We asked a local reporter to recommend journalists for attorneys to follow on Twitter. Here’s what they shared:
If you managed to stay off Twitter for more than an hour in April and May, you likely missed the latest news about President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Whether it was the FBI’s raid on Cohen’s office and home, or major companies paying him in hopes of securing good will from the Trump administration, the brash New York attorney provided plenty of fodder for consistent tweeters.
Many of those using their limited number of characters to tweet about Cohen were reporters, who are typically encouraged by their news organizations to be active on Twitter.
Lawyers may find the following journalists on Twitter instrumental in keeping up with legal affairs news and trends, while also gauging what topics are of interest to the media. Locally, there are several reporters tweeting about high-profile cases and judicial ratings that could be helpful to follow.
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Greg Moran (@gregmoran) and Kristina Davis (@kristinadavis) cover the state and federal courts here. They have written about the ongoing “Fat Leonard” scandal engulfing U.S. Navy personnel and efforts by federal prosecutors to emphasize prosecutions of illegal border crossers.
Another Moran who tweets about San Diego legal developments is Lyle Moran (@lylemoran), a staff writer with the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He is the newspaper’s State Bar reporter, so his feed also provides frequent updates on California’s legal licensing agency and law schools.
Bianca Bruno (@BiancaDBruno) from Courthouse News Service is a prolific tweeter who covers local civil and criminal cases, while also finding time to report on some appellate hearings about cases that originated in San Diego.
Maya Srikrishnan (@msrikris) covers immigration for Voice of San Diego, so immigration lawyers would be wise to follow her. She tweeted out a piece in May about a day she spent in immigration court and has tweeted about legal developments affecting so-called Dreamers.
The Wall Street Journal’s Sara Randazzo (@sara_randazzo) is a Los Angeles-based reporter who writes about legal news of national interest generated from California and elsewhere.
Maura Dolan (@mauradolan) of the Los Angeles Times will occasionally tweet about state Supreme Court rulings and Cheryl Miller (@CapitalAccounts) of The Recorder shares legislative actions and legal maneuvers in Sacramento.
If it is unclear what topics a reporter covers, their Twitter bio typically includes that information. Journalists will also frequently post the best way to reach them in their brief bios.
Direct messaging via Twitter is another option for contacting a reporter with a news tip or a question. Typically, the ability to use that messaging method requires that you and the media member both follow one another on Twitter.
Following journalists on Twitter also enables attorneys to receive up-to-the-minute updates from court hearings that may be on their radars.
Courthouse News’ Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) seems to do a particularly good job of tweeting from federal court proceedings in New York. He and the Wall Street Journal’s (@eorden) broke the news via Twitter that a previously undisclosed client of Cohen’s was Fox News host Sean Hannity, a big booster of Cohen’s primary client.
And the next time a big piece of legal news breaks on Twitter, whether about Cohen or not, it will likely be from a reporter’s feed.
This article was originally published in the May/June 2018 issue of San Diego Lawyer.