How a Consumer Hired a Lawyer to Draft a Cease and Desist Letter in California (March 2025)

I'm so sorry this is happening. Certainly - write a polite and professional letter, and tell the person firmly that you expect this behavior to stop immediately, and that he or she remove all such posts to date. Send the letter certified/return receipt requested mail, or some other way that will ensure you will receive a signed receipt of the letter. While I never advocate threatening a person, give them a deadline (such as 5:00 pm on August 31, 2025) and let them know that if they don't stop and don't clean up their posts by then, you will be forced to take legal action. Again, remain polite and professional in your letter - pretend that a judge is reading the letter over your shoulder. Also, have a friend or family member read it before you send it - it's good to have another pair of eyes. Keep a copy of the letter, of course, and photograph the envelope(s) before you mail it(them). If this doesn't get the desired result(s), you have attempt to get a restraining order against the person in the superior court of your county. One can generally find instructions and information online on your county court's website, or on the website of the WA Supreme Court. Another excellent source is: https://www.womenslaw.org/laws/wa/restraining-orders Please aware that this information is provided for educational purposes only, and no attorney/client relationship has been formed. Moreover, I am not interested in taking this on as a project, but another attorney on Contracts Counsel may be interested.

What I suggest you do is write a polite, professional, and firm letter to the person(s) and send the letter in a manner in which you will get a receipt, such as certified, return receipt through the post office (this costs $8.75). Keep copies of everything. Let the person know they must stop immediately and remove any and all defamatory posts.. Do not make any threats. You can have an attorney do this for you, but it will probably cost you around $1000. After you send this letter, if the problem doesn't stop, the next step would be to get a civil anti-harassment order through court. This is something you can do yourself. If this doesn't work, you can return to court with a request (motion) to the judge to hold the defendant (respondent) in contempt and ask the court to impose fines. Another option, of course, is to sue for defamation (even for a business), but this type of case would cost you thousands and thousands of dollars, and there's no guaranty than you would win and get paid by the defendant. Although this is a "women's law" website, the website has a great explanation of various types of restraining orders in Washington State. Please look at the explanation for civil harassment: https://www.womenslaw.org/laws/wa/restraining-orders/civil-anti-harassment-orders You can, of course, skip writing a letter and go straight to filling for harassment, but judges tend to like to see some reasonable effort on the part of litigants to resolve their problems on their own prior to going to court. I normally would offer to help you, but I'm going to be traveling and am not available until some time after October 17th or so. I also do not engage in litigation any more myself. Oh, I want you to know that most Washington counties have a website for their courts that provide lots of information and forms for obtaining various types of restraining orders. Best wishes, Merry Kogut