Media Litigation

Johnston Barton has cultivated a premier media litigation practice concentrated primarily in Alabama and the Southeast. The firm's attorneys regularly:

  • Advise news directors, producers, editors, and reporters with respect to news gathering and story content.
  • Defend media clients in litigation involving allegations of libel, slander, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, copyright infringement, and other, more creative claims.
  • Assist journalists in obtaining access to public records, meetings, and places, including judicial proceedings.
  • Review subpoenas to reporters and news organizations and provide advice and representation in connection with such subpoenas.
  • Conduct seminars for news directors, editors, reporters, and producers.

    • Johnston Barton lawyers bring to bear the high level of skill and experience necessary to navigate the complexities of media law. Our lawyers have:

    • Represented newspapers in landmark cases construing the fundamental provisions of Alabama's open meetings and public records laws.
    • Served as prevailing counsel in cases that set the standards and procedures for public access to criminal proceedings.
    • Established the principle, affirmed on appeal, that a successful public access plaintiff may be awarded its attorneys' fees based upon its having conferred a benefit on the general public.
    • Won the first case contending that Alabama's public records law applies to computer data.
    • Persuaded the Supreme Court of Alabama to overturn existing precedent and to hold that "for purposes of trial motions, post trial motions, and appellate review in a libel case involving a public official or a public figure, actual malice must be shown by clear and convincing evidence."
    • Assisted in having Alabama's criminal libel statute declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Alabama.
    • Obtained decisions from the Supreme Court of Alabama confirming that, in Alabama, both libel and invasion of privacy claims are personal in nature, that libel claims do not survive death of the alleged victim, and that there is no "relational right of privacy."

    Contact:
    Gilbert E. Johnston, Jr.