Jake Lassiter, Meet Solomon & Lord

From the messy desk of Paul Levine...

I get similar emails all the time.  Yesterday, two came just moments apart.  Bob, from Ocala, Florida, wrote: "I've  been reading the Jake Lassiter series of legal thrillers since the 1990's.  When's the next one coming out?"

Elle, from I don't know where, wrote: "I love Steve Solomon & Victoria Lord.  I've been waiting for a new novel about them for years!"

Usually, I write back and say: "Don't bother me!"  No, that's no true.  I LOVE to hear from readers.   I sit in a darkened room all day long with no companionship other than a 14-year-old deaf dog named Nikki the Fart Machine.  So, keep those emails coming.

This is for Bob and Elle and all the others. I'm working on a new book in which Jake Lassiter defends Steve Solomon for murder...while falling hard for Victoria Lord.  The backdrop is a real criminal trial in Miami that produced lots of headlines and caught my attention.  I'll be writing more about that later on the blog. 

So, there you have it.  In television, we'd call it a "crossover."  Characters from one show appearing in another show on the same network.

This crossover could start an entire new series.  Or not.

Estimated date of publication.  Late this year. Yes, I have a title, but it would be bad luck to announce it so early.  (Among other things, Jim Born might steal it.).  But I can tell you this.  It's two words.  Three letters each. 

Jake was last seen in “State vs. Lassiter.”   Solomon and Lord were last bickering and  bantering in “Habeas Porpoise.”

As the time draws near, I'll post more about the new book.  For now, here's the moment where Victoria Lord tells Steve Solomon she can't represent him.

    “I need you, Vic.” Steve said.

    “I already retained Jake Lassiter.”

    “Lassiter!  I want a lawyer, not a linebacker.”

    “He’s won some tough cases.”

    “He’s a slab of meat.  If you won’t represent me, I want Roy Black.”

    “You can’t afford Roy.”

    “Tell him it’s me.”

    “Already did.”

    “And he didn’t offer a courtesy discount?”

     "He doubled his fee."

Paul Levine

Judges and Their Daughters...

From the messy desk of Paul Levine...

When I'm elected President of the United States, I will only appoint female judges...and male judges with daughters.

I came to this conclusion yesterday after reading results of a study that is both startling and not surprising.  Yes, I think something can be both. 

"It turns out that judges with daughters are more likely to vote in favor of women’s rights than ones with only sons. The effect, a new study found, is most pronounced among male judges appointed by Republican presidents, like Chief Justice Rehnquist."  --Excerpt from The New York Times story, "Another Factor Said to Sway Judges to Rule for Women's Rights: a Daughter"

(Chief Justice Rehnquist and daughter Janet in 2005).

I know what Jim Born is saying: "Big Whoop."  That's because Jim is very old-fashioned and generally speaks like a character from "The Music Man."  What I'm saying is that, while the results are startling, they're hardly surprising.  We're all the products of our life experiences.  And as the study found, those experiences can outweigh both the law and personal, political ideology.

"The new study considered about 2,500 votes by 224 federal appeals court judges. 'Having at least one daughter,' it concluded, 'corresponds to a 7 percent increase in the proportion of cases in which a judge will vote in a feminist direction.'”

The results were even more striking if the daughter is an only child.  "Having one daughter as opposed to one son is linked to an even higher 16 percent increase in the proportion of gender-related cases decided in a feminist direction."

Professor Maya Sen, who conducted the study, summed it up (and corroborated my beliefs spent in 17 years of practicing law and 25 years writing about it):

"Justices and judges aren't machines.  They are human, just like you and me.  And just like you and me, they have personal experiences that affect how they view the world."

I wouldn't mind some more judges who can see the world from a feminist viewpoint.
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"State vs. Lassiter" on Sale

Oh, those crazy kids at Amazon have put "State vs. Lassiter" and three other of my e-books in this month's "Big Deal."  You can snag these little beauties for 99 cents!  What a deal for another 10 days.  The others are:
"Riptide"
"Flesh & Bones"
"Impact"

Meanwhile, "State vs. Lassiter" was recently nominated for a 2014 Shamus Award, given by the Private Eye Writers of America.  Winners to be announced in November at the Bouchercon Convention in Long Beach.



Paul Levine

Sleazy Lawyers and Numbskull Judges: I Love Them!

From the messy desk of Paul Levine...

 Sleazy lawyers and incompetent judges are the meat and potatoes of my life. My fictional life.

 I've created Jake Lassiter, the linebacker-turned-lawyer who proudly says, "They don't call us sharks for our ability to swim. And Steve Solomon, whose mantra is, "When the facts don't fit the law, bend the facts."

So, it shouldn't surprise me when real life shysters and judicial boobs hit the news...especially in South Florida. But I'm still shocked, innocent naif that I am.

Fort Lauderdale, just 30 miles north of my Coconut Grove home, is awash in judicial corruption and tomfoolery. Awash in booze, too.

The three mugshots above are not ladies of the night. They're Broward County Judges Cynthia Imperato, Giselle Pollack, and Lynn Rosenthal, all recently arrested on DUI charges. Judge Pollack allegedly caused an accident injuring another driver. Judge Rosenthal apparently showed up for work soused, banged her car into the courthouse parking lot gate, them slammed into a police patrol car. Details here: "Broward Judges in Hot Seat."

But the winner of the Fort Lauderdale Weird Judge Award goes to former jurist Ana Gardiner. The headline, "Ana Gardiner Disbarred for Texting Prosecutor While on Bench" does not do