The New York Times Reports on Brewer Trial Win

July 29, 2024 – The New York Times reported today on the National Rifle Association of America’s (NRA) trial outcome in Manhattan, calling the verdict a “win” that represents “the beginning of the end of a four-year-old case” brought by the New York Attorney General (NYAG). As reported in the article, “Judge Lets NRA Keep Its Independence but Pushes for Reforms,” the NYAG was seeking the appointment of a court-appointed monitor over the NRA.

As reported, “…Justice Joel M. Cohen of Manhattan Supreme Court said he wanted further assurances that the NRA would reform its governance practices.” The Times reports, “The NRA has held off the most severe regulatory outcomes. Even before the trial, it persuaded Justice Cohen to reject Ms. James’s attempt to dissolve the group, which she referred to as a ‘terrorist organization’ when she was running for office. And on Monday, the NRA beat back her effort to impose a court-appointed monitor who would have had broad authority over its finances and practices.”

William A. Brewer III, the NRA’s lead outside counsel, said Monday’s developments “validate the NRA’s reform efforts and commitment to good governance — and recognize the First Amendment stakes of this case.”

Read more here.

Brewer Client NRA Emerges From Trial Proceedings Without Monitor, Positioned for Future

July 29, 2024 – Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) today commented on the conclusion of trial proceedings in New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James’ lawsuit against the Association – announcing it emerged from the proceedings without the appointment of a monitor and remains positioned for a bright future.

Four years ago, the NYAG filed a “dissolution lawsuit” against the NRA – a case that sought to shut down the Association and seize its assets. Today, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen in Manhattan rejected the NYAG’s demands for a compliance monitor and instead recommended the NRA and NYAG confer to consent to further governance reforms. In accordance with the court’s direction, the NRA will suggest additional reforms in furtherance of its ongoing commitment to good governance.

The NYAG sought something vastly different: a “monitor” that would have been an invasive and crippling remedy with financial oversight, access to employees and records, and an open line of communication with the NYAG. That proposal was rejected by the court.

“Key facts and a chorus of voices established that the relief sought by the NYAG was unwarranted,” says NRA counsel William A. Brewer III. “The NRA organized its defense around an important reality: there was no evidence the NRA Board of Directors condoned the violations in question; instead, the board acted when it became aware of deviations from its own controls. That said, the Association takes seriously its commitment to stay in strict compliance with all controls.”

Joining Brewer in representing the NRA were partners Sarah B. Rogers, Svetlana M. Eisenberg, and Noah B. Peters.

Read reporting on the court's ruling from Courthouse News, Law360, and The New York Times.

Courthouse News: NRA Expert Accuses State of Political Prosecution at NY Bench Trial

July 25, 2024 – Courthouse News reports that a non-profit governance expert for Brewer's client, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), "lambasted the New York attorney general on Thursday [July 25, 2024] for requesting a court-appointed monitor to supervise the group’s ongoing compliance efforts."

“A monitor in this situation is crazy, unprecedented,” expert Daniel Kurtz testified Thursday during phase two trial proceedings in NYAG v. NRA. “I’ve never seen anything like this happen.”

Currently a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, Kurtz previously served as Assistant Attorney General-in-Charge of the Charities Bureau in the New York State Attorney General's office.

According to the Courthouse News reporting, during his testimony, Kurtz "accused the state of targeting the NRA for political reasons and asking for unreasonable relief." 

“I see New York State both persecuting and prosecuting the NRA,” Kurtz said of this case, acknowledging the NRA is “politically unpopular” in New York.

Per documents filed in the case, the NYAG's office is requesting that the judge overseeing the bench trial appoint a monitor to oversee the NRA for a period of three years. Kurtz argued that such an appointment would result in both employees and members leaving the NRA in droves.

Kurtz testified, “There’s never been a situation, to my knowledge, in which a monitor has been appointed to reform the ‘nonprofit governance’ of an organization” – equating New York’s pursuit of the NRA to McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s.

As the report states, the NRA argued in court his week that the organization is on the right track, noting that it has recently hired a chief compliance officer and established new internal protocols.

Read the report here. 

The New York Times: The NRA Is Facing a Court Fight for Control of Its Future

July 14, 2024 – The New York Times reports that Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is preparing to return to a Manhattan courtroom in connection with a lawsuit filed by the New York Attorney General's office – and that the "stakes this time will be far higher."

The Times reports that "the NRA's leadership, not the group itself, was most at risk heading into the earlier phase of the trial. In the second phase, scheduled to begin on Monday in State Supreme Court, a judge will decide whether the group needs outside monitoring, a step that would curb its independence, at least temporarily, and that it stridently opposes."

“Every witness with personal knowledge of the internal workings of the association today concurs that further state intrusion poses a grave, needless threat to the NRA’s recovery,” the association said in a recent legal filing, adding that the first part of the trial had aired events from its “distant past.”

