For journalists, passing the bar typically means an early morning the next day. But the hangover of a dying local media and growing operational costs persists as good legal advice comes at a premium. And without in-house counsel, journalism’s watchdogs and underdogs often expose themselves to litigious threats to their reporting and organizational structure.
Enter Lawyers for Reporters. For nearly a quarter-century, the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice — a New York City Bar Association-affiliated nonprofit named after the former U.S. Secretary of State who once headed the organization — offered pro bono, or no-cost, legal assistance for human and environmental rights and anti-corruption work across the globe.
Those efforts included supporting journalistic freedom outside the United States. In fact, the Vance Center largely heads the bar association’s international pro bono projects. But a similar need remained domestically. Six years ago, the Vance Center launched Lawyers for Reporters to provide American local and public-interest journalism organizations with pro bono legal services.
“It wasn't guaranteed, or even obvious, that law firms would agree to do the work of Lawyers for Reporters with U.S.-based news organizations,” said Vance Center Executive Director Alexander Papachristou. “We took a gamble when we started Lawyers for Reporters .... [and it] turns out lawyers and law firms love this work. Why? First, there's a general sense that journalism is a good social value, at least independent local news or news based on a mission to cover a certain issue.
“Second, we’re asking these lawyers to work in areas where they have experience and skills. So, it's not a typical pro bono case, where you go to white-collar litigators in a big law firm, and you say, will you take this criminal defense case or this immigration case? And those lawyers do that because it's good experience for them, but they're outside of their comfort zone.”
Papachristou, Managing Attorney Kay Murray and three staff attorneys make up the Lawyers for Reporters’ in-house legal team. All five are admitted to practice in New York. A few of them are licensed elsewhere in the northeast. Yet Lawyers for Reporters operates far beyond the Empire State. The organization leverages a nationwide network of like-minded law firms to provide clients with pro bono assistance across more than 40 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
“A lot of it is our in-house team,” said Murray. “But one of the things the Vance Center has done throughout its existence is build a bench of lawyers in private practice to support our clients pro bono. So, a lot of times, we will partner with outside counsel. We do not litigate across the country. If somebody were to be sued in California, which actually happened, we would get pro bono counsel in California to represent them.
“Any entity that's an independent outlet can contact us. We have a link on our website and a program assistant. We have an email address for her, and entities can write and say, ‘I’m interested in your service.’”
When a journalism organization reaches out, Lawyers for Reporters sends back a short form requesting the interested party’s details, such as the website, revenue and number of employees. Murray said a weekly meeting will be scheduled shortly after to determine whether to take on the legal work directly or refer it externally. All without touching a pocketbook.
Making partner(ships)
Sounds too good to be true? Warwick Sabin, CEO and president of Deep South Today, originally thought so when Papachristou approached him about Lawyers for Reporters back in 2024. He’s since gone from skeptic to full adopter.
“I quizzed him about all of the kinds of services they offer,” said Sabin. “And was explaining to him that we would have a need for all of them because of our ambitions of how we're growing our newsroom network [and] the different kind of innovative partnerships and initiatives that we were taking on. And, obviously, legal services are very expensive, highly valuable and important.
“I said, ‘If you really offer these things and they’re really free, then I’m going to take advantage of all of them.’ because I’m running a nonprofit and I need all the help I can get. … Obviously, I followed up on that meeting, and the rest is history: we’ve been working very, very closely and taking advantage of everything that they offer. And it’s been incredibly helpful.”
Sabin largely enlists Lawyers for Reporters to assist on the business side. Employment law varies state-to-state for Deep South Today, which operates in both Louisiana and Mississippi and serves as the parent to newsrooms like the Pulitzer-winning Mississippi Today. This past September, the network acquired nonprofit news site The Current, which Papachristou assisted with.
“If I was trying to quantify the value of [Lawyers for Reporter’s assistance], it would add up to easily tens of thousands of dollars if not well into the six figures,” said Sabin. “We’re talking about getting expert legal advice and counsel, not just from Lawyers for Reporters itself, but from the additional counsel that they enlist in all of these places. I can always call on them with any question that I have. They are always willing to help us with whatever issue we’re dealing with. It sounds too good to be true, but for us, it’s been everything that was initially promised.”
