CNN settlement with Covington student Nick Sandmann

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CNN settlement with Covington student Nick Sandmann a win for the 'little guy,' expert says

CNN’s decision to settle a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann is a big victory for the "little guy," Cornell Law School professor William A. Jacobson told Fox News.

“It represents a rare example of a 'little guy' being able to stand up to a media behemoth,” said Jacobson, the founder of the law blog Legal Insurrection and former senior editor of the Harvard International Law Journal.

“If not for the aggressive, and presumably contingent fee, representation by famed attorney Linn Wood, the result may have been different," he added.

CNN SETTLES NICK SANDMANN DEFAMATION LAWSUIT

Jacobson said the $250 million defamation suit was probably settled for at least seven figures but doesn’t expect the exact figure to ever be made public.

“The settlement amount is confidential, but likely was in the millions given the intrusive nature of discovery Sandmann's attorneys would have into the CNN newsmaking process, and the cost of continued defense," he said.

Sandmann was swept up in a controversy after a video clip depicted the "MAGA" hat-wearing student smiling at Native American Nathan Phillips, who was beating a drum and singing a chant as he was surrounded by Sandmann's peers, who had joined in on the chant in front of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

However, several mainstream media outlets -- including CNN -- portrayed the incident with Sandmann and the other teens as being racially charged before additional footage surfaced and showed that a group of Black Hebrew Israelites had provoked the confrontation by slinging racial slurs at the students.