letter before you send it. If your business is a company or a partnership, a representative (ie signatory) of the company or partnership must sign. 

You can sign your Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation by either:

• signing online using RocketSign, or

• signing in print, by downloading, printing, and signing and dating the document

A Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation is a formal notice which must be served (ie sent) properly.

You can usually serve a Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation in various ways, as long as you ensure that the recipient receives it. You may send your Letter by:

• handing it to the recipient in person 

  • you can take a witness with you, who can sign a statement asserting that they saw the recipient receive the Letter and when this happened

• courier or post

  • use a tracked delivery service and keep a copy of the proof of posting and delivery

  • check you have the recipient’s latest address

• email

  • you can sign the Letter online and attach a copy of it to an email to the recipient

  • request a ‘read receipt’ as proof of service

A copy of your Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation will be stored automatically in your Rocket Lawyer account ‘Dashboard’. You should also download and securely store a copy of your Letter for your records.

You should also securely store:

•  any proof of service, for example: 

  • Royal Mail receipts or courier receipts

  • signed and dated statements from witnesses that watched you hand deliver the Letter

  • emails or messages from the recipient acknowledging that they’ve received the Letter

  • email ‘read receipts’

• copies of anything else (eg other documents) that were sent with the Letter