The magazine at the intersection of law and life
About legal Affairs The Mandate
The law affects every important decision in America: how we work and play; what we buy and sell; what we can and can't say; and how we live, love, and die.
The law has also become the #1 topic in American news. From the frenzy about O.J. Simpson, to the scandal of Bill Clinton, to Bush v. Gore, the most political ruling ever by the U.S. Supreme Court, the law commands national media attention.
But until now, no magazine has been dedicated to exploring the link between law and our national culture. No magazine has reached beyond a readership of lawyers to appeal to fascinated non-lawyers. No magazine has been launched to entertain readers, enlighten them, and create a forum for intelligent conversation about the law.
Legal Affairs is a new general-interest magazine about the law, designed to stand at the intersection of our laws and our lives. A bimonthly magazine (six issues a year) associated with Yale Law School, its premiere issue was published in March 2002. Legal Affairs is for decision-makers, problem-solvers, and opinion-shapers across the spectrum of America: in the law, in business and government, in the arts and sciences, and in the media. It is for general readers and lawyers whose curiosity about the law is not satisfied by occasional pieces in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and other publications.
Legal Affairs aspires to be both engaging and edifying, offering an illuminating encounter with the law and the pleasure that comes from sharp, lucid writing. It aims to fulfill the need for a publication that responds to the deep interest Americans have in the law.
The editorial mission of Legal Affairs includes another element that sets it apart from other magazines: Reform. For the past decade, lawyers ranging from Chief Justice William Rehnquist to deans of major law schools have described how the American legal profession has lost its way. Legal Affairs is designed to do what no other publication aspires to: To help strengthen American democracy. By creating a vibrant conversation about the most important topics and themes in legal affairs, the magazine has the potential to help transform the legal profession and civic life in the United States. If America's rule of law is to remain strong, the editors of Legal Affairs believe, the public debate on which this rule depends must be nourished. Legal Affairs hopes to contribute to journalism, to the legal profession, and to the law, by creating a general-interest magazine that will invigorate our democratic way of life.