David A. Schulz

Floyd Abrams Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law


David A. Schulz is Director of the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, where he serves as the Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer and a Senior Research Scholar, and is Senior Counsel to the media and entertainment law group at Ballard Spahr LLP, where his practice is concentrated in media law, First Amendment, and intellectual property litigation. 

FULL BIOGRAPHY
David Schulz

Contact Information



Faculty Assistant


Ann-Marie Cooper

Education & Curriculum Vitae


J.D., Yale Law School, 1978

M.A., Yale University, 1976

B.A., Knox College, 1974

Courses Taught


  • Media Freedom and Information Access Practicum
  • The Law of Newsgathering

David A. Schulz is Director of the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, where he serves as the Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer and a Senior Research Scholar, and is Senior Counsel to the media and entertainment law group at Ballard Spahr LLP, where his practice is concentrated in media law, First Amendment, and intellectual property litigation. Over the past four decades, he has handled a wide variety of lawsuits and appeals in federal and state courts located throughout the United States, including precedent-setting cases on the public’s right of access to government proceedings and information, and the scope of constitutional protection for newsgathering.

Schulz is a co-author of the leading treatise on newsgathering, Newsgathering and the Law, 5th ed. (Lexis/Nexis, 2019) and the author of numerous scholarly articles. He currently serves on the New York Committee on Open Government, the state agency responsible for overseeing the open meetings, freedom of information and personal privacy laws, and is a General Trustee of Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois. He is a graduate of Knox College, Yale University, and Yale Law School.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023


To Fight Defamation Suit, Fox News Cites Election Conspiracy Theories

Floyd Abrams Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David Schulz ’78 comments on the Fox News defense strategy in a high-profile lawsuit over the network promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines in the 2020 presidential election.

Friday, August 26, 2022


Are Defamation Lawsuits an Effective Tool Against the Onslaught of Misinformation?

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David A. Schulz ’78 discusses how to combat misinformation. 

Friday, August 26, 2022


Law Clinics Win Battle Over 2016 FOIA Amendment's Meaning

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David A. Schulz ’78 discusses a case brought by the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic in which a court ruled that the FDA cannot withhold commercial information from the public soley because a company considers it confidential.

Wednesday, August 24, 2022


Court Sides with Clinics on Freedom of Information Act Exemptions

A court agreed with the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic that the FDA cannot withhold information about a drug’s approval solely because the drugmaker considers it confidential. An exemption to the law is not meant to protect confidentiality for the sake of confidentiality, the court ruled.

Thursday, March 31, 2022


MFIA Secures the Right of Journalists in Texas to Use Drones

In a win for the Media Freedom & Information Access clinic, a federal court in Austin struck said a law restricting the use of drones to capture images violated the First Amendment rights of journalists.

Thursday, February 3, 2022


Alexander Vindman’s Lawsuit Is Right on the Law

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David A. Schulz ’78 contributed to an essay about a lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump.

Friday, October 29, 2021


Puerto Rico Media Petitions Supreme Court in Abuse Case

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David Schulz '78 and Clinical Lecturer in Law and Associate Research Scholar in Law Stephen Stich '17 comment on a petition filed to overturn a ruling by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court cutting off all public access to judicial proceedings involving domestic violence.

Monday, June 7, 2021


MFIA Clinic Receives $200,000 Contribution from Craig Newmark Philanthropies

For the second year, the Media Freedom & Information Access (MFIA) Clinic at Yale Law School has received a $200,000 contribution from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to advance the clinic’s core mission.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021


PEN America Lauds Settlement in Press Freedom Lawsuit

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David A. Schulz ’78 is quoted in a Voice of America article about a settlement where the plaintiff was represented in part by the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021


Dominion and Smartmatic have serious shot at victory in election disinformation suits, experts say

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz ’78 is quoted in an article about the Dominion and Smartmatic defamation suits against a variety of conservative personalities.

Thursday, December 3, 2020


Federal Judge Allows MFIA Lawsuit Challenging Texas Drone Law to Proceed

A federal judge in Texas denied the state's request to dismiss a case brought by the Media Freedom and Information Access (MFIA) Clinic at Yale Law School and Public Justice defending the newsgathering rights of photojournalists.

Wednesday, September 2, 2020


Yale Law School helps win suit against CIA, lifting censorship of book on terrorism

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz ’78 and David Froomkin ’20 are quoted in a Hearst Newspapers article about a former FBI agent whose book was redacted after the CIA took issue with his eyewitness account of its interrogation of Guantanamo detainee Abu Zubaydah. The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic assisted a filmmaker and a journalist in their efforts to gain access to the redacted information.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020


MFIA Clinic Receives $200,000 Contribution from Craig Newmark Philanthropies

A grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies will help advance the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic’s core mission of defending the rights of journalists and promoting transparency.

