Who

Dan Abrams is the former host of Live With Dan Abrams on MSNBC and the chief legal correspondent for NBC News.

Backstory

Given that his father is the celebrated First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams, it's no surprise that Abrams went to law school. The Manhattan native never practiced the profession, though: Shortly after passing the bar, Steve Brill hired Abrams as a $22,000-a-year reporter at CourtTV and it was there that he first made a name for himself, covering big cases from Dr. Jack Kevorkian to O.J. Simpson.

In 1997, Abrams jumped to NBC News, reporting on the President Clinton impeachment trial for the network before landing his own nightly legal affairs show on MSNBC, The Abrams Report, in 2001. After spending a few years obsessing about Scott Peterson and Natalie Holloway, in 2006 Abrams abandoned the anchor chair to become general manager of the long-struggling network. His short-lived management experience ended in 2007 when he returned to primetime as the host of Verdict with Dan Abrams. The show was cancelled in August 2008 to make room for Rachel Maddow; these days, Abrams serves as NBC's chief legal correspondent, serves as substitute host on the Today show, and occasionally anchors some of MSNBC's daytime coverage.

Family ties

Dan's father, Floyd, is still in practice: He's a partner at Cahill, Gordon & Reindel. His sister, Ronnie, is a lawyer too: The former chief of the general crimes bureau at the U.S. Attorney's office, she joined Davis Polk as head of its pro bono department in 2008. The only member of the family who doesn't have a JD is his mother, Efrat, a former Hebrew-school teacher. One other notable member of the family: Elliott Abrams, the neocon in Washington who is currently Deputy National Security Advisor.

Medical file

Abrams was treated for testicular cancer in 2003.

Personal

Abrams dated actress Elisabeth Rohm from 2003 to 2005 and the couple was engaged briefly before eventually splitting up. Now single, Abrams is often spotted out and about with wingman Dave Zinczenko and lives in a West Village rental.