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.

Webb v. CBS Broadcasting Inc., 2011 WL 4062488 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 13, 2011), reconsideration denied, 2011 WL 4916341 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 17, 2011). Ashley, together with Lee Levine, Jay Ward Brown, and Katharine Larsen, successfully defended CBS against claims that it invaded plaintiffs’ privacy and caused emotional distress by filming them in the backyard of a home in connection with a CBS news report. The court granted summary judgment in a decision that constitutes a significant precedent vindicating the news media’s right to photograph persons and activities in “plain view” from a public street.

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.

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.