Type of site | Trade news website |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Breaking Media |
| Founder(s) | David Lat |
| URL | abovethelaw |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2006 |
Above the Law (ATL) is a news website about law, law schools, and the legal profession. [1] Established in 2006, the site is owned and published by Breaking Media. [2]
The site has been sourced by GQ , The American Lawyer , Forbes , Washingtonian , and Gawker , among others. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] In 2008, it was listed as one of the ABA Journal 's "100 Best Web Sites by Lawyers, for Lawyers". [8]
The site began publishing an annual law school ranking in 2013. [9]
David Lat is the founding editor of Above the Law. [10] As of 2019, Elie Mystal leads the publication, producing regular content along with Staci Zaretsky, Joe Patrice, and Kathryn Rubino, joined by a number of columnists from across the legal landscape. [2]
In 2011, Above the Law was sued for $50 million for an erroneous story about a rape to which one of its articles linked. The suit was ultimately settled out of court. [11] [12]
In 2016, Above the Law received criticism from many publications when its Breaking Media Editor at Large, Elie Mystal, wrote an article [13] suggesting that jury nullification of crimes by blacks against whites could be used by jurors as a form of protest. [14] [15] [16] [17]
Jury nullification (US/UK), jury equity (UK), or a perverse verdict (UK) occurs when the jury in a criminal trial gives a not guilty verdict regardless of whether they believe a defendant has broken the law. The jury's reasons may include the belief that the law itself is unjust, that the prosecutor has misapplied the law in the defendant's case, that the punishment for breaking the law is too harsh, or general frustrations with the criminal justice system. Some juries have also refused to convict due to their own prejudices in favor of the defendant. Such verdicts are possible because a jury has an absolute right to return any verdict it chooses.
A law school in the United States is an educational institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree.
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students; it is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. As of fiscal year 2017, the ABA had 194,000 dues-paying members, constituting approximately 14.4% of American attorneys. In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA. The organization's national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois, and it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, D.C.
The University of Virginia School of Law is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical village" – which became the University of Virginia – where law was one of the original disciplines taught. UVA Law is the fourth-oldest active law school in the United States and the second-oldest continuously operating law school. The law school offers the J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law and hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers.
David Benjamin Lat is an American lawyer, author, and legal commentator. Lat is the founder of Above the Law, a website about law firms and the legal profession.
Neal Kumar Katyal is an American corporate lawyer and academic. He is a partner at Hogan Lovells and the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center. During the Obama administration, Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States from May 2010 until June 2011. Previously, Katyal served as an attorney in the Solicitor General's office, and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the U.S. Justice Department. As of 2022, he is a partner of Chamath Palihapitiya Social+capital Partnership and a member of the board of Social Capital Ventures Inc.
Truck nuts, also spelled truck nutz, are vehicular vanity accessories resembling a dangling scrotum. They are attached under the rear bumper or trailer hitch, making them plainly visible to other vehicles behind.
Law school rankings are a specific subset of college and university rankings dealing specifically with law schools. Like college and university rankings, law school rankings can be based on empirical data, subjectively-perceived qualitative data, or some combination of these. Such rankings are often consulted by prospective students as they choose which schools they will apply to or which school they will attend. There are several different law school rankings, each of which has a different emphasis and methodology.
The Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) is an ABA-accredited law school at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. It awards Juris Doctor and Master of Law degrees. Thurgood Marshall School of Law is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Association of American Law Schools.
Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP was an American law firm headquartered in New York City. At its peak, the firm was made up of approximately 365 attorneys with offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Mexico City; White Plains, New York; and Summit, New Jersey.
Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2022, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world, with profits per partner exceeding US$5.7 million.
Thelen LLP, formerly known as Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner was a bicoastal American law firm formed by two mergers between California and New York-based law firms. The firm peaked at roughly 600 attorneys in 2006, and had 500 early in 2008, with attorneys with offices in eight cities in the United States, England and China. By the time of its decision to dissolve in late October 2008, it had shrunk to 400 attorneys through layoffs and attrition. Thelen was known for its preeminent construction practice which dates back to the 1930s and the local association between the law firm and contractors and developers of large hydroelectric dam projects. The construction practice offered regulatory, transactional and dispute resolution support. It was also known for its energy expertise, particularly in the electricity regulatory area, as well as for legal advice concerning technology and outsourcing.
In the United States, jury nullification occurs when a jury in a criminal case reaches a verdict contrary to the weight of evidence, sometimes because of a disagreement with the relevant law. It has its origins in colonial America under British law. The American jury draws its power of nullification from its right to render a general verdict in criminal trials, the inability of criminal courts to direct a verdict no matter how strong the evidence, the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause, which prohibits the appeal of an acquittal, and the fact that jurors cannot be punished for the verdict they return.
James G. Sokolove is an American attorney known for advertising legal services on television. Though he was the largest legal advertiser in the United States in 2007, Sokolove's firm acts only as a lead generator and does not currently try cases.
The University of La Verne College of Law is the law school of the University of La Verne, a private university in Ontario, California. It was founded in 1970 and is approved by the State Bar of California, but in 2023 is no longer accredited by the American Bar Association.
A stealth juror or rogue juror is a person who, motivated by a hidden agenda in reference to a legal case, attempts to be seated on the jury and to influence the outcome. Legal scholars believe that lawyers can identify stealth jurors by paying close attention to non-verbal behavior connected with deception and identifying discrepancies between answers to oral voir dire and written questionnaires. A potential stealth juror may be hard to read and excessively reserved. The potential for stealth jurors to nullify death penalty statutes has prompted calls to eliminate the requirement of a unanimous verdict in jury trials. On the other hand, the argument has been raised that stealth jurors can serve as a defense against bad laws.
Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy and education organization concerning the legal profession in the United States. LST was founded by Vanderbilt Law School graduates Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch. LST describes its mission as "to make entry to the legal profession more transparent, affordable, and fair."
Mike Spivey is an author, motivational speaker, podcaster, and the founder of The Spivey Consulting Group, and he has been featured in national media outlets including The New York Times, Reuters, The Economist, USA Today, the ABA Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, U.S. News & World Report, CNN/Fortune, Above the Law, and Law.com. He is a former senior-level administrator at Vanderbilt, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Colorado law schools. He was among the first higher education experts to write publicly about the possibility of university campuses remaining closed through fall 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been featured in the media in respect to how higher education should respond to pandemic-related concerns. He is a co-author of The PowerScore/Spivey Consulting Law School Admissions Bible, and his next book on overcoming hardship in life is scheduled to be published in late 2023.
Charles John Harder is an American lawyer at the law firm Harder LLP based in Los Angeles, California.
Elie Mystal Jr. is an American attorney, writer, and political commentator. He is the justice correspondent at The Nation, where he writes about the courts and the criminal justice system. Mystal has described himself as a liberal.
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