Floyd Abrams
Encyclopedia
Floyd Abrams is an American
attorney
at Cahill Gordon & Reindel
. He is an expert on constitutional law
, and many arguments in the briefs he has written before the United States Supreme Court have been adopted as United States Constitutional interpretative law as it relates to the First Amendment
and free speech. He is the William J. Brennan Jr. Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Abrams argued for The New York Times
and Judith Miller
in the CIA leak grand jury investigation
. Abrams joined Cahill Gordon & Reindel
in 1963, and became a partner in 1970.
in 1956, and his Juris Doctor
from Yale Law School
in 1960. He is Jewish and lives in New York City
with wife Efrat. Together they have a son, Dan Abrams
of MSNBC
, and a daughter, Ronnie Abrams
. He is a member of the Constitution Project
's Liberty and Security Committee and a patron of the Media Legal Defence Initiative
.
. He returned to Yale as a Visiting Lecturer from 1974–80, and again from 1986-89. He was also a Visiting Lecturer at Columbia Law School
from 1981-85.
has put him in a class of prominent and still-working legal scholars who have shaped American understanding of their fundamental rights under the United States Constitution
. In his 2005 book Speaking Freely, he outlines his knowledge of and perspective on these influential cases (listed in the main article above). Abrams said these cases showcase the work that has been done on free speech in the United States. Fellow Supreme Court attorney Lee Levine
, in a book review, wrote that "the modern history of the freedom of the press
in this country is intimately associated with the career and work of Floyd Abrams." His career matured in the late 1960s, right after the Supreme Court decided New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
(1964). He has worked on the Pentagon Papers
and Branzburg v. Hayes
(1972), to Landmark Communications v. Virginia
(1978) and Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. (1979), to Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976). He has defended numerous clients, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art from Rudolph Giuliani over the Sensation exhibition
, NBC
from Wayne Newton
, and Al Franken
from a trademark lawsuit brought by Fox News Channel
over the use of the phrase "Fair and Balanced" in the title of his book. He is currently representing five tobacco companies including R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and orillard Tobacco] in their lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration
over graphic warning labels on cigarette packs, contending that requiring graphic warning labels on a lawful product cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. The Association of National Advertisers and the American Advertising Federation have also filed a brief in the suit.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
at Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP is a prominent New York-based international law firm with offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and London...
. He is an expert on constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
, and many arguments in the briefs he has written before the United States Supreme Court have been adopted as United States Constitutional interpretative law as it relates to the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
and free speech. He is the William J. Brennan Jr. Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Abrams argued for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Judith Miller
Judith Miller (journalist)
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, formerly of the New York Times Washington bureau. Her coverage of Iraq's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction program both before and after the 2003 invasion generated much controversy...
in the CIA leak grand jury investigation
CIA leak grand jury investigation
The CIA leak grand jury investigation was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency employee's identity," a possible violation of criminal statutes, including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, and Title 18, United States Code,...
. Abrams joined Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP is a prominent New York-based international law firm with offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and London...
in 1963, and became a partner in 1970.
Personal
Abrams earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1956, and his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
in 1960. He is Jewish and lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with wife Efrat. Together they have a son, Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams is an American television host, legal commentator, web entrepreneur and best-selling author. He is currently Legal Analyst at ABC News Good Morning America , and a substitute anchor for the network. He formerly served as Chief Legal Analyst for NBC News, as General Manager of MSNBC and...
of MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, and a daughter, Ronnie Abrams
Ronnie Abrams
Ronnie Abrams is an attorney for Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and a current federal judicial nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.-Early life and education:...
. He is a member of the Constitution Project
Constitution Project
The Constitution Project is an non-profit think tank in the United States that builds bipartisan consensus on significant constitutional and legal questions. Founded and led by Virginia Sloan, the Constitution Project’s work is divided between two programs: the Rule of Law Program and the Criminal...
's Liberty and Security Committee and a patron of the Media Legal Defence Initiative
Media Legal Defence Initiative
The Media Legal Defence Initiative is a non-governmental organization established in 2008 to provide legal assistance to journalists and news media organizations, support training in media law and promote the exchange of information, litigation tools and strategies for lawyers working on media...
.
Early career and legal scholarship
From 1961-63, Abrams clerked for Judge Paul Leahy of the United States District Court for the District of DelawareUnited States District Court for the District of Delaware
The United States District Court for the District of Delaware is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington...
. He returned to Yale as a Visiting Lecturer from 1974–80, and again from 1986-89. He was also a Visiting Lecturer at Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
from 1981-85.
