Kleman, former Consumer Reports editor, hired as editor of American Lawyer

David Brown, vice president and editor in chief of ALM, sent out the following announcement:

I’m pleased to announce that Kimberly Kleman will join ALM next week as the new editor in chief of The American Lawyer.

Kim is an award-winning editor and journalism educator with deep experience in news and magazine reporting.  From 1997 until last year, she worked for Consumer Reports, serving as managing editor, deputy editorial director, and for the last six years of her tenure, as editor in chief. While at the magazine, she helmed a successful redesign, reorganized the editorial team to support digital and print efforts and, most importantly, consistently helped produce high-caliber, relevant journalism for the consumer audience. I’m very excited about the prospect of having Kim come aboard to share her insights as we continue with our transformation into an ever-more digital organization.

For the last few years, Kim has also been an adjunct associate professor at the Columbia University graduate school of journalism. She teaches reporting, writing and investigative skills (and, no surprise, consumer journalism) to grad students in print, digital and broadcast media.

Prior to Consumer Reports and Columbia, Kim was a reporter and editor in Florida. She started her journalism career as a reporter at the Tampa Tribune, and after that, spent 11 years as a reporter, line editor and,eventually, city editor of the St. Petersburg Times.  She holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In her new role, Kim will be charged with managing all of the TAL brands and will help us continue to move The American Lawyer forward as a must-read daily digital and monthly print publication.

Kim starts with a strong advantage: a great team of editors and reporters who care deeply about covering the legal profession. And I’d to take a moment to thank Emily Barker, Ed Shanahan, Morris Stubbs and Jim Schroeder and the entire Am Law team for helping keep the magazine and web site in top form during the last several weeks.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me a line or drop by my office at 120.  In the meantime, please join me in welcoming Kim to ALM.