Litigation - First Amendment Media Law
Michael J. Grygiel
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2007 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Michael J. Grygiel focuses his practice on national media law, with an emphasis on defending news and entertainment organizations from news-gathering and publication-related claims, including defamation, copyright infringement and invasion of privacy matters. He also represents media companies and other clients in complex Lanham Act, trade secret and Internet-related litigation and counseling.
Michael has served as lead trial counsel to media and other clients in bet-the-company litigation, including a nationally watched news aggregation copyright case and a trade libel action against a major medical device manufacturing company. He is experienced representing the press in a wide range of matters involving applications for access to civil and criminal court proceedings and records, and freedom of information law cases in both federal and state courts.
Prior to Michael’s career in private practice, he was the Director of the Arthur Levitt Public Policy Center at Hamilton College, where his teaching concentrated on First Amendment and constitutional law.
Overview
- Temple University, J.D., graduated 1983
- Hamilton College, BA, graduated 1979
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
- New York, New York State Bar Association
- Vermont, Vermont Bar Association
- Albany County Bar Association - Member
- New York State Bar Association, Media Law Committee - Chair
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
- New York, New York State Bar Association
- Vermont, Vermont Bar Association
- Albany County Bar Association - Member
- New York State Bar Association, Media Law Committee - Chair
- Temple University, J.D., graduated 1983
- Hamilton College, BA, graduated 1979
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Litigation - First Amendment
- Media Law
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television
Special Focus:
- Advertising
- Copyright
- Defendants
- Litigation
- Litigation
- Publishing
- Trademark
Awards:
- AV Preeminent® 5.0 out of 5
- Super Lawyers magazine, New York Super Lawyers, 2007-2013
News & Media
Case History
Cases
- Anslow v. Clear Channel Communications, Inc., 32 Media Law Reporter 2438 (2003)
Lead defense counsel in dismissal of defamation case in which court recognized that radio talk show program was equivalent of public forum because dedicated to robust, unrestrained and often hyperbolic exchange of viewpoints by listeners.
- Newsday, Inc. v. New York State Dept. of Transportation, 5 N.Y.3d 84 (2005)
FOIL access to federally mandated hazardous roadway intersection and priority repair records maintained by NYS Dept. of Transportation.
- Schiller America, Inc. v. Welch Allyn, Inc. (S.D. Fla. 2006)
Lead defense counsel in significant trade libel/false advertising case involving functional characteristics of medical diagnostic device.
- Lugosch v. Congel, 435 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2006)
Represented newspaper in Second Circuit case establishing First Amendment right of press and public access to judicial documents in civil cases.
- GateHouse Media Massachusetts I, Inc. v. New York Times Co.
Represented plaintiff in copyright infringement matter based on website news aggregation practices, an emerging issue in the law.
- Other Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
- Areas of Concentration
- Media and First Amendment law
- Defense of defamation actions
- Complex commercial litigation
- Digital rights management
- Copyright infringement - litigation and counseling
- Advertising and Lanham Act matters
- Invasion of privacy and news-gathering claims
- Trade secret litigation and counseling
- Internet litigation and counseling
- Reporter’s and newsroom subpoenas
- Pre-publication review
- Litigation and counseling regarding social networks, blogs and user-generated content
- Anonymous/pseudonymous postings to news websites
- Right of publicity litigation and counseling
- "Hot news" misappropriation litigation and counseling
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act service-provider liability limitations
- Press and public access to court proceedings and judicial documents
- Freedom of Information Act litigation
- Significant Representations
- Lead national counsel to and personally supervised legal matters for several media clients, including an industry-leading newspaper/website publishing company.
- Primary outside counsel to the New York News Publishers Association, Inc.
- Primary regional counsel to an international communications/entertainment company.
- Represented several national media companies and publications.
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