Legal Hotline

Hotline attorneys are available to participants’ local attorneys and will provide specific legal advice on media law issues. The same service is available to your attorney if your newspaper is part of a chain or group with a local or out-of-state general counsel.

Your newspaper needs the Legal Hotline if you or anyone on your staff has ever had a question about legal issues. A few examples are:

• open records
• libel
• public notice
• postal regulations
• employment matters

Hotline attorneys will promptly respond to your call or email.  A Hotline attorney will review any articles, letters, ads or other documents involved in your issue and will discuss the exact nature of your legal question or concern. The attorney will conduct any necessary research and will provide you with an explanation of the law on your issue, outlining your options for proceeding. When a brief consultation with a Hotline attorney is not adequate, the participant has the option to retain the Hotline attorney for direct representation. The Hotline attorney will provide a detailed outline of probable costs of each representation. If direct representation is required, the attorney will bill the participant directly for the additional services provided.

Any employee of a participating newspaper may contact the Hotline attorneys. It is up to the newspaper to decide which employees will be authorized to contact the attorneys. There is no limit to the number of consultations per year.

One call may repay your Legal Hotline fee for the entire year! Each newspaper pays an annual fee, based on the newspaper’s circulation, to participate in the Hotline. Monthly fees start at around $23 per month. Discounts are available for groups and chains.