MLRC Media Law Conference 2025 – Speakers & Faculty

Plenary: Trump, the Press, and the First Amendment

Laura Handman is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine. Representing content publishers—U.S. and foreign; digital, print and broadcast; and for-profit and nonprofit—Laura draws upon her four decades of experience helping her clients bring to light newsworthy information and then defending them from complaint through appeal. Along the way, Laura has established many of the key precedents that have strengthened the protection for content – winning the first U.S. decisions to refuse to enforce foreign libel judgments, leading to passage of the SPEECH ACT; establishing the standard in New York for libel by implication; establishing a heightened standard before, the government can access records of a customer’s expressive content purchases, establishing that internet rankings are opinion, defeating use of RICO in libel suits against advocacy groups and securing for satire protection from libel and right of publicity claims.

Anna M. Gomez was sworn in as Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission in September 2023. She believes the FCC does best when its work honors the people it serves. The Commissioner brings over 30 years of public and private sector experience in domestic and international communications law and policy to her position. In 2023, she led U.S. preparations for the International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) for the Department of State and from 2009 to 2013 she served as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Deputy Administrator. While at NTIA she oversaw the successful transition to digital television, as well as efforts that resulted in the establishment of a broadband network for first responders. Commissioner Gomez also served for 12 years in various positions at the FCC, including as Deputy Chief of the International Bureau and as Senior Legal Advisor to then-Chairman William E. Kennard. She also served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, and as Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Economic Council during the Clinton Administration. Prior to joining the State Department in 2023, Commissioner Gomez worked in private practice focusing on telecommunications law.

Lee Levine is one of the country’s foremost media lawyers, representing media clients in defamation, privacy, newsgathering and other area of law for more than 40 years. He was a founding member of the media law boutique Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, which merged with Ballard Spahr in October 2017. In 2021, he retired from Ballard Spahr. He has defended the press in courts across the country, including representing media defendants in the Supreme Court in Bartnicki v. Vopper and Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton. He is a co-author of the leading treatise Newsgathering and the Law now in its sixth edition; and co-author of The Progeny: Justice William J. Brennan’s Tight to Preserve the Legacy of New York Times v. Sullivan.

Mike McCurry is a veteran political strategist and spokesperson with four decades of Washington, D.C. experience. He was White House Press Secretary in the Clinton Administration from Dec. 1994 to Aug. 1998. Before that he served as the press spokesperson for Senator Daniel Moynihan and the presidential campaigns of John Glenn, Bruce Babbitt, Bob Kerrey, and 1988 vice-presidential campaign for Lloyd Bentsen. He was a founder of, and is now counsel, at Public Strategies Washington, Inc., where he provides counsel on communications strategies and management to corporate and non-profit clients.

Elisabeth Bumiller is a writer-at-large for The New York Times. She was most recently Washington bureau chief. Previously, she held the position of Washington editor and before that, deputy Washington bureau chief, overseeing White House and domestic policy reporting. She covered the Pentagon, John McCain’s 2008 campaign and, from 2001 to 2006, she was a White House correspondent. Before moving to Washington, Ms. Bumiller was the Times’s City Hall bureau chief, responsible for covering Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and his Senate race against Hillary Rodham Clinton from 1999 to 2001. Before that, Ms. Bumiller worked on the Times’s Metropolitan staff in New York as a general assignment reporter and as one of the writers of the Public Lives column. She has also written for The New York Times Magazine and the Culture and Travel pages.

The Hon. Paul L. Friedman has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since 1994. He assumed senior status at the end of 2009. He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1970 to 1974. He was an Assistant United States Solicitor General from 1974 to 1976. And he was a partner at White & Case from 1976 to 1994. In 2019, he gave a widely publicized speech condemning President Trump’s attacks on the judiciary, noting “We are witnessing a chief executive who criticizes virtually every judicial decision that doesn’t go his way and denigrates judges who rule against him, sometimes in very personal terms. He seems to view the courts and the justice system as obstacles to be attacked and undermined, not as a coequal branch to be respected even when he disagrees with its decisions.”

Plenary: The January 6^th Insurrection: Access to Evidence and the First Amendment

Charles D. Tobin is a litigator, former journalist, and a partner with Ballard Spahr’s Media and Entertainment Law Group. He represented a coalition of two dozen newsrooms in litigating access issues across the January 6 prosecutions and in the prosecutions of President Trump in Washington D.C. and Florida. Chuck also defends the media in libel and privacy lawsuits in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the country.

Fabio Bertoni is general counsel of The New Yorker magazine, responsible for pre-publication review of all articles, videos and other content published by the magazine. He also supervises legal issues surrounding The New Yorker Festival and other events, and occasionally writes on legal topics for The New Yorker website.

Jennifer L. Blackwell is former Deputy Chief, Criminal Division, and former head of Media Task Force, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Washington, D.C.

Spencer S. Hsu is a former investigative reporter for The Washington Post. He was part of a reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2022 for coverage of the assault on Washington on January 6, 2021. The Pulitzer board noted that the team provided the public with a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days. Hsu has covered homeland security, immigration, Virginia politics and Congress.

Gregory P. Rosen is a partner at Rogers Joseph O’Donnell PC and a member of the firm’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Government Contracts Practice Groups. He was a former chief within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and supervised more than 1000 prosecutions connected with the January 6, 2021, breach and attack of the U.S. Capitol, the largest federal prosecution in American history. He trained and managed more than 200 prosecutors and oversaw every step, including the initial investigation, grand jury practice, motions practice, trial preparation and execution and sentencing, along with post-sentencing appeals, including to the D.C. Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.

