Keywords: first amendment case, search giant, Baidu lawsuit, Zhang

A recent development illustrates again the significant impact that Mayer Brown's thought leadership has on critical legal issues. On March 27, a US District Court rejected a lawsuit against Chinese search giant Baidu. Mayer Brown had no client in the case, but the court's opinion cited – twelve times – a white paper written by Mayer Brown academic affiliate Prof. Eugene Volokh and Mayer Brown partner Don Falk. The white paper was commissioned two years ago by a Mayer Brown client (not Baidu), and was published online, in a law review, and in two bar journals; the paper was also extensively covered at the time in various news outlets, including the New York Times

The Baidu lawsuit was brought by journalists who claimed that Baidu tortiously omitted their pro-democracy-in-China articles from its search results in the US. The district court concluded, though, that the First Amendment protects the right of search engines to select which materials to include in the results they communicate to readers. Mayer Brown's white paper, on which the court relied, took the same view.

Mayer Brown's Supreme Court and Appellate practice has long been known for its ability to bring about major changes in the law through its advocacy in such cases as BMW v. Gore (punitive damages), AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (arbitration), Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Motorola (securities), and Credit Suisse First Boston v. Billing (antitrust). The Baidu decision offers another example of this leadership, though one in which Mayer's advocacy took place outside the courtroom.

Zhang v. Baidu.com Inc., 2014 WL 1282730 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2014)

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Originally published April 9, 2014

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