Google Evades NY Law Firm’s Push to Identify User Behind Review

A Google review accusing law firm Oved & Oved LLP of having “rude” lawyers and engaging in censorship isn’t defamatory, a panel of New York state appellate judges ruled Thursday.

The New York Supreme Court First Appellate Department rejected Oved & Oved’s motion to compel Google to reveal the identity of the user who left the review, saying the law firm “failed to demonstrate that it had a meritorious defamation claim.”

The review contains “nonactionable statements of pure opinion,” the judges wrote in their unsigned opinion.

The opinion affirms a lower court order that dismissed Oved & Oved’s petition seeking ...