Tony Mauro, longtime U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for The National Law Journal. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

The American Lawyer and ALM are pleased to announce the first winners of the Tony Mauro Media Lawyer Award, established this year to honor attorneys who zealously advocate for freedom of the press.

The winners are Laura Prather, a partner at Haynes and Boone in Austin, for her tireless and successful efforts advocating for legislation to strengthen free press and speech rights in Texas; and CNN's legal department, led by David Vigilante and Drew Shenkman, for its day-to-day work to protect the rights of the journalists of CNN and beyond.

Laura Prather

"We had so many worthy submissions for possible nominees that we decided to give two awards, rather than one," said Tony Mauro, ALM's longtime Supreme Court correspondent. "It was heartwarming and uplifting to review the work of so many lawyers who have devoted themselves to protect First Amendment rights on behalf of the press and the public. What they do is crucial to our democracy."

The award was created to mark Mauro's recent retirement. In addition to covering the U.S. Supreme Court for the last 40 years, Mauro has been a long-serving member of the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In 2011, he was admitted into the Freedom of Information Hall of Fame, recognizing his work promoting greater public access to the courts and other institutions.

The awards will be given to the recipients at the annual American Lawyer Industry Award gala in New York City on Dec. 4.

The choice of Laura Prather reflects the importance of free press advocacy at the state level through legislation and litigation, and the award for CNN's legal department highlights the perhaps under-publicized work of in-house counsel in the First Amendment arena.

"Laura has changed the legal landscape for free speech rights in Texas," said George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center, who nominated Prather. Prather was instrumental in the passage of important pieces of legislation involving reporters' privilege, defamation and SLAPP litigation. The latter refers to "strategic lawsuit against public participation," baseless but costly lawsuits aimed at intimidating and silencing journalists and members of the public who speak out.

CNN Center in Atlanta.

The Texas anti-SLAPP law, which Prather helped create in 2011, was under attack by the Texas legislature in 2019. Prather mobilized a coalition of media outlets and public interest organizations to support the law, and a reform measure was passed that "preserves the integrity" of the law, and "in some instances, makes its protections stronger," according to Freeman.

CNN's legal department, led by Vigilante and Shenkman, was instrumental in the high-profile case of CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta. His "hard pass," necessary for access to the White House, was revoked because of President Donald Trump's displeasure over Acosta's questioning and behavior. Working with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Theodore Boutrous Jr., the in-house team developed a "comprehensive strategy to hold the administration to account," according to HBO senior vice president Stephanie Abrutyn, who nominated the CNN team. The strategy included an unusual lawsuit against the Trump administration. Last November, Acosta's pass was restored, and the lawsuit was dropped.

But that was not the CNN legal team's only recent action on behalf of CNN's journalists. The legal department manages "a multitude of access and freedom of information cases around the country," Abrutyn wrote. "Whether supporting physical security efforts or making sure the journalists know the lawyers have their backs if something goes wrong, CNN's in-house lawyers are always there."