Central to Isabella Salomão Nascimento’s legal work is fighting for the First Amendment rights of the news media. A seventh-year associate at Minneapolis-based Ballard Spahr, she often advises the media on their rights when covering events that may turn contentious, including Operation Metro Surge. She is now representing an independent journalist in a federal criminal case. Other highlights of her work the past year include leading briefing at the trial level and in the Minnesota Court of Appeals in a case to obtain public access to police disciplinary records; defending the Associated Press; and moving to unseal records in multiple lawsuits brought against the Trump administration.