No Liability For Blogging Attorney

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of claims brought against a law firm that had represented a co-worker of the plaintiff.

The plaintiff had given information to the co-worker (Ren) who in turn provided it his attorneys.

In July of 2013, Ren and other co-employees of appellant filed suit against Phoenix, alleging that they had suffered retaliation for their role in helping appellant. They retained the law firm Bernabei & Wachtel, PLLC (“B&W”), to represent them, and appellant alleges that Ren subsequently gave B&W a copy of the video. B&W issued a press release in Chinese and English that resulted in multiple news stories.

Appellee Lynne Bernabei, a lawyer in the B&W law firm, allegedly used appellant’s full name on her micro-blog, and also conducted an interview on a website that included appellant’s full name in the text of the interview, as well as a copy of the video depicting appellant’s workplace incident. Appellees also allegedly released the video to local television stations, and posted it for public consumption on YouTube. Appellant learned of the video’s publication when friends, colleagues and members of the public began to ask about the video and her association with it; appellant claims that as a result she suffered severe emotional distress.

Retaining counsel again in September of 2013, appellant filed suit against the instant defendants, alleging four counts of invasion of privacy, two counts of copyright infringement, and additional counts of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The copyright infringement counts were dismissed early in the litigation, and all of the remaining counts (for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress) were dismissed following defendants’ motion to dismiss, and a subsequent motion for partial reconsideration. This appeal followed.

The court rejected a variety of causes of actions such as invasion of privacy, misappropriation, false light and infliction of emotional distress. 

The author of the opinion – Senior Judge William Pryor – is, in my opinion,  the greatest jurist I have ever known. (Mike Frisch)