Media & Communications Law

Afternoon Briefs: BigLaw sex bias suit may be resolved; US judiciary seeks $7M for COVID-19 impact

Secretary’s BigLaw sex bias suit apparently resolved A former legal secretary at Troutman Sanders who claimed she was sexually harassed by a partner at Troutman Sanders has apparently resolved her lawsuit. Plaintiff Jessica Correa agreed to dismiss the suit in a joint stipulation with Troutman Sanders and the partner. Correa…

Mar 18, 2020 4:06 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: SCOTUS splits over immigrant’s fight against ID theft conviction; first black justice on top Illinois court dies

SCOTUS splits over undocumented immigrant’s fight against state identify theft conviction The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday against Ramiro Garcia, an unauthorized immigrant in Kansas who was convicted under a state identity theft law after using someone else’s Social Security number to get a job. The conservative justices…

Mar 3, 2020 3:21 PM CST

‘Heartbroken’ appeals judge removes misunderstood Monet reference from opinion

A judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York says he removed a Monet reference from an opinion after it was misconstrued as a criticism of the artist.

Feb 25, 2020 2:04 PM CST

Getting real: What happens when clients go on reality TV

In this new episode of Asked and Answered, ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward speaks with two lawyers and a TV showrunner, who are all involved in the world of reality television.

Jan 27, 2020 2:20 PM CST

New York Times defamed me with clickbait headline, Harvard Law prof alleges in lawsuit

Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School, has filed a lawsuit that says the New York Times defamed him with a sensationalized clickbait headline that read: “A Harvard Professor Doubles Down: If You Take Epstein’s Money, Do It in Secret.”

Jan 14, 2020 12:41 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Texas no longer accepting refugees; new San Francisco DA announces round of layoffs

New refugees no longer welcome in Texas, governor says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a letter released Friday that the state will not take new refugees under a federal refugee resettlement program in 2020. Abbott said more refugees have been accepted by Texas than any other state since 2010,…

Jan 13, 2020 2:42 PM CST

The 2020 election: 4 threats to anticipate

Several experts shared with the ABA Journal some potential threats from malicious foreign actors and how to counter them ahead of and during the 2020 presidential election.

Jan 2, 2020 10:05 AM CST

Mike Huckabee files bar complaint against lawyer for Twitter ridicule, including ‘beach thief’ nickname

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has filed a bar complaint against a Florida lawyer for suggesting in a tweet that his nickname should be “beach thief” and otherwise ridiculing him on Twitter.

Dec 10, 2019 11:21 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Missing ex-lawyer is arrested at thrift store; DC considers banning gay-panic defense

Disbarred lawyer-on-the-lam is arrested at thrift store A disbarred lawyer who is accused of murdering his mother was arrested at a Nashville, Tennessee, thrift store Monday. U.S. marshals arrested Richard Vinson Merritt about eight months after he failed to report to prison for defrauding clients out of their settlement checks.…

Oct 1, 2019 4:09 PM CDT

Europe’s top court rules ‘right to be forgotten’ doesn’t apply to internet search results worldwide

The European Union’s top court ruled Tuesday that Google and other search engines are not obligated to delete links to websites and databases worldwide under a “right to be forgotten” privacy rule. The European Court of Justice said the rule applied only within the 28 nations that are part of…

Sep 26, 2019 11:22 AM CDT

2nd Circuit reinstates Sarah Palin’s defamation suit against the New York Times

A federal appeals court has ruled that a federal judge followed the wrong procedure when he dismissed a defamation suit filed against the New York Times by former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York reinstated Palin’s suit Tuesday…

Aug 7, 2019 11:05 AM CDT

5 female anchors sue TV station for alleged age and gender discrimination

Five female anchors at TV station NY1 with more than 100 years of collective experience allege in a lawsuit that station owner Charter Communications “blatantly marginalized them and cast them aside in favor of younger women and men.” The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, alleges age and gender…

Jun 20, 2019 10:55 AM CDT

Kavanaugh decision rejects First Amendment claim against public access channel

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday against two producers who argued that a public access TV channel violated their First Amendment rights when it stopped airing their video. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence…

Jun 17, 2019 3:15 PM CDT

Search engines not liable for translating sham addresses into map pinpoints, opinion says

A federal appeals court has ruled that federal law protects online search engines from liability when they translate information from sham websites into pinpoints on a map. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Google, Microsoft and Yahoo were protected by Section 230 of…

Jun 12, 2019 7:00 AM CDT