Jay Ward Brown

Partner

Washington, DC

Tel 202.508.1136
Fax 202.661.2299

Jay Ward Brown has been representing news and entertainment companies for three decades. He has litigated defamation, privacy, copyright, subpoena, and access matters in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state appellate courts, and trial courts around the country. Jay also regularly serves as clearance counsel for producers of documentary films and TV series—including Oscar-, Emmy-, and Dupont-Columbia Award-winning productions—and provides legal vetting of stories for newspaper and magazine publishers.

Jay has been described in Chambers USA as “a lawyer who delivers continuously high-quality service,” possesses “impeccable analysis and impressive writing skills,” and has a “friendly, approachable and attentive demeanor [that] sees clients wanting to use him exclusively.”

Services

Experience

Representative Matters

Successfully defended The New York Times in an action brought by a prominent cancer researcher who headed a department at a major university and who claimed that a news report about alleged problems with research papers he authored or co-authored defamed him. The district court granted The Times’s motion to dismiss the Complaint and the Sixth Circuit affirmed. Jay argued for The Times in both courts.
With a team of Ballard colleagues, obtained an order denying the City of Chicago’s emergency application to prevent Chicago television station WBBM/CBS2 from broadcasting on the evening news a report about allegations of police misconduct at issue in civil lawsuits against the city that included police bodycam footage of one incident that had not previously been made public. The Mayor of Chicago later apologized for the City’s attempt to suppress the news reporting at issue.
Successfully defended Netflix, Apple, and Amazon in a copyright infringement action brought by the owners of rights to a song—portions of which were included in a documentary film about a performer who used the song in one of her live burlesque performances. After the district court dismissed the complaint on the basis of fair use, the Second Circuit unanimously affirmed.

Defended CBS in a defamation action arising from a news report on its New York television station about a federal raid on an adult entertainment club in New York. The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of three individual plaintiffs’ defamation claims against CBS. The court held that the news report was not “of and concerning” the three plaintiffs, allegedly managers of the club, as none were mentioned or otherwise reasonably understood as referred to in the report.
Twice successfully defended former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer against claims for defamation, most recently in a suit filed in New York state court by former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg based on comments Spitzer made during a television interview and in a book about proceedings brought against AIG when he was Attorney General. After the trial court dismissed many of the claims on Spitzer’s preliminary motion, Spitzer was granted summary judgment on the remaining claims because of Greenberg’s inability under the First Amendment to prove actual malice. Earlier, Jay represented Spitzer and Slate.com in a defamation action filed by a former Marsh insurance executive arising out of a piece of commentary by Spitzer regarding a series of criminal prosecutions he had initiated while Attorney General. The district court granted the defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings, and dismissal of the action was affirmed on appeal.
Successfully defended Washington City Paper in the defamation action filed by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder over a profile titled “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder.” After City Paper filed its motion to dismiss invoking the District of Columbia’s then-brand new anti-SLAPP statute, Snyder voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit.
Served as lead counsel for a coalition of national news organizations that successfully moved several times to intervene and to obtain access to the proceedings and record during the first September 11-related criminal prosecution. Among other successes, Jay persuaded the Fourth Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the trial judge to provide same-day access to trial exhibits.
Served as lead counsel for Clear Channel Communications and its sports journalist Paul Finebaum in the Alabama Supreme Court in a defamation action brought by another sports broadcaster who claimed that Finebaum had, on air, implied he was homosexual. After Jay first persuaded the Supreme Court to reverse its initial refusal to hear an interlocutory appeal from a trial court order denying summary judgment, the court reversed on the merits and rendered judgment for Finebaum.
With his colleague Lee Levine, successfully represented the media defendants in Bartnicki v. Vopper, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case arising out of the radio broadcast of a tape recording of a cell phone conversation between two teachers’ union officials. The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims under the federal wiretap act and reaffirmed the principle that the press cannot be held liable for publishing truthful information about a matter of public concern absent a governmental interest of the highest order, at least where it played no role in the source’s unlawful acquisition of the information.

Professional Highlights

Professional Activities

Trial Law Institute, Member

Diversity Law Institute, Member

Media Law Resource Center, Defense Counsel Section, past President

Recognition & Accomplishments

The Legal 500, Media and Entertainment: Litigation, 2020-2024

The Best Lawyers in America, Media Law (Washington, D.C.), 2013-2025, First Amendment Litigation (Washington, D.C.), 2022-2025, First Amendment Law (Washington, D.C.) 2023-2025; "Lawyer of the Year," Media Law (Washington, D.C.), 2014

Chambers USA, ranked nationwide for media & entertainment law and First Amendment litigation, and in Washington, D.C., for media & entertainment law

Publications

Co-author, Newsgathering and the Law, Lexis Law Publishing, 6th ed., 2023

“The Report’s Privilege in the Third Circuit,” The Reporter’s Privilege Compendium, 2023

Co-author, "Nevada Court Grants Anti-SLAPP Motion by the Associated Press on Fair Report Grounds," MLRC MediaLawLetter, August 2018

Related Insights

Credentials

Education

New York University School of Law (J.D. 1992, cum laude)
Fellow, Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (M.S. 1985, with honors)

University of Minnesota at Minneapolis (B.A. 1984)
Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

District of Columbia

Maryland

New York

Virginia

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of New York

U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia