Forging a Career in Open Records Law: On Record PR
Florida Public Records Laws: Avoiding Pitfalls and Mistakes that Lead to Expensive and Costly Litigation
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts Update, Breaking News from California
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 296: Listen and Learn -- Hearsay Exceptions: Government and Business Records
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 132: Listen and Learn -- Hearsay Exceptions: Government and Business Records
[WEBINAR] Exploring the CPRA’s Investigatory Privilege
[WEBINAR] Update: Social Media Meets the First Amendment
[WEBINAR] Social Media Meets the First Amendment
[WEBINAR] Public Records Act - Taming the Email Tiger
[WEBINAR] The Public Records Act - Taming the Email Tiger
Can Virginia Block Non-Residents from FOIA Requests? Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments
On Monday, June 5, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 2930/Assembly Bill 4045 into law, modifying the process of requesting and obtaining public records, and significantly altering the rights of those who...more
Section 119, Florida Statutes, called the “Sunshine Law”, was designed to hold government accountable and make the decision-making process transparent and accessible to taxpayers. In furtherance of that goal, government...more
This month, Courthouse News Service (CNS) filed suit against several clerks of the Superior Court of California for allegedly violating the First Amendment rights of members of the press by restricting access to newly filed...more
PRE-DECISIONAL & DELIBERATIVE PROCESS UPDATES U.S. - SUPREME COURT DECISION - On March 4, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in United States Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club addressing the “deliberative...more
In State Attorney’s Office of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, et al., v. Cable News Network, Inc., et al., the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that the School Board of Broward County is not required to pay the Media...more
On July 25, 2018, the Third District Court of Appeal published Nat’l Conference of Black Mayors v. Chico Community Publishing, Inc. , __ Cal.App.5th __ (2018) (Case No. C083956), a case of first impression addressing whether...more
A Public Records Act requester is not entitled to attorneys’ fees from a public agency when a third party intervenes to stop the agency from producing the requested records, a California appellate court recently ruled. Third...more
Reversing a lower court, a California appellate court found that a newspaper could recover attorneys’ fees under the Private Attorney General Statute in a Public Records Act suit. The Second District Court of Appeal decision...more
New York just made fighting denied Freedom of Information Law requests a bit more appealing. On December 13, 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed AO2750-A into law amending the attorney’s fees provisions of New York’s...more
Champions of government oversight notched a significant win this week as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation strengthening that state's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). ...more
The City of San Diego was ordered by an appellate court to pay attorney’s fees to a Public Records Act requestor-plaintiff — despite having produced all requested records, and the trial court having dismissed a PRA writ...more
The California Public Records Act provides for public inspection of records maintained by state and local agencies and declares that “access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and...more
When the California legislature enacted the Public Records Act, it declared “access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state”. Gov’t...more
Florida public agencies have made tremendous efforts in training their staff to comply with their responsibility under the Florida Public Records Act. Unfortunately, one technical mistake has turned this law into the Lawyer’s...more
Recent amendments to Florida's Public Records Act both clarify and alter a contractor's responsibilities under the Act. The 2016 amendment to the Act applies to contracts with a public agency entered into or amended on or...more
Michigan's Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") has, from its enactment, expressly provided that a public body must respond to a proper request for documents within five business days of when the request is received (subject...more
Massachusetts has its first significant update of its Public Records Law since the 1970s with promises of swifter responses and real consequences including attorney’s fees for failures to comply. In August 2015, we...more
Last week the Massachusetts Legislature adopted significant changes to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. These changes apply to all state agencies and municipalities and in theory are designed to improve the disclosure of...more
Chapter 119, Florida Statutes (“the Act”), requires that every “agency” make its records available for inspection and copying to any member of the public who makes a request. Either refusal to provide such access or an...more
A California city cannot hold one of its citizens liable for copyright infringement for using clips of city council meetings in his critical YouTube videos, a federal judge has ruled. The August 20, 2015, Order in City of...more
The Washington Supreme Court has long endorsed a liberal construction of the Washington Public Records Act (PRA), calling it a “strongly-worded mandate for broad disclosure of public records.” Hearst Corp. v. Hoppe, 90 Wn.2d...more
In a scathing opinion issued on December 12, 2014, the Fifth District Court of Appeal took Orange County and its attorney to task for its appeal of an order awarding attorneys fees in connection with the County’s violation of...more