ProJourn Legal Checkup Clinic

When it comes to a news organization’s legal needs, understanding how to operate safely and sustainably from a business standpoint is just as important as knowing what challenges might arise in the reporting process. This session, led by ProJourn, a program of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, will help newsroom leaders assess and prioritize their organization’s legal needs. Attorneys will guide attendees through a checklist, developed in collaboration with ProJourn partner Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, of key areas to consider legal risk and needs, including:

• Business models and Governance (e.g., 501(c)(3), compliance with IRS requirements, tax-exempt status, incorporation, fiscal sponsorship, and/or hybrid entity formation, news collaboratives and joint ventures);
• Intellectual property, data protection, privacy (e.g., copyright infringement, website terms and conditions, and privacy policies);
• Employment  (e.g., employee handbook; independent journalist contract template);
• Media Liability (e.g., media liability insurance, defamation risks, pre-publication review, and access to records); and
• Safety and Security (e.g., protest safety and reporting, police interaction, digital security).

Participation in this clinic does not constitute acceptance of your matter for representation nor a promise to do so and does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and in-house counsel, the law firm, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press or any other participating law firm and company, their employees, directors or officers.

Please note, slots are limited and will be assigned on a first come first serve basis. If you cancel less than 48 hours before your scheduled Checkup, your organization will be moved to the bottom of the waiting list. 

If you are not yet a ProJourn client,  please fill out our eligibility form here: https://forms.office.com/r/S3qpVvg1Mt