Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 770.01 (2025)

Notice condition precedent to action or prosecution for libel or slander.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us JustiaFla. Statutes CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

770.01 Notice condition precedent to action or prosecution for libel or slander.—Before any civil action is brought for publication or broadcast, in a newspaper, periodical, or other medium, of a libel or slander, the plaintiff shall, at least 5 days before instituting such action, serve notice in writing on the defendant, specifying the article or broadcast and the statements therein which he or she alleges to be false and defamatory.

History.—s. 1, ch. 16070, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 7064(1); s. 1, ch. 76-123; s. 1178, ch. 97-102.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 79 cases (19 in the last 5 years), 1950–2025 · leading case: Comins v. Vanvoorhis, 135 So. 3d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Comins v. Vanvoorhis, 135 So. 3d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014). · cites it 66× “Comins’s first amended complaint alleged that “Plaintiff complied with Fla. Stat. § 770.01 in an abundance of caution by serving notice in writing on Defendant care of the University of Florida on March 23, 2009, identifying the articles which Plaintiff alleges to be false and…”

Mazur v. Ospina Baraya, 275 So. 3d 812 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019). · cites it 25× “The Book Defendants and the Movie Defendants filed motions to dismiss, arguing Baraya had failed to provide them with presuit notice as required by section 770.01, Florida Statutes (2018). Apparently agreeing with Baraya's position that section 770.”

Nelson v. Associated Press, Inc., 667 F. Supp. 1468 (S.D. Fla. 1987). · cites it 16× “AP has moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Plaintiff’s letter of February 1, 1983 is insufficient under Fla.Stat.Ann. § 770.01 (West 1986), a condition precedent to maintaining the action.”

Five for Ent. S.A. v. Rodriguez, 877 F. Supp. 2d 1321 (S.D. Fla. 2012). · cites it 12× “That statute provides: Before any civil action is brought for publication or broadcast, in a newspaper, periodical, or other medium, of a libel or slander, the plaintiff shall, at least 5 days before instituting such action, serve notice in writing on the defendant, specifying…”

Alvi Armani Med., Inc. v. Hennessey, 629 F. Supp. 2d 1302 (S.D. Fla. 2008). · cites it 15× “” Fla. Stat. § 770.01 (2008) (emphasis added).”

Mancini v. Personalized Air Conditioning, 702 So. 2d 1376 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). · cites it 16× “The legal question posed by this petition for writ of certiorari is whether a columnist for a local newspaper is entitled to pre-suit notice pursuant to section 770.01, Florida Statutes (1995). Because petitioner (defendant) falls within the statutory protection, she was…”

Edward L. Nezelek, Inc. v. Sunbeam Tel. Corp., 413 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). · cites it 10× “[6] Though the trial court stated in its order of March 6, 1980 that the matter was before the court on the defendant's motion to dismiss with prejudice for failure to comply with Section 770.01, Florida Statutes and failure to allege a cause of action for libel, the court did…”

Davies v. Bossert, 449 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). · cites it 11× “01, Florida Statutes (1983) which requires a complainant to give a defendant five days' prior notice for the purpose of apology or retraction before an action for libel or slander may commence where allegedly defamatory statements were made by a private citizen over an…”

Rolle v. Cold Stone Creamery, Inc., 212 So. 3d 1073 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017). · cites it 9× “Indeed, all eight letters contain a section entitled “Five-Day Notice for Defamation Claim Pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 770.01 .” The first paragraph of each letter further states that the purpose of the letter is to serve as notice that, pursuant to section 770.”

Bridges v. Williamson, 449 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). · cites it 9× “(1976) (codified as amended at § 770.01, Fla. Stat. (1983)). At that time, the legislature was aware of Ross since it is presumed to be cognizant of the judicial construction of a statute when contemplating changes in the statute.”

Ortega Trujillo v. Banco Cent. Del Ecuador, 17 F. Supp. 2d 1334 (S.D. Fla. 1998). · cites it 7× “Third, Conover argues that, on the face of the Complaint, the Press Release was a privileged communication protected by the neutral reporting and fair reporting privileges of Florida.”

Time, Inc. v. Firestone, 424 U.S. 448 (1976). · cites it 2× “Fla. Stat. Ann. §§ 770.01-770.02 (1963). [2] The "actual malice" test requires that a plaintiff prove that the defamatory statement was made "with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

Show all 79 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.