Laura Gayle Coates is an American legal analyst for CNN. In May 2016 she joined CNN as a legal analyst. Since 2017, she has hosted her eponymous talk radio-show, called The Laura Coates Show on radio SiriusXM's Urban View. In addition to being a well-known broadcasting personality, Coates is an adjunct law professor at the George Washington University School of Law and routinely speaks across the country on civil rights, social justice, economic empowerment, and other topics. In July 2018, Coates was mentioned by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek as a possible replacement once his current contract is up.
Education, experience and career
In 2001, Coates earned her bachelor's degree at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in New Jersey. And in 2005, she received her Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School. Coates began her legal career in Minnesota working at the firm of Faegre & Benson LLP. She worked at Faegre for many years as an attorney. She did not advance to partnership, and left to become an associate attorney at a law firm in New York named Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP. She worked at Kasowitz briefly. Called to public service, she transitioned from private practice to the United States Department of Justice as a federal prosecutor. She served as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Bush and Obama administrations, specializing in the enforcement of voting rights throughout the country. She also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, prosecuting myriad violent felony offenses including drug trafficking, armed offenses, domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. Coates now works as a CNN senior legal analyst and has a daily radio show on SiriusXM. As she is not currently a practicing lawyer, she placed herself on inactive status with the Office of Lawyer Registration at the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Writing
As her expertise with legal issues grew, Coates began writing features and offering research to major publications, such as The Washington Post and the Boston Herald. Her first book was released in January 2016. A legal guide titled You have the Right: A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police.
Personal life
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Coates resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.
