From our defense of The New York Times in the landmark Pentagon Papers case, Cahill has successfully litigated many of the highest profile media law and First Amendment cases of the past 40 years. We are proud that after interviewing our clients and peers, Chambers USA has said of us: “The New York Yankees of First Amendment law,” [Cahill Gordon] continues to be the gold standard in contentious media work. Clients say it is ‘a magnificent firm with the skills to match its reputation,’ and applaud both its litigation and regulatory expertise." Chambers USA (2006).
Recent notable First Amendment cases include litigation concerning government efforts to compel journalists to reveal their confidential sources in the context of an investigation into the disclosure of a CIA agent’s identity (Miller v. United States); the effort of a trial judge to enter a prior restraint against publishing the names of jurors (United States v. Quattrone); the constitutional challenge to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in which we represented Senator Mitch McConnell and the National Association of Broadcasters before the three-judge district court and the United States Supreme Court (McConnell v. Federal Election Commission); the dispute between the Brooklyn Museum of Art and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani over the museum’s efforts to display controversial, contemporary art (Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences v. City of New York); and litigation instituted to prohibit the Department of Justice from serving subpoenas on telephone service providers seeking the disclosure of the phone records of two reporters for The New York Times (New York Times v. Gonzales). We have successfully represented broadcasters and other media entities in litigations around the country challenging the constitutionality of various states’ efforts to restrict newsgathering at polling places on election day.
We have successfully litigated numerous defamation matters on behalf of significant media clients. Examples include our representation of NBC in its dispute with Wayne Newton resulting in the reversal of a $19 million verdict entered in Newton’s favor (Newton v. National Broadcasting Co.); summary judgment for The New York Times in a libel suit brought by New York City’s former medical examiner (Gross v. New York Times); and Time Magazine in a libel action commenced by the Church of Scientology (Church of Scientology International v. Time Warner, Inc.)
The firm has substantial experience in defending rights of privacy. We have represented the media in seminal cases such as our successful litigation through the New York Court of Appeals to retain the narrow statutory focus of New York privacy law (Arrington v. New York Times). We succeeded in persuading the Second Department to adopt a narrow interpretation of Sections 50 and 51 of New York’s Civil Rights Law in the face of an effort to sweep television satire within the scope of the statute (Frank v. NBC).
We have a strong track record litigating copyright and trademark cases in courts around the country. Significant copyright and trademark cases of note include: defending CBS against copyright infringement claim brought by the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr. alleging that a CBS documentary violated the Estate's copyright in Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (CBS v. King), defeating efforts to enjoin the distribution of Al Franken’s book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Fox News Network v. Penguin Group and Al Franken); and representing Pepperidge Farms, maker of the familiar goldfish crackers, in a trademark dilution claim brought against Nabisco arising out of Nabisco’s efforts to market a goldfish-shaped cracker of its own (Nabisco v. PF Brands).
