The Volokh Conspiracy

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Free Speech

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Faculty Legal Defense Fund

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This was announced last month, but I'm afraid I somehow missed that at the time. Here's the story from Ron Collins' First Amendment News:

Ronald London, a highly skilled and savvy First Amendment lawyer with years of experience, has left Davis Wright Tremaine to head FIRE's Faculty Legal Defense Fund.

Among other things, Mr. London, a Georgetown Law graduate, worked with Robert Corn-Revere for over two decades in litigating a variety of important free expression cases. For example, they worked together on Motion Picture Association of America v. FCC (2002), where the D.C. Circuit struck down the FCC's video description rules, and also on the indecency cases where they represented the petitioners in Fox Television Stations v. FCC and in CBS Corp. v. FCC. Additionally, they were counsel for the petitioners in Woodhull Freedom Foundation v. United States (2020) and Pen America v. Trump (2021).

London's law firm practice included representing clients in First Amendment, media and communications, privacy, advertising, and accessibility cases. He also represented online and traditional media providers in matters before federal and state courts, as well as the FCC and FTC, regarding general regulatory compliance….

FIRE is also looking for experienced local lawyers who can help, and will be able to pay them. (The Fund is being supported by the Stanton Foundation.) And it has set up a hotline, (254) 500-FLDF (3533), for faculty who need help, though they can also submit materials via FIRE's web site.

FIRE has of course long supported students, including through litigation; now it's even better equipped to support faculty as well.