Laura Prather Selected to Help Draft Uniform Anti-SLAPP Law
November, 2017 - Dallas, Texas
The Uniform Law Commission has selected Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Laura Prather to play a key role in the drafting of a uniform Anti-SLAPP Act.
Established in 1892, the Uniform Law Commission provides states with non-partisan, well-drafted legislation in many critical areas of law. The Commission helps states keep up to date on timely legal issues and helps ensure a consistent regulatory structure from state to state.
The Commission selected Prather, a leading First Amendment lawyer, to serve as the American Bar Association's advisor to a committee that will draft a Uniform Anti-SLAPP Act.
Many states have adopted Anti-SLAPP laws, which protect against lawsuits that aim to silence the exercise of free speech and other constitutional rights. Typically, such laws allow a judge to summarily dismiss frivolous lawsuits filed against those who speak about matters of public concern.
Prather was instrumental in the passage of the Texas Citizens' Participation Act, the state's Anti-SLAPP law, and has played a key role in other First Amendment legislation in Texas, including the Texas Free Flow of Information Act (Texas' reporter's privilege) and the Defamation Mitigation Act (Texas' retraction statute).
As head of Haynes and Boone's Media Law Practice Group, Prather focuses on First Amendment, Anti-SLAPP, intellectual property and media and entertainment litigation and appeals. She advises an extensive array of content providers including online and traditional publishers, newspapers, magazines, radio and broadcasters, cable television stations, production companies and music and sports entities.
