If learning about the law just sounds boring, Mike Mandell’s LawByMike just may change your mind. Mandell, a lawyer, doesn’t just teach you about all those interesting laws and rights you might not know about, but he’ll slip in a bunch of jokes as he does it.
On his channel, Mandell talks about all things related to the legal realm, from current popular cases to the kind of prison food you may get—depending on the country where you get arrested. And while the degree of actual legal information varies based on the video you click on, the channel’s entertainment factor appeals to more than 10 million subscribers.
LawByMike is informative and engaging, explaining cases and hypothetical legal situations in ways that are both easy to understand and fun to watch. In his videos, he often provides a handful of tips that will help viewers get through the relevant issue. And, at its core, Mandell’s channel simply reminds viewers of rights that they may not know they have—as well as how the law changes by state and nation.
But Mandell doesn’t only remind you of your rights, he also sometimes explains why certain things are illegal when they may initially sound arbitrary or superfluous. What’s more, he’ll touch on how laws and repercussions may be different depending on what country you’re visiting.
In one video, Mandell talks with former criminals to help viewers learn firsthand how to avoid their tactics. For instance, a former pickpocket provides ways to avoid being targeted in the first place. Likewise, a former home burglar explains the things he would look for to determine if a house was empty and easy to break into.
Some of Mandell’s videos are just pure fun, too. For instance, he determines the crimes a variety of cartoon characters could theoretically be charged for. And in another video, he tries food that’s legal in some countries but illegal in others.
When talking about real cases, Mandell does a fair job of explaining the potentially divisive topics as impartially as possible.
In some shorts, Mandell is assisted in small skits by a woman who sometimes wears a tight dress or other outfits that reveal cleavage. A few of Mandell’s shorts deal with the legality of engaging in sexual acts in certain areas, and the same woman often interjects his legal analysis with suggestive euphemisms. They also pretend to leave the camera to have sex, and we hear slapstick sound effects representing the act. In another video, Mandell shows a couple of revealing pictures of a woman who used her looks to distract from a crime.
Mandell occasionally touches on laws regarding intoxication. Additionally, in some of those videos, Mandell talks in a faux inebriated voice as he explains them. To test a breathalyzer, he drinks a bit of alcohol.
From the videos we saw, we heard one instance of both the f-word and s-word, though both are censored. There was also one use of “a–” and one misuse of God’s name.
Some of the cases Mandell discusses are real rather than hypothetical and can include references to sex, nudity or death.
Mandell is, to our knowledge, the lawyer with the largest subscriber count on YouTube—and it’s not too hard to see why.
Sure, the channel may come off as a bit more sensational than most legal channels (with an intensity reminiscent of MrBeast), but that’s what makes it so popular. Because despite all that legal verbiage, LawByMike brings a lot of jokes into his videos, too. It certainly helps that they come with fun titles like “I Tried Prison Food Around the World.” That’s immediately a lot more interesting than just prepping you for the bar exam.
But with all that fun, there’s still some content to deal with, too. Primarily, those issues come when Mandell occasionally talks about cases or laws dealing with adult topics, some of which feature women in revealing clothes. However, some of those videos also contain the occasional crude joke that parents probably won’t want their kids repeating.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
