Welch v. Penguin Books USA, Inc.

In what The Los Angeles Times described as "a suit that could affect virtually anyone who writes fiction in this country," Russell Smith formulated and wrote the winning brief on behalf of best-selling author Terry McMillan and her publishers, Penguin Books and Simon & Schuster, in a precedent-setting dismissal of a libel claim based upon a characterization in a novel. As The National Law Journal put it, "the publishing world won a significant victory when a New York trial judge dismissed a $4.5 million libel suit, even though the plaintiff clearly was the model for a rather unsavory fictional character." Russell worked on this case while at Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein & Selz.

COURT DECISIONS

• Decision of New York Supreme Court Dismissing the Case

MEDIA COVERAGE

• Los Angeles Times - Friction Over Fact Versus Fiction - 10/29/90
• Wall Street Journal - Judge Decides Novelist's Book Isn't Libelous - 4/11/91
• Newsday - Art Imitates His Life, But It's Not Libel - 4/12/91
• The National Law Journal - New York Court Rules Novel Was Not Libelous - 4/22/91
• New York Law Journal - New York Courts Deal Blow To Claims Of Libel In Fiction - 5/7/91
• Entertainment Law Reporter - New York Court Dismisses "Libel In Fiction" Claim Against Author And Publisher Of Novel "Disappearing Acts" - 3/92