Plenary: Hypothetical: Content Moderation in the Age of AI

Robert Corn-Revere has been a First Amendment litigator for more than four decades. In 2023, he joined FIRE from the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine where he was a partner for 20 years. Corn-Revere is a prominent writer, thinker, and advocate on free expression issues. In 2021, Cambridge University Press published his book, “The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma,” which explores how free expression became a part of America’s identity.

Prof. Mary-Rose Papandrea is a nationally known scholar who has published numerous articles on First Amendment and media law issues. She is the Inaugural Holder of the Burchfield Professorship of First Amendment and Free Speech Law at George Washington University Law School. She was previously UNC’s Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, and she is an outstanding educator with over two decades of teaching experience.

Jordan Gimbel manages the Open Innovation Team at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft in March 2024, Jordan served as the Deputy General Counsel at Twitch managing teams responsible for global litigation, enforcement and compliance initiatives, government inquiries, product advice, trust & safety initiatives, advertising matters, and the privacy program. Before that, Jordan served as the Head of Global Brand Protection, Domains, and Copyright at Yahoo!.

Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). In 2018, he was a visiting scholar at Columbia’s Global Freedom of Expression Center. He has commented extensively on free speech and human rights in outlets including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. Jacob has published in academic and peer-reviewed journals, including Human Rights Quarterly, Policy Review, and Amnesty International’s Strategic Studies. He is the producer and narrator of the podcast “Clear and Present” Danger: A History of Free Speech and the critically acclaimed book Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media, published by Basic Books in 2022.

Meenakshi Krishnan is a senior associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Davis Wright Tremaine. She counsels and defends media, nonprofit, and technology clients in First Amendment, copyright, newsgathering, and defamation litigation matters. In tandem with litigating, she regularly provides pre-publication and pre-broadcast defamation, privacy, fair use, and production counseling for a wide range of news, media, and entertainment clients.

Jonathan Anschell is Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Mattel. He joined Mattel in 2021. In his role, Jonathan oversees all legal responsibilities for Mattel’s operations and transactions, as well as corporate governance, securities, intellectual property, litigation, and privacy. He also is responsible for compliance and government affairs. Prior to joining Mattel, Jonathan served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of CBS Television and later of ViacomCBS Media Networks, leading the legal affairs team for all CBS entertainment and news operations, as well as the business and legal affairs teams for the ViacomCBS cable networks in the U.S. and internationally.

Jeff Hermes currently serves as one of two Deputy Directors of the Media Law Resource Center, where he focuses on digital media law issues. Jeff previously served as the Director of the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where he led multiple initiatives to provide free legal resources in response to the needs of independent journalists and online media ventures. Prior to joining the Berkman Center, Jeff assisted a wide array of clients in First Amendment, media, intellectual property and Internet law issues as a partner in the litigation practice of Brown Rudnick LLP and later as counsel to Hermes, Netburn, O’Connor & Spearing, P.C. in Boston.He teaches media law as an adjunct at Pace University.

Plenary: Q&A with New York Times reporter David Enrich

David Enrich is the Business Investigations Editor at the New York Times. His recent book Murder the Truth is an in-depth exposé of the broad legal campaign to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan. He also wrote the bestseller Dark Towers and Servants of the Damned. The winner of numerous journalism awards, he previously was an editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal. His first book, The Spider Network: How a Math Genius and Gang of Scheming Bankers Pulled Off One of the Greatest Scams in History, was short-listed for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award.

Grant McAvaney is a senior lawyer with extensive litigation and media law experience. Grant is the Head of Litigation at News Corp Australia, which follows other senior legal positions including Head of Litigation at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CEO of the Australian Copyright Council, and Partner at one of Australia’s largest law firms, Minter Ellison. Grant has acted for the media in a range of complex and high-profile matters across print media, television, radio, online, news and current affairs, documentaries, and comedy. Grant’s wealth of varied legal experience includes pre-publication advice, defamation, suppression orders, newsgathering, intellectual property, privacy, appearing in court and Parliamentary hearings, and legislative/policy reviews. He is also active in the wider profession, including by way of University lecturing, and speaking roles at professional events, pro bono work for freelance creators, and as a member of the Federal Court Media Committee. He was recently named by Doyle’s Guide as one of the leading In-House Intellectual Property & TMT (Tech, Media, and Telecommunications) Lawyers in Australia.

Plenary: Trial Tales – Palin v. New York Times and Mann v. National Review

David Axelrod is a first-chair trial lawyer in the Washington, D.C. office of Ballard Spahr. He specializes in defending corporations and individuals in government-facing litigation involving the SEC and the Department of Justice, and in defending parties sued for defamation. He successfully represented The New York Times in defamation litigation brought by former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. David has tried more than 20 federal court cases to judgment and has secured favorable jury and bench verdicts in high-profile trials under intense media and public scrutiny. He also has extensive experience arguing cases on appeal.

Felicia Ellsworth is Vice-chair of WilmerHale’s Litigation/Controversy Department and a member of the firm’s global Management Committee. Felicia is a first-chair trial lawyer and experienced appellate advocate who is widely recognized for combining her significant trial experience with her recognized appellate skill to represent clients in complex disputes at all stages of litigation. Felicia is known for her successful representation of clients in complex, high-stakes disputes in both state and federal courts and has extensive experience representing clients in government-facing litigations and investigations, including those brought by state Attorneys General. She was co-counsel for the New York Times in the retrial of Sarah Palin’s defamation case.

