Kensington Development Corp. v. Israel

At common law, a publication made in a judicial proceeding enjoys an absolute privilege from later charges of defamation. Because the legislature’s slander of title statute, sec. 706.13, Stats., is contradictory to this common law, we hold that the filing of a lis pendens in this case enjoys only a conditional privilege. Since the trial court conferred an absolute privilege, we reverse and remand with directions.

On August 19, 1983, an involuntary petition, pursuant to Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, was filed against Delafield Development. Delafield’s major asset is the…