Table of Contents
Laura Coates (Attorney & CNN Anchor)
Laura Coates net worth reflects a career that most professionals could only dream of building — one that spans federal courtrooms, prime-time television, national radio, and the bestseller lists. Born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Coates is one of the most recognizable legal voices in American media today.
She serves as CNN’s chief legal analyst and anchor of Laura Coates Live, bringing sharp legal insight to millions of viewers every weeknight. Before the cameras, she spent years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, serving under both the Bush and Obama administrations and specializing in the enforcement of voting rights across the country. That courtroom credibility is precisely what sets her apart.
Coates is a Princeton University and University of Minnesota Law School graduate who traded the prosecutorial table for the anchor desk — and never looked back. Her second book, Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness, became a New York Times bestseller, further cementing her reputation as a serious intellectual voice on race, justice, and the law. The late Alex Trebek, one of television’s most beloved figures, even named her publicly as his preferred successor on Jeopardy! — a testament to how widely respected she had become beyond the legal world.
| Full Name | Laura Gayle Coates |
| Date of Birth | July 11, 1979 |
| Place of Birth | Hartford, Connecticut, United States |
| Raised In | Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | African American |
| Profession | CNN Anchor, Chief Legal Analyst, SiriusXM Talk Show Host, Author, Attorney |
| Employer | CNN / SiriusXM |
| Education | B.A., Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (2001); Juris Doctor, University of Minnesota Law School (2005) |
| High School | St. Paul Academy and Summit School, Saint Paul, Minnesota (graduated 1997) |
| Career Start | Associate Attorney, Faegre & Benson, Minnesota |
| Current Role | CNN Anchor — Laura Coates Live (weeknights, 11 p.m. ET); Chief Legal Analyst, CNN; Host — The Laura Coates Show, SiriusXM P.O.T.U.S. channel |
| Notable Coverage | Trump Impeachment Proceedings, Supreme Court Roe v. Wade Decision, Donald Trump New York Criminal Prosecution |
| Books Published | You Have the Right: A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police (2016); Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness (2022) — New York Times Bestseller |
| Awards | Emmy-nominated CNN Anchor; University of Minnesota Homecoming Grand Marshal |
| Estimated Net Worth | ~$2 million (estimated; not officially confirmed) |
| Salary | Estimated ~$100,000 annually (not officially confirmed) |
| Husband | Dale Gordon |
| Children | Two (one son, one daughter); names not publicly available |
| Father | Norman Coates (dentist) |
| Mother | Martha Yarboro |
| Siblings | Tracey Coates (sister; attorney); one additional sister (name not publicly available) |
| Residence | Washington, D.C., United States |
Who is Laura Coates ?
Laura Coates is an American attorney, author, and television personality. She serves as CNN’s chief legal analyst and anchor of Laura Coates Live, and hosts The Laura Coates Show on SiriusXM. A Princeton and University of Minnesota Law graduate, she previously served as a federal prosecutor in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
Early Life and Education
Laura Gayle Coates was born on July 11, 1979, in Hartford, Connecticut — though she did not stay there long. Her family relocated to Worcester, Massachusetts during her early childhood, before making one final, memorable move to Saint Paul, Minnesota, when Coates was in the fourth grade. According to multiple published interviews, that move was inspired by an unusual decision: her father switched on the television, and wherever the show was set, the family would go. The channel landed on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, set in Minneapolis. And so, Minnesota it was.
Family Background
Coates grew up in a household defined by education and professional ambition. Her father, Norman Coates, was a dentist. Her mother, Martha Yarboro, raised three daughters alongside him. Coates is the youngest of the three sisters — and notably, all three went on to become lawyers. Her sister Tracey Coates is a practicing attorney, recognized as a top family lawyer in Washington, D.C. The name of the third sister has not been made publicly available.
Educational Journey
Coates graduated from St. Paul Academy and Summit School, a private college preparatory institution in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs — completing a 122-page senior thesis titled “The Legacy of Southern Redemption: An Examination of Felon Disenfranchisement Policy.”
She later earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she currently serves on the Board of Advisors. As confirmed by the University of Minnesota, she was also named Homecoming Grand Marshal in recognition of her professional achievements.
Laura Coates Career
Laura Coates did not arrive at CNN by accident. Her path to one of television’s most prominent legal analyst chairs was built deliberately — first in law firms, then in federal courtrooms, and finally on the national stage. What does Laura Coates do? In short, she translates the law for the public. But the full answer runs much deeper than that.
Early Legal Career
Coates began her professional life the way most serious attorneys do — quietly, and at a desk. Her first position was as an associate attorney at Faegre & Benson, a respected law firm in Minnesota. She handled demanding work from the outset, but ambition pushed her further. She moved to New York City to join Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, where her casework expanded into intellectually complex territory — intellectual property litigation, First Amendment issues, defamation, and media law. Then came the turning point.
Called to public service, Coates left private practice entirely and joined the United States Department of Justice. As a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division, she served under both the Bush and Obama administrations, focusing specifically on the enforcement of voting rights throughout the country. It was serious, consequential work — the kind that shapes policy and protects democratic participation at its most fundamental level.
