Leita Walker is a member of the Faegre & Benson intellectual property practice. She focuses on litigation in the areas of media, copyright, and trademark law, as well as on privacy, data security, and information management issues. She is also a member of the firm's electronic discovery working group.

Leita has experience in various aspects of media law, including defending libel lawsuits; obtaining access to government information; litigating copyright, trademark, and false advertising claims; and negotiating publishing contracts. She works with editors and reporters to reduce litigation risks arising from stories they wish to publish, and she counsels major corporations as to proposed advertising copy and its compliance with rules of the FTC and Better Business Bureau. Leita's media clients include the Star Tribune, Minnpost.com, CBS, A&E Television Networks, ASCAP, and the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association. Before joining Faegre & Benson, Leita interned at The Christian Science Monitor and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She also worked at The Lawrence Journal-World. Her representative media cases include:

• Obtained summary judgment for human rights organization dismissing defamation claim of leader of Liberia Peace Council (No. 08-cv-5908 D. Minn.)
• Obtained summary judgment for ResortQuest International dismissing copyright infringement claims by MDM Group Associates (No. 06-cv-01518 D. Colo.)
• Obtained summary judgment for Target dismissing trademark infringement claims by Payless Shoe Source (No. 05-4023 D. Kan.)
• Brought Section 1983 claim against the State of Minnesota on behalf of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association over the state's attempt to block online gambling sites from residents (No. 09-cv-01065 D. Minn.)

In the area of privacy and data security, Leita regularly counsels clients in connection with e-commerce, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, direct marketing, franchising, and strategic alliances. She also works with the firm's litigation teams to provide practical solutions to restrictions on transfers of data in the context of international discovery. She provides crisis management and legal services to organizations that have experienced a security breach, working with them to mitigate harm, prevent future occurrences, and comply with security breach notification laws. The clients Leita advises on data privacy and security matters include Xcel Energy, Pella Corporation, Capella University, Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Lenders Asset Management Corporation, Gander Mountain Company, and a number of nonprofit organizations. She routinely reviews and writes terms of use for the Web sites of major corporations and advises clients on compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Communications Decency Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and CAN-SPAM Act.

Presentations

• Legal and Regulatory Issues in Social Media
  Twin Cities Privacy Retreat (2010)
• Using Trade Dress to Protect Designs, Images and More
  Minnesota CLE (2009)
• Media Law for Citizen Journalists
  SPJ Citizen Journalism Academy (2009)
• Copyright Highlights
  Midwest IP Institute (2009)
• Comment Conundrum
  Minnesota SPJ (2009)

Publications

• Recent Developments in Media, Privacy and Defamation Law
  Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal (Winter 2010)
• Legal Theories for Protecting Online Content
  The IPC Legal Browser (Winter 2010)
• No Magical Solution: Harry Potter Suit Tests Limits of Fair Use Doctrine
  Copyright World, June 2008, at 16, co-author
• Copyright Highlights: Noteworthy Cases 2006 - 2007, 2007 - 2008, 2008 - 2009
  The IP Book (eds. Stephen R. Baird, et al.), contributor
• Protecting Judges from White's Aftermath: How the Public-Employee Speech Doctrine Might Help Judges and the Courts in which They Work
  Note, 20 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 371 (2007)
• Free Speech, Judicial Elections and Fair Judges
  Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 20, 2006, at A11, Op-Ed, Co-author with John Borger
• Recent Developments in Media, Privacy, and Defamation Law
  41 Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal 595 (Winter 2006), contributor
• Saving the Shield with Silkwood: A Compromise to Protect Journalists, Their Sources, and the Public
  Comment, 53 Kan. L. Rev 1215 (2005)
• MLRC 50-State Survey (Media Libel Law)
  8th Circuit, annual contributor
• MLRC 50-State Survey (Media Privacy & Related Law)
  Minnesota, North Dakota, annual contributor
• MLRC 50-State Survey (Employment Libel & Privacy Law)
  Minnesota, North Dakota, annual contributor
• eSignature, Newsletter of the International Regional Magazine Association
  Columnist on copyright law

Trade Organizations

• International Association of Privacy Professionals
• American Bar Association, Forum Committee on Communications Law
• American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section
• Media Law Resource Center, Defense Counsel Section
• Society of Professional Journalists

Civic Associations

Pro Bono