News & Insights

Bryan G. Lesser was featured by the Illinois State Bar Association for his March Illinois Bar Journal article, “Don’t SLAPP the Messenger”, which examines amendments to the Illinois Citizens Participation Act expressly covering freedom of the press.

• How the amendment strengthens protections for press-related activity in the anti-SLAPP framework
• Practical early-motion considerations for parties in cases implicating speech, petitioning, and reporting on matters of public concern
• Why the effective-date details matter for future litigation strategy

Read the ISBA overview

Effective for actions commenced on or after January 1, 2026, amendments to the Illinois Citizen Participation Act clarify that the Act applies to protected activity “including freedom of the press.”

In practice, anti-SLAPP statutes are designed to provide an early, efficient path for courts to identify and resolve claims aimed at chilling protected speech and petitioning activity. The statute also addresses procedural issues like stays of other proceedings while a qualifying motion is considered.

This post is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.

Read the statute (735 ILCS 110/)

Best Law Firms® (United States 2026) lists the firm (under its prior name) with both national and Chicago regional rankings. Highlights include Tier 1 national rankings in Media Law and Entertainment Law – Music, as well as additional recognition across copyright and entertainment categories.

For prospective clients, these rankings reflect peer- and client-informed research into the firm’s work at the intersection of media, creative industries, and complex disputes. The lawyers recognized in these rankings continue their practices at Mandell P.C.

View the Best Law Firms® rankings · Rankings publication date

Steven P. Mandell is ranked Band 1 in Media & Entertainment: Litigation (Illinois) in the Chambers USA Guide 2025.

Chambers rankings are based on independent research, including client and peer feedback, and they spotlight attorneys known for their judgment, responsiveness, and results in sophisticated matters. Steve’s profile notes his work representing clients in media and entertainment disputes, including intellectual property and First Amendment issues.

Read the Chambers profile

Brian Saucier is ranked in Media & Entertainment: Litigation (Illinois) in the Chambers USA Guide 2025.

According to his Chambers profile, Brian is recognized for work involving First Amendment rights and defamation defense, with experience advising on newsgathering issues as well as trademark and copyright matters.

Read the Chambers profile

Thomas R. Leavens is ranked Band 1 in Media & Entertainment: Transactional (Illinois) in the Chambers USA Guide 2025.

Transactional media and entertainment work often turns on tight timelines, careful rights clearances, and practical deal structures that match how projects are actually financed and distributed. Chambers notes Tom’s experience assisting clients with intellectual property matters and his deep knowledge of the music industry.

Read the Chambers profile

Tier 1 is reserved for the highest scoring firms during Best Law Firms annual review process. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement! Read More

The entertainment law team, Tom Leavens, Joe Voss, Brian Saucier, and Peter Strand provided legal services for Fuzzytown Productions the creator of Carl the Collector negotiating and documenting the financing, production, talent, and distribution agreements and secured intellectual property rights. Read More

Steve Mandell successfully argued in Will County Circuit Court that Judge David Carlson should quash subpoenas issued by lawyers for convicted wife-killer, Drew Peterson, to cable news channel, NewsNation, and WGN TV. Peterson’s lawyer issued subpoenas to both media outlets seeking “outtakes” of the interviews that NewNation’s Ashleigh Banfield and WGN investigative reporter, Ben Bradley, conducted with Peterson and his former lawyer, Joel Brodsky. Judge Carlson agreed with Steve that the subpoenas violated applicable reporter’s shield laws and quashed both subpoenas.

Following a ruling made in the trial against the “ComEd 4” that the court would not allow the media to have access to audio recordings admitted as evidence of corruption by Michael Madigan, Steve Mandell and Brian Saucier petitioned to intervene in the case on behalf of WBEZ Chicago, the Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune. Judge Harry Leinenweber reversed his position and instead sided with the Petitioners and agreed that the media should have access to the audio recordings once they are admitted into evidence and heard by the jurors during the trial. Read More

Steve Mandell and Brian Saucier, on behalf of WBEZ Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times, successfully argued in Cook County Circuit Court that several pleadings in a lawsuit filed by investors of the Maple & Ash restaurant group were improperly filed under seal. The unsealed documents outlined the investors’ claim that the restaurant group misappropriated funds received from the federal Paycheck Protection Program in 2020, shortly after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More

The firm is delighted to announce that Bryan Lesser has joined as an associate. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2018 and has worked in Chicago since 2019, with a brief stint at the Office of the State Appellate Defender.

Julia Dacy authored “Straight to the Source: Shielding a Journalist’s Metadata with Federal Legislation” in the Federal Communications Law Journal (Volume 75, Issue 3).

The note focuses on how communications metadata (information about a communication rather than its content) can be used in leak investigations, and argues for a federal shield-law approach that better addresses source protection concerns in the digital era.

View the issue page · Download the full issue PDF

We congratulate Peter J. Strand of being recognized as a Best Lawyer “Lawyer of the Year” for 2023 – Entertainment Law – Music in Chicago and Thomas R. Leavens of being recognized as a Best Lawyer “Lawyer of the Year” for 2023 – Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures and Television in Chicago.

We celebrate this acknowledgement by their peers.

Steven Mandell and Brian Saucier argued that the court file should be opened “to allow for appropriate public review and scrutiny.” They noted that Hastings said he wanted to protect his family’s privacy, even as his reelection campaign issued an ad featuring a photo of the senator with his children, describing him as a “single parent.” Read More

In a win for attorneys fighting a subpoena to the media, a Cook County Illinois criminal court judge in June 2022 denied a motion to divest the reporter’s privilege and granted the motion to quash the subpoena that attorneys filed in a post-conviction matter. Through the subpoena, the State of Illinois sought outtakes from a Discovery Communications and Painless Television program for use in opposing a proceeding brought by a man challenging his conviction. In denying the State’s motion, the judge noted that the state failed to meet the elements of the Illinois shield law on all grounds: (i) the State could not identify the specific information it sought from the outtakes; (ii) it failed to demonstrate that the materials were essential to a public interest, which the State had merely identified as “truth-seeking”; (iii) and the State had not demonstrated that it exhausted all alternative sources of information, as it could have deposed the involved witnesses to learn what they may have said in outtakes for the program. The judge also denied the motion to divest on the alternative ground that because the program was produced in California, the California shield law applied and provides “absolute” protection for the media.