Important First Amendment Cases
Abrams appearance before the Supreme Court as an advocate of the First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
has put him in a class of prominent and still-working legal scholars who have shaped American understanding of their fundamental rights under the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. In his 2005 book Speaking Freely, he outlines his knowledge of and perspective on these influential cases (listed in the main article above). Abrams said these cases showcase the work that has been done on free speech in the United States. Fellow Supreme Court attorney Lee Levine
Lee Levine
Lee Levine may refer to:* Lena Levine , known as Lee Levine, American psychiatrist and gynecologist* Lee I. Levine, Talmud scholar, professor of Jewish history and archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...
, in a book review, wrote that "the modern history of the freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
in this country is intimately associated with the career and work of Floyd Abrams." His career matured in the late 1960s, right after the Supreme Court decided New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 , was a United States Supreme Court case which established the actual malice standard which has to be met before press reports about public officials or public figures can be considered to be defamation and libel; and hence allowed free reporting of the...
(1964). He has worked on the Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...
and Branzburg v. Hayes
Branzburg v. Hayes
Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 , was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision invalidating the use of the First Amendment as a defense for reporters summoned to testify before a grand jury. The case was argued February 23, 1972 and decided June 29 of the same year. The reporter lost his...
(1972), to Landmark Communications v. Virginia
Landmark Communications v. Virginia
Landmark Communications v. Virginia, 435 U.S. 829 , was a United States Supreme Court case that was argued on January 11, 1978 and decided on May 1, 1978.-Holding:...
(1978) and Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. (1979), to Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976). He has defended numerous clients, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art from Rudolph Giuliani over the Sensation exhibition
Sensation exhibition
Sensation was an exhibition of the collection of contemporary art owned by Charles Saatchi, including many works by Young British Artists, which first took place 18 September – 28 December 1997 at the Royal Academy of Art in London and later toured to Berlin and New York...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
, and Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
from a trademark lawsuit brought by Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
over the use of the phrase "Fair and Balanced" in the title of his book. He is currently representing five tobacco companies including R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and orillard Tobacco] in their lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
over graphic warning labels on cigarette packs, contending that requiring graphic warning labels on a lawful product cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. The Association of National Advertisers and the American Advertising Federation have also filed a brief in the suit.
Recognition
- William J. Brennan, Jr. Award for outstanding contribution to public discourse (1998)
- Learned Hand Award of the American Jewish CommitteeAmerican Jewish CommitteeThe American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
- Thurgood Marshall Award of the New York State Bar AssociationNew York State Bar AssociationThe New York State Bar Association , with 77,000 members, is the largest voluntary bar association in the United States.-History:The State Bar was founded with a constitution that dates to 1877...
- William J. Brennan, Jr. Award of the Libel Defense Resource Center (1999)
- Milton S. Gould Award for outstanding appellate advocacy by the New York Office of the Appellate Defender (1997)
- Ross Essay Prize of the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(2006) - Certificate of Merit from the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
for his article The New Effort to Control Information, published in The New York Times. - Ranked among the top two leading trial lawyers in New York for First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
Cases by Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business (2006) - Who's Who in American Law
- 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by The National Law JournalThe National Law JournalThe National Law Journal, a U.S. periodical founded in 1978, reports legal information of national importance to attorneys, including federal circuit court decisions, verdicts, practitioners' columns, coverage of legislative issues and legal news for the business and private sectors.The...
(2006)
Criticism
- In a column on SlateSlate (magazine)Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
entitled Memo to Cooper and Miller: Fire Floyd Abrams. Hire Bruce Sanford, Jack ShaferJack ShaferJack Shafer covers media for Reuters.com Opinion section. Prior to joining Reuters, he edited and wrote the column Press Box for Slate, an online magazine. Before his stay at Slate, Shafer edited two city weeklies, Washington City Paper and SF Weekly...
felt Abrams's First Amendment argument was weaker than others' on behalf of the reporters in the Valerie PlameValerie PlameValerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
affair. In the majority opinion, Judge Sentelle found Abrams' assertion that a First Amendment privilege protects Matthew CooperMatthew Cooper (American journalist)Matthew Cooper is a former reporter for Time who, along with New York Times reporter Judith Miller was held in contempt of court and threatened with imprisonment for refusing to testify before the Grand Jury regarding the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation. He currently works as the managing...
and Judith MillerJudith Miller (journalist)Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, formerly of the New York Times Washington bureau. Her coverage of Iraq's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction program both before and after the 2003 invasion generated much controversy...
