Preiser v. Rosenzweig

OPINION OF THE COURT

PAPADAKOS, Justice.

Common law accords an absolute privilege of immunity to statements, whether defamatory or not, to pleadings and other papers filed in regular judicial proceedings. This case raises a question regarding the extension of this absolute privilege to defamatory statements made in private arbitral proceedings conducted by a professional association, in this instance, the Special Fee Determination Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association. The underlying facts in this case, as found in the record, are as follows.

Appellee, Stanley E. Preiser, Esquire, is…