<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!-- generator="Joomla! - Open Source Content Management" --> <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> <channel> <title>Cynthia Counts, Partner at FisherBroyles - </title> <description><![CDATA[]]></description> <link>https://www.lawcounts.com/component/content/?view=featured</link> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 21 Nov 2024 07:29:42 +0000</lastBuildDate> <generator>Joomla! - Open Source Content Management</generator> <atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://www.lawcounts.com/?format=feed&type=rss"/> <language>en-gb</language> <item> <title>Maine Newspaper Cleared in Defamation Case Involving Alleged Sexual Abuse of Minors by Police </title> <link>https://www.lawcounts.com/10-home-page-features/102-maine-newspaper-cleared-in-defamation-case-involving-alleged-sexual-abuse-of-minors-by-police</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.lawcounts.com/10-home-page-features/102-maine-newspaper-cleared-in-defamation-case-involving-alleged-sexual-abuse-of-minors-by-police</guid> <description><![CDATA[<div class="feed-description"><p>ALFRED, Me. (April 1, 2022) - A York County Superior Court jury has found in favor of a Maine newspaper and two reporters accused of defamation for reporting on adolescent boys’ allegations of sexual abuse by a former Biddeford police captain dating back to the 1970s.</p> <p>After seven years of litigation and a two-and-a-half-week trial, the jury this week took just an hour before clearing the Biddeford-Saco-Old Orchard Beach Courier of defamation and invasion of privacy claims filed by former Biddeford Police Captain Norman Gaudette and his wife.</p> <p>Gaudette accused the Courier, owned by Mainely Media LLC, of defaming him when it reported in April 2015 on allegations that Gaudette and another Biddeford officer had sexually abused youth. His wife, Joanne Gaudette, joined her husband in the lawsuit, suing for loss of consortium. </p> <p>“The plaintiffs not only sued the newspaper but the reporters individually in an attempt to scare them and to chill their speech,” said Cynthia Counts of Fisher Broyles in Atlanta, representing the newspapers. “The jury’s unanimous verdict not only exonerates the newspaper and its reporters but also helps vindicate those victims who had never had the chance to present their abuse claims before a judge and jury."</p> <p>Counts, who specializes in media and First Amendment law, took over the case from another attorney and has worked on it for more than five years. Attorneys Toby Dilworth and Melissa Hewey of Drummond Woodsum in Portland assisted at trial.</p> <p>The newspaper initially began looking into the allegations involving several Biddeford police officers in 2015 following a public outcry by a Biddeford native who claimed in a social media post that when he was in high school, he had been brutally sexually assaulted by a Biddeford police officer.</p> <p>Through the spring of 2015, others began to come forward, including a retired Biddeford police officer, Terry Davis, who said the sexual abuse claims regarding the department had merit.</p> <p>Defendants Molly Lovell-Keely, the Courier’s managing editor, and reporter Ben Meiklejohn, among others at the paper, made extensive efforts to investigate the abuse claims, contacting alleged victims, family members, the plaintiff and his attorney, state Attorney’s General investigators, and current and former Biddeford officers.</p> <p>On March 5, 2015, the Courier published the first in a six-week series of 29 investigative news reports about the Biddeford Police Department’s and Attorney Generals handling of the sexual assault charges. The trial focused on just two of those stories that pertained to allegations against Gaudette.</p> <p>Now 73 years old, Gaudette was placed on administrative leave in 1990 when allegations first surfaced. The Maine AG’s office investigated Gaudette but a grand jury chose not to indict him.</p> <p>Gaudette was reinstated as a police officer in 1991 after the investigation concluded, and retired as a captain in 2001.</p> <p>An investigator with the Attorney General's office who was on the case in 1990, confirmed at trial that the AG’s office failed to present evidence to the grand jury that would have brought to light the severity of allegations against Gaudette -- characterizing the failure as a "cover-up."</p> <p>Trial jurors were charged with determining whether there was falsity and malice in the 2015 reporting, ultimately determining that Gaudette had not proven the articles to be false.</p> <p> Lovell-Keely testified at the trial for a total of 29 hours combined. Three of the accusers, now middle-aged men, also testified, describing in detail how Gaudette allegedly abused them. </p> <p> "Victims of sexual abuse in Biddeford finally obtained some justice this week," said Lovell-Keely, following the verdict.</p> <p> Although other media outlets, including The Boston Globe, reported on the issue in Biddeford, The Courier was the only publication to be sued.</p></div>]]></description> <author>web@transmediaweb.com (Super User)</author> <category>Featured</category> <category>Home Page features</category> <pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2022 17:45:34 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>FisherBroyles Gains New Media Law Partner </title> <link>https://www.lawcounts.com/9-blog/100-fisherbroyles-gains-media-law-partner</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.lawcounts.com/9-blog/100-fisherbroyles-gains-media-law-partner</guid> <description><![CDATA[<div class="feed-description"><p><span class="b">Reprinted from the <a href="https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/">Daily Report</a></span></p> <p>Veteran media lawyer Cynthia Counts said FisherBroyles "affords greater flexibility and autonomy for me and my practice."</p> <p>By <a href="https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/author/profile/Meredith-Hobbs/"><strong>Meredith Hobbs</strong></a> | July 07, 2020 at 02:53 PM</p> <p><em><img src="https://www.lawcounts.com/images/Counts Glamphoto2.jpg" alt="" /> <span class="b">Cynthia L. Counts of FisherBroyles.</span></em></p> <p>Veteran Atlanta media lawyer Cynthia Counts has left Duane Morris, where she was a partner, for “virtual” firm FisherBroyles.