Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.

Sills Cummis & Gross handles a wide variety of high profile First Amendment and defamation matters for its clients as part of its media law practice. The media law practice at Sills Cummis & Gross provides comprehensive services to individual and corporate clients, including:

• Defending and prosecuting defamation claims on behalf of clients in the healthcare, information technology, print and television media, insurance, entertainment and other fields
• Litigating access to government records (Freedom of Information Act [FOIA], Open Public Records Act [OPRA] and common law)
• Conducting pre-publication review for media clients for potential liability, including liability for defamation and invasion of privacy
• Defending media clients relating to news gathering torts including invasion of privacy and false light
• Advising media clients in connection with Congressional investigations concerning news reporting practices

Sills Cummis & Gross has been successful in obtaining corrections, retractions and apologies for inaccurate matters that have already been published.

Representative Matters

• Successfully defending a major television broadcast company in connection with a defamation suit filed by politicians in a large urban city in northern New Jersey following an expose regarding corruption in the city.
• Successfully defending the campaign of a candidate for Governor in the tri-state area against a libel suit brought by a primary opponent relating to alleged false and defamatory statements concerning the opponent published in mailers disseminated by the candidate’s campaign office.
• Successfully defending a publisher of a medical journal in a suit involving claims for false light invasion of privacy and defamation premised on the publication of a research article that identified the plaintiff as a co-author of the article where he had requested that his name not be associated with the publication.
• Successfully defending a television broadcasting company and “shock jock” on First Amendment and other grounds in connection with an alleged injury caused by satirical materials aired on the show.
• Successfully defending on First Amendment grounds a talk show host in connection with claims asserted by guests on a television program who claimed to have been subjected to harassment and personal injury by audience members and security guards.
• Successfully prosecuting a commercial defamation case on behalf of an information technology company where a competitor posted false and defamatory information regarding the client on the competitor’s website.
• Successfully defending an international news wire service against a defamation claim brought by a school teacher for publication of an allegedly false and defamatory quote in a news report relating to a matter of public concern.
• Defending a television station against defamation, false light and privacy torts relating to the broadcast of a news media ride along with police.
• Defending a television station against defamation claims brought by a doctor for the news broadcast of allegedly false and defamatory statements concerning his license.

Creating and maintaining a diverse workplace is of paramount importance to Sills Cummis & Gross. The Firm has always been an advocate of minority hiring practices and is involved in a number of minority hiring, retention and diversity initiatives. The Firm’s Diversity Committee and Women’s Group focus on initiatives to enhance the culture of Sills Cummis & Gross and the quality of service to the Firm’s clients. Sills Cummis & Gross also encourages its attorneys to actively participate in minority bar associations and local and national women’s groups. 

The Sills Cummis & Gross Diversity Committee provides an avenue to continue to promote diversity within the Firm as well as within the legal community at large. The Committee hosts events aimed at increasing the dialog on diversity and providing insights and advice from experienced diverse attorneys. The Committee also provides a mentor to each diverse attorney entering the Firm, in addition to the Firm’s other mentoring programs. The Firm’s minority hiring, retention and diversity initiatives include participation in the New Jersey Law Firm Group, the Rutgers Law School Minority Student Program, and the New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project. 

The Sills Cummis & Gross Women’s Group is dedicated to promoting the professional and personal growth of women attorneys. Recognizing that women face unique challenges, the Women’s Group provides a forum for meaningful discussion and learning. The Group seeks to provide mentoring for our women attorneys, positioning them to lead us into the future at our Firm and in our communities. The Group sponsors both internal programs as well as programs which includes attorneys from outside the Firm. The Firm is a supporter of the National Association of Women Lawyers and the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association.