High-profile Legal Case

Lonnie Soury is one the country’s leading experts on media and the law, having collaborated on many high profile legal cases, counseling defendants and plaintiffs alike. He has advised General Motors on unsubstantiated race and sexual discrimination charges; Ticketmaster in a very public federal antitrust matters; the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien in a profit participation action against New Line Cinema; Stephen Slesinger, Inc., in its federal and state court battle against the Walt Disney Company over the multi-billion dollar Winnie the Pooh franchise; five time Olympic Gold Medalist Gail Devers in a libel case; Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer; Jewish Holocaust survivors’ reparations from Germany; Federal False Claims Act /whistleblower lawsuits; racial discrimination allegations involving Coca-Cola and Boeing; and the Anthony Pellicano federal wiretapping case.

High profile civil and criminal cases are sometimes decided in the court of public opinion where media attention can have a profound impact on the outcome. With the growth of legal news, from local newspapers to national network news and magazine coverage, it is imperative that parties to lawsuits and criminal matters not only have the best legal representation, but also retain experienced media relations and public advocates.

Soury recently led the international public campaign to free Martin Tankleff, who was imprisoned for 18 years in the wrongful conviction of the murder of his parents in a wealthy Long Island suburb. Soury not only garnered national media attention from the New York Times to CBS 48 Hours but, in an unprecedented effort, convinced dozens of former federal and state judges, U.S. Attorneys, and New York State prosecutors to publicly ask the court to overturn Marty’s conviction.

The New York State Appellate Court unanimously agreed to vacate Tankleff’s conviction and set him free.