Monday, April 6, 2020


Judge Permits MFIA Clinic First Amendment Case to Proceed

A federal judge in New York has ordered a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Yale’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA) against President Donald Trump to proceed into discovery.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020


MFIA Clinic Launches Local News Initiative

The Media Freedom and Information Access (MFIA) Clinic at Yale Law School has announced a new program, the Local News Initiative.

Thursday, December 12, 2019


John Solomon claims the First Amendment protects him as a journalist

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David Schulz ’78 is quoted in the Washington Post about the media’s First Amendment rights.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019


Gag order in Jennifer Dulos case could set CT precedent

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David A. Schulz is quoted in the New Haven Register about the potential effects of gag orders in Connecticut.

Friday, April 12, 2019


The debate over what Julian Assange’s arrest means for freedom of the press, explained

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer David A. Schulz is quoted in an article about whether Julian Assange is a journalist.

Thursday, April 4, 2019


MFIA and CRIT Fight for Transparency to Protect Public Health and Safety

On March 25, 2019, the Yale Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency (CRIT) and leading nonprofit consumer advocacy groups Public Citizen and the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a joint amicus brief at the Supreme Court with the assistance of students and supervising attorneys in Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA).

Saturday, February 16, 2019


Alex Jones defamation cases reach deep into free speech debate

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz ’78 is quoted about the defamation case filed by Sandy Hook families against media personality Alex Jones.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018


Literary group sues Trump, alleges free speech stifling

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law David Schulz ’78 is quoted by the Associated Press about a lawsuit filed by PEN America with the assistance of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.

Saturday, June 9, 2018


Trump’s targeting of a New York Times journalist, explained by experts

David Schulz ’78, Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and director of the MFIA clinic, and Michael Meltsner ’60 contributed to an article about the federal government’s seizure of a reporter’s phone records as part of a federal investigation into leaks of classified information.

Monday, March 5, 2018


First Amendment Cannot Shield Exxon from Climate Probe, New York AG Argues

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz '78 is quoted in a story about efforts by Exxon to use the First Amendment as a shield against fraud probes by New York and Massachusetts.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017


Conference on Government Transparency to Be Held October 27

“Access and Accountability: A Conference for Transparency Advocates” will convene at Yale Law School on Friday, October 27, 2017.

Saturday, August 12, 2017


MBTA agrees to make arrests public

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz is quoted, and the MFIA clinic mentioned, in an article about access to information regarding those taken into custody by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Thursday, July 27, 2017


Lethal injection details sought; Media, state at odds over what public should know

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz ’78 and Clinical Lecturer in Law John Langford ’14 are mentioned in an article about efforts by media outlets to obtain information about lethal injection drugs used in Arizona.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017


MFIA Clinic, ACLU Sue LAPD Over Access to Public Documents

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic filed a lawsuit on April 25, 2017 against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) alleging flagrant violations of the California Public Records Act (CPRA).

Thursday, March 16, 2017


President Trump vs. The Press

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law and co-director of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic David Schulz ’78 took part in a discussion about Donald Trump and the media.

Thursday, January 19, 2017


MFIA Clinic Convenes Panel To Discuss Conflicts of Interest In New Administration

On January 10, 2017, approximately 40 journalists and media lawyers attended a free-form discussion with legal experts on the federal conflict of interest laws and the incoming Trump Administration

Tuesday, October 11, 2016


Charlotte Observer sues governor’s office over access to public records

Floyd Abrams Clinical Lecturer in Law David Schulz ’78 is quoted in an article about a lawsuit launched by the Charlotte Observer against North Carolina governor Pat McCrory regarding a request for public records.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016


MFIA Clinic and Abrams Institute File Amicus Brief in Ag-Gag Case

The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic filed an amicus brief challenging an Idaho law that makes it a crime to record slaughterhouses, feed lots, and other agricultural production facilities unless the owner explicitly consents.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015


Kohler-Hausmann and MFIA Clinic Win Appeal

Professor Issa Kohler-Hausmann ’08, with amicus support from the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, successfully appealed a New York State court ruling prohibiting a record requestor from suing an agency for unreasonable delay when filing a Freedom of Information Request in the state.

Thursday, July 23, 2015


Transparency, Surveillance, and the Future of First Amendment Law

In a post-Snowden era, while legal scholars and advocates re-examine government transparency and secrecy, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School is working to protect the First Amendment rights of citizens and news media across the country.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015


Top First Amendment Lawyer to Head MFIA Clinic

David A. Schulz ’78, a leading First Amendment lawyer who has defended the rights of journalists and news organizations for more than 30 years, has been named Clinical Lecturer in Law and Co-Director of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA) at Yale Law School.