Shutdown of Media Access Project Poses Challenges for Smaller Public Interest Groups

Nonprofit and private-sector lawyers envision a brighter future, hoping that MAP Senior Vice President Andrew Schwartzman finds another job where he'll spend at least some time on public interest issues. Schwartzman is winding down the operations of MAP, and public interest groups that used it are working with other practices like Georgetown University’s Institute for Public Representation (IPR). MAP had three full-time lawyers until recently, versus one full-time at the institute and two graduate-fellow attorneys, and nonprofits with in-house counsel can do some but not all the work done by the project, industry officials said. The sector is “sorting things out,” and Schwartzman said he’s “satisfied that we will be able to make sure that nobody is left completely in the lurch."

"The sad truth is that some of the work that we've done is not going to be replaced,” said Schwartzman. MAP was founded 40 years ago and Schwartzman has mentored (CD Aug 31 p3) the founder of Public Knowledge and lawyers at Free Press, among public interest groups in the communications area with in-house counsel. Free Press and Public Knowledge are among those that “have tended to turn to us for some of the more sophisticated” legal work, while other groups may “have to fend for themselves,” Schwartzman said. “The vast preponderance of our work has come to an end.” Schwartzman said he’s considering his next moves after shutting MAP, and there’s “more interest than I expected in trying to keep doing the public interest work.” He said revenue fell somewhat overall last year from $633,721 in 2010, though the rate of decline in the second half was steeper than in the first half.

For-profit communications law practices may take up some of the slack by representing pro bono or at reduced charge certain public interest clients, partners at firms including Bingham said. Because of conflicts of interest with existing industry clients, not all requests for new public interest legal work can be accommodated, nonprofit and industry attorneys at firms including Wiley Rein predicted. Some firms that do what they say is more than their share of public interest work -- like Spiegel McDiarmid, with about four attorneys who work on communications law -- don’t have money to do more pro bono work, said partner James Horwood.

"There’s no way that we can fill the gap that MAP is going to be leaving,” said Horwood. His firm does pro bono work for the Alliance for Community Media, on whose board he sits, and reduced-price work for the Alliance for Communications Democracy. “It’s a huge hole to be filled by some firms,” Horwood said. “We might pick up a matter here and there, but we don’t have the resources to do what they have been doing,” which MAP got from money donated by foundations, he noted.

The drop in foundation funding for MAP, which led to its decision to shut, is “very disappointing,” said Chairman Charles Benton of the Benton Foundation, which has been represented by the project. “It’s going to create a huge vacuum.” Benton, who hopes Schwartzman will continue to work for his foundation, said he agreed with a blog post written the day MAP shut by project alumni and current Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld. “If you don’t fund progressive advocacy, it dies,” Feld wrote (http://xrl.us/bm4ysh).

Bingham is among the firms that could do more public interest work for groups representing the disabled, some of which it already represents, said partner Andrew Lipman. “We may pick up some additional work from public interest groups, particularly if it involves disability advocacy.” The telecom industry, “rife with potential conflict” between existing and new clients, means “you have to tiptoe through that conflict minefield,” he said. “We have to look at each issue on a very issue-by-issue specific basis” in deciding whether to represent a nonprofit, Lipman said: “We do run into certain, unavoidable conflicts -- but we think it’s important” to represent them when possible and better than doing pro bono representation on “landlord/tenant” issues, which the firm used to do.

Wiley Rein communications lawyer Henry Rivera will continue representing pro bono the Benton Foundation, said the former Democratic commissioner. “Law firms have always provided immeasurable pro bono service to the public interest community and to the bar.” But Wiley Rein’s clients often have different positions on issues where public interest groups are active, limiting the firm’s ability to represent them, said firm Chairman Richard Wiley, a former Republican FCC chairman.

"It will be very hard for the private sector to handle what will not be done” by MAP, given there are “many conflicts that might emerge,” said communications attorney Gloria Tristani, a former Democratic FCC member. “There’s going to be a little bit of a rough crossing while other groups transition” to life post-MAP, she said. Another hurdle for a law firm representing a nonprofit is that the practice may not be familiar with the group, said IPR Co-Director Angela Campbell. “We'll try to accommodate people to the extent we can, but honestly, I have to turn down people all the time as it is. I think it’s going to get tougher for those groups -- it’s really unfortunate.” The public interest community won’t “fall apart” without MAP, and “there are a lot of resources in our sector,” said MAP alumna Cheryl Leanza, an independent communications lawyer who represents clients including the United Church of Christ. “Everybody in the field is trying to figure out what will we do to make sure” all groups have representation, she said.