Mark Bailen is the founding partner of BailenLaw in Washington, D.C. For over 25 years he has provided legal counsel to multinational corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals. He was Partner in an AmLaw 100 firm for over 16 years before launching BailenLaw in 2022. He has been counsel of record for clients in hundreds of cases in courts throughout the country. His publishing and First Amendment practice focuses on libel, invasion of privacy, and copyright. Mark has represented national and local media outlets as well as a range of publishers in digital media, including websites, bloggers and others who publish and disseminate news, information, opinions and ideas. On behalf of his clients he was among the first to invoke the District of Columbia anti-SLAPP law in 2011 and the modified New York anti-SLAPP law in 2020. He also works closely with, and advises, journalism organizations.

Victoria Weatherford is a partner in the San Francisco office of BakerHostetler. An accomplished first-chair trial lawyer and former civil prosecutor, Victoria is a go-to advocate for media, technology, and consumer products companies facing “bet the company” trials in areas as diverse as defamation, unfair competition, false advertising, and intellectual property. Her recent media representations include successfully defending a journalist in a four-week defamation jury trial and serving as co-lead counsel for a media company defending defamation claims related to the 2020 election. Victoria also represents and defends companies facing state attorney general and other governmental investigations and enforcement actions.

Michael Berry is a partner at Ballard Spahr. For over 20 years, he has represented news, entertainment, and other media clients in defamation and privacy suits, fought for the right of the press and public to access government and court records, defended reporters who are subpoenaed, and advised clients on newsgathering and other First Amendment matters. He is a trial lawyer who regularly defends media companies in federal and state courts throughout the country. For example, Michael has served as trial counsel for prominent newspapers and websites and succeeded in unsealing records in high-profile criminal prosecutions and high-stakes corporate litigation. In addition, he was instrumental in drafting Pennsylvania’s newly enacted anti-SLAPP law, which passed the state House of Representatives and Senate unanimously and was signed by the Governor in July 2024.

Plenary: Journalism from the Whistleblower’s Perspective

Danielle Hegseth is a senior research scientist in Minnesota and project operations director in the early childhood development research area. She is the former sister-in-law of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. After he was nominated, she came forward as a whistleblower and submitted an affidavit to Congress stating Pete Hegseth was “unfit” to run the Defense Department. She raised her concerns with the FBI and later to the press.

David Baumgarten is the General Counsel of The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC. He counsels The Atlantic’s journalists and managers on a wide range of editorial and operational issues.

Jon Clark is Minority Staff Counsel on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has served as counsel on the Committee for nearly 20 years and has been involved in the formulation and implementation of numerous military policy and program initiatives. Jon was on active duty in the Army from 2000-2004 and then joined the Army General Counsel’s Office.

Leita Walker is a litigator and trial lawyer in Ballard Spahr’s Media and Entertainment Law Group. She has nearly 20 years of experience defending speech in libel litigation, helping news organizations obtain access to governmental and judicial records, and helping journalists and whistleblowers navigate high-profile and politically polarizing situations, including demonstrations and other events that sometimes turn violent. Leita’s First Amendment practice includes defending libel, privacy, and right of publicity claims in trial and appellate courts across the country; prepublication vetting of book manuscripts, news articles, TV scripts, podcasts, documentaries, and entertainment content; and advising clients on subpoenas and privilege issues, copyright law, and state and federal freedom of information laws.

BOUTIQUES

ANTI-SLAPP

Laura Lee Prather is a partner at Haynes & Boone in Austin, TX and Chair of the firm’s Media Law Practice Group. Recognized nationally and internationally in First Amendment law, Laura Lee Prather was awarded The American Lawyer’s inaugural Tony Mauro Media Lawyer Award for her tireless and successful efforts advocating for legislation to strengthen First Amendment rights, including zealous advocacy for free speech rights both at the statehouse and the courthouse. As a Fulbright Scholar, she worked with the EU to develop their Anti-SLAPP protections and continues to help implement anti-SLAPP laws in the U.S. and abroad. Board certified in Civil Appellate Law, Laura represents a broad array of clients at the trial and appellate court level in First Amendment, Anti-SLAPP, and intellectual property disputes. She represents content providers including media, entertainment, and tech companies, online and traditional publications, cable and terrestrial broadcasters, streaming media platforms, podcasts, production companies, and music and sports entities.

Kevin Vick is a Los Angeles-based co-founder of Jassy Vick Carolan LLP. He is a litigator with decades of experience representing clients in the entertainment, media, technology, fashion and other industries. His trial and arbitration experience includes successfully defending motion picture companies and talent agencies in jury and bench trials. Kevin also has represented Broadway producers and sports agencies in arbitration on both the plaintiff’s and defense sides. His appellate experience includes successful representations of major media, technology and entertainment clients, as well as individuals. Kevin litigates defamation, anti-SLAPP, copyright, Section 230, trademark, publicity rights, idea submission, and invasion of privacy matters, as well as business disputes involving breach of contract, trade secrets and partnerships. Kevin also provides pre-broadcast/pre-publication content review.

ADVERTISING & COMMERCIAL SPEECH

Brendan Healey is a partner at Baron, Harris, Healey in Chicago. A former in-house counsel at two major media companies, he offers practical counsel in marketing and advertising law, media law, and litigation. He has extensive experience advising clients on all aspects of marketing law, including sweepstakes, skill contests, loyalty programs, sponsorships, advertising clearance, advertising terms and conditions, free offers, rebates, coupons, and premiums. As a media lawyer, Brendan conducts pre-publication review of stories, books, and scripts, litigates media cases, and counsels clients on right-of-publicity issues as well as copyright and trademark issues.

