Leonard D. Van Slyke, Jr., worked his way through high school, college, and law school as a sports reporter for local newspapers in Mississippi. After he became a tax attorney, with an LL.M. from Georgetown, he figured his media days were long behind him. But his years in the newsroom made him uniquely qualified to defend the media and the public's right to information, and he has been juggling tax controversy and media cases for more than twenty years. Van Slyke was in the news last week after the U.S. government conceded that U.S. Marshals had violated federal law when a marshal erased reporters' recordings of a speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (who later apologized for the incident). The Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American sued the government and hired Van Slyke to represent them. (Van Slyke, who has no relation to baseball player Andy Van Slyke, used to work as sports editor for the Hattiesburg American). The reporters and their employers received $1,000 in damages and reasonable attorneys' fees. The case is emblematic of the types of cases Van Slyke handles to preserve public access to government officials and information. Van Slyke says he did not plan to become an attorney and thought he would pursue a career in the ministry. ''I initially went to theology school at Emory University and came to the conclusion that I did not feel like the ministry was right for me,'' Van Slyke told LawCrossing. ''But I did want to continue in a helping profession, and I'd always been interested in the law; so I turned to law school.'' He was drawn to tax law through coursework at the University of Mississippi Law School and decided to get an advanced degree from Georgetown. After graduation, he wanted trial experience; so he spent four years with the Justice Department Tax Division in Washington, where he tried dozens of tax cases around the southeastern part of the country. ''I'm probably the only lawyer in the country that has media and tax as a combination,'' Van Slyke, 59, said of his practice. While the U.S. Attorneys Office normally handles litigation in their district, complex tax cases require Tax Division attorneys from Washington. Van Slyke says that experience was invaluable because unlike many tax attorneys, he had a significant amount of trial work under his belt early in his career. ''If you're going to do trial work, it's extremely helpful to try as many cases as you can, and particularly for a tax lawyer, it's somewhat unique to have trial experience. Not a lot of tax lawyers get in the courtroom that often,'' he said. He often tries tax shelter cases, which he says are becoming ''increasingly common.'' The media cases came after he started with the Jackson, MS, firm Thomas, Price, Alston, Jones & Davis, where he spent 17 years and which has since been dissolved. He has been with Watkins, Ludlam, Winter & Stennis, P.A. Attorneys, for two years. About 20 years ago, he became local counsel for a media company buying a local television station. After the closing, the media executives started asking him legal questions concerning libel and other issues. The newsroom had come back to haunt Van Slyke but in a positive way. Now, many of his media cases involve motion work on reporters' privilege cases, where documents are being subpoenaed. He says he is very concerned about the public's eroding access to government officials and information. ''I'm very concerned, particularly in the area of access,'' he said. ''I see more and more exemptions being enacted to public records laws, and of course, we see things like the Patriot Act, which signals great danger to the public's right to know.'' While the Patriot Act does not specifically deny the public access to information, it worries Van Slyke that it gives the government access to private information about citizens. On the state level, he sees more laws clamping down on information. ''We have access to records through the Public Records Act and through the Open Meetings Act, and I see a tendency for the legislature to enact more and more exemptions to those acts to keep certain records private,'' he said. ''I also see more of a tendency to compel reporters to testify, which bothers me a great deal.'' If reporters are asked to testify, it can endanger their lives in certain circumstances and create a situation where sources will be hesitant to speak to them in the future. ''I think the same problems exist in every state,'' he said. ''The access laws are not just for reporters, they are for the public. The reporters have no greater or lesser rights under the sunshine laws. It's just that reporters are the ones who frequently act as surrogates to the public in trying to obtain information.'' He says the balance between media law and the more technical tax law is a good one. To be a full-time media lawyer in a small state like Mississippi would be almost impossible, he says, because there simply aren't enough media companies around to represent, and there are several attorneys in the state to compete with for cases. Van Slyke says attorneys often get a bad rap and encourages idealistic people to enter the legal profession. His daughter is an attorney based in Houston, and he says he did not try to influence her decision regarding the profession. ''I did not go into it to get rich, and I did not [become rich]. I've always been able to make a living and enjoyed my work; so I commend it in that way,'' he said. ''I think lawyers have a lot to contribute to society and are an important part of society.''

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