David Lat

David Lat is a lawyer turned writer. He publishes "Original Jurisdiction,"  a newsletter on Substack about law and legal affairs, and he writes for newspapers and magazines including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Prior to launching "Original Jurisdiction," David founded "Above the Law," one of the nation’s most widely read legal news websites, and "Underneath Their Robes," a popular blog about federal judges that he wrote under a pseudonym. He is also the author of a novel set in the world of the federal courts, Supreme Ambitions.

Before entering the media world, David worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in New York; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. David graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.