Cynthia Counts is a partner in the Atlanta office of Duane Morris LLP, focusing on libel, privacy, copyright and First Amendment law. A seasoned litigator with more than 25 years of trial and appellate experience, Counts defends individuals, newspapers, websites, television stations and businesses nationally in libel, as well as breach of contract, invasion of privacy, fraud, and media access matters. She also represents media and publishing companies in conducting prepublication review, prior restraint matters and to gain access to court proceedings or public documents. She is best known for her aggressive motions practice, and for her success in winning libel cases outright in the early stages of litigation before expensive discovery becomes necessary. In that regard, Counts has been at the forefront of the quest for a broad application of Georgia’s anti-SLAPP statute, enacted in 1996 to provide an early mechanism for the dismissal of harassing libel litigation. Recent matters: serving as lead counsel for media company in a Maine libel case involving defamation, false light and other claims(2020); obtained order granting anti-SLAPP motion and awarding our media client all attorneys' fees in Ga. defamation case (2019); secured dismissal for media company in Michigan defamation case in exchange for agreement not to seek sanctions/attorney fees against plaintiff for false pleading of material facts (2018); using anti-SLAPP statute, secured dismissal of a libel claim against a Connecticut media company (2018); assisted in successful anti-SLAPP defense for television client in a California libel matter and won award for attorney fees (2018); summary judgment for client in defamation claim filed against Atlanta TV station for story reporting that veteran had lied about receiving Purple Heart award (2016) (this decision was affirmed by Georgia Court of Appeals, 2017); prevailed on a motion to dismiss in the Nevada District Court arguing that Cox Communications was immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) for passively hosting websites containing information regarding an expunged criminal conviction (2017); used amended Georgia anti-SLAPP statute to secure early stage dismissal of libel complaint in which plaintiff alleged that defendant’s notification to insurance company about possible arson in a house fire constituted defamation (2017); obtained dismissal of a libel suit against a community newspaper in Georgia by an individual who alleged that the newspaper’s report of her arrest was false and defamatory (2016); dismissal of a defamation claim against CBS affiliate by physician investigated in cosmetic surgery deaths (2015); summary judgment for a reality TV performer in a libel claim over comments she made on her network show (2015); early summary judgment for hosts of a popular Spanish radio program sued for libel over satirical comments on their show (2015); voluntary dismissal of a libel claim against a whistleblower in a Department of State matter involving alleged contract fraud (2014); and an 11th Circuit order for sanctions of $545,000 against plaintiffs who filed a frivolous libel claim against a Rolls Royce club member (2008). Counts has also litigated successfully for individual clients with free speech concerns: from those speaking out about assisted suicide in a state that tried to prohibit such speech, to individuals facing anti-gay discrimination in requests for vanity license plates, to those wrongfully arrested for verbally criticizing law enforcement, or for uttering profanities a public meeting. She is a sought-after commentator and writer on libel, privacy, Internet, the First Amendment and open government law. In 2014, she became a member of the governing board of the American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law. She is a director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and chairs the Media Law Resource Center’s Newsgathering Committee. Counts is also an adjunct professor teaching media law at Emory University Law School and has taught in the undergraduate journalism program. Counts is a 1992 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and a 1989 cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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