Katherine Surprenant is a partner at Klaris. She leads the commercial transactional and advertising practices at Klaris, with expertise in digital marketing services, advertising and other technology transactions, brand and content licensing, content rights acquisition, and live event production. As a former media company in-house practitioner, she brings a practical, results-oriented perspective to counseling on regulatory compliance matters regarding native advertising, social media, mobile marketing and promotions, as well as traditional media law issues, such as rights of privacy and publicity, copyright, trademark and libel. For several years, she was Adjunct Professor of Internet and Publishing Law at the NYU School of Professional Studies, and she variously has been involved with the NYSBA Media Law Committee and the legal affairs committees of the IAB, ANA and the former MPA. She currently co-chairs the MLRC’s Advertising and Commercial Speech Committee and previously co-chaired its Internet Law Committee.

BOOK BANS

Dan Novack is Vice President, Associate General Counsel, at Penguin Random House where he counsels on media law issues and oversees the company’s legal efforts to combat censorship. He also maintains a pro bono practice representing journalists seeking public records in federal and state courts and has liberated tens of thousands of government files, making him the world’s number one – and only – FOIA litigation hobbyist. He is a past Chair of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Media Law and editor/host of the First Amendment law blog/podcast SLANDERTOWN.

Michael Grygiel co-chairs Greenberg Traurig’s National Media and Entertainment Litigation Group. He focuses his practice on media/First Amendment law, with an emphasis on defending news and entertainment organizations from newsgathering and publication-related claims, including defamation, copyright infringement and invasion of privacy matters. He also represents media companies and other clients in complex Lanham Act, trade secret and Internet-related litigation and counseling. He is experienced representing the press in a wide range of matters involving applications for access to civil and criminal court proceedings and records, as well as in freedom of information law cases in both federal and state courts. Mike has an adjunct faculty appointment at Cornell Law School, where he teaches in the First Amendment Clinic.

Rebecca Hughes Parker is an attorney in Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, resident in the Firm’s New York office, where she handles disputes in federal and state courts, arbitration, mediation, including class actions, representing clients across a wide range of industries and legal areas, with a focus on media law, First Amendment law and data privacy/ cybersecurity law and corporate compliance. Rebecca is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US). Rebecca rejoined Dentons in 2023 after more than a decade as an editor, journalist and in-house counsel. She served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of The Cybersecurity Law Report and The Anti-Corruption Report, premium online legal subscription publications, where she managed a team of lawyers and journalists and was a frequent speaker on data privacy/cyber law and white collar issues. Before entering the legal profession, Rebecca was an award-winning news producer at Tribune Broadcasting and Cablevision.

Kelly L. McNamee, a partner at Greenberg Traurig, focuses her practice on media/First Amendment law, with an emphasis on defending news and entertainment organizations from newsgathering and publication-related claims, including defamation matters. She has defended defamation cases in state and federal courts in various jurisdictions, with an emphasis on New York law. Kelly is also experienced representing the press in a wide range of matters involving applications for access to civil and criminal court proceedings and records, as well as in freedom of information law cases in federal and state courts.

COPYRIGHT HOT ISSUES

Simone Procas is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at The New York Times Company, where she leads intellectual property matters including IP enforcement, IP policy, and IP-related pre-publication review of newsroom stories. Prior to joining The Times seven years ago, Simone was an Associate General Counsel at Time Inc., where she acted as lead counsel for the Sports Illustrated Group. Simone received a B.A. in Literature and Society from Brown University, an M.A. in Comparative Literature from Columbia School of Arts and Sciences, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Josh Bornstein is an entertainment and media law litigator at Fox Rothschild in Los Angeles and handles a variety of complex matters, including copyright, trademark, defamation, right of publicity, First Amendment, and Anti-SLAPP matters. As a member of Fox Rothschild’s Media & Defamation Practice Group, Josh regularly represents a variety of business entities, including motion picture and television studios, production companies, and advertising agencies. Before embarking on his legal career, Josh worked for a decade in the film and television industry. He is also a contributor to the MLRC 50-State Survey: Media Privacy & Related Law (9th Cir.).

Maryanne Stanganelli is Deputy General Counsel at Business Insider, where she leads litigation and newsroom matters, including IP questions and pre-publication review. She has been with Business Insider for seven years and was previously a litigator at Baker Hostetler LLP. Maryanne received her J.D. from Fordham Law School and an LLM in Communications Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Robert Rotstein is a partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, where he focuses on entertainment, intellectual property, and media litigation. When he is not representing movie studios, record companies, or well-known directors, writers, and performers, he writes novels, including a New York Times and a USA Today bestseller. His latest novel is A True Verdict (Blackstone, January 2025).

DIGITAL MEDIA

Andrew (Andy) Sellars is a partner at Albert Sellars LLP, a public interest technology and media law firm. For nine years he taught at Boston University School of Law, most recently as a Clinical Associate Professor and the founding Executive Director of the BU/MIT Student Innovations Law Clinic, a legal service created in partnership between MIT and BU Law to provide legal assistance to students at both schools engaged in innovative and provocative work in technology. Prior to this, he was the Corydon B. Dunham First Amendment Fellow at Harvard Law School, where he worked in the Cyberlaw Clinic. He was also the Assistant Director of the Digital Media Law Project at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Jennifer Dukarski is a Shareholder based in Butzel Long’s Ann Arbor office, practicing in the areas of intellectual property, media, and technology. As the head of the Butzel Media and Entertainment Law team, she focuses her practice at the intersection of technology and communications with an emphasis on the legal issues arising from emerging and disruptive innovation: digital media and content, artificial intelligence, infotainment, data privacy, and security.

