Above the Law (website)
American legal news website
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Type of site | Trade news website |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Breaking Media |
| Founder | David Lat |
| URL | abovethelaw |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2006 |
Influence
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] In 2013, it began publishing an annual ranking of law schools.[9]
The site's popularity has been attributed to being freely posted, unlike most other legal trade publications. Above the Law receives all of its funding through investments and advertising on its website.[10]
Staff
David Lat founded the website that became Above the Law after previously authoring the legal blog, Underneath Their Robes.[10][11] In 2019, Lat was succeeded as editor by Elie Mystal, who produces regular content along with Staci Zaretsky, Joe Patrice, and Kathryn Rubino, joined by a number of columnists from across the legal landscape.[2] The staff work in the top floor of the Cable Building in New York City.[10]
Breaking Media's lead investors include Justin B. Smith and S. Carter Burden III, son of Carter Burden.
Controversies
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.[12][13]
In 2016, Above the Law received criticism from many publications when Mystal wrote an article[14] suggesting that jury nullification of crimes by black people against white people could be used by jurors as a form of protest.[15][16][17]
