In ruling on a challenge to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose this week noted that the law had passed with the “unanimous” support from the state legislature and governor. She also wrote that the law’s stated purpose—protecting kids when they’re on the internet—“clearly is important.”

But despite the political consensus and good intentions, this week’s litigators of the week Davis Wright Tremaine partners Ambika Kumar, David Gossett and counsel Adam Sieff persuaded Freeman that the law’s restrictions on speech likely violate the First Amendment. Representing NetChoice, a trade association for online businesses whose members include Google, Amazon, Meta and TikTok, the team won a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law, which was set to go into effect next July.