The 2026 Celebration of International Pro Bono Excellence for King & Spalding, held at the firm’s New York City office on July 21, 2026. Photo credit: Vance Center On July 21, a group of Vance Center staff and representatives from King & Spalding gathered at the law firm for a special event to recognize the firm’s notable contributions to Vance Center projects over the last year. Each year, the Vance Center selects a small number of law firms represented on its Committee to honor for their outstanding contributions to Vance Center pro bono projects. For 2026, we recognized King &... read more
Post tagged in "Lawyers for Reporters"
Vance Center Celebrates King & Spalding with Recognition of International Pro Bono Excellence
Posted on July 27, 2026
Public Interest Reporting Program Joins Conversations on Legal and Regulatory Challenges for Media
Posted on January 29, 2026Banners for the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism outside the school building in New York City. Photo credit: John Smock/Wikimedia Commons. IRE NYC Watchdog Workshop On January 24, Executive Director Alex Papachristou spoke on an extended panel at the NYC Watchdog Workshop hosted by the nonprofit organization Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). The two-part panel, “The Free Press and Legal Issues/Staying Safe in 2026,” covered safety and legal issues for journalists, from the newsroom to courtrooms. Papachristou was joined by Hoda Osman, Executive Editor of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, a Public Interest Reporting Program client, and Jodie Ginsberg, Chief Executive Officer of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Osman posed questions to Papachristou and Ginsberg regarding key concerns for journalists facing physical and legal... read more
Vance Center Joins Panels on Growing Threats to US Journalism
Posted on November 6, 2025This fall, Vance Center Executive Director Alex Papachristou spoke on threats to media freedom at virtual panels hosted by the International Center for Journalists and clients URL Media and WURD. The Vance Center’s Lawyers for Reporters program earlier this year assisted WURD, a Black-owned local radio station in Philadelphia, to resolve litigation challenging how it provided health care information to the Philadelphia community. The station’s leadership asked Papachristou to describe the case to the station’s staff in the context of rising threats to media freedom, particularly focusing on minority and marginalized communities enduring longstanding and renewed discrimination. Papachristou later spoke... read more
Funding Helps Lawyers for Reporters Expand Services for Clients Nationwide
Posted on December 22, 2025As we close out a challenging year for independent journalism, the Vance Center’s Public Interest Reporting Program is pleased to announce receipt of two additional grants from current supporters and funding from two new donors. This will expand the capacity and components of our legal services for journalism clients across the United States, from local outlets to independent national newsrooms, through our Lawyers for Reporters (LFR) program, as well as our work with international journalism clients. The Skyline Foundation has provided further funding for our team of lawyers to respond to an ever-broader range of client requests, including for advice... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New LFR Senior Counsel
Posted on May 6, 2026Lee Riffaterre joined the Vance Center as Senior Counsel for Lawyers for Reporters on a part-time basis in April 2026. She provides ongoing pro bono legal support to local and mission-driven journalism organizations throughout the United States, specifically advising LFR clients on general business contracts and intellectual property matters. Lee previously served as in-house counsel at The New York Times for more than 30 years, where she directly managed the organization’s intellectual property and general business contract teams, and counseled on a wide variety of business and commercial transactions and newsroom matters. She also regularly counseled clients on intellectual property... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New LFR Staff Attorney
Posted on October 10, 2025Ojasvinee “OJ” Singh joined the Vance Center in September 2025 as Staff Attorney for Lawyers for Reporters. She provides pro bono legal support to local and mission-driven journalism clients across the United States. OJ joined the Vance Center from Penguin Random House, where she served as the First Amendment Legal Fellow. She advised in-house clients (editors, publishers, and marketers, among others) on publishing matters and vetted manuscripts to counsel authors on risk. She also helped manage PRH’s nationwide anti-censorship caseload and assisted with the Bartz v. Anthropic settlement, the largest-ever copyright settlement to date. OJ serves as the Co-Chair of... read more