Lindsey B. Cherner

Associate

Lindsey Cherner is a member of DWT's media, entertainment, and intellectual property group where she represents and defends media and entertainment companies in content-related litigation disputes involving the First Amendment, defamation, records and courtroom access, privacy and data protection, intellectual property, and copyright claims. She also maintains a robust counseling and pre-publication review practice in which she mitigates legal risk for publishers, reporters, and content creators across all media formats and platforms on a 24/7 news cycle, including for the New York Post, Sports Illustrated, Vice, The City, and Firing Line.

Prior to law school, Lindsey majored in journalism and worked as a life and arts reporter for multiple daily and weekly news publications in Texas and New York, including the Houston Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman, and the New York Observer.

Practice Highlights

Social media host defenses

Significant international experience defending social media companies against a variety of defamation, intellectual property, and data processing claims under Article 14 of the e-Commerce Directive, the GDPR, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Dershowitz v. Netflix

Successfully defended Netflix Inc., RadicalMedia LLC, Leroy & Morton Productions LLC, Lisa Bryant, and Joe Berlinger in a defamation and breach of contract action brought by famed legal scholar Alan Dershowitz, who asserted that he was defamed in the Netflix series "Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich" and that the producers breached various alleged promises. The case was settled. (S.D. Fla. 2022).

Portnoy v. Insider, Inc., et al

Defamation action against Insider arising out of articles reporting on Plaintiff David Portnoy's "rough sex" with young women and filming the encounters. The District of Massachusetts granted the motion to dismiss in full, and Portnoy withdrew his appeal to the First Circuit. (D. Mass. 2022)

Flynn v. CNN

Defending CNN in a defamation and false light action brought by four of General Michael Flynn's family members in New York and Florida, who asserted they were defamed and/or placed in a false light in CNN's Report "Inside A Gathering of QAnon Followers." (S.D.N.Y; M.D. Fla. Ongoing).

Williams v. Netflix

Defending Netflix in a defamation action filed by a former friend of New York City con artist Anna Sorokin, who is depicted in the docuseries "Inventing Anna." (D. Del. Ongoing)

NYP Holdings Inc. & McCarthy v. NYPD

Representing Craig McCarthy and NYP Holdings, the publisher of the New York Post, in an Article 78 proceeding against the New York City Police Department challenging their repeated failures to respond to requests for police disciplinary records brought under the New York Freedom of Information Law post repeal of N.Y, Civil Rights Law § 50-a, which previously shielded all disciplinary records of police officers from public view. The New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of Petitioners, and the case is on appeal where Petitioners seek their attorney's fees. (1st Dep't Ongoing).

*Denotes an attorney's experience prior to joining Davis Wright Tremaine

Admitted to Practice

New York, 2018
Texas, 2020
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2018
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2018
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2019

Education

J.D., Columbia Law School, 2017
- Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
- Executive Articles Editor, Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts
- Entertainment Arts & Sports Law Society
B.J., University of Texas at Austin, 2014
- Dean's List
- Staff Writer, Life & Arts – The Daily Texan

Professional Recognition

- Social Justice and Rule of Law Award, Financial Times FT Innovative Lawyers North America, 2020
- Pro Bono Award of Excellence, White & Case LLP, 2018-2021

Background

- Litigation Associate, 2017-2021; Summer Associate, 2016 – White & Case LLP, New York
- Judicial Extern, Hon. Pamela K. Chen, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2016
- Legal Intern, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., 2015

06.28.17

Publications

"None of Your Business: Protecting the Right to Write Anonymous Business Reviews Online," Colum. J.L. & Arts Read More