Soloway v. ALM Global, LLC

Plaintiff, former general counsel for a major commercial real estate conglomerate with ties to President Trump, filed a lawsuit against a media company alleging that it published articles that defamed him and harmed his professional reputation when it reported on his leaving his position as general counsel. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that plaintiff’s defamation claim failed because the articles were subject to reasonable innocent construction and were not actionable under Illinois law and that he did not adequately plead special damages. (BRENNAN and KOLAR, concurring)