Jeff Hermes currently serves as one of two Deputy Directors of the Media Law Resource Center, where he focuses on digital media law issues. Jeff previously served as the Director of the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where he led multiple initiatives to provide free legal resources in response to the needs of independent journalists and online media ventures. Prior to joining the Berkman Center, Jeff assisted a wide array of clients in First Amendment, media, intellectual property and Internet law issues as a partner in the litigation practice of Brown Rudnick LLP and later as counsel to Hermes, Netburn, O’Connor & Spearing, P.C. in Boston. He teaches media law as an adjunct at Pace University.

David Barker is a partner at Pinsent Masons in London specializing in Technology, Media and Telecoms Disputes. He leads a media litigation team that has ‘rapidly established itself at the very top of the media law field, with a burgeoning portfolio of major clients and a central involvement in some of the most important media and information law cases currently proceeding before the English courts’ and is described as ‘fiercely intelligent’ (Legal 500). He is recognized as a leading practitioner in the nascent field of data protection litigation, including defending claims in relation to the “Right to Be Forgotten”. His team also has expertise in claims in defamation, malicious falsehood and misuse of private information, and ICO regulatory proceedings.

ETHICS

Ashley Messenger is Deputy General Counsel at NPR and head of the Media Law & Distribution Rights team. She has previously served as Editorial Counsel to U.S. News & World Report, and was a Fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Ashley was an adjunct professor at American University and is the author of a textbook, Media Law: A Practical Guide. She is also a former radio talk show host.

Theresa House is a partner in the Technology, Media, and Telecomms and IP groups at Arnold & Porter. She has devoted her career to defending the First Amendment and intellectual property rights of her clients in news, entertainment, and tech, providing production/editorial advice, litigating First Amendment/free speech issues, and advising on trademark, copyright, and fair use. Highlights of her career include protecting a journalist from having to reveal confidential sources in a high-profile criminal case, making new law before the NY Court of Appeals; convincing a local state government not to censor a concert at a high-volume venue based on public statements by a world-famous rock musician; pre-publication and production advice for a wide variety of programs and publications; and successfully representing a major cable news network and its employees in defending defamation claims and other attacks on free speech.

Andrew Pauwels is a partner at Honigman in Detroit, where he leads the firm’s Media and Entertainment Group. Andy’s diverse practice focuses on media law litigation, complex commercial litigation, and intellectual property litigation matters. He has experience litigating disputes in various state and federal courts, in Michigan and throughout the country. Andrew represents clients in various phases of litigation and has significant experience drafting motions, including dispositive motions, and managing discovery issues.

Cameron Stracher is the founder of Cameron Stracher, PLLC, a media and entertainment law firm in New York City, with significant experience as litigation, pre-publication, and production counsel in First Amendment-related matters. Cam is graduate of Amherst College, Harvard Law School, and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. He began his media law career at CBS, was an associate and then a partner at Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, taught law at New York Law School where he co-founded the school’s Program in Law & Journalism, and held the title General Counsel – Media at American Media, where he supervised all of AMI’s litigation and pre-publication review for the National Enquirer, Star, Us Weekly, and other publications. In addition to his legal work, Cam is the author of three novels, two memoirs, and the non-fiction book Kings of the Road, which was named the best book about running in 2015 by the Track & Field Writers of America.

ENTERTAINMENT LAW

Lindsey Faivus is the lead IP attorney for Netflix’s unscripted, documentaries, and sports verticals in the United States and Canada. In this role, she and her team work to mitigate risk by advising on a broad range of issues, including copyright, trademark, defamation, privacy, right of publicity, and First Amendment concerns. Prior to her current position, Lindsey served as Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at VICE Media, where she led the legal team responsible for commercial and editorial content. She was the primary attorney for the news and documentaries teams.

Jesse Feitel is Associate General Counsel at HarperCollins Publishers, where he provides intellectual property and licensing advice, performs pre-publication review of manuscripts, manages company litigation, and handles a variety of other legal matters. Prior to joining HarperCollins in May 2025, Jesse was an associate in Davis Wright Tremaine’s Media & Entertainment group where he represented clients in a wide range of matters, including copyright, First Amendment, defamation, right of publicity, invasion of privacy, reporters’ shield laws, and other intellectual property issues.

Lee Brenner is chair of Venable’s Entertainment and Media Litigation Group He is a trial attorney and high-stakes business litigator. With numerous published decisions in his career, Lee has deep experience in the media and entertainment industry, particularly in the areas of defamation, copyright law, idea theft, credit disputes, privacy, intellectual property, and right of publicity. He has developed significant experience regarding defamation by anonymous posters on the Internet. Lee also has an extensive background in handling matters related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

FOIA

Matt Topic is a partner at Loevy & Loevy. He leads the firm’s Media/Freedom of Information and Intellectual Property practices. Matt has litigated hundreds of state and federal FOIA cases around the country. Matt has forced the release of: video exposing the murder of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke; photographs exposing war crimes used in the Pulitzer-winning New Yorker podcast In the Dark; redacted material from the Mueller Report about the decision not to charge Donald Trump Jr. with any crimes; Rahm Emanuel’s use of “private emails” about public business; and FBI records that helped lead to the exoneration of an innocent person. Matt has trained hundreds of journalists, activists, lawmakers, and individuals on the Freedom of Information Act, is a regular presenter at Investigative Reporters & Editors conferences and is frequently quoted in the media on transparency issues.

