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Susan has extensive experience litigating communications law matters, especially those involving the rights of the press. During the course of her career, she has successfully represented journalists and media entities in cases concerning a wide variety of issues affecting the media, including the prior restraint doctrine, press access issues, the reporter’s privilege and the protection of confidential sources and has defended journalists and media clients in defamation and privacy cases, copyright matters and litigation challenging governmental efforts to restrict newsgathering activities.
Her clients have included the four major broadcast networks, The New York Times, Time Inc., HBO, the Hearst Corporation, Business Week, CNN, Court TV, NY1, local broadcasters, motion picture distributors, music distributors, cable program suppliers and other publishers of newspapers and magazines.
Susan is named among the top litigators in
New York by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and Euromoney's Benchmark Litigation.
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SELECTED MATTERS:
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- Successfully represented national news organizations in numerous
litigations challenging state efforts to restrict newsgathering
activities at polling places on election days (e.g., American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Blackwell).
- Represented Senator Mitch McConnell and the National Association of
Broadcasters in a First Amendment-rooted challenge to the
constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McConnell v.
Federal Election Commission).
- Represented the Brooklyn Museum in its dispute with the City of New York and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani over the Museum's right to display controversial, contemporary art (Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science v. City of New York).
- Won reversal of a $10 million jury verdict in a defamation and privacy action concerning a “20/20” investigative report (Levan v. Capital Cities, Inc.).
- Represented The New York Times in its effort to preclude the government from subpoenaing records from telephone companies that would reveal reporters’ confidential sources (New York Times Co. v. Gonzales).
- Obtained dismissal at the summary judgment stage of a multi-million dollar defamation action attacking a “Primetime Live” investigative report on questionable practices of televangelists (Tilton v. Capital Cities, Inc.).
- Represented Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper in opposing the government's demand that they reveal confidential sources in connection with a criminal investigation into the leak of a CIA agent’s identity (Miller v. United States).
- Obtained dismissal of claims in a wrongful death action premised on the theory that the children who committed the crime were driven to do so by exposure to music advocating criminal behavior (Pahler v. Slayer).
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PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
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Susan’s article addressing the application of the Espionage Act to journalistic activities, “Reporting on the War on Terror: The Espionage Act and Other Scary Statutes,” was recently published by the Media Law Resource Center.
Susan is a member of the Governing Board of the ABA’s Forum on Communications Law and serves as a Master for the Federal Bar Council American Inn of Court. She has served on the Communications and Media Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Media Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association.
Susan joined Cahill in 1977, following her graduation from Fordham University School of Law, where she served as an Editor of the Fordham Law Review. She became a partner in 1985.
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