Her DOJ career did not stop there. Coates also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where she prosecuted a broad range of violent felony offenses — including drug trafficking, armed offenses, domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. According to her official CNN biography, she is no longer a practicing attorney and currently holds inactive status with the Office of Lawyer Registration at the Minnesota Supreme Court.
CNN Career and Current Role
Coates joined CNN as a senior legal analyst, initially contributing expert commentary across multiple programs. Her presence on the network grew steadily, and she became a familiar face during some of the most consequential legal and political moments in recent American history — including coverage of the Trump impeachment proceedings, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and major criminal trials that captivated the nation.
Her role evolved significantly over time. CNN named her an interim primetime host under the CNN Tonight branding, where she co-anchored the late-night block alongside Alisyn Camerota. She later moved exclusively to CNN’s 11 p.m. hour before being promoted to the network’s chief legal analyst — a title that reflects both her legal expertise and her standing within the organization. The next step was her own show.
In August 2023, CNN announced that Coates would anchor a new nightly program. Laura Coates Live officially launched shortly after, airing weeknights at 11 p.m. ET. The show has positioned her as one of the network’s most prominent anchors, covering breaking legal news, political developments, and major national stories. Notably, her live coverage of the Donald Trump criminal prosecution in New York drew widespread attention for her composure and legal precision under pressure.
Alongside her CNN work, Coates hosts The Laura Coates Show on SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel, a daily program airing weekday mornings. The show blends politics, law, and culture in a format that has earned a loyal national audience since its launch. She has also served as an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law, where she lectured on social justice and criminal litigation writing.
Major Achievements and Recognition
The credentials Coates has accumulated across law, media, and publishing are not incidental — they are the result of sustained, deliberate effort across multiple disciplines.
She is an Emmy-nominated CNN anchor, a distinction that reflects the quality of her broadcast journalism. Her written work has earned equal recognition. Her first book, You Have the Right: A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police, established her as a serious public voice on law enforcement accountability. Her second, Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness, went further — it became a New York Times bestseller, drawing on her personal experience as a Black female federal prosecutor navigating a system not always designed with her in mind.
Perhaps one of the more unexpected endorsements of her career came from Alex Trebek, the beloved longtime host of Jeopardy! Trebek publicly named Coates as his preferred replacement — an extraordinary acknowledgment of her poise, intelligence, and broad appeal that extended well beyond legal circles. As Coates later revealed in interviews, the show’s producers never followed up on that suggestion.
The University of Minnesota honored her as Homecoming Grand Marshal, recognizing both her academic roots and professional achievements. Her bylines have appeared in The Washington Post and the Boston Herald, and she is a sought-after national speaker on civil rights, social justice, and economic empowerment — topics she approaches not as an outsider commentator, but as someone who spent years working at the intersection of law and justice firsthand.
Laura Coates Net Worth and Salary
Laura Coates net worth is a topic that draws considerable interest — and understandably so. She has built an income across several professional lanes simultaneously: national television, satellite radio, book publishing, public speaking, and academia. Few media personalities operate at that breadth. The result is a financial profile that reflects not one career, but several running in parallel.
The figures presented in this section are estimates based on publicly available information from third-party sources. Laura Coates has not publicly disclosed her salary or net worth. These numbers should not be treated as confirmed or definitive.
Salary Details
Pinning down an exact salary for a CNN anchor of Coates’ standing is not straightforward. Television networks rarely publish individual contracts, and Coates herself has not commented publicly on her earnings. That said, multiple third-party research sources estimate her CNN salary at approximately $100,000 per year — a figure consistent with what senior legal analysts at major cable news networks typically earn at that level.
That number, however, tells only part of the story. Her income does not begin and end with CNN. Coates also earns from her daily SiriusXM talk show, The Laura Coates Show, which airs on the P.O.T.U.S. channel on weekday mornings. Radio hosting fees at major satellite networks like SiriusXM can add meaningfully to a personality’s annual income, though the specific figures in her contract are not publicly available.
Additional income streams include:
- Book royalties — Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness reached the New York Times bestseller list, generating sustained royalty income. Her first book, You Have the Right, continues to sell as a legal reference guide.
- Public speaking engagements — Coates is a nationally recognized speaker on civil rights, social justice, and economic empowerment. Speaking fees for personalities at her level of prominence can range significantly per engagement.
- Academic work — Her tenure as an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law added another, more modest income stream alongside her media career.
Taken together, these multiple sources paint a picture of someone whose earnings are diversified well beyond a single employer’s paycheck.
Net Worth Estimate
Based on publicly available third-party estimates, Laura Coates’ net worth is approximately $2 million. This figure appears consistently across multiple financial research publications and is considered the most reliable estimate currently in circulation. Some sources have projected figures as high as $3 million, citing the cumulative growth of her income streams over time — though those higher estimates should be treated with appropriate caution.
Her net worth has grown in tandem with her career trajectory. When she joined CNN as a senior legal analyst, her public profile — and earning potential — expanded considerably. The promotion to chief legal analyst, the launch of Laura Coates Live, and the success of Just Pursuit as a bestseller all represent financial milestones that have likely contributed to upward movement in her overall wealth.