Another nonprofit news leader, Carroll Bogert, also points to Lawyers for Reporters for business-related legal advice. She previously enlisted the organization while heading the criminal justice-focused The Marshall Project and remains a client after recently joining The City, a nonprofit newsroom locally covering New York City, as CEO. Thanks to Lawyers for Reporters, her new newsroom received pro bono help from a white-shoe law firm with a rental contract and subcontracting agreements with the other newsrooms sharing the space. (Bogert also disclosed a previous marriage with Papachristou for transparency.)
“It’s not just libel review,” said Bogert. “Libel review is a sexy thing that lawyers love to do. It makes them feel cool. … Lawyers for Reporters does that, but Lawyers for Reporters does stuff that I can’t get elsewhere. They handle the garden-variety paperwork that may not be as sexy but is imperative to how a nonprofit organization runs. And it isn’t abundantly available otherwise, and you can spend a lot of money on just ordinary contracts that come up in the life of any organization.”
Still, Murray said the Lawyers for Reporters team internally vetted more than 100 stories since the organization started six years ago. “I think all journalists want to get the story right,” she said. “So, we really guide them to ensure that they’ve got the backup to get it right, that they are confident about getting it right [and] that their understanding with their sources is something that everybody is on the same page about.”
Setting a precedent
Lawyers for Reporters will soon provide even deeper support for investigative reporting work. Murray and Papachristou revealed upcoming plans to hire an unnamed multi-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editor as a consultant, along with a veteran newsroom attorney. They envision providing ongoing legal advice for extensive investigations throughout the entire reporting process, rather than just reviewing stories before publication.
“That team will be available not to every client, but the clients that are coming to us and showing us that they have a terrific investigation that they want to do,” said Papachristou. “They have a topic, sources, data and documents, but they want help. Maybe with FOIA claims, maybe with arrangements with sources, whatever you need in an investigation. We're going to provide that quite valuable resource to clients, so that they can produce fantastic, important investigative reporting.”
But more comprehensive investigative reporting support is just one of the efforts Lawyers for Reporters offers to meet the moment as journalists continue to face legal risks. Pro bono work allows the program — and the Vance Center broadly — to tackle socially-relevant needs responsively. Papachristou mentioned teaming up with an immigration law firm for newsrooms with non-citizen staff or concerns with covering immigration issues. He also pointed to consultants specializing in media insurance policies and protest coverage.
This past January, Lawyers for Reporters announced the Compliance Assurance Program in partnership with The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund. The initiative deploys the in-house legal team to review local newsrooms’ regulatory standards, ensuring they feel confident and above board. And, of course, Lawyers for Reporters can bring in pro bono support from private practice attorneys to assist across the country.
Murray said the initiative tackles “simple things” to help journalism organization leaders sleep better at night, particularly amid the emergence of hostile actors seeking to undermine public-interest reporting on pedantic, technical grounds.
“In the current environment, a lot of outlets and a lot of nonprofits, generally, are concerned about heightened regulatory scrutiny,” said Murray. “Like Media Matters, for example, being investigated by the Texas State Attorney General … because of their reporting. We think that a very helpful service to alleviate the concern of many of our clients is to help them with clear types of regulatory and legal compliance that we can help them address and access if there are any issues in an efficient way.”
Papachristou cannot quantify how much legal needs are growing in American newsrooms. But he recounts increased concern among clients since Lawyers for Reporters launched at the beginning of the decade — concern which he said can be healthy. In fact, he remains rather positive about the state of local journalism through this work. “There's a lot going on, and most of it is pretty encouraging,” he said. “So put me down as, at least in this regard, an optimist.”
Tandy Lau is an award-winning journalist currently based in Jersey City. He currently works as a staff reporter covering public safety for the New York Amsterdam News in Harlem. He can be contacted at tandylau1995@gmail.com.
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