One of our favorite legal affairs journalists is switching networks. As first reported by Mediabistro, the fabulous (and fabulously talented) Jan Crawford Greenburg is leaving ABC News for CBS News. Greenburg, author of the excellent and bestselling Supreme Conflict (2007), will become Chief Legal Correspondent at CBS, as of January 4, 2010. Meanwhile, back at ABC, her Supreme Court beat will be picked up by Terry Moran.

Greenburg’s move to CBS is something of a homecoming, since she worked at the Tiffany Network prior to her three-year stint at ABC. At CBS she’ll work once again with Bob Schieffer, described by Fishbowl DC as her longtime friend and mentor.

Congratulations and good luck at your new (old) home, Jan!

JCG’s farewell email to her colleagues at ABC, plus the press release announcing her hire at CBS, after the jump.

JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG — ABC NEWS — FAREWELL EMAIL

As many of you already know, I am leaving ABC News for a position at CBS, commencing January 1, 2010. It was a difficult decision, but I concluded I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to broaden the focus of my reporting and tackle a wider variety of legal and political issues, including having a regular role on Face the Nation. I leave with the highest respect and admiration for all of you who are so integral to producing the kind of great journalism that enlightens viewers and defines our profession.

There are too many people to acknowledge and thank here, but on a personal note, I’d like to give a special thanks to Ariane de Vogue and Dennis Powell, two dedicated journalists I was privileged to work with on the legal team. And as Charlie Gibson turns the anchor chair over to Diane Sawyer, I also want to acknowledge my debt of gratitude for Charlie’s friendship and support—-as well as his patience as this former print reporter transitioned to television and learned to say “bites,” not “quotes,” and “scripts,” not “stories.” As I move from a colleague to a competitor, I hope the friendships we have made will endure.

JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG TO BECOME CBS NEWS CHIEF LEGAL CORRESPONDENT — CBS NEWS — PRESS RELEASE

Jan Crawford Greenburg will become CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent, it was announced today by Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. Her appointment will be effective January 4, 2010. In this role, Greenburg will provide legal and political news and analysis and contribute regularly to THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC, THE EARLY SHOW and FACE THE NATION, as well as CBS Radio News and CBSNews.com. Greenburg had been a regular contributor to CBS News in 2005 to 2006.

“Jan is an enormously talented, well-respected and influential legal reporter, analyst and author,” said McManus. “Her groundbreaking reporting on legal and political issues will strengthen CBS News’ already deep bench of acclaimed legal journalists and experts.”

Greenburg is a recognized authority on the Supreme Court whose 2007 book, “Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for the Control of the United States Supreme Court” (Penguin Press), gained critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times Bestseller. She began covering the Court in 1994 for the Chicago Tribune and went on to become a law and political correspondent for all ABC News programs, a Supreme Court analyst for The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on PBS and a legal analyst for the CBS News broadcasts THE CBS EVENING NEWS and FACE THE NATION. She has reported on most of the major judicial appointments and confirmation hearings of the past 15 years and amassed crucial sources in the White House, the Justice Department and Congress along the way.

Chief Justice John Roberts granted his first network television interview to Greenburg, just one of the rare interviews she was able to obtain with a total of five of the Court’s current members, as well as retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Greenburg also sat down with then-86 year old Justice John Paul Stevens in his first television interview, as well as Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer.

Greenburg’s in-depth reports on the Bush Administration’s legal war on terror and her exclusive reports on controversial interrogation techniques used for terror suspects have received wide acclaim and been credited with being a catalyst for congressional hearings. Washingtonian Magazine recently named her one of Washington’s top journalists

Greenburg began her journalistic career at the Tribune in 1987, joining the legal affairs beat in 1993 after her graduation from the University of Chicago Law School. The newspaper awarded Greenburg its highest award in 2001 for her role on a team of reporters covering the presidential election of 2000 and the legal battles over the White House. She won the same prize for her 13-part series on the post-civil rights South, a project that brought her back to her native Alabama.

Greenburg graduated from the University of Alabama in 1987. She has taught journalism at American University and frequently speaks about the Court to universities, law schools, legal organizations and civic groups across the country. She is a member of the New York Bar. She and her family live in Washington D.C.

Greenburg Leaves ABC for CBS [Fishbowl DC / Mediabistro]
CBS Announces Jan Crawford Greenburg’s Return [Fishbowl DC / Mediabistro]
Moran’s Duties Double at ABC News [Fishbowl DC / Mediabistro]

Earlier: Prior coverage of Jan Crawford Greenburg