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    First Amendment and Media

    The First Amendment and Media Practice at Montgomery McCracken is committed to defending freedom of speech and of the press in its representation of clients.

    Our objective is to protect our clients’ right to speak and publish and the public’s right to know. Our lawyers represent traditional media, online publishers, corporate, and individual clients with litigation and counseling services in such areas as libel, commercial disparagement, invasion of privacy, protection of sources, false advertising, right of access to information, licensing, copyright, editorial freedom, pre-publication review, free speech, censorship, and religious freedoms. 

    Our attorneys often speak and publish on First Amendment and media law and have held leadership positions in numerous media-related organizations.

    Experience

    Representative Matters
    • Obtained complete defense verdict in defamation and false light action in favor of Transport Workers Union Local 234’s former president, its key officers, and members of its Executive Board brought by an unsuccessful candidate for the union’s presidency. The plaintiff sought punitive damages and approximately $675,000 in compensatory damages. After a six-day jury trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the jury returned a verdict for our clients on all counts.
    • Summary judgment on behalf of a network owned and operated television station and an investigative reporter in a defamation action brought by three Philadelphia police officers based on a broadcast concerning airport security. We successfully argued the appeal before the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
    • Summary judgment on behalf of a newspaper in a libel case based on thirty-five articles and editorials that focused on the relationship between a construction contractor and a municipality.
    • Summary judgment in a defamation case on behalf of an author and the national booksellers/distributors of his book written about the history of a famous Philadelphia burglary gang, brought by one of its former members.
    • Dismissal of a lawsuit against a popular Internet website that involved free speech rights on the Internet and the Communications Decency Act. We successfully argued the appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
    • Summary judgment on behalf of a group of private schools, parents and a public high school student in a challenge to the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law that affected the free speech rights of all students and private schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We successfully argued the appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
    • Summary judgment on behalf of an international software company in defense of claims that it had violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Stored Communications Act. The decision was affirmed by the Third Circuit.

    First Amendment and Media Leadership

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    Jeremy D. Mishkin

    Philadelphia

    SHARED THINKING

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