---
title: "Defamation claim assessment checklist for an aggrieved person: publication capture, serious harm, limitation and concerns notice timing"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/defamation-claim-assessment-limitation-checklist"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a33-defamation-claim-assessment-limitation-checklist"
area_id: "A33"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A33-A20260923-1", "A33-T1-R3", "A33-T1-R6"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-18"
---

# Defamation claim assessment checklist for an aggrieved person: publication capture, serious harm, limitation and concerns notice timing

> First-instruction checklist for a person who says they have been defamed: capture and first-publication date, standing of a corporation, serious harm evidence, likely defences, the 1-year limitation period and its…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/defamation-claim-assessment-limitation-checklist  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-18

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

First-instruction checklist for a person who says they have been defamed: capture and first-publication date, standing of a corporation, serious harm evidence, likely defences, the 1-year limitation period and its extensions, and the concerns notice timetable.

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Defamation & Media Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: New South Wales, Australia
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-18
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-18 against the 5 authorities it cites, for New South Wales and Australia.

## When to use it

Use at the first meeting with a person or excluded corporation who believes they have been defamed, before deciding whether to give a concerns notice. It records the facts the concerns notice, the limitation calculation and any later serious harm application depend on.

## Used for these tasks

- [Capture the publication with URL, time, audience and copies](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law.md#A33-A20260923-1)
- [Build a serious-harm or threshold-evidence table](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/build-a-serious-harm-or-threshold-evidence-table.md)
- [Calculate limitation and first-publication dates from the capture](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law.md#A33-T1-R6)

## How AI may be used

AI may organise the capture, the dates and the harm evidence into the checklist; the lawyer identifies the imputations, assesses serious harm and defences, and confirms the limitation date.

**AI may:**

- Record each publication’s URL, capture time, author, platform and visible audience metrics from the client’s screenshots and links
- List the evidence of harm the client has provided (messages, lost work, changed behaviour of others) with dates and sources
- Calculate candidate limitation dates from the first-publication dates, flagged for the lawyer to confirm

**AI must not:**

- Must not formulate the imputations of concern
- Must not assess whether serious harm is established or whether a defence is likely to succeed
- Must not rely on platform dates or metrics without the capture showing them
- Must not contact the publisher, poster or platform

**The lawyer checks:**

- The first-publication date is proved by the capture or other evidence, and the single publication rule has been applied to later republications
- The limitation date, any 56-day extension and the need for a s 56A application are calculated and diarised
- A corporate client is an excluded corporation and can show likely serious financial loss
- The serious harm evidence is specific enough to particularise in the concerns notice

## Authorities

- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 9 (excluded corporations), s 10A (serious harm element)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) ss 12A, 12B, 14 (concerns notice requirements; precondition to proceedings; applicable period)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) ss 25 to 32 (defences, including public interest (s 29A) and digital intermediaries (s 31A))](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 23A (preliminary discovery about posters of digital matter), s 39A (orders against non-party digital intermediaries)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077)
- [Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) s 14B (1-year limitation; extension for a concerns notice in the last 56 days), s 14C (single publication rule), ss 56A to 56D (extension by the court up to 3 years)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1969-031)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/defamation-claim-assessment-limitation-checklist and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*