Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
NOVEMBER 27, 2018 – Elizabeth McNamara, a partner in the New York office of Davis Wright Tremaine, has been named a 2018 “MVP of the Year” in Media & Entertainment by Law360. She was one of just four lawyers nationwide to receive the honor.
Ms. McNamara was recognized for her successful work on behalf of numerous clients this past year. For example:
- In the face of ongoing legal threats by President Trump against authors and publishers, Ms. McNamara stepped into the spotlight as a nationally celebrated voice of the First Amendment. Her widely reprinted retorts to threats from Trump’s legal team were hailed as models of free speech advocacy and have successfully deterred litigation.
- On behalf of Hachette Book Group and Simon & Schuster, and their respective authors, Ms. McNamara won dismissal of copyright infringement lawsuits targeting two widely celebrated, debut novels: “The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach and “The Light Between Oceans” by M.L. Stedman.
- Ms. McNamara has successfully defended Penguin Random House and novelist Emma Cline in a high-profile copyright infringement matter arising from Ms. Cline’s 2016 best-seller “The Girls.”
- In an important First Circuit case regarding jurisdiction in the age of digital publishing, Ms. McNamara successfully defended financial newsletter The Deal from defamation claims filed by an Arizona broker-dealer.
Ms. McNamara is widely recognized as one of the country’s top lawyers in the area of media and intellectual property law. She has been at the center of many of the biggest cases in the field over more than three decades.
Her previous honors include being named a New York “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers each of the past three years and receiving a “Band 1” ranking for First Amendment Litigation (New York) and Media & Entertainment: First Amendment (Nationwide) from Chambers USA each of the past seven years. Last year she was named a “Woman of Influence” by the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law.
This is the third consecutive year that Law360 has awarded the MVP honor to a media lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a national law firm with more than 550 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm’s media and First Amendment team is regularly recognized as the leading such practice group in the country. For more information, visit www.dwt.com.