Free Legal Help to Online Journalists

The Citizen Media Law Project announced the launch of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University's Online Media Legal Network (OMLN), a new pro bono initiative that connects lawyers and law school clinics with online journalists who need legal help. OMLN will provide free assistance on a variety of legal issues, including business formation and governance, copyright licensing and fair use, employment and freelancer agreements, access to government information, pre-publication review of content, and representation in litigation.

Get more details here.

May soon be easier to recover legal fees in Ark. FOI cases

The Arkansas House will soon vote on a bill that "would require attorneys' fees to be paid by a defendant if a plaintiff 'substantially' prevails in an FOI lawsuit," the AP reported. Winning plaintiffs would have to file a claim with the Arkansas State Claims Commission to recover these legal fees.

Legislation that would make it easier for plaintiffs who win Freedom of Information Act challenges to recover attorneys fees from government officials is headed to the House for a vote.

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced a proposal that, in most cases, would require attorneys' fees to be paid by a defendant if a plaintiff "substantially" prevails in an FOI lawsuit. The measure by Rep. Lindsley Smith, D-Fayetteville, would not allow courts to force state agencies to pay attorneys' fees in FOI cases.

More here.

Settlement in Fla. case means taxpayers, not city officials, will likely foot legal bills

A settlement in the case against Venice, Fla., city officials, including the mayor, for using private e-mails to discuss plans for the municipal airport will result in the "city government as a whole" taking the blame, The Herald (Fla.) Tribune reported. No individuals will admit wrongdoing, and therefore they will not be responsible for legal bills. Taxpayers likely will pay the 10 months of mounting legal fees for both sides. The City Council is slated to vote on the settlement Wednesday; however, only one city council member is not involved in this case in any fashion, creating a major conflict of interest.

On the eve of a groundbreaking open government trial involving top Venice leaders, attorneys for both sides reached a tentative deal Thursday to settle the case without the officials admitting wrongdoing.

Instead, the settlement pins the blame on the city government as a whole.

The arrangement creates a potential conflict of interest and could force taxpayers to cover the legal fees for both sides, which could top $1 million.

More here.

News media giving up the fight for information?

Journalists at a National Press Club forum in Denver think so. One panelist raised quite an disconcerting thought: Perhaps the government realizes the media companies are struggling financially and can't afford to take legal action every time they put up a road block to requested information.

Squeezed for profits, news media companies no longer are pushing for access to information as they once did, a panel of Denver journalists said at a National Press Club forum here Tuesday.

"The media seems less and less willing to fight back and to challenge government authority in a legal sense," said Brian Maass, who leads the investigative team at Denver's CBS 4.

He was speaking at a National Press Club Centennial Forum on the First Amendment, freedom of the press and the future of journalism at the Denver Press Club.

More here.