Media & Communications Law

Following Hulk Hogan lawsuit, Gawker seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy status

Gawker Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the website has a $7.66 million loan from Silicon Valley Bank, and a credit agreement with VC Partners for $15 million. In the petition filed Friday, the company whose…

Jun 10, 2016 3:00 PM CDT

En banc 4th Circuit OKs tracking cellphone location without a warrant

Eliminating a circuit split, the en banc 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed its own earlier decision by a three-judge panel and held that a warrant is not required for law enforcement to track location information for a subject’s cellphone. Instead, a court order based simply on…

May 31, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

2 cops charged in Freddie Gray case sue top Baltimore prosecutor for defamation

Two Baltimore police officers facing manslaughter charges in the high-profile death in custody of suspect Freddie Gray last year have now filed a civil lawsuit against the chief prosecutor in their case. It asserts causes of action for alleged defamation and invasion of privacy against Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby,…

May 27, 2016 10:05 AM CDT

Lawyer-turned-entrepreneur admits he financed Hulk Hogan’s Gawker suit

A former lawyer who became a Silicon Valley entrepreneur acknowledges he paid roughly $10 million to finance Hulk Hogan’s winning lawsuit against Gawker and says it’s not the only case he has financed. Peter Thiel tells the New York Times DealBook blog that he paid lawyers to find people who…

May 26, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

Media groups, ACLU back lawyer ordered to pay $11K for alerting reporter to upcoming civil trial

Civil liberties and media groups have submitted amicus briefs supporting an Ohio lawyer ordered to pay $11,000 in attorney fees for alerting a reporter to an upcoming civil trial. The briefs filed with the Ohio Court of Appeals argue the sanction imposed on lawyer Peter Pattakos violates the First Amendment…

May 17, 2016 11:22 AM CDT

Top Boies Schiller litigator sues his mother for defamation

A top litigator for Boies, Schiller & Flexner has filed two lawsuits against his own mother. Joined by two siblings, Nicholas Gravante Jr. filed a federal lawsuit in Fort Myers, Florida, in March seeking a declaratory judgment concerning their rights in property of their father, Nicholas Gravante Sr., a successful…

May 4, 2016 12:45 PM CDT

Sued after posting video of brawl with neighbor, law partner loses bid for SLAPP protection

The chief of Sedgwick’s cybersecurity practice has lost a round in personal litigation over a brawl with a neighbor. In an opinion last week that contained a “Reader Discretion Advised” disclaimer because of “an abundance of obscene language,” the California Court of Appeal, Second District, said partner John Stephens can’t…

May 3, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Law firm sues for libel after their sign was shown on TV show about unrelated insurance fraud probe

Florida attorney Cory Meltzer and chiropractor Roger Bell have no business connection with criminal defense attorneys Larry Meltzer and Stephen Bell, who operate a law firm in West Palm Beach. But that didn’t prevent A&E Television Networks LLC and producer Warrior Poets Inc. from featuring the Meltzer & Bell law…

May 2, 2016 11:15 AM CDT

Investigator sued along with Northwestern University by exonerated ex-inmate files $20M countersuit

Sued for $40 million last year by an exonerated ex-inmate who claims he was coerced into making a false confession and framed, a private investigator has fired back with a lawsuit of his own. In a $20 million defamation countersuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Chicago, private investigator Paul…

Apr 29, 2016 12:10 PM CDT

The Examiner isn’t liable for infringing content posted by its independent contractors, court says

The company that owns Examiner.com is shielded from liability for copyright infringement by independent contractors who posted celebrity photographs, a federal appeals court has ruled. Examiner.com is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects online and Internet service providers from liability for copyrighted content posted at the direction…

Apr 28, 2016 10:36 AM CDT

Are texts urging suicide a chargeable crime? Top Massachusetts court must decide

Most states have laws against encouraging or assisting suicide. But Massachusetts is not one of them, so justices on the state’s top court struggled to determine during a Thursday hearing whether texts and phone calls made by Michelle Carter are sufficient grounds for the state to pursue a manslaughter case…

Apr 8, 2016 12:10 PM CDT

Should cellphone signals be jammed at prisons? FCC mulls issue of contraband devices there

What to do about a reported proliferation of prohibited cellphones in the nation’s prisons? Officials confiscate them when they find them, and can punish those responsible for providing or possessing contraband electronic devices. But the most practical solution is to jam the signal so cellphones can’t be used by those…

Apr 7, 2016 10:55 AM CDT

‘Pandora’s box’ ruling by top New York court lets parent record child’s interaction with 3rd party

In New York, only one party needs to consent to permit a private individual to record a conversation. But such a recording is sometimes legal, and hence admissible in evidence, even if no one present during the interaction consents, the state’s top court held on Tuesday in a 4-3 decision.…

Apr 6, 2016 11:10 AM CDT

Synthetic DNA may help reduce fraud in the art community

Art has long been used for nefarious purposes, including money laundering and tax evasion. And the art market is increasingly plagued by fakes and sophisticated forgeries, which not only cost unsuspecting buyers millions each year but also result in the plummeting confidence of potential buyers.

Apr 1, 2016 3:50 AM CDT

Man admits to Facebook threats against federal judge, agrees to 366-day prison term

A Nevada man has pleaded guilty to threatening a federal judge on Facebook, in exchange for a prison term of just over a year. Jason Andre Willis, 41, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas to a felony charge of threatening interstate communications, reports the Las Vegas…

Mar 29, 2016 12:50 PM CDT