What Clare Locke does

Clare Locke LLP is a Washington, D.C.-based boutique law firm founded in 2014 that specializes exclusively in plaintiff-side defamation, reputation management, and First Amendment litigation. The firm serves Fortune 100 companies, hedge funds, private equity firms, professional sports teams, CEOs, journalists, and other prominent individuals facing reputational attacks from print, broadcast, and online media outlets. Its service offering spans three stages: pre-publication counseling to suppress damaging stories before they run, post-publication retractions and corrections, and full defamation litigation through trial and verdict.

The firm operates a pure professional-services business model on hourly fees, explicitly declining contingency engagements. Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales delivered through a referral network anchored by crisis management consultants (notably Eric Dezenhall), high-profile client testimonials, and reputation-based channels such as Chambers & Partners Band 1 rankings, BTI's "most feared litigation firm" designation, and Hollywood Reporter's "Troubleshooters" feature. Co-founders Tom Clare and Libby Locke, both Band 1 First Amendment litigators by Chambers, are the primary economic engines and the firm's principal brand assets.

Clare Locke has accumulated a portfolio of precedent-setting outcomes, including the $787.5 million Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News settlement (2023), the largest publicly known defamation settlement in U.S. history involving a media company, a record $52.125 million FINRA defamation judgment for Daniel Michalow against DE Shaw (2022), a $26 million verdict against Puma Biotechnology (2019), and a $900 million trade-secret filing on behalf of Kytch against McDonald's (2022). The firm has no disclosed technology platform, software products, or AI capabilities, and revenue is not publicly reported. In April 2024 it announced a strategic global alliance with Schillings (UK) and Giles George (Australia), formalizing cross-border reputation-law coverage across the Americas, EMEA, and Oceania.

Name

Clare Locke

Legal name

Clare Locke LLP

Website

https://clarelocke.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Clare Locke LLP is a Washington, D.C. boutique law firm founded in 2014 that exclusively represents plaintiffs in defamation, reputation management, and First Amendment litigation for Fortune 100 companies, hedge funds, PE firms, and high-profile individuals facing media attacks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Legal Services: Professional legal services for defamation matters including pre-publication counseling, post-publication retractions, and defamation litigation. The firm does not handle matters on a contingency fee basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Clare Locke LLP is a boutique plaintiff-side defamation law firm providing three integrated services: pre-publication counseling to prevent defamatory stories from being printed, post-publication retractions/corrections/apologies, and full-scale defamation litigation including anti-SLAPP defense. The firm represents Fortune 100 companies, hedge funds, private equity firms, professional sports teams, CEOs, journalists, and other high-profile individuals in complex First Amendment matters.

Product overview

Clare Locke is a boutique defamation law firm providing legal services rather than technology products. Their service offerings include pre-publication counseling (reviewing content before publication to prevent reputational harm), post-publication retractions (correcting the record and obtaining retractions for damaging falsehoods), and defamation litigation. The firm specializes in complex defamation matters on behalf of high-profile clients including Fortune 100 companies, hedge funds, private equity firms, professional sports teams, CEOs, journalists, and other prominent individuals. As a legal services firm rather than a technology company, Clare Locke does not offer software products, modules, or platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-publication Counseling Legal counseling services aimed at preventing defamatory stories from being published by causing publishers to exercise meaningful editorial and legal judgment before going to print. Designed for clients facing reputational attacks and intended to result in flawed stories never being published.
• Post-publication Retractions Legal services to correct the record after defamatory publication, including obtaining corrections, retractions, and apologies for damaging falsehoods, and discouraging other outlets from republishing the false narrative.
• Defamation Litigation Plaintiff-side defamation litigation in complex First Amendment matters, including overcoming First Amendment obstacles, anti-SLAPP defense, and trial work. The firm is the only plaintiff-side firm to have won multiple public-figure defamation jury verdicts in the past five years.

Quantifiable outcome

• Largest publicly known defamation settlement in US History - $787.5 million (Dominion vs Fox News)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SchillingscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Global strategic alliance with Schillings in the United Kingdom, joining forces to create a coalition of high-stakes problem solvers. Part of Clare Locke's international expansion strategy to offer clients unrivaled capabilities and service coverage.
• Giles GeorgecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Global strategic alliance with Giles George in Australia, creating a new coalition of high-stakes problem solvers with global reach. Combined expertise provides best-in-class operators in key international hubs.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz LLP: Boutique firm with deep First Amendment and defamation practice representing media defendants. Directly comparable in subject-matter expertise to Clare Locke, though positioned on the defense side.
• Susman Godfrey LLP: Houston-based elite plaintiff-side litigation boutique that served as co-counsel to Clare Locke on the Dominion v. Fox News $787.5M settlement. Highly comparable as a high-stakes trial firm representing plaintiffs against major corporate and media defendants.
• Schillings: U.K. reputation and privacy law firm that entered a strategic alliance with Clare Locke in April 2024. Directly comparable as a high-stakes reputation law firm serving high-net-worth individuals and corporates against media exposure.
• Stris & Maher LLP: Plaintiff-side boutique known for First Amendment and consumer protection litigation. Comparable to Clare Locke as a smaller, specialized firm that takes on media and corporate defendants on a contingency or hybrid basis.
• Giles George: Australian defamation and reputation law firm and Clare Locke's April 2024 alliance partner. Mirrors Clare Locke's plaintiff-side defamation specialty in the Australian market.

Broad incumbents

• Latham & Watkins LLP: Global elite firm with a significant media and First Amendment litigation practice. Comparable in handling high-stakes defamation matters for Fortune 100 clients, though from a much broader platform.
• Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP: Full-service U.S. firm with a long-standing media and First Amendment defense practice. Adjacent to Clare Locke's niche, representing the broad-incumbent side of defamation litigation.
• Davis Wright Tremaine LLP: Large U.S. firm widely regarded as a leading media-defense practice. Comparable to Clare Locke as a First Amendment/defamation specialist but operating at much greater scale and primarily on the defendant side.

Emerging players

• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP: Aggressive global litigation boutique with growing First Amendment and media practice. Comparable to Clare Locke in plaintiff-side courtroom intensity and willingness to take on major institutional defendants.
• Boies Schiller Flexner LLP: High-stakes plaintiff-side litigation firm with a media and First Amendment group. Comparable to Clare Locke as a reputation-defending plaintiff shop serving executives, corporations, and high-profile individuals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/clarelockellp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clare-locke-llp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clare Locke