CACI No. 1705

Figure—Matter of Private Concern)

[Name of plaintiff] claims that [name of defendant] harmed

[him/her/nonbinary pronoun] by making [one or more of] the following

statement(s): [insert all claimed per quod defamatory statements]. To

establish this claim, [name of plaintiff] must prove all of the following:

Liability

1. That [name of defendant] made [one or more of] the statement(s)

to [a person/persons] other than [name of plaintiff];

2. That [this person/these people] reasonably understood that the

statement(s) [was/were] about [name of plaintiff];

3. That because of the facts and circumstances known to the

[listener(s)/reader(s)] of the statement(s), [it/they] tended to injure

[name of plaintiff] in [his/her/ nonbinary pronoun] occupation [or to

expose [him/her/ nonbinary pronoun] to hatred, contempt, ridicule,

or shame] [or to discourage others from associating or dealing

with [him/her/ nonbinary pronoun]];

4. That [name of defendant] failed to use reasonable care to

determine the truth or falsity of the statement(s);

5. That [name of plaintiff] suffered harm to [his/her/ nonbinary

pronoun] property, business, profession, or occupation [including

money spent as a result of the statement(s)]; and

6. That the statement(s) [was/were] a substantial factor in causing

[name of plaintiff]’s harm.

Actual Damages

If [name of plaintiff] has proved all of the above, then [he/she/ nonbinary

pronoun] is entitled to recover if [he/she/ nonbinary pronoun] proves that

[name of defendant]’s wrongful conduct was a substantial factor in

causing any of the following actual damages:

a. Harm to [name of plaintiff]’s property, business, trade, profession,

or occupation;

b. Expenses [name of plaintiff] had to pay as a result of the

defamatory statements;

c. Harm to [name of plaintiff]’s reputation; or

d. Shame, mortification, or hurt feelings.

Punitive Damages

[Name of plaintiff] may also recover damages to punish [name of

defendant] if [he/she/ nonbinary pronoun] proves by clear and convincing

evidence that [name of defendant] acted with malice, oppression, or fraud.

[For specific provisions, see CACI Nos. 3940–3949.]

New September 2003; Revised April 2008, December 2009, June 2016, December

2016, January 2018