Gunster, one of the state’s oldest and largest full-service business law firms, is expanding with the addition of Thomas R. Julin, a renowned First Amendment attorney and business litigator who will be a shareholder in the firm’s Miami office. Through his more than 30 years of experience, he has litigated a range of free speech issues in Florida and around the country, protecting and advocating for the rights of businesses.
Julin’s work on First Amendment rights of businesses has included representation of media companies such as newspapers, magazines, book publishers, television stations and networks and wire services. In these cases, his experience has included the defense of libel, slander and privacy invasion claims. He has also used the federal civil rights act to attack government regulations on speech, the Florida Sunshine Law public records and Freedom of Information laws to extract information from government agencies. More recently, he has represented businesses leveraging extensive data collection, analysis and utilization and are now facing increasingly complex regulatory and judicial challenges that implicate First Amendment principles.
Julin’s experience as a First Amendment lawyer, general commercial litigator and appellate attorney has resulted in more than 250 reported judicial decisions, including a recent precedent-setting case, Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., where his successful argument led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling favorably that data mining for target marketing is protected against regulation that cannot survive heightened judicial scrutiny. That opinion, which resulted in the invalidation of three state laws, has since been cited in more than 1,000 judicial decisions in which companies have challenged laws and regulations restricting advertising, pharmaceutical sales, securities offerings, labor practices, internet communications and more.
Other notable cases include a recent effort in which Julin led a journalist’s campaign to declassify 28 pages of a congressional report regarding the Saudi government’s possible support for the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States. The report had been kept secret for more than 13 years until declassified by President Obama in 2016.
“Gunster is always striving for ways to deepen our bench of attorneys and provide resources that will allow Florida businesses to grow while remaining protected from overreaching regulations,” said Bill Perry, managing shareholder of Gunster. “Tom’s work as a business litigator is unparalleled and he brings experience and background that is unique to our ever-expanding client services.”
Awarded with numerous honors throughout his career, Julin has been honored nationally in the area of First Amendment litigation by Chambers USA for seven consecutive years, and is consistently included on The Best Lawyers in America annual list.
He earned his J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and his B.S. in arts and sciences from the same alma mater.
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About Gunster
Gunster, Florida’s law firm for business, provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 13 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa Bayshore, Tampa Downtown, Vero Beach, and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With more than 280 attorneys and consultants, and over 290 committed professional staff, Gunster is ranked among the National Law Journal’s list of the 500 largest law firms and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Diverse Law Firms by Law360. More information about its practice areas, offices and insider’s view newsletters is available at www.gunster.com.
