Jackson Walker partner Shannon Teicher appeared on WFAA-TV in Dallas to discuss President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. The interview aired on the morning broadcast on February 1, 2017.

In the interview, Shannon explained that Judge Gorsuch is, like the late Justice Antonin Scalia,  an “originalist.”  This conservative philosophy looks to legal text, structure and history to decide what the law was intended to be—in a sense looking backwards, not forward. She explained that as an originalist, Judge Gorsuch is unlikely to be an outcome-oriented Supreme Court Justice. Instead, she argued that his respect for precedent is more indicative of how he will rule.

“He’s certainly a reliable conservative Justice. But that being said . . .  he has shown a willingness in the past, even when he doesn’t agree with the result…to apply precedent,” Shannon told WFAA-TV. “He’s in fact said that a judge that always likes his decision probably isn’t a very good judge.”

Shannon, who defends clients in media law and intellectual property cases, also believes that Judge Gorsuch’s nomination by a republican president is not particularly relevant to his stance on First Amendment issues. She says that free speech issues generally do not fall neatly down partisan lines. For example, she highlights the fact that Judge Gorsuch wrote an eloquent opinion on the historical importance of truth as defense and called it a “First Amendment imperative.”  As a result, she is “cautiously optimistic” that he will be favorable on free speech issues.

About Shannon Teicher

Shannon Zmud Teicher has over a decade of experience defending clients in First Amendment, intellectual property and commercial litigation. She is a trial and appellate attorney who advises clients in media, advertising, entertainment, technology, and cybersecurity issues. She earned her Bachelors of Journalism from the University of Missouri – Columbia and her Juris Doctor from The University of Texas School of Law.