Jack Ford, a former prosecutor, is the CBS News Legal Analyst and a contributor to 60 Minutes.  He also teaches at Yale, New York University and the University of Virginia.

Raised by a single parent, Ford’s journey has taken him from a small town in New Jersey to Yale University, where he was a three-year starter on the varsity football team, to the Fordham University School of Law, where he helped finance his legal education with his winnings from the television quiz show Jeopardy! and, ultimately, to the upper echelons of television journalism.

After graduating from law school, Ford spent three years as a prosecutor in New Jersey before entering private practice. A well-respected trial attorney, he successfully handled such high-profile cases as the Northeast’s first death penalty trial, one of the nation’s first corporate homicide cases, and Wall Street insider-trading scandals in the late 1980s. In addition, Ford was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Fordham Law School and authored articles for various legal publications.

Ford began his television news career in 1984 as the Legal Commentator for WCBS-TV in New York. In 1991, he joined the newly formed Courtroom Television Network as one of its first anchors. In 1994, Ford joined NBC News as Chief Legal Correspondent, reporting on major cases and legal issues for NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and Dateline, in addition to serving as co-anchor for The Weekend Today Show. In 1999, Ford became an Anchor/Correspondent for ABC at both Good Morning America and 20/20. He also hosted the ESPN show The Sports Reporters II from 2002 to 2003 and later was co-host of the nationally syndicated talk show Ali & Jack.

Ford’s broadcasting work has been honored with a number of awards, including two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, an American Radio and Television Award, the National Headliner Award, and the March of Dimes FDR Award. In 1997, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, and in 1998 was named the National Father of the Year. He was also recognized as People Magazine‘s “Sexiest News Anchor” in 1999.