ATTORNEY PRESS STATEMENTS ABOUT CASES MAY NOT BE PROTECTED: Press and social media statements made on behalf of clients may not be protected by attorney immunity or judicial-proceedings privilege, leaving litigators open to defamation claims.

In Landry's, Inc. et al. v. Animal Legal Defense Fund et al., a state supreme court unanimously ruled that neither the judicial-proceedings privilege nor attorney immunity shields lawyers from defamation claims arising from their pre-suit publicity efforts. Attorney Immunity Only Covers a Lawyer's Legal Services Turning next to the ALDF's assertion of attorney immunity, the Texas Supreme Court first distinguished it from the judicial-proceedings privilege. [Extracted from the article]