By Stephen A. Thiele ( October 5, 2026, 3:31 PM EDT) -- Although general damages in a defamation action are not subject to a fixed ceiling or are “at-large,” courts rarely award a plaintiff significant damages for their loss of reputation. The Canadian cases in which general damages in the amounts of hundreds of thousands have been awarded are confined to circumstances where the plaintiff is a professional, such as lawyer, whose career is dependant on having a good reputation or where the defendant has been noted in default and the court is asked to assess damages based only on the representations of the defamed plaintiff....