from the subpoenaSubpoenaA subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
to lack merit. They ordered both reporters to talk to the grand jury about their confidential sources or face jail for contempt, which Miller ultimately did. "Maybe a First Amendment legend isn't what this case called for in the first place," said Shafer. "Maybe Cooper and Miller would have been better served by having a criminal lawyer who knows how to bargain." Shafer thought Abrams' expertise was not adequately enough suited for the subject matter: "...my guess is that they won't [agree to hear the case] if it's argued on First Amendment grounds, preferring to let their BranzburgBranzburg v. HayesBranzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 , was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision invalidating the use of the First Amendment as a defense for reporters summoned to testify before a grand jury. The case was argued February 23, 1972 and decided June 29 of the same year. The reporter lost his...
precedent stand."
Quotes by Abrams
- "I really believe that a lawyer - no matter how good - if he or she is really worth their weight in salt, they will lose some cases because, after all, it is not really one of those secretive things that not everything is decided by who your lawyer is."
- "In August 1967 I spent a few days in New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, visiting a friend who had been a law school classmate seven years earlier. She was a princess—a genuine one, from a still-powerful regal family. In New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, when we were studying together, I had taken her to a YankeeYankeeThe term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
game. In New Delhi she reciprocated by taking me to her fortune-teller—not just hers, but that of a bevy of Indian leaders, including former Prime Minister Jawaharlal NehruJawaharlal NehruJawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
and his daughter and successor as prime minister, Indira GandhiIndira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
.... Before I was thirty-five, he said, I would go to my country's capital to work on something that was important. The work, he said, would make me famous. It was not the sort of prediction that one entirely forgets. I was then thirty-one." - "I then described two of my favorite First Amendment cases, the first of which was the 1966 Supreme Court ruling in Mills v. Alabama.... The other caseMiami Herald Publishing Co. v. TornilloMiami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 , was a United States Supreme Court case that overturned a Florida state law requiring newspapers to allow equal space in their newspapers to political candidates in the case of a political editorial or endorsement content...
was commenced by a Miami labor leader, Pat Tornillo, who was a candidate for the Florida House of RepresentativesFlorida House of RepresentativesThe Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...
. The Miami Herald had published editorials criticizing Tornillo; the union leader had responded by demanding that the Herald publish, verbatim, replies he had written to each editorial."
Quotes about Abrams
- "Ask someone to name a First Amendment lawyer. If they answer, one-hundred percent of the time the answer will be the same: Floyd Abrams. Then ask them to name another such lawyer. The answer: silence. It is a sign of the times that the name Floyd Abrams is synonymous with the First Amendment in a way that virtually no other name is." First Amendment CenterFirst Amendment CenterThe First Amendment Center is an advocacy group in the United States that works to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education. The Center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of...
. - "[Floyd Abrams is the] most significant First Amendment lawyer of our age." Senator Daniel Patrick MoynihanDaniel Patrick MoynihanDaniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
.
Selected writings
- Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment, (Viking PressViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
, 2005) ISBN 9780670033751.
Book reviews for Speaking Freely
- "Most illuminating are Abrams's detailed explanations of the legal and psychological tactics he has used before the Supreme Court.... Abrams rarely steps back from his courtroom reconstructions to make a more comprehensive argument for his nearly absolutist reading of the First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
. Only in describing his fight against the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law does Abrams reason more broadly, and his powerful argument makes a reader wish the whole book had been more expansive." Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
. - "Unfortunately, Abrams is far more fair-minded where the argument against a free-speech claim is weak than he is where it's compelling.... This is a serious flaw, and not just because it doesn't do justice to a complicated issue [like campaign finance reform].... It isn't too much, however, to expect as straightforward an account of the McCain-Feingold case as Abrams offers of other cases in the book. In general, his charming, engaging and often compelling book would have been stronger if he at any point revealed any real intellectual or emotional distance from a client's litigating position. Not all First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
claims are created equal." Benjamin WittesBenjamin WittesBenjamin Wittes is a fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he is Research Director in Public Law. Wittes is also a member of the Hoover Institution's Task Force on National Security and Law...
, The Washington Post'sThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
Book World.
See also
- Cahill Gordon & ReindelCahill Gordon & ReindelCahill Gordon & Reindel LLP is a prominent New York-based international law firm with offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and London...
- List of prominent cases argued by Floyd Abrams
- Pentagon PapersPentagon PapersThe Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...