Legal Affairs Magazine to Launch in April
Posted on March 22, 2002
Legal Affairs is a new general-interest magazine about the law. Starting in the Spring of 2002, it will be published six times a year as an independent, non-profit enterprise affiliated with Yale Law School. Legal Affairs will launch with four issues in 2002, including Spring, Summer, September-October and November-December. The magazine will go bi-monthly in 2003. Legal Affairs is billed as a general-interest magazine examining issues of law in the context of culture, politics, and society.
Legal Affairs aims to offer non-lawyers and lawyers a forum that addresses powerful legal issues at the forefront of the news, as well as those out of the public eye. Writers include journalists, authors, scholars, and lawyers delivering a mix of perspectives and voices with passion and insight. Each issue will feature up to 15 departments ranging from �Terms of Art� (legal and intellectual history) to �Encounter� (portraits by lawyers about judges and by clients about lawyers) to �True Crime� (stories and insights about criminal justice).
Stories featured in the inaugural issue include:
- Security vs. Liberty in Israel: Emily Bazelon explores how one
of the most powerful men in Israel, Chief Justice Aharon Barak,
has single-handedly transformed the Israeli justice system.
- The Trial of the Millennium: Christopher Buckley offers an
excerpt from his forthcoming comic novel No Way To Treat
A First Lady.
- Starr Wars: Benjamin Wittes of The Washington Post outlines
Kenneth Starr's misunderstanding of his role as independent counsel.
Plus: Starr Responds.
- Cybercrime: Brendan Koerner recounts the ingenious ruse that
lured a Russian hacker to the FBI.
- French Scandal: David Ignatius, executive editor of the International
Herald Tribune, investigates a corruption case that rocked
France's elite.
- "Fighting Words": Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic details the
meaning of a legal term rooted in 19th-century dueling culture.
- Military Injustice: Law professor and former Air Force officer Beth Hillman explores how the U.S. court-martial constricts the rights of soldiers-and why that needs to change.
"Legal Affairs explores the humanity of the law and the drama of ideas that give it such vitality," Caplan said. "I am excited about our first issue, and believe that Legal Affairs will illuminate the law for readers in a way that no magazine has."
Based in New Haven, Legal Affairs shares a unique relationship with Yale Law School. Legal Affairs is editorially independent and separately incorporated as a non-profit enterprise, but its association with Yale Law School gives the magazine access to an impressive range of legal scholarship. Anthony Kronman, dean of the law school, serves as chairman of the magazine's corporate board.
"Being a part of this venture is an exceptional opportunity for Yale Law School," Kronman said. "We have a longstanding commitment to public service, and I believe that the conversation Legal Affairs will generate has the potential to truly strengthen civic life."