Amy Kristin Sanders is the John and Ann Curley Professor of First Amendment Studies at Penn State University. A licensed attorney and award-winning former journalist, Sanders is an internationally recognized expert on the legal regulation and ethical use of emerging technologies, with an emphasis on freedom of expression and democratic values. Specifically, her work focuses on media freedom, access to information and government transparency, freedom of speech and the regulation of social media and emerging technologies.

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Matthew Dando is a partner at Wiggin in London. He is an experienced litigator, specializing in contentious commercial matters and publication disputes in the media industry having handled the full spectrum of media claims for national and international broadcast and print media, digital platforms and the film and television sector. He has been described in Legal 500 as “an absolute star” and the “next big defendant-focused lawyer in the sector.”

Lesley Caplin is Of Counsel in Dentons’ Dublin office. She is a highly experienced commercial litigator and media specialist. Her practice primarily focuses on media defense for a wide range of clients, including broadcasters, digital platforms, newspapers and publishers. Lesley is an experienced civil jury practitioner and has been involved in many of the seminal defamation actions in Ireland in recent years including O’Brien v. Mirror Group Newspapers, Leech v. Independent Newspapers, Ryanair v. Channel 4 and Adams v. BBC.

Jens van den Brink is a partner in the IP & Media department of Kennedy Van der Laan in Amsterdam where he heads the media group. He is a media litigator, with a hands-on approach and years of experience in media defense. Jens works for newspapers, broadcasters, producers and for many major social media- and other platforms. His cases are often in the area where free speech, privacy, intellectual property and other fundamental rights collide. He also handles a lot of entertainment cases, ranging from image rights to format and licensing issues. Jens is used to dealing with great pressure and media sensitive matters, where time is of the essence.

LIBEL DEVELOPMENTS

Kate Bolger is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine in NY. She is an experienced First Amendment and media litigator who has represented news and entertainment companies in a broad spectrum of content-related matters, ranging from investigative journalism to coverage of celebrities. In addition to defending media clients in court, Kate regularly advises newspapers, magazines, and book publishers about prepublication issues, and advises authors on contract, electronic publishing, and intellectual property matters.

David Vigilante is Executive Vice President of Legal for News, Networks and Sports at Warner Bros. Discovery. In this role, Vigilante’s responsibilities include serving as chief counsel for CNN worldwide, as well as legal oversight of all U.S. sports brands and programming, such as March Madness, the NHL, Major League Baseball, College Football and Bleacher Report , and legal oversight of WBD’s domestic entertainment networks such as TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network and the Discovery Channel.

Mark Caramanica is a partner in Thomas & LoCicero’s Tampa office. His practice focuses on media law, intellectual property, and civil litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Mark was an attorney at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the nation’s leading legal advocacy non-profit organization serving free press and First Amendment interests. In that role, he specialized in freedom of information, access, and intellectual property issues. Prior to that, he practiced commercial litigation in New York City where he represented foreign and domestic corporate clients in commercial disputes.

Blaine Kimrey founded and chairs Vedder Price’s Privacy, Cybersecurity and Media practice group. He’s based in Chicago, but his practice is national, and he’s served as lead counsel in matters in more than half of the states. For the past 27 years, Mr. Kimrey, originally based as a lawyer in Kansas City, has represented a wide array of media, communications, and technology companies, in both direct and putative class actions. Despite his having led defense of dozens of putative class actions, no client of Mr. Kimrey’s has ever suffered a final contested certification of a class. Currently, Mr. Kimrey is leading, among other commercial litigation matters, defamation, Daniel’s Law, CIPA, Colorado PTFA, and putative class action engagements in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Washington. He also led the Vedder Price team that recently updated pro bono the MLRC Actual Malice Practice Guide.

Bryan Clark is a member of Vedder Price’s Privacy, Cybersecurity and Media practice group in Chicago. As a former journalist and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, his practice focuses on media, First Amendment, and privacy defense. For nearly two decades, Mr. Clark has advised clients on defamation, right of publicity, and newsgathering claims, and he has deep experience in defending class actions in both the media and privacy spaces. He also counsels clients on compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations including the GDPR, GLBA (including Reg S-P), state data privacy laws (like the CCPA) and data breach notification statutes. Mr. Clark was heavily involved with the Vedder Price team that recently updated pro bono the MLRC Actual Malice Practice Guide, and often takes on pro bono work for student journalists, First Amendment scholars, and others.

MEDIA DEALS

Kristel Tupja is Deputy General Counsel at Audiochuck, a fast-growing podcast and media production company known for original content, including top true crime podcast series like Crime Junkie and The Deck. She serves as the company’s first and sole in-house attorney, and member of the executive leadership team. Kristel oversees all legal and business affairs functions across corporate, content, and commercial operations, and drafting and negotiating agreements spanning talent, production, IP, licensing, and brand partnerships. She provides counsel on content clearance, media law, and advertising compliance—particularly with sensitive true crime material—while managing corporate governance, employment matters, IP strategy, and risk mitigation. She previously served as Senior Counsel at Audacy and as an IP and Media/Entertainment associate at Ballard Spahr.