</p> <p>Counts said FisherBroyles’ business model offers more flexibility and transparency than that of a traditional firm. In particular, she was attracted to the “transparent, merit-based model, from which FisherBroyles attracts diverse attorneys from top-notch backgrounds,” she said in an interview.</p> <p>“It affords greater flexibility and autonomy for me and my practice—and it’s more cost-effective for clients,” she said, noting that the model “promotes diversity because it’s not as regimented and hierarchical as at a traditional firm.” </p> <p>FisherBroyles is a full-service, national firm, with about 270 lawyers in 22 U.S. cities, plus a London office that it <a href="https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2020/02/12/fisherbroyles-goes-international-opens-london-office/">added</a> in February. Each of the firm’s partners has several years of experience, and most of them work remotely, even when there isn’t a pandemic.</p> <p>Overhead is lower than for a traditional firm, since FisherBroyles isn’t paying for expensive office space and associates. <a href="https://www.theemployerhandbook.com/amp/fisherbroylesoneyearanniversary/">According to the firm</a>, that means lawyers can charge clients lower rates and still make more money. There are no billing targets and if a lawyer wants office space or a secretary, they pay that cost themselves.</p> <p>“It’s a great business model—and a real paradigm shift in how quality legal services can be delivered to clients,” Counts said.</p> <p>“FisherBroyles is perfect for someone like me,” added Counts, who had her own firm before joining Duane Morris in 2015. “I typically originate my own business, but there are opportunities for collaboration with other lawyers.” </p> <p>With Counts, FisherBroyles lists a dozen attorneys on its website practicing First Amendment law.</p> <p>Counts said she joined Duane Morris five years ago after running her own firm for 15 years with the aim of building a national media law practice—and succeeded. “I did not make this move lightly,” she said. “I’m forever grateful to Duane Morris for that.” </p> <p>She’s recently handled cases in Michigan, Connecticut and other states for Nexstar Media Group, the largest television station operator in the country. Currently, Counts is lead counsel for Mainely Media in a Maine libel case.</p> <p>In one Connecticut case, <em>Georgetti v. Nexstar</em>, she won a motion to dismiss for Nexstar, based on the state’s anti-SLAPP law, after a courthouse marshal sued one of its journalists and TV stations over their reporting of his alleged sexual misconduct. </p> <p>Counts is an experienced litigator, but she said her passion is media law. “Even if I don’t agree with the speech I feel that I am defending something important,” she said. “We don’t want First Amendment statements about government officials or investigations to be chilled.” </p> <p>She handles various aspects of media law, from pre-publication review to defending media companies in libel, invasion of privacy and other newsgathering torts. She also represents individuals in First Amendment and civil rights cases—including many on social media.</p> <p>In one high-profile Georgia case, Counts in October <a href="https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2019/10/09/arrest-over-facebook-post-ends-in-100k-settlement-and-deputies-public-apology/">won a $100,000 settlement and a public apology</a> for Anne King. Five years earlier, King had made a seemingly benign complaint on Facebook about her ex-husband that caused her to be arrested and charged with criminal defamation—a charge that was ruled unconstitutional in Georgia in 1982. </p> <p>King’s post was the following; “Feeling overwhelmed. That moment when everyone in your house has the flu and you ask your kid’s dad to get them (not me) more Motrin and Tylenol and he refuses.”</p> <p>Her ex-husband, a sheriff’s deputy in Tennille, Georgia, took offense, even after she complied with his request to remove the post, and had her arrested. </p> <p>“The fact that it was a public settlement and a public apology was crucial for Ms. King,” Counts told the Daily Report in October, because of “the value of deterring other police officers in the future from displaying the same abuse of power.” </p> <p>Counts serves on the boards of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the ABA Forum on Communications Law. She is co-chair of the Media Law Resource Center’s Newsgathering Committee. She has also taught media law classes to both journalism and law students at Emory University. </p></div>]]></description> <author>web@transmediaweb.com (Super User)</author> <category>Featured</category> <category>blog</category> <pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2020 11:28:37 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>Chambers USA includes Cynthia Counts in Top Ranked lawyers listings</title> <link>https://www.lawcounts.com/9-blog/97-chambers-usa-includes-cynthia-counts-in-2017-notable-lawyers-listings</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.lawcounts.com/9-blog/97-chambers-usa-includes-cynthia-counts-in-2017-notable-lawyers-listings</guid> <description><![CDATA[<div class="feed-description"><p><span>Cynthia Counts, a partner at Fisher Broyles, LLP in Atlanta, has been included as a ranked practitioner for Chambers USA, an editorially driven ranking of the the world's best lawyers. Chambers, based in London, has a staff of more than 170 editorial researchers and has been ranking lawyers in different practice areas since 1990. Its directories are widely regarded as the most independent evaluations of attorneys and the respect they have garnered from clients and among their peers. </span></p> <p>Chambers reported: "Cynthia Counts is highly regarded for her impressive media law practice. She represents clients in cases concerning libel, copyright and First Amendment issues, among others.</p> <p><span><em>"She has a good reputation and is thought of as being the </em><em>person</em><em> to go to for important First Amendment matters."</em> </span></p></div>]]></description> <author>web@transmediaweb.com (Super User)</author> <category>Featured</category> <category>blog</category> <pubDate>Mon, 20 Nov 2017 19:04:05 +0000</pubDate> </item> </channel> </rss>