To recap:
(a) at Mr Chan's request, Ms Tang loaned $120,000;
(b) the loans were not repaid. Ms Tang engaged a debt collection company;
(c) Mr Chan successfully sued Ms Tang and the debt collection company for defamation - but was only awarded $1 in damages; and
(d) each party is probably out of pocket. And Mr Chan is bankrupt.

I conclude this series with final² learning points for commercially-minded businesses and businesspeople.

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2️⃣ Choose who you sue carefully.

Here, the Court held that Ms Tang's loans were to Mr Chan's companies and not Mr Chan himself. As such, Ms Tang's claim³ against Mr Chan for the return of the loans failed.

So consider carefully, and with legal advice, who your claims should be brought against - especially in circumstances where the documentation is patchy,⁴ and it is unclear whether the transaction was entered into with:
(a) the person you dealt with;
(b) someone represented by the agent who you dealt with; or even
(c) a corporate entity whose representative you dealt with.

Some of you might then say: "well, what the heck, I'll just sue them all!"

You could. But there are risks.

If you take a shotgun approach and sue every involved party:
(a) your legal costs escalate; and
(b) if there are parties you do not succeed against, you may have to compensate them for their legal costs.

So choose the right targets before pulling the trigger.

3️⃣ Choose carefully whether to bring defamation claims.

Consider again the figures that I set out in part 3.⁵

For those of us whose reputations have been harmed by a defamatory statement, but who don't happen to be public figures, suing for defamation often leads to a pyrrhic victory at best.

Let's assume that a victim of defamation has a 100% chance of succeeding, but
(a) their expected damages are unlikely to exceed $50k;
(b) their legal costs (for a full trial) are likely to be close to $100k; and
(c) the costs they can recover from the other party are unlikely to exceed $30k.

In this scenario, if the victim sues, they end up out of pocket - and even in the best-case scenario where they succeed completely in their defamation claim.⁶

Now, you may prepared to pay the financial price to vindicate your reputation. I respect that.

But go in with your eyes open, and find a set of lawyers who:
(a) will not overpromise and create unrealistic expectations;
(b) actively work to keep costs under control, such as through Alternative Dispute Resolution and by not taking out unnecessary interlocutory applications; and
(c) actually understand the intricacies of defamation claims and defences.⁷

Because once you have commenced a Court claim, you can't just drop it whenever you want to, and even if you change your mind later on.

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For those of you who are still here with me, at the end of this multi-part series - I hope you enjoyed the ride.