Reporter, Litigation & Trials

Job Description

The Texas Lawbook is the premier publication dedicated to delivering in-depth news and analysis for Texas-based lawyers who represent businesses in litigation, transactional and regulatory matters across the nation.

We cover a wide range of topics including commercial litigation and appeals, corporate law, white-collar crime, pertinent regulatory and legislative changes, public service and more.

As our team continues to grow, we are seeking a reporter with a minimum of two years of experience covering civil courts to join our dynamic newsroom.

This position is fully remote, but the selected candidate is required to live in Dallas.

Extensive travel across Texas will be necessary for covering trials and to develop relationships with sources.

OVERVIEW

We are looking for an experienced and motivated reporter who can cover civil and white-collar criminal trials statewide, bringing crucial stories to light for our audience of lawyers, judges and other subscribers. For example, in this role, you’re just as likely to cover an employment dispute involving a public company in Dallas as you are a patent trial in Marshall.

At The Lawbook, we’re interested in getting to know the litigators and judges involved in key cases. Our subscribers love enterprise reporting, and the reporter who fills this position will identify trends and newsmakers as part of our trial coverage philosophy.

Job Requirements

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Source development: Build and maintain relationships within the legal community to stay ahead of emerging trends and breaking news, particularly with principal lawyers, court clerks, judges and others.
• Docket diver: Analyze court filings, legal arguments and jury decisions to craft engaging stories explaining the broader implications to our subscribers.
• On-location reporting: Travel across Texas as needed to attend trials in person and file real-time updates.
• Timely scoops: Consistently and aggressively deliver exclusive stories involving Texas trials and litigators, and introduce our subscribers to key newsmakers through in-depth profiles.
• Enterprise reporting: Tapping your source network and the docket to steadily provide analysis around trial trends and other topics that impact litigation in Texas.
• Collaboration: Work closely with editors and other reporters to ensure dependable, comprehensive coverage, including with your supervisor, our senior reporter for litigation, to collaboratively produce our popular weekly Litigation Roundup.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Proven experience in legal journalism, with on-site commercial trial coverage preferred
• Must live in or be willing to relocate to Dallas
• Strong understanding of the federal and Texas legal landscape and their key players, including how the judiciary and various divisions function and interact
• Excellent writing, editing and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and generate compelling story ideas
• Willingness to travel frequently within Texas as news dictates, sometimes at a moment’s notice; reliable transportation is a requirement for this role
• Comfort with tight deadlines and the fast pace of breaking news

WHY JOIN US?

• Work remotely with a dedicated, veteran journalism team that sits in cities across the state. We’re a reporter-first newsroom that allows the freedom to tell the stories that matter most on your beat.
• With more than 16,000 paid subscribers and growing, The Lawbook is read by the most influential and powerful newsmakers in the Texas legal market.
• We don’t have daily story quotas. We’re primarily a paywalled publication, so we’re about context, not clicks. Our reporters are the most fundamental component of a Lawbook subscriber’s experience.
• We’re locally owned. The newsroom isn't incessantly pressured by an out-of-state corporate office about matters unrelated to journalism.
• Our founder is an award-winning legal journalist. He also is a huge Eagles fan — the band, not the Super Bowl champions.

HOW TO APPLY

Please send your resume, cover letter and five of your best stories that showcase a mix of your breaking news and enterprise reporting to michelle.casady@texaslawbook.net.

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