The Committee Table: Ravi Sitwala, Communications and Media Law

Ravi Sitwala, Deputy General Counsel, Hearst Corporation
Communications and Media Law Committee Chair

When did your interest in communications and media law begin?
When I was in college, I worked at a radio station on the management side with our council and started to learn about the different laws that affected communications and media at that point.

And then after law school, after I clerked and I was working at a law firm, I had the fortune to work on litigations for Hearst [in] media law issues directly. That really helped me understand how interesting the issues are and dedicate my career to it.

What does the committee focus on? What are the hot topics?
Protecting speech, protecting media companies that may be faced with lawsuits based on what they report, copyright issues, and certainly AI now has become a very hot topic in the communications and media law space.

Also, getting access to information from the government — whether it’s the city or the state or the federal government, so that our journalists can report that information — is critical, along with the relationships between the journalists and other entities.

Who introduced you to the City Bar?
When I was at Patterson Belknap [Webb & Tyler LLP], I was immediately introduced to the City Bar by the firm and was able to be a member and really appreciate all the offerings that the City Bar had in terms of CLEs, other programs, community, the space and the people. I immediately understood what a vital and important institution the City Bar is for the city.

Outside of committee leadership, what has been the most enjoyable part of your City Bar membership?
I think it’s the events that are put on, the symposiums — there’s an IP symposium, there’s various others — where you can learn about any area of law you’re interested in, even if it’s not an area you practice in on a day-to-day basis.

And there’s so many experts in their fields who are members. So, coming to the building on any given day, you could attend something and broaden your horizons in a way that’s super valuable.

What can students gain from participating in committees?
Get exposure to a variety of issues real world lawyers are facing in particular industries and make connections and network with the lawyers working on those issues. They can potentially find opportunities down the road and understand what interests them most. So that way, when they begin their career, they can focus on those things and have a leg up.

Closing Argument: Why should I join the Communications & Media Law Committee?
Communications and media are vital to our country and our democracy. The law provides the foundation for the ability of our media to inform the people and get information that’s true and accurate out. And so, I think it’s something everybody should be interested in.

Learn more about City Bar committees here.