Brodie v. Adolphus

This libel action arises out of defendants’ alleged publication of a defamatory letter in February 1993, when all of the parties were officers or members of the Albany Law School chapter of the Black Law Students Association. Upon several defendants’ cross motions for summary judgment, Supreme Court determined as a matter of law that the subject writing was reasonably susceptible to a defamatory interpretation but was conditionally privileged because of the parties’ common interest in the subject matter of the writing, i.e., plaintiffs’ conduct as officers of the association. Because no…