For context, legal analysts and media personalities with comparable experience, visibility, and multi-platform careers typically fall within a net worth range of $1 million to $5 million. Coates sits comfortably within that band, and her continued prominence at CNN suggests that figure is unlikely to decline.
What makes her financial story particularly notable is its foundation. Unlike personalities who built wealth primarily through entertainment or celebrity, Coates earned hers through two parallel tracks — a rigorous legal career that spanned federal prosecution and private practice, and a media career that grew organically from the credibility that legal background provided. The money followed the expertise.
Personal Life and Family
Laura Coates is married to Dale Gordon. That single fact is about all she has willingly offered to the public when it comes to her personal life — and that restraint appears entirely deliberate. For someone who speaks to millions of viewers each week on national television, Coates keeps the boundaries between her public role and private world remarkably clear. What is known, however, paints a picture of a grounded family life built quietly alongside one of the most demanding careers in American media.
Husband — Dale Gordon
Laura Coates met Dale Gordon in 2007, under circumstances that she has described in interviews as equal parts chaotic and memorable. She had just arrived in New York City for a new job. Her moving boxes had not yet arrived. An esthetician had accidentally waxed off one of her eyebrows. With no time to regroup, she purchased a last-minute suit from T.J. Maxx, arranged her hair to cover the missing eyebrow, and navigated an unfamiliar subway system to make it to her first day at the law firm on time.
Gordon was there that day — not as a colleague, but as a stand-in. He had agreed to fill in for a sick coworker to conduct her new-hire orientation. That inauspicious beginning eventually became something far more significant.
The two married in a private ceremony attended by close family and friends. The exact date of their wedding has not been made publicly available, and Coates has not discussed the details of the ceremony in interviews. The family currently resides in Washington, D.C., where Coates anchors her CNN broadcast each weeknight.
What is clear from the interviews Coates has given is that Gordon has been a consistent presence behind one of the most demanding careers in cable news. She has spoken warmly about the importance of having a stable home life as an anchor for everything her professional life demands.
Children
Laura Coates is a mother of two — one son and one daughter. Their names and ages are not publicly available. Coates has made a conscious and consistent choice to keep her children out of the public eye, a decision that is notably firm given her own very visible platform.
That does not mean she avoids the subject of motherhood entirely. Coates has spoken candidly in published interviews about the daily challenge of balancing the demands of a high-profile media career with the responsibilities of raising a family. She has been particularly open about the importance of self-care — not as a luxury, but as a professional and personal necessity.
“I feel like I have a level of control over how I structure my day, but that’s not coincidental,” she told Essence magazine. “I have had to fight very hard to be unapologetic about the time that I need to restore and be attentive, not only to my children and my husband and my family and friends, but also to myself.”
That philosophy — deliberate, structured, unapologetic — reflects the same approach she brings to her legal analysis. For Coates, the personal and the professional are governed by the same principle: show up fully, or do not show up at all.
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Laura Coates
Key questions answered about the CNN anchor, chief legal analyst, and former federal prosecutor
Born Laura Gayle Coates on July 11, 1979, in Hartford, Connecticut, she is a Princeton University and University of Minnesota Law School graduate who previously served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under both the Bush and Obama administrations. She is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor's Fight for Fairness.
Her wealth has been accumulated across multiple professional lanes — her CNN anchor and chief legal analyst role, her daily SiriusXM talk show, book royalties from two published works, public speaking engagements, and her former role as an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law. This figure has not been officially confirmed by Laura Coates herself.
They married in a private ceremony attended by close family and friends. The exact date of the wedding has not been publicly disclosed. The family currently resides in Washington, D.C. Coates has spoken warmly about the role her husband plays in supporting her demanding media career.
Coates has made a deliberate and consistent choice to keep her children out of the public eye. Their names and ages are not publicly available. She has spoken openly in interviews about the challenge of balancing motherhood with her career, emphasizing the importance of self-care and structured personal time alongside her professional commitments.
The show launched in October 2023, following her promotion to chief legal analyst in May of that year. In addition to her CNN role, she hosts The Laura Coates Show on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. channel, airing on weekday mornings. She has covered major legal events including the Trump impeachment proceedings, the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, and the Trump New York criminal prosecution.
She worked as an associate attorney at two major law firms — Faegre & Benson in Minnesota and Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman in New York — before joining the U.S. Department of Justice. At the DOJ, she served as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division, specializing in voting rights enforcement, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. She currently holds inactive status with the Minnesota Supreme Court Office of Lawyer Registration.
Before university, she attended St. Paul Academy and Summit School, a private college preparatory institution in Saint Paul, Minnesota, graduating in 1997. At Princeton, she completed a 122-page senior thesis on felon disenfranchisement policy. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Based on third-party industry estimates, her annual CNN salary is approximately $100,000 per year — consistent with compensation ranges for senior legal analysts at major cable news networks. This figure is an estimate only and has not been confirmed by Laura Coates or CNN.
Gallery
