JOURNALISM DOES NOT WORK WITHOUT LEGAL PROTECTION.

Investigative reporters and the organizations that support them face an expanding range of legal threats. Whistleblower Advocacy Law helps journalists protect their sources, defend their work against legal attack, and keep their investigations alive. Our founder has spent 15 years inside global media organizations including CNN and Time Inc. 

If your reporting is facing legal pressure, or if you want to structure your next investigation in a way that protects your sources and your work from the start, we can help. Reach out for a confidential conversation. 

When a court, a government agency, or a private litigant demands that a journalist reveal a confidential source, the response requires more than general legal knowledge. It requires understanding shield law protections at the state level, the First Amendment privilege framework in federal courts, and the specific tactical approach that gives a journalist the best chance of protecting their source without ending up in contempt.

We advise journalists before an investigation begins, so they handle source communications in ways that maximize legal protection. We also defend journalists who receive subpoenas or court orders demanding disclosure.

A SLAPP suit, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, is a lawsuit filed not to win, but to force a journalist or news organization to spend money, time, and energy defending themselves. The goal is to make publishing the truth too expensive. Anti-SLAPP laws in many states allow defendants to get these cases dismissed quickly and recover attorneys' fees.

We defend journalists and news organizations against defamation, invasion of privacy, and other claims that are really designed to silence legitimate reporting. We have experience utlilzing anti-SLAPP laws to protect reporting.

Investigative journalism increasingly depends on obtaining government records, corporate documents, and digital communications. When those requests are denied, delayed, or met with incomplete responses, attorneys can make a significant difference. We assist journalists with FOIA requests and appeals, state open records litigation, and disputes over the handling of leaked or disclosed documents.

When a source approaches a journalist with sensitive information about government misconduct, corporate fraud, or other wrongdoing, the decisions made in the first 48 hours can determine whether that information reaches the public safely, whether the source is protected, and whether the story survives legal challenge after publication.

We advise journalists and their editors on the legal dimensions of working with sensitive sources, including whistleblowers, government employees, and corporate insiders. We help structure source communications in ways that protect both the journalist and the source, and we can represent the source directly if their situation requires legal counsel.

A well-reported, carefully documented story should be able to withstand legal attack. When it faces one anyway, you need an attorney who understands how defamation law applies to investigative journalism, what public figure status means for your defense, and how to use the discovery process to expose a baseless lawsuit for what it is.