The Legal 500 reports that clients describe Ashley as “intellectually keen,” and “a pleasure to work with.” She is regularly asked to speak and write about media law issues.

Ashley actively champions the development of a free and independent press in the Arabian Peninsula. She has assisted in drafting amendments to press laws in Kuwait, Yemen and elsewhere. Ashley also has taught international free expression law to journalists and editors in the region, advised reporters there on strategies for developing a code of ethics, and has lectured on United States media law at several conferences in the Middle East.

Ashley began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Sam Sparks of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Before joining LSKS in 1999, she practiced labor and employment law with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, in Austin, Texas.

Notable Representations

Rossignol v. Voorhaar, 316 F.3d 516 (4th Cir. 2003). Ashley and Seth Berlin successfully represented a Maryland newspaper publisher in a civil rights action against government officials, securing a landmark ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that the defendants’ off-duty mass purchase of newspapers on the eve of an election, to suppress its contents and retaliate against the publisher, violated the publisher’s First Amendment rights. Ultimately, the defendants paid the publisher $435,000 in settlement of the action.

Hatfill v. The New York Times Co., 532 F.3d 312 (4th Cir. 2008). Ashley and other LSKS attorneys successfully defended The New York Times in a defamation action brought by a prominent bio-defense expert named by the FBI as a “person of interest” in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings. The scientist claimed the newspaper falsely implicated him in connection with the mailings. The trial court granted the newspaper’s motion for summary judgment and the Fourth Circuit affirmed, finding the plaintiff was a limited-purpose public figure who failed to establish actual malice.

Academia Semillas Del Pueblo v. McIntyre, 36 Media L. Rptr. (BNA) 2298 (Cal. Super. 2008), and 36 Media L. Rptr. (BNA) 2306 (Cal. Super. 2008). Ashley and Seth Berlin successfully defended ABC and Citadel Communications in a high stakes suit against KABC, a Los Angeles radio station, alleging that a series of broadcasts were defamatory and incited a bomb threat against a school. The court granted LSKS's special motion to strike under California’s anti-SLAPP statute and awarded LSKS's clients almost $200,000 in attorneys fees and costs.

Hamad v. Center for the Study of Popular Culture (5th Cir. 2007). Ashley and Michael Berry successfully defended the Middle East Forum think-tank and scholar Daniel Pipes in a Texas action alleging Internet defamation and related claims. After the district court dismissed the case, the Fifth Circuit summarily affirmed, and the plaintiff was ordered to pay the defendants their attorneys fees, costs and monetary sanctions.

Heekin v. CBS Broadcasting Inc., 895 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Ashley and Lee Levine successfully defended CBS in a false light invasion of privacy action arising from a 60 Minutes news report addressing the justice system’s handling of domestic violence cases, winning a ruling that granted judgment on the pleadings and awarded attorneys’ fees to CBS.