April 27, 2008

Blogger Beats Trial Lawyer At His Own Game

Legal Newsline tells the story of blogger Kathleen Seidel, who took on a powerful trial lawyer and won. In March, Seidel wrote a blog post documenting how trial lawyer Clifford Shoemaker of Virginia had turned autism and the debate over the role that vaccines play in it into a legal money-maker for himself.

Shoemaker specializes in litigation against vaccine makers, claiming the mercury in their products has led to autism. The fact that the science doesn't support his claims hasn't stopped him from making a fortune with such cases.

After Shoemaker responded by filing this ridiculously broad subpoena requesting Seidel provide, among other things, "documents pertaining to the setup, financing, running, research and maintaining" of her site, which frequently links to articles and features blogs pertaining to Shoemaker's main litigation area.

Seidel fought back.She researched and wrote her own legal brief asking the judge to quash the subpoena - which Seidel right described as "unconstitutional, unreasonable, irrelevant, excessive, invasive, burdensome, frivolous, and clearly retaliatory: - based in part on a journalist's right to protect his or her sources.

The judge not only granted Seidel's motion, he also has now ordered Shoemaker to show cause why he should not be sanctioned for filing such a "burdensome" subpoena.

Seidel is a librarian by trade, not a lawyer, which makes the quality and success of her motion to quash Shoemaker's absurd subpoena all the more impressive. Here's my favorite part:

13. The materials and information demanded in the subpoena are subject to the journalist's privilege. Although I am unaffiliated with a traditional news organization, and am not compensated for my work except to the extent described above, I am a de facto citizen-journalist regularly engaged in the public dissemination of news and information, and the promotion of discourse and advocacy regarding issues of national importance. See Von Bulow v. Von Bulow, 811 F.2d 136 ("[A]n individual successfully may assert the journalist's privilege if he is involved in activities traditionally associated with the gathering and dissemination of news, even though he may not ordinarily be a member of the institutionalized press."). As such, I am entitled to maintain the confidentiality of my work product and information sources.

The First Amendment was not written to protect only the institutionalized press - which, after all, didn't exist in the late 1700s - but to protect all Americans' rights to freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances. Kathleen Seidel asserted her rights - her rights as an American, not merely a journalist - brilliantly.

(Hat tip: American Courthouse)