Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
APRIL 28, 2015 –Davis Wright Tremaine LLP congratulates, The Wall Street Journal, which was honored last week with a Pulitzer Prize in the Investigative Reporting category for its series, "Medicare Unmasked."
The Pulitzer Committee called the series "a pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers."
The series was the direct result of a 3-year struggle by the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones, to vacate a nationwide blanket injunction obtained decades ago by the American Medical Association, which prohibited the federal government from releasing information on payments individual doctors receive under the $77 billion Medicare program.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida finally vacated that order in 2013. Davis Wright Tremaine was pleased to serve as Dow Jones lead counsel in the effort, details of which were described in the June 2013 issue of DWT’s MediaLaw Monitor.
In addition to the Pulitzer, the Journal series was also recently named the winner of the Freedom of Information award by Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The judges stated: “With a sustained, aggressive legal battle, staff at the Wall Street Journal pried open an opaque—and often times corrupt—pillar of the U.S. health system.”
Laura Handman, a partner in Davis Wright Tremaine’s Washington, D.C. office, was the lead attorney on the matter, assisted by Rory Eastburg (now with NBC Universal), Adam Greene, and Ronnie London.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a national law firm with approximately 500 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm’s media and First Amendment team is widely recognized as one of the leading groups in the country. For more information, visit www.dwt.com.