Emily Baker to Lawbytes, 'lawtubers' who hit JACKPOT with Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial
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Throughout the high-profile case, lawyers on YouTube live streamed and provided commentary on the trial
The over-the-top Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation case played out on social media for several weeks. The case received high popularity among fans of both parties who followed the case since day one of the trial. High-profile cases have provided "lawtubers" a way to generate high revenues through live streaming and analyzing the trials online.
According to YouTube trend analysis site Playboard, the top-earning creators over the last month from Super Chat revenue — or revenue generated from tips during live streams — are Emily D Baker, LegalBytes, and Rekieta Law. The three channels have all recently and exclusively been streaming the Depp-Heard defamation case. A rep told Insider that lawtubers use bots to analyze real-time data and earnings from YouTube's Super Chart feature. Its analytics show that all three lawtubers saw tremendous growth in their accounts since live streaming almost the entirety of the Depp-Heard trial.
Super Chat is a live stream feature offered to most creators who are able to monetize their channels. During a live stream, fans can pay anywhere from $1 to $500 to highlight and pin their comment to the creator. YouTube takes 30% of the total earnings during a stream, and the creator pockets 70% after Apple app store processing fees (30%) and local sales tax. Here is how much the top three lawtubers made from the case.
1. Emily D Baker
Baker is a 43-year-old former district attorney who left her job in 2017 due to health conditions and soon started covering high-profile cases from her home through YouTube. She told Insider in April that she makes more from providing legal commentary than she ever did in her 15 years as a trial lawyer. Baker made about $270,000 last year, and more than half of her YouTube salary comes directly from live streaming and Super Chat contributions. Playboard reported that she made $240,216 in total Super Chat tips between April 11 and June 1; after the deduction of YouTube charges it was roughly $168,000.
"The number they are showing is a good bit higher than what I am showing for Super Chat numbers," Baker said. "Since a lot of my videos on this trial don't have ads on them due to the subject matter discussed, it's been simply incredible to see the Law Nerd community support me as an independent content creator."
Baker said her livestream during the announcement of the verdict brought in 370,000 concurrent viewers — a career-high. "The interest in this trial has expanded my audience and I am grateful so many have found a place where they can learn about the law as I break down pop-culture cases," she said. "The internet continues to open up new ways to engage with information. Legal analysis is no longer confined to a 5-minute segment or a 30-minute show."
2. LegalBytes
Alyte Mazeika, known to her subscribers as LegalBytes, is another creator who generated an enormous revenue during thd trial. Mazeika's daily streams except Fridays were upwards of 11 hours long. In the second week of testimony, Mazeika had 64,000 subscribers and told Insider that she'd made $5,000 in one week, predominantly via Super Chat. Today, Mazeika has 243,000 subscribers, and told Insider that for the month of April, she made $47,122. Mazeika's channel grew exponentially in the month of May. She published video-on-demand recaps for each trial day, which contributed to earnings in the form of AdSense as well.
Her most popular broadcast occurred on Day 20 of the trial, when she reacted to expert testimony from a particularly colorful witness, Dr David Spiegel.
3. Rekieta Law
Nick Rekieta, who runs channel Rekieta Law on YouTube, is a practicing attorney in Minnesota and a veteran of the trial-streaming format. Throughout the duration of the trial, Playboard pegs Rekieta's total Super Chat donations at $193,137. Rekieta told Insider that his Super Chat earnings for the period amounted to $135,259, before federal and state income taxes. In addition to the trial streams, Rekieta also does a nightly show. If looking just at US creators, he's been in Playboard's list of the top 10 Super Chat earners every month this year. In November 2021, the month of the Rittenhouse trial, he was the top Super Chat earner worldwide, per Playboard, with $148,747 before fees.
