Legal Hotline

The Reporters Committee Legal Hotline is available to journalists and media lawyers during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. ET) using the form below. Outside normal business hours, you can reach us in an emergency — for example, if a journalist has been arrested or faces an imminent threat of arrest — by calling 1-800-336-4243.

Note that we cannot help with intellectual property issues (such as copyright and trademarks), labor and employment, or contract matters. For more information about when to use the Legal Hotline — and what to expect when you do — check out this Reporters Committee blog post. And to read about journalists’ experiences using the hotline, check out the blog posts linked in our Twitter thread.

RCFP’s Legal Hotline is for informational purposes only. Contacting our hotline does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not submit confidential information through the hotline.

You can also contact the Legal Hotline by phone: 1-800-336-4243 or by email, hotline -at- rcfp.org.

Student Journalists

Student journalists with questions about scholastic media should contact the Student Press Law Center.

Media Lawyer Volunteers

If you are a media law attorney who would like to help with pro bono representation of journalists, please email us at volunteer@rcfp.org.