Lawrence G. Walters, Managing Partner

Lawrence G. Walters heads up the Walters Law Group, a boutique law firm concentrating in First Amendment, Internet, Intellectual Property and Gaming law.  Mr. Walters has developed a noteworthy reputation for representing the interests of the adult online entertainment community, as well as other more traditional industries.  He has practiced law for 22 years, and is recognized as a national expert on legal issues pertaining to the Adult Industry, Free Speech and the Internet.  He frequently contributes to television news programs on networks such as NBC, ABC, PBS, BBC, CBC, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, and CNN. His high profile cases are often followed by the print and online media, having been covered in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired Magazine, Business 2.0, Playboy, ABA Journal, St. Petersburg Times, Orlando Sentinel, etc. A partial listing of his articles and publications can be found here. 

Mr. Walters began practicing law in Central Florida in 1988, after graduating from Florida State University, College of Law, with Honors. While in law school, he studied English common law at St. Edmunds Hall in Oxford University, and interned with a federal judge in the Northern District of Florida. During his career, Mr. Walters has served as a Law Studies professor at the University of Central Florida, and acted as a Director for the local Bar Association and the local Chamber of Commerce.  Among his many civic and community activities, he has served as Chair of the Legal Panel of the ACLU, Central Chapter, and currently participates on the advisory panels for the University of Central Florida’s Law Studies Department, and the Heifer.org charitable group.  Larry also acts as General Counsel to the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, which focuses on advancing the human right to sexual expression. He has established and directed numerous non-profit associations and trade groups, including the Internet Freedom Association, the Jacksonville Property Rights Association and the Association of Coastal Property Owners.  His efforts in helping fight online child pornography earned him the Annual Service Recognition Award from the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection, in January, 2005.  Mr. Walters has been recognized as one of the Top 100 News Makers by the media industry group, Xbiz, and was included in the top 10% in the ‘Best of the Bar’ competition, through a poll conducted by the Orlando Business Journal.

Mr. Walters’ First Amendment law practice dates back to the late ’80s when he defended numerous “mom & pop” video stores in Florida against a government censorship campaign.  In 1997, he formed the Florida Bar’s First Amendment Law Committee, which he chaired for over a decade. He represents hundreds of webmasters across the globe in connection with the regulation and protection of online content.  Mr. Walters regularly deals with issues relating to online advertising, Internet gaming, free speech concerns, domain name protection, mobile applications, and other cutting edge practice areas.  After 9 years in partnership with Weston, Garrou, Walters & Mooney, a national First Amendment firm, he established his current practice with the Walters Law Group.  The firm handles cases involving constitutional and commercial issues such as civil rights litigation, licensing and zoning suits, intellectual property claims, domain name disputes, appeals and complex criminal defense.  Larry often finds himself embroiled in precedent-setting cases in the fields of online gambling, adult entertainment, social networking and Internet pharmaceuticals.  He has initiated over 100 federal law suits, and defended over 30 criminal obscenity cases during his career, many of which involved racketeering charges.   The lawyers in the firm also handle transactional matters such as licensing agreements, sales contracts, online user terms, and acceptable use policies.

Mr. Walters is a frequent lecturer on Free Speech issues, and has presented seminars across the country on Internet law, Gaming law and the First Amendment. One of his speeches dealing with the First Amendment and Terrorism, was published in the Representative American Speeches of 2003, along with those of former President George W. Bush, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and Sen. Hillary Clinton. He regularly publishes articles of interest to webmasters on countless websites and magazines, including legal updates directed at specific industries.  His website, www.FirstAmendment.com, which has been in operation for over 12 years, receives over 1.5 million hits per month, and is recognized as a global resource for Internet and Constitutional law issues.  Larry operates several other websites including www.GameCensorship.com dealing with legal and legislative attempts to censor video games, and www.OnlineDatingLaw.com, which focuses on the legal issues impacting social networking sites.  His blog can be found at www.LawofSex.com. Over the years, Mr. Walters has published several law review articles on Free Speech issues and Gaming law, along with a book chapter on the First Amendment protections of commercial speech.  His accolades in the legal field have earned him recognition as an honored member in the Who’s Who Registry of Outstanding Professionals, (2006-07 Edition.)

In 2005, Mr. Walters was appointed to the Board of Officers of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, a prominent, nationwide group of First Amendment practitioners, and currently serves as the group’s National Chairman and immediate past President. He has earned a “BV” (very high) rating from Martindale Hubbell, the national rating service for lawyers, and “10.0 – Superb” by Avvo.com, the popular online attorney rating service.  Mr. Walters is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Florida, as well as the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, and the U.S. Claims Court in Washington, D.C. In addition he has been admitted pro hac vice to courts across the country.

You can request additional information regarding his qualifications and experience by emailing us: Larry@FirstAmendment.com .