Rebecca Siegel is Vice President, Business Affairs and Deputy General Counsel at TIME, where she oversees all content-related legal business affairs matters across the Editorial, Brand Sales, Marketing, Events, and TIME Studios teams, including structuring and negotiating deals for brand partnerships, talent, documentaries, content licensing, podcasts and other multimedia projects. She has built her career at the intersection of journalism, business strategy, and the law, advising leading media organizations and guiding creative and commercial teams through complex content, intellectual property, and regulatory issues. Prior to joining TIME, Rebecca was Deputy General Counsel at Genius Media Group, where she built the company’s legal and music licensing functions and worked closely with talent, video, editorial, brand sales, and executive leadership. Earlier in her career, she practiced as an Entertainment, Media, and Litigation associate at Pryor Cashman and as a Litigation associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Rebecca is passionate about supporting impactful storytelling across platforms while ensuring the legal and business structures that sustain trusted media.

MUSIC COPYRIGHT

Scott Sholder is a partner at Cowan DeBaets in New York and co-chairs the firm’s litigation group. His practice focuses on litigation, counseling, and dispute resolution in connection with entertainment, media, and intellectual property matters. Scott represents and advises clients across various industries in copyright, trademark, right-of-publicity, unfair competition, domain name, and commercial and business disputes, as well as defamation defense.

NEWSGATHERING

Rachel Fugate is a founding partner of Shullman Fugate in Florida. She is an experienced litigator and appellate lawyer. She has represented national media companies, local and regional newspapers and television stations, streaming services, book publishers, film producers, reality television programs, artists, and non-profit corporations. Rachel litigates with an emphasis on media, internet and First Amendment disputes. She defends publishers and broadcasters in complex defamation, invasion of privacy, and other content-related claims and prosecutes actions for access to government information. As a commercial litigator, Rachel handles a variety of cases, including business torts, contract disputes, and tortious interference. As an appellate lawyer, Rachel has appeared before all Florida District Courts of Appeal and has argued matters before the Florida Supreme Court and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. With a content-related focus, she has prepared amicus briefs on issues ranging from satire as fair use to the abolishment of false light in Florida and has filed numerous emergency certiorari petitions for access to government records.

Kristi Ramsay is Senior Counsel at CNN in Atlanta, where she advises on newsgathering and provides pre-publication review of content ranging from daily news coverage to documentaries. Prior to her legal career, Kristi spent more than a decade at CNN in editorial roles. Kristi also serves on the alumni board for the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

Cynthia A. “Cindy” Gierhart is a Washington, D.C., litigation attorney whose practice is focused on media, trademark, copyright and entertainment law. Ms. Gierhart has represented clients in litigation involving right of publicity, defamation, trademark, copyright, trade secrets and access to judicial records. She has also negotiated book, film and podcast agreements.

Mickey H. Osterreicher is of counsel to Finnerty Osterreicher & Abdulla and serves as general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). He is actively involved in such issues as: cameras in the courtroom, media access, public photography, ag-gag legislation, drones, and copyright. He has provided training regarding constitutional law to law enforcement agencies throughout the country. He is also an award-winning photojournalist with over forty years’ experience in print and broadcast. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) honored him in 2015 as a “Fellow of the Society,” the highest professional honor given by the Society for extraordinary contribution to the profession. In 2021 he was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

PREPUBLICATION REVIEW

Drew Shenkman is Vice President, Legal with Cable News Network in Atlanta, serving as a newsroom attorney working with CNN journalists in the U.S. and around the world providing prepublication advice and counseling on content and newsgathering, including advice on access to information under state and federal law.

Peter Rienecker is Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs at Warner Bros. Discovery, where he is responsible for legal matters concerning the development, production, distribution and advertising of documentary programs and series, sports programming, comedy specials and talk/variety series for HBO and Max. He counsels on First Amendment and information-gathering issues, intellectual property and related labor concerns and, in particular, is responsible for pre-telecast and content review of documentary, investigative, news and sensitive fact-based programming for the network.

Ava Lubell focuses on newsroom counseling and litigation for Dow Jones & Company, Inc., whose publications and products include The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Financial News, Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, and Dow Jones Newswires. Lubell represented NYC local news outlets as the Local Journalism Attorney at the Cornell First Amendment Clinic from 2020-2022. Prior to Cornell, Lubell served as the General Counsel and VP, Corporate Operations at Quartz Media and the General Counsel and General Manager at The Slate Group. At Slate and Quartz, Lubell oversaw the Legal, HR, Facilities, and IT teams. She has taught media law and ethics as an Adjunct Professor at the CUNY Journalism School. Lubell earned a B.A from Brown and a J.D. from NYU. After graduating from law school, she served as an aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Collin Peng-Sue is the lead IP attorney for Netflix’s scripted series in the United States and Canada, handling a variety of trademark, copyright, right of publicity, and defamation matters that arise over the course of pre-production, production and distribution. He also manages the production clearance team, which works directly with the various production departments on Netflix films and series to manage IP risk. Before joining Netflix, Collin practiced media law as an associate at Davis Wright Tremaine and Hogan Lovells.

PRESS CLAUSE

Sandra S. Baron is a senior resident fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. She served as a Visiting Clinical Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and co-founder of its DocProject clinical program. Her programmatic focus is on First Amendment media law issues. She is the past Executive Director of the Media Law Resource Center, a nonprofit membership association for content creators and providers in all media and for their defense lawyers, providing a wide range of resources on media and content law and policy issues.

