U.S. Laura Prather, a First Amendment lawyer and one of the first winners of ALM’s Tony Mauro Media Lawyer Award, has been named a Fulbright Scholar to spend this fall in Paris researching how meritless lawsuits have affected human rights in the European Union, and to advocate for improvements.

In her research, Prather, who is based in Austin, Texas and heads the media law practice group at Haynes and Boone, will work with Reporters Without Borders to evaluate the trends, cultural influences and legal systems that contribute to the rise of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits), and also look at regulatory efforts to prevent SLAPPs.