Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partner Martin Reeder and Ballard Spahr partner Charles (Chuck) Tobin for winning a series of trial and appellate court victories on behalf of CNN in a high-stakes litigation. Their clients, CNN, Anderson Cooper, and other media personnel, were sued in the case by a pediatric heart surgeon who asserted defamation claims arising from CNN’s news coverage concerning certain infant deaths at St. Mary’s Hospital. Martin and Chuck previously obtained a final summary judgment dismissing Anderson Cooper from the case. They subsequently eliminated the plaintiff’s punitive damages claim against CNN on appeal and have now obtained another final summary judgment on behalf of CNN and all other remaining defendants. After more than 7 years of litigation, 70 depositions, and extensive trial and appellate proceedings, Martin and Chuck ultimately obtained total victory for all their media clients in this case. The plaintiff was represented by Clare Locke, the same firm that recently secured a $786.5 million dollar settlement from Fox News on behalf of Dominion Voting. Congratulations to Martin and Chuck for prevailing in this hard-fought, high-stakes case.
