Ethics/Professional Responsibility,
California Courts of Appeal
May 14, 2016
Law firm pressed about its press release
A recent Court of Appeal decision confirms that the fair report privilege applies to law firm press releases.
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Wendy Chang
Judge
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Loyola Law School, 1995
Wendy is based in the firm's Los Angeles office. She is a member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. She served as an advisor to the State Bar of California's Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct and is a past chair of the State Bar of California's Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct. Wendy is a certified specialist in legal malpractice law by the State Bar of California's Board of Legal Specialization.
Can a law firm's press release after trial be privileged against defamation and libel liability? On May 2, in a 2-1 decision authored by Justice Dennis Perluss joined by Justice Laurie Zelon, the Court of Appeal issued J-M Manufacturing Company Inc. v. Phillips & Cohen LLP, 2016 DJDAR 4215, answering yes, if the conditions for the fair report privilege under Civil Code Section 47(d) are met.
In Phillips, J-M Manufacturing was sued through the law firm Phillips & Coh...
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