Mickey H. Osterreicher is of counsel to Finnerty, Osterreicher, Abdulla and serves as general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). He is an award-winning photojournalist with over forty years’ experience in print and broadcast. His work has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Time, Newsweek and USA Today as well as on ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News and ESPN. He has also had articles published in the National Sheriffs Association Magazine and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Police Chiefs Magazine. As a lawyer, Mr. Osterreicher has been actively involved in such issues as: cameras in the courtroom, the federal shield law,
media access, public photography, copyright, and the use of drones for newsgathering.
Osterreicher was a member of the IACP Public Recording of Police advisory committee and helped draft the manuals and provide training on this issue. He has also instructed at numerous annual IACP and National Sheriffs Association (NSA) meetings and provided training on this subject to many law enforcement agencies nationwide, including: Washington, D.C., Tampa, FL, Los Angeles, CA, Cleveland, OH, Charlotte, NC, Philadelphia, PA, Denver, CO, Milwaukee, WI, Miami FL and Massachusetts. He is an instructor with ILEETA and the Daigle Law Group and is certified under the National Incident Management System (NIMS). In 2023 he provided in-person training over a period of several months to the Minnesota State Patrol as part of a settlement in Goyette v. City of Minneapolis.
He has been a uniformed reserve deputy sheriff with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) since 1976. He was also an adjunct lecturer in Photojournalism at SUNY at Buffalo and an adjunct law professor in media and the law at the University at Buffalo Law School. In 2017 he was named Reserve Deputy of the Year by the ECSO and Erie County Deputy Sheriff’s Badge and Shield Club. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) honored him in 2015 as a “Fellow of the Society,” the highest professional honor given by the Society for extraordinary contribution to the profession. In 2021 he was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Mr. Osterreicher graduated cum laude in 1973 from SUNY at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Photojournalism/Photography and received his Juris Doctor, cum laude from the University of Buffalo Law School in 1998. He is admitted to practice in New York State and several federal jurisdictions around the country including the U.S. Supreme Court.