W. Thomas McGough, Jr. was involved in the largest libel award against a newspaper ever to withstand review by state and Federal courts. Even though he lost on behalf of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who had to pay $2.8 million, he had an interesting comment about the case: “Newspapers have routinely reported accusations made by private parties about public officials without knowing or caring whether the accusation is true. That is the way much of the political reporting in this country is conducted. In Pennsylvania, it is now not enough to report the accusation accurately.” Good point, I thought. Now I can see why he’s been named Pittsburgh Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year for 2009. Thomas graduated magna cum laude and received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1975 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1978.
W. Thomas McGough, Jr. was involved in the largest libel award against a newspaper ever to withstand review by state and Federal courts. Even though he lost on behalf of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who had to pay $2.8 million, he had an interesting comment about the case. “Newspapers have routinely reported accusations made by private parties about public officials without knowing or caring whether the accusation is true. That is the way much of the political reporting in this country is conducted. In Pennsylvania, it is now not enough to report the accusation accurately.” Good point, I thought. Now I can see why he’s been named Pittsburgh Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year for 2009. Thomas graduated magna cum laude and received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1975 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1978.
W. Thomas McGough, Jr. was involved in the largest libel award against a newspaper ever to withstand review by state and Federal courts. Even though he lost on behalf of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who had to pay $2.8 million, he had an interesting comment about the case: “Newspapers have routinely reported accusations made by private parties about public officials without knowing or caring whether the accusation is true. That is the way much of the political reporting in this country is conducted. In Pennsylvania, it is now not enough to report the accusation accurately.” Good point, I thought. Now I can see why he’s been named Pittsburgh Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year for 2009. Thomas graduated magna cum laude and received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1975 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1978.