Selina MacLaren
Associate
Selina MacLaren helps media clients create and defend their content. An advocate of the First Amendment, she brings to the table experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors, and on both coasts. Her practice covers a wide range of speech- and press-related litigation, including defamation, copyright, Section 230, reporters’ subpoena defense, idea submission claims, internet speech, prior restraint, UK press law, and SLAPP. She is a part of DWT’s team working in partnership with the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund to assist individuals who come forward with accounts of sexual assault and want to mitigate their risk of facing defamation claims. In addition, she works to promote government transparency and aid news reporters in developing their stories by using FOIA, access litigation, emergency petitions, and advocacy to make public records more readily available.
Selina speaks and writes publicly on First Amendment trends and the rich and evolving area of law where internet and speech intersect. Before joining DWT, Selina was the Stanton Foundation Free Press/National Security Legal Fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington, D.C., where she focused on national security, data privacy, and free expression issues, including “leaks” to the news media. She also has experience in commercial and white-collar litigation.
Practice Highlights
Libel defense
Public records and access lawsuits
Amicus
Admitted to Practice
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California, 2015
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U.S. District Court Central District of California
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U.S. District Court District of Arizona
Education
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J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 2014
- Comments Editor, Chicago Journal of International Law
- Rubenstein Scholar
- Research assistant for Professor Geoffrey Stone
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B.A., Political Economy, University of California, Berkeley, 2010, with highest honors
- Phi Beta Kappa
Languages
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Danish
Memberships & Affiliations
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- Adjunct Professor of Advanced Media Law, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
- Adjunct Professor of Advanced Media Law, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Background
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- Stanton National Security and Free Press Legal Fellow, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Washington, D.C., 2016-2018
- Associate, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, Washington, D.C., 2014-2016