Literary Lawyers
Jason White, agency counsel for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Stockton, Calif., published Diagnosis to Diploma: How to Turn Your Medical Issue into Free Money for College. The book explains how to apply for a medical-based scholarship, which pays for college based on one’s medical condition. The book is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
William G. Crawford Jr., of McDonald & Crawford in Ft. Lauderdale, penned Florida’s Big Dig: The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Jacksonville to Miami, 1881 to 1935. A 2008 winner of the Rembert Patrick Prize for Best Scholarly Work on a Florida History Subject, the book is the story of the dredging of 268 miles of Florida waterway for a million acres of public land and the right to collect tolls followed by the waterway’s conversion into Florida’s modern-day, toll-free Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and www.floridasbigdig.com .
Marsha Lyons of Tallahassee, a former federal prosecutor, co-authored the first in a series of books, with old friend and former television comedy writer, April Kelly. Murder In One Take, is a legal thriller set against the backdrop of the entertainment industry. In the book, L.A. Det. Blake Ervansky arrives immediately after an Oscar-winning star is shot by his ex-lover. Everything is there to convict Ali Garland: motive, weapon, videos, and eyewitnesses, including new partner, Maureen O’Brien. But this is the heart of show biz, where nothing is what it seems. The book is available at Amazon.com.
Donald A. Blackwell of Seipp Flick in Miami wrote Dear Ashley — A Father’s Reflections and Letters to His Daughter on Life, Love and Hope. The book is a collection of lessons in high-quality, deeply engaged parenting learned by Blackwell in the midst of his daughter’s courageous battle with a life-threatening illness. The lessons, which are shared with the reader through letters that the author wrote to his daughter in the course of her treatment and recovery, can readily be applied in any relationship towards living a life with courage, integrity, and unconditional love. The book is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Michael Tanner of Tanner Bishop in Jacksonville, wrote Nikolai Returns, a novel based loosely on stories and experiences the author gained during multiple visits to Russia over a period of 20 years. In 1920, a glittering Russian Orthodox monastery is dynamited by the Bolsheviks into piles of rubble. Years later, Nikolai Razkazov-Kolya grows up in the shadow of the ruins. A veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the deadly Russian arms trade, Kolya learns that he and the old monastery share a special connection and that his life has a purpose, a dangerous purpose. The book is published by Telemachus Press and is available from Barnes and Noble.
Mary Greenwood of Orlando published three books in her “how to” series: How to Negotiate Like a Pro, 41 Rules for Resolving Disputes, Second Edition, winner of nine book awards; How to Mediate Like a Pro: 42 Rules for Mediating Disputes, winner of 12 book awards; How to Interview Like a Pro, 43 Rules to Get Your Next Job, winner of 12 book awards. The books are available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Deborah E. Roser of Roser Law in Bradenton and Peggy R. Hoyt of Hoyt & Bryan of Oviedo, coauthored four books. Thank Everybody for Everything! Grow Your Life and Business with Gratitude encourages readers to “attract joy and prosperity through acts of kindness and expressions of gratitude.” Gratitude Expressions, a Five Year Journal is a vehicle for recording daily gratitude expressions. Straight Talk! About Estate Planning, The Truth About Leaving A Legacy of Love, Wisdom and Wealth is a no-nonsense book about estate planning, including avoiding guardianship and probate, reducing taxes, other special planning considerations, and making sure your plan accomplishes your personal and family goals. How to Choose a Guardian for Your Minor Children, Creating a Safety Net for Your Children if You Can’t Be There discusses choosing a guardian for your children “just in case you can’t always be there.” The books are available at Amazon.com.
Ari Mendelson of Tampa published Bias Incident: The World’s Most Politically Incorrect Novel. This libertarian novel was named the November 2012 Book of the Month by the Freedom Book Club. Bias Incident climaxes in a courtroom drama in a campus hearing room pitting protagonist Jeffrey Jackson, an inquisitive young student, against the politically correct spoilsports that dominate Tinsley College. The book is available at Amazon.com.
William G. Hyland, Jr., of Wicker Smith in Tampa authored his second book, Long Journey With Mr. Jefferson, a historical biography. The book is a biography on Dumas Malone, the foremost presidential biographer of Thomas Jefferson. Hyland’s previous book, In Defense of Thomas Jefferson, was nominated for the Virginia Literary Award. The book is available at Amazon.com and through major bookstores.
James Sheehan, director of Tampa Law Center at Stetson University College of Law and a visiting professor, wrote his third book, The Lawyer’s Lawyer. In the book, Sheehan brings back his main character, Miami trial attorney Jack Tobin, who was known in courtroom circles as a “lawyer’s lawyer”— the guy the best lawyers say they’d want to represent them in a fight. Now retired from the high-powered Miami scene to the sleepy fishing town of Bass Creek, Tobin only represents people who he believes are innocent. When he is asked to represent a suspected serial killer on death row, Tobin, at first, is hesitant. After reviewing the criminal investigation, however, he becomes convinced that the man was set up and decides to take the case. That decision not only pits Tobin against the powerful elite of Apache County, its citizens, and the woman he loves, it also takes him down a road of self-searching and despair, and ultimately, into the courtroom where he must fight for his life in a battle that neither he nor any other lawyer has ever waged. The book is available at Amazon.com and through major bookstores.
Bryan Manno of Federated Law Group in Juno Beach published Behind the Broken Glass, a collection of poetry. This book seeks to tell a riveting story about life. Every section addresses a key emotion or feeling that people of all ages deal with on almost a daily basis. Each poem within its respective section takes that specified emotion and delves deeper, forcing readers to address their own thoughts and feelings and possibly discover something or some part of themselves for the first time. Poems are crafted in such a way that anyone from a young adolescent to grandparents can enjoy and relate. It gives the reader an opportunity to go on an emotional journey in search of their own identities. The book is available at Amazon.com.
Donna Ballman of Ft. Lauderdale, wrote Stand Up For Yourself Without Getting Fired: Resolve Workplace Crises Before You Quit, Get Axed or Sue the Bastards. The book, winner of the law category in the 2012 USA Best Book Awards, gives specific and relevant advice for facing career-threatening situations and coming out ahead. Balman also wrote The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All the Lawyers, a book geared toward informing novelists and screenwriters about the ins and outs of the civil justice system. Her blog on employee-side employment law issues, Screw You Guys, I’m Going Home, was named one of the 2011 and 2012 ABA Blawg 100 best legal blogs and the 2011 Lexis/Nexis Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs. Stand Up For Yourself Without Getting Fired is available on Amazon.com.
Paul Levine of Coconut Grove authored Lassiter. The book is the latest in his series of legal thrillers about a Miami Dolphins’ linebacker turned night-school lawyer. In the story, Lassiter crossed paths with a teenage runaway 18 years ago who disappeared into South Florida’s sex trade. Now he traces her steps and runs head-on into a conspiracy of Miami’s rich and powerful who would do anything to keep the past silent. The novel is available at Amazon.com.
Michael Posner of Ward, Damon & Posner in West Palm Beach wrote Interchangeable Parts. In the post cold war techno spy thriller, the secret reunification of the Russian Church with the Roman Catholics depended on one man, a man lying dead in a Rome hospital. Only a secret U.S. government agency could create his double, a high-tech replacement designed to complete the reunification and ultimately save Russia and the U.S. from a new Cold War. From an accountant in New York to an unwilling powerful Russian clergyman and politician, the hero fights to survive a forced procedure to help save the world. The book includes high technology, sexual intrigue, backstabbing accomplices, and a surprise twist. Posner has also written six other books. All are available at Amazon.com.
