On August 30, 2022, the Tyler Court of Appeals ruled for Vinson & Elkins’ clients, The Dallas Weekly, a Black-owned community newspaper, and its reporter, Steven Monacelli, in a defamation case.
Dallas businessman Monty Bennett and his fledgling website, The Dallas Express, sued The Dallas Weekly and Monacelli for defamation because of an article written by Monacelli and published in The Dallas Weekly in which The Dallas Express was referred to, among other things, as propaganda. Henderson County judge Scott Williams denied the V&E clients’ motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, and the firm appealed to the Tyler Court of Appeals.
