Legal Hotline

EPA’s Legal Hotline is a service designed to provide EPA members in the U.S. with ready access to an experienced publishing law firm regarding questions in the following Scope of Service:

• Pre-publication review
• Rights questions
• First Amendment matters
• Fair use
• “Hot news” doctrine
• Copyright law
• Libel/defamation
• Questions regarding agreements with freelancers
• Digital publishing
• Infringement
• Text and image permissions
• Marketing and advertising clearance

Eligibility and Fees
The EPA Publishers Legal Hotline is intended for use by EPA members which do not currently have access to experienced publishing counsel. To help guide these members as they establish their publishing procedures, navigate rights issues, and encounter other questions within the Scope of Service, Flagler Law Group offers to answer questions posed by subscribers via phone or email. A subscriber’s questions may use a total of up to five (5) hours of attorney time. Flagler Law Group makes its attorneys available to offer these hotline services at a thirty percent (30%) discount off of their regular rates. There is no subscription fee, but there is a brief approval process. For interested parties, EPA verifies the membership status and introduces the member to the law firm via email. Subscribers pay only for the time they use. Flagler Law Group 2023 Hotline rates (reflecting the 30% discount for EPA members): $430/hour for a partner’s expertise, $325 for of counsel’s expertise, and $255/hour for an associate’s expertise. Subscribers are billed in tenths of an hour, with a minimum of two-tenths for a question.

Using the EPA Legal Hotline Service

Organizations subscribing to EPA’s Legal Hotline service will have access to the hotline via phone or email. Answers will be returned to the organization the same business day if possible or, at the latest, the following business day, with the exception of limited office closures communicated in advance via email to subscribers. Matters that require research or specialized expertise from the national affiliate network will receive an acknowledgment and an estimated response time.

Scope of Service

Questions should be within the Scope of Service (as defined by bullet points above).  Eligible questions in these topic areas should be capable of resolution via a telephone conversation or email. Drafting agreements and resolving disputes is outside the scope of the Hotline, but may be addressed as noted below.

If a subscribing organization poses a question to the Hotline which is outside the Scope of Service, Flagler Law Group will indicate that the question is outside the scope. For such matters, Flagler Law Group will offer to provide representation for the matter pursuant to separate engagement or refer the subscribing organization to a recommended attorney in the hotline’s network of specialized attorneys. As a benefit to subscribers to the service, the attorney will provide an initial consultation (up to 30 minutes) at no charge for matters that come through the hotline. If the publisher chooses to engage Flagler Law Group or another recommended attorney for the matter, the engagement will be billed at the firm’s then-current rates.

Enrollment Process
To enroll in this valuable service, please contact EPA.

Potential Media Liability Discounts

Media insurers may give a discount to publishers that subscribe to a hotline service. Check with your media insurance to see if this subscription would pay for itself in the discount you would receive.

Flagler Law Group

The firm has offices in Bend, Oregon and Asheville, North Carolina.  Lawyers in both offices may be reached at the same number:  541-549-8401; www.flaglerlawgroup.com.