WSJ seeks legal affairs reporter

The Wall Street Journal is looking for an experienced reporter to cover law and legal affairs throughout the U.S.

The position, based in New York, affords wide latitude for reporters both to go broad—and deep—on a variety of topics. Previous coverage areas for this job have included intellectual property; the federal and state judiciaries; the death penalty and criminal justice; guns and gun litigation; familiy law (divorce, marriage, reproductive rights); and U.S. constitutional law.

The reporter for this high-profile assignment needs to love big, fast-breaking news stories, as well as deeply reported narratives and enterprise journalism. The ideal candidate will have an interest and keen ability to identify legal topics of national importance and write about them with authority and clarity.

The ideal candidate will be expected to break news on a regular basis, and, as importantly, drive enterprise stories on the most essential legal topics, especially those having an outsize impact on individuals and institutions throughout the U.S.

The job consistently intersects with topics and coverage areas throughout the newsroom, from politics to sports, financial regulation to the First Amendment, corruption to civil litigation. The reporter should be an eager collaborator; she or he will frequently be called upon to work with colleagues and bureaus from across coverage areas at the Journal.

A law degree is not required, nor is any previous legal-reporting experience. But the ideal candidate should know the basics of how the legal and court systems operate, and be able to quickly get up to speed on any legal topic, as required.

Reporters should be very digitally-minded and smart in thinking about how to ride a news story online. At least five years of reporting experience is preferred.

To apply, go here.