The reporting included comment from the NRA's lead counsel, William A. Brewer III, who acknowledged that "there was misconduct by former vendors and insiders" but said there was "no evidence it continues today. Not a shred."

To read the full report, click here.

Vault Names Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors to 2025 “Top 150 Under 150" List

July 12, 2024 – Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors has been named to Vault's 2025 "Top 150 Under 150" list of leading small and midsize law firms. 

The annual list recognizes firms with 150 lawyers or less that "deliver big results." The firms highlighted are determined by analyzing peer feedback, survey data, other published rankings, news stories, trade journals, and other legal publications. 

The Brewer firm was also named to Vault's 2023 and 2019 "Top 150 Under 150" lists, as well as to its 2017 "Best Law Firms in Texas" list. 

Above the Law reported on the national award, stating that Brewer was among the most "recognizable" firms on the list. Read the report here.

William A. Brewer III Named “Litigator of the Week” by The Am Law Litigation Daily

June 7, 2024 – Brewer Partner William A. Brewer III was named today as “Litigator of the Week” (LOTW) by The Am Law Litigation Daily. Brewer joined ACLU National Legal Director David Cole in receiving the top LOTW honors, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling unanimously for their client, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), in a case against a former New York state financial regulator. The case has been recognized as among the highest-profile First Amendment cases in the nation.

As reported, “The National Rifle Association’s legal team, led by William Brewer III of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, called on David Cole of the American Civil Liberties Union to revive its First Amendment case against ex-New York state Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo.”

Brewer told the Litigation Daily what he will remember most about the case is “that a handful of good men and women—nine Supreme Court justices—put aside whatever differences they may have to protect our First Amendment freedom. What happened here restores one's confidence in the judicial system. The decision comes at a critical time for not only the NRA, but anyone who believes that our most precious asset is that we are a nation of laws.”

The Am Law Litigation Daily, published by American Lawyer Media, bills the LOTW series as “being all about the issues that obsess elite litigators, with expert perspective on the biggest court battles.”

As the series notes, “We look for cases with an impact, where the outcome matters to more than just the parties involved. We’re impressed by high stakes, long odds, new precedents, bold strategies—and cases that are just plain interesting.”

Brewer was joined in representing the NRA by Brewer partners Sarah B. Rogers and Noah Peters, along with Mr. Cole, Eugene Volokh, and Alan Morrison.

Read the report here.

Washington Post Editorial Board Recognizes Historic Win

June 1, 2024 – The Washington Post editorial board recognized the historic Supreme Court win for Brewer client, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). The editorial, “The NRA Deserved its First Amendment Win at the Supreme Court,” observes, “…the court’s 9-0 ruling in National Rifle Association v. Vullo was a positive development in two ways: It showed that the fractious justices can still unite around certain basic constitutional principles; and the constitutional principle they rallied behind in this case was the sacred one of free speech.” The unanimous ruling in favor of the NRA was on May 30, 2024.

In speaking of a 2018 “blacklisting campaign” against the NRA undertaken by former New York state regulator Maria T. Vullo, the Post writes, “To be sure, state officials such as Ms. Vullo have every right to punish actual legal infractions by any companies that do business with NRA members, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the court, explained. And they have every right to speak out against gun violence and the NRA. What they cannot do, however, ‘is use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression,’ Justice Sotomayor wrote. ‘At the heart of the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause is the recognition that viewpoint discrimination is uniquely harmful to a free and democratic society.’”

The NRA was represented by the Brewer firm, the ACLU, and First Amendment Scholar Eugene Volokh.

Read the editorial here.

The Wall Street Journal: A Unanimous Supreme Court Backs the NRA on Free Speech

May 31, 2024 – The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes on the unanimous opinion rendered by the Supreme Court in support of Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) in its First Amendment case against a former New York regulator. 

In the editorial, "A Unanimous Supreme Court Backs the NRA on Free Speech," the Board details the case, in which the NRA alleges that former New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo coerced financial institutions that she regulated to stop doing business with the NRA and other gun-rights groups.

Writing for the Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that Vullo's conduct “could be reasonably understood to convey a threat of adverse government action in order to punish or suppress speech.” 

The editorial states, "Justice Sotomayor emphasizes that covert threats against private intermediaries are especially subversive of speech rights since 'intermediaries will often be less invested in the speaker’s message and thus less likely to risk the regulator’s ire.' When government officials abuse power behind closed doors, voters aren’t able to punish them at the ballot box."

The editorial continues, "The Court’s resounding ruling protects liberal and conservative advocacy alike. It puts government officials on notice that they can’t use their power to retaliate against and silence their opponents. In these hyper-partisan times, that’s an important message for the censors in the Biden Administration and those in a potential second Trump Presidency."

Read the full editorial here.