First Amendment attorney wins Texas freedom of information award

Originally published by Amy Starnes.

Laura Lee Prather

The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas will award its prestigious James Madison Award to First Amendment attorney Laura Lee Prather.

Prather is a board member and past-president of the FOI Foundation of Texas. She is a partner in the litigation section of Haynes and Boone LLP in Austin.

The James Madison Award has been given out since 1987 to journalists, politicians, academics, attorneys and vigilant citizens to celebrate outstanding achievements or distinction in the areas of open government, freedom of information and other related First Amendment issues.

“Laura is fearless and tireless in championing open government. No one in Texas has done more for the cause than her during the past decade,” Chris Cobler, editor and publisher of the Victoria Advocate and president of the FOI Foundation of Texas, said in a news release.

According to the release, Prather led the drafting and negotiations for the Texas reporters’ privilege law, the anti-SLAPP statute, and the Defamation Mitigation Act. Read the full release here.

Prather will receive the award on September 21 at the John Henry Faulk Awards Luncheon during the foundation’s annual conference. The State Bar of Texas’ Texas Gavel Awards, honoring journalism that deepens public understanding of the legal system, will also be awarded at the luncheon.

For more information on the Texas Gavel Awards, winner bios, and their stories, go to texasbar.com/gavelawards.

For more information on FOIFT and its Bernard and Audre Rapoport State Conference visit www.foift.org.

Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.

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