RIGHT OF PUBLICITY AND INVASION OF PRIVACY

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Seidlin-Bernstein is Of Counsel at Ballard Spahr. Her practice focuses on defamation, privacy, and intellectual property counseling and litigation. She regularly provides prepublication and prebroadcast advice to news organizations, entertainment companies, nonprofits, and other content creators. She also has experience representing journalists in seeking access to public records and court proceedings and in responding to subpoenas that would require the disclosure of privileged information and materials.

Ben Sheffner is Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Law & Policy, at the Motion Picture Association, where he specializes in copyright, right of publicity, trademark, First Amendment, and other legal and policy issues of importance to the MPA’s member studios. With dual appointments in the MPA’s Legal and Government Affairs departments, Ben works closely with attorneys and policy advocates internally and at the MPA’s member studios to formulate and implement strategies to create a favorable environment for the industry to thrive, both economically and creatively. Among his several roles, Ben frequently represents MPA before federal and state government officials and entities; manages the MPA’s amicus brief program; and serves as counsel to the Title Registration Bureau.

SUBPOENAS, SHIELD LAWS AND THE DOJ

Benjamin Lipman is chief legal officer and senior vice president for legal and employment affairs at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He oversees the media company’s legal matters, security, and employee programs and human resources, and is a member of the executive team overseeing strategic business decisions.

Stephen J. Fuzesi is a partner at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. Steve’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation, emphasizing the defense of clients in First Amendment litigation. He serves as co-chair of the firm’s First Amendment and Media practice group. Steve has significant experience representing media companies and journalists in a variety of matters, including lawsuits brought by high-profile plaintiffs. He has defended leading news organizations in defamation lawsuits challenging their reporting in print, online, and on television.

TRIAL TECHNIQUES

Charles “Chip” Babcock is a trial and appellate lawyer at Jackson Walker in Houston and Dallas. Babcock litigates at both the trial and appellate levels across the United States. He handles all types of commercial trial work and has particular experience in media and First Amendment litigation. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the Litigation Counsel of America. He is a Fellow of the American Law Institute.

Ashley Heilprin is a partner at Phelps. Clients turn to her or her trial experience and her ability to think creatively and efficiently. As a trial lawyer with a wide range of experience in commercial and tort litigation, she helps clients resolve First Amendment, intellectual property, privacy, casualty and general business issues. She advises and advocates for clients in many industries, including media and entertainment. Ashley leverages her courtroom experience and ability to “begin with the end in mind” when representing media companies in defamation defense, privacy law, right of publicity and other First Amendment issues. She also handles intellectual property law matters, including copyright and trademark counseling, litigation, registration, and proceedings before the U.S. Copyright Office and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

OTHER PROGRAM FACULTY

Robert Balin is a partner in the New York office of Davis Wright Tremaine, and for more than 35 years has represented U.S. and international news organizations, publishers and journalists in all aspects of media law and litigation. For the past 15 years, Rob has also taught media law to the next generation as an adjunct professor at Columbia University Law School. Rob has served as the Chair of the Media Law Committee of the International Bar Association and as President of the Executive Committee of the MLRC Defense Counsel Section. Since 2011 Rob has been annually named one of the “Best Lawyers in America” in Media Law by Best Lawyers and one of “America’s Leading Lawyers” in First Amendment Litigation by Chambers USA.

George Freeman is Executive Director of the Media Law Resource Center. He was most recently Of Counsel to the law firm of Jenner & Block. He is a former Assistant General Counsel of the New York Times Company, where he was at the forefront of numerous high‐profile cases for the company and its affiliated businesses. George is a well‐known speaker on media and First Amendment issues. He has led or participated in many media groups and is the founder and Co‐chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Communications Law annual conference.

Dori Hanswirth co-leads Arnold & Porter’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications industry group and is a litigator in the firm’s Intellectual Property practice. Dori brings more than 25 years’ experience for clients in a variety of industries including media, entertainment, and technology, with a focus on defamation, reporters’ rights, copyright, trademark, and right of publicity. As one of the nation’s foremost media attorneys, Dori possesses a deep understanding of the interplay among protected speech, information gathering, and reputation protection. She serves as counsel to clients on IP issues related to training AI models, protection for content generated with the assistance of AI, and claims regarding use of intellectual property in training databases. She also advises individual clients and organizations on issues related to reputation, brand protection, and media, copyright, and trademark in a range of other industries, including fintech, internet services, non-profits, and social media.

Dave Heller is a Deputy Director of the Media Law Resource Center. He advises lawyers and journalists on a wide range of media law and policy issues. He also writes and speaks about these issues for MLRC’s media law publications and online programming. Much of his work focuses on MLRC’s international programs and initiatives, including support for media law reform through legislation and litigation.

Carol LoCicero is the managing partner in Thomas & LoCicero’s Tampa office. She practices at the trial and appellate levels, handling litigation concerning defamation and privacy, the Public Records Act, the Government in the Sunshine Law, court access and cameras in the courtroom. She often leads statewide advocacy efforts on media issues, most recently involving two actual malice libel bills, access to Florida courts and Florida’s anti-SLAPP law. Carol regularly renders pre-and post-publication advice on investigative news stories.

Steven Mandell is a founding partner of Mandell Menkes in Chicago. He has a broad range of experience in various areas of commercial law including intellectual property, information technology, media and advertising, class action and insurance law. In his IP practice, Steve has represented, among others, software companies, authors and book publishers, record companies, video game developers and advertising agencies in the defense and prosecution of copyright infringement actions He also represents television and radio broadcast media, print media, book and video game publishers, film producers and other publishers in the defense of claims of defamation, invasion of privacy and associated torts and in other matters involving the First Amendment.