Reporters Committee welcomes Lisa Zycherman as organization’s first Deputy Legal Director and Policy Counsel
Media Attorney Lisa Zycherman has joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press as the first Deputy Legal Director and Policy Counsel, bringing 15 years of media law experience to a new role that will help advance the Reporters Committee’s legal and advocacy work on behalf of journalists.
Zycherman helps manage the Reporters Committee’s legal portfolio and supervises staff attorneys and legal fellows providing direct litigation and amicus support on issues affecting journalists and documentary filmmakers, including obtaining access to public records, access to court proceedings and legal defense. She also works closely with other senior leadership to promote federal and state legislation on government access, protecting reporters’ sources, and other important public policy issues that affect newsgathering.
“We’re extremely excited to welcome Lisa to our growing legal team,” said Katie Townsend, legal director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “Lisa is a talented and experienced media attorney who will significantly expand our organization’s ability to protect and defend the First Amendment and newsgathering rights of journalists.”
Zycherman joins the Reporters Committee from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, where she specialized in media and First Amendment litigation as counsel at the law firm. During her time in private practice, she worked on public records and court access issues, represented news and advocacy organizations in fighting frivolous suits, and counseled media organizations on a wide range of newsgathering and pre-publication and pre-broadcast matters.
“I am thrilled to join the powerhouse team of attorneys at the Reporters Committee,” Zycherman said. “I have long admired and supported the Reporters Committee’s best-in-class representation of journalists and documentary filmmakers, and I am ready to dive in and help protect and defend journalists’ right to gather and report the news.”
In 2019, Zycherman was named a Washington, D.C., “Rising Star” by the National Law Journal. She serves as an Executive Committee member of the Council for Court Excellence, where she seeks to improve access to justice in the District of Columbia. She is also a frequent speaker on legal issues facing journalists, documentary filmmakers and nonprofit advocacy organizations.
The Reporters Committee regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs and its attorneys represent journalists and news organizations pro bono in court cases that involve First Amendment freedoms, the newsgathering rights of journalists and access to public information. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our monthly newsletter and following us on Twitter or Instagram.