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Bruce D. Brown

A former reporter, Bruce D. Brown focuses his practice in the areas of libel and invasion of privacy defense, copyright and the law of newsgathering. A significant part of his practice is devoted to pre-publication review, author-publisher agreements and website liability for publishers. He regularly assists the Society of Professional Journalists on freedom of information matters. Mr. Brown has been co-chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Media Law Resource Center in New York and is currently an adjunct faculty member in Georgetown University’s master’s program in Professional Studies in Journalism. Mr. Brown’s libel work in recent years has included defense of two lawsuits brought by sitting judges, and his policy focus has been on reform of copyright law and hot news protections to help journalism companies make a profitable and sustainable transition to online publishing. Prior to joining Baker Hostetler, Mr. Brown was a federal court reporter for Legal Times and a newsroom assistant to David Broder at The Washington Post. Mr. Brown has been named one of Washington’s top media and First Amendment lawyers by Washingtonian magazine and in Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers Washington, DC. His media law experience has included:

• Argued on behalf of a Baltimore-based newsletter publisher in the first Section 10(b) enforcement action brought by the SEC against a publisher of financial news and commentary to be decided by a federal appeals court. SEC v. Pirate Investor, 580 F.3d 233 (4th Cir. 2009).
• Represented a suburban Chicago newspaper in an appeal of a libel judgment won by the sitting Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and in federal civil rights litigation brought by the newspaper alleging violation of its First Amendment and due process rights from the recusal of the Illinois Supreme Court from the case. Robert R. Thomas v. Bill Page, et al., No. 2-07-0435 (Ill. App. 2d Dist. 2007); Shaw Suburban Media Group, Inc., et al. v. Chief Justice Robert R. Thomas, et al., No. 07-cv-03289 (N.D. Ill. 2007).
• Represented a Boston daily newspaper in an appeal of a libel judgment awarded to a sitting Superior Court judge and in the filing of a judicial ethics complaint against the judge for threatening the publisher of the newspaper. Murphy v. Boston Herald, Inc., 449 Mass. 42 (2007); In Re Murphy, 452 Mass. 796 (2008).
• Represented news media clients in the leading Internet jurisdiction case in the defamation area by obtaining a dismissal for Connecticut-based newspapers and reporters sued for libel in Virginia on the grounds that the posting of news articles on websites did not create personal jurisdiction in Virginia. Young v. New Haven Advocate, 315 F.3d 256 (4th Cir. 2002).
• Represented a Denver daily newspaper in a lawsuit in which the Colorado Supreme Court abolished the tort of false light in the state. Denver Publishing Co. v. Bueno, 54 P.3d 893 (Colo. 2002).
• Represented client El Nuevo Dia, the largest daily newspaper in Puerto Rico, in a civil rights lawsuit against Governor Pedro Rossello and members of his administration for violation of the newspaper’s First Amendment rights. El Dia, Inc. v. Rossello, 165 F.3d 106 (1st Cir. 1999).
• Secured third-party standing for a non-media company related to El Nuevo Dia to bring a First Amendment claim against Governor Pedro Rossello. El Dia, Inc. v. Rossello, 30 F. Supp. 2d 160 (D.P.R. 1998).

In the area of pre-publication review, Mr. Brown has worked on biographies of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and musician John Lennon. He provided pre-publication counseling to the National Geographic Society for two books, a television documentary and a major magazine article all related to the discovery of the long-lost Gospel of Judas.

Mr. Brown’s published work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The American Lawyer, The Economist, Legal Times, Communications Lawyer and The National Law Journal. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio and Court TV. In February 2009, he testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee on the problems associated with “libel tourism.” In February 2010, he testified on the same subject before the Senate Judiciary Committee.