Settlement demand letters sent to a person’s workplace can form the basis of a defamation lawsuit if the sending attorney had only slim hopes of actually filing the lawsuit, a Pennsylvania federal court has ruled in a defamation case against the famed attorney who was portrayed by actor Stanley Tucci in the film “Spotlight.”

A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that the judicial privilege, which normally bars lawyers from being sued for raising allegations, does not protect an attorney if the lawyer offers no evidence to show they seriously contemplated bringing an action.