By Paul Levine “In our courts, all men are created equal. I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system.” – Atticus Finch, in “To Kill a Mockingbird” “I’m number one on your speed dial, right next to your weed dealer.” – Saul Goodman, a/k/a Slippin’ Jimmy McGill on “Better Call Saul” Oh, where have you gone, Atticus Finch? Where is our paragon of virtue, our defender of human rights, our patron saint of lawyers – and parents – everywhere? While Finch is unsullied on the pages of Harper Lee’s iconic 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” (and in Gregory Pec ..read more

By Paul Levine When I wrote BUM DEAL (2018), the 13th of the Jake Lassiter Series, I thought it was the final chapter. That’s right. I planned to bid farewell to my old pal Jake, the second-string linebacker who trudged through night law school and became a combative Miami trial lawyer. Sure, it was a bit sad for me, but Jake’s been having these problems – memory lapses, confusion, headaches – and it seemed like the right time to say goodbye. Dr. Melissa Gold, a neurologist who treats Lassiter during office hours and spends humid nights with him in his Coconut Grove house, fears he may have ch ..read more

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here’s a reader’s recent email:  “I loved EARLY GRAVE but haven’t read the earlier books in the series. Could you give me a brief synopsis of Jake Lassiter’s background?” Sure. Here’s an excerpt from FOOL ME TWICE where the linebacker-turned-lawyer reveals (not quite) all. My name is Jake Lassiter. I am broad-shouldered and sandy-haired, and my neck threatens to pop the top button on my shirt. I have a crooked nose – thanks to a forearm through my facemask – and I look more like a longshoreman than a lawyer. I am not invited by Ivy League institutions to lecture on the rule ..read more

Today, I’m on the hot seat, answering questions about EARLY GRAVE posed by ace novelist Robert Rotstein  for “The Big Thrill,” the publication of International Thriller Writers. The setup: When his godson suffers a catastrophic injury in a high school football game, lawyer Jake Lassiter sues to abolish the sport and becomes the most hated man in Miami. At the same time, the former NFL linebacker battles CTE, the fatal brain disease caused by repetitive head injuries. Complicating Lassiter’s lawsuit and his health, his personal life hits a rocky patch. He’s in couple’s therapy with fiancée ..read more

I recently wrote a short piece – “College Scandal: Who’s Really on Trial?” – for Mystery Scene, explaining the backstory behind my new novel, “Cheater’s Game,” recently named “one of the best legal thrillers of 2020” by Best Thrillers. Though it features Jake Lassiter, the novel is a stand-alone. The introduction to the Mystery Scene article is by Oline H. Cogdill, dean of the nation’s crime fiction reviewers and winner of the Raven Award presented by Mystery Writers of America. By Oline H. Cogdill Paul Levine is among the authors who can be credited with launching the current wave of Florida ..read more

How did Jake Lassiter, the linebacker-turned-lawyer, get together with those squabbling law partners, Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord? I’m glad you asked. The answer can be found in “Bum Rap,” which opens with a bang. Literally. The first chapter consists of four paragraphs: The gunshot hit Nicolai Gorev squarely between the eyes. His head snapped back, then whiplashed forward, and he toppled face-first onto his desk. There were two other people in the office of Club Anastasia. Nadia Delova, the best Bar Girl between Moscow and Miami, stared silently at Gorev, blood oozing from his ears. She h ..read more

Jake Lassiter, the linebacker-turned-lawyer, first appeared in “To Speak for the Dead” in 1990. Thirty years later, Lassiter is still navigating the shark-infested waters of the justice system. In “Cheater’s Game,” the heartbroken lawyer must defend his brilliant nephew Kip who’s charged as an imposter, taking entrance exams for students in the true-to-life college admissions scandal. Paul: Earlier today, actress Lori Loughlin and her husband pleaded guilty in the college scandal. Any thoughts? Jake: I wish I’d repped them, instead of my nephew. A fat fee without having to try the case. Paul ..read more

By Paul Levine More than 30 years ago, unhappy with my job as a lawyer, I read four books that changed my life. No, they weren’t self-help books. They didn’t advise me to take up meditation or yoga or psychedelic drugs. They were novels with flawed protagonists. I’ll tell you about them in a moment, but first, let me set the scene. It’s 1987, and the senior partners at my law firm thought they were giving me a promotion. “Paul, we’re putting you in charge of all the asbestos cases east of the Mississippi.” I was speechless, and not with joy, despite a substantial increase in income. My job wou ..read more