Senior Newsroom Attorney, Lawyers for Reporters

POSITION: Senior Newsroom Attorney, Lawyers for Reporters

DEPARTMENT: The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice

POSITION REPORTS TO: Managing Attorney, Lawyers for Reporters

LOCATION: Hybrid

FLSA STATUS : Exempt

The Vance Center advances global justice by engaging lawyers across borders to support civil society and an ethically active legal profession. The Vance Center is a unique collaboration of international lawyers catalyzing public interest innovation. A non-profit program of the New York City Bar Association, we bring together leading law firms and other partners worldwide to pioneer international justice initiatives and provide pro bono legal representation to social justice NGOs. In 2025, the Vance Center represented 193 clients in 300 pro bono matters, collaborating as co-counsel with more than 1450 lawyers from 150 law firms across 60 countries.

PROGRAM FUNCTION

The Vance Center launched Lawyers for Reporters in March 2020 to provide pro bono legal representation to early-stage local journalism and other reporting organizations in the United States. Since our establishment in 2020, we have assisted more than 440 clients in 46 states and D.C.

LFR’s clients include creators and publishers of local and public interest reporting in various media and formats, investigative, advocacy, and academic publishers of public interest content, and journalism support organizations. LFR provides a broad range of advice and representation that news and public interest reporting entities need -- from inception through establishment as functioning reporting entities. Services include corporate, transactional, employment, and regulatory compliance advice, as well as newsroom-related advice. It also helps clients apply for tax-exempt nonprofit status and advises them about fiscal sponsorship.

Based on the successful model of the Vance Center, LFR works in tandem with lawyers at dozens of law firms around the country in various areas of expertise, all engaged on a pro bono basis. Since its launch, more than 300 lawyers from dozens of law firms have co-counseled with LFR to serve clients.

Among its other activities, Lawyers for Reporters serves as the US/Canada coordinator for Reporters Shield, an international membership program established in 2023 that protects participating investigative reporting organizations from SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). In this role, working closely with Reporters Shield staff, LFR coordinates the engagement, monitoring and compensation of paid legal counsel to represent Reporters Shield members in the United States and Canada against libel and related legal threats and claims.

LFR recently launched an initiative to assist select clients with legal counsel throughout the course of extensive investigations. In this role, an LFR attorney with deep experience will counsel newsrooms in the areas of source protection, newsgathering, access to public meetings and public records, crafting requests for comment/no surprises communications, prepublication review of stories, and responding to demands for retraction.

JOB FUNCTION

The Senior Newsroom Attorney, reporting to the Managing Attorney, will collaborate with a team of six legal professionals to counsel domestic independent news publishers. We seek an attorney with demonstrable experience counseling and representing newsrooms and investigative journalists who can assume primary responsibility for such counsel and representation in these areas.

Areas of responsibility include, but are not limited to:

• Taking a leading role as counsel in the investigations support initiative.
• Determining newsroom clients’ legal needs.
• Providing clients with legal advice and representation in newsgathering and source protection.
• Collaborating with editors overseeing investigative news gathering and reporting.
• Conducting prepublication review of requests for comment and stories, including review of stories for established clients not participating in the investigations program.
• Advising clients who receive requests for retractions and litigation threats, including claims for copyright infringement.
• Reviewing and advising clients on freelance contributor agreements, licenses, and co-publishing agreements.
• Co-counseling with pro bono counsel in private practice on behalf of clients.

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• J.D. degree from an accredited U.S. law school, with additional education or specialization in media law and/or journalism a plus.
• Admission to practice law in one or more states, preferably in CA, NY, IL, TX and/or FL.
• Minimum of 15 years’ experience either in-house or in an outside law firm or legal organization providing legal counsel to newsrooms that conduct and publish stories pertaining to matters of public concern, including applying laws related to newsgathering, source protection, cybersecurity, access to public records and meetings and to judicial proceedings, as well as copyright, libel and invasion of privacy. Specific experience counseling nonprofit newsrooms a plus.
• Experience supervising and working collaboratively with junior and peer attorneys and legal staff, as well as within a larger organization with various related missions, including setting internal policies, procedures, and standardized documentation for the program.
• Experience drafting and reviewing relevant legal documents, including licenses and freelance contribution agreements, public access requests, takedown demands, responses to subpoenas, copyright infringement claims, and libel threats, and court filings such as amicus curiae submission.
• The ability to work independently, present well in writing and orally, and to manage and supervise multiple short and long-term tasks simultaneously, as well as evaluate the performance of, and provide mentoring and counseling to, staff reports.
• A commitment to promoting a free and robust independent press.
• Experience and confidence in making public presentations, in person and virtually, regarding media law issues and practice areas, at conferences and workshops, as well as media appearances, supported by a communications team.
• Familiarity with fundraising, including conceiving and pitching programmatic ideas, developing and drafting grant proposals and budgets, meeting with current and potential donors, and preparing and reviewing donor reports, all in coordination with a development team.
• Authorization to work in the United States.
• Ability to develop and/or work with professional networks and/or other forms of collaboration.

Additional ExperiencePreferred

• Experience with pro bono practice and general knowledge of the U.S. legal market.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are not able to sponsor visas for this position.

This position will have a hybrid work schedule, with three (3) in-person days required per week. This role’s schedule is Monday-Friday, 9:30AM-5:30PM.

The annualized salary for this role is in the $175,000 to $180,000 range based on experience. We provide a competitive benefits package including generous paid time off (vacation, personal, sick time, holidays including office closure during the last week of the calendar year through New Year’s Day, day off for volunteer work, extra time off in summer), choice of medical plans, dental, vision, eligible for 401K when employment begins (with discretionary employer match up to 3% after 1 year), life insurance, commuter benefits program, Employee Assistance Program, short-term/long-term disability insurance, free New York City Bar Association membership and CLE programs, employee discounts, and more!

We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds and unique experiences to apply. We welcome diversity of all kinds. It is the policy of the City Bar to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, creed, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, gender (including gender identity), sexual orientation, disability, arrest or conviction record, pregnancy, credit history, salary history, caregiver status, marital status, partnership status, or status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and sex offenses, religion, sex, genetic information, military status, unemployment status or any other characteristic as protected by law. With regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act and other related laws, the organization will endeavor to make reasonable accommodations for persons due to their religious beliefs, disability, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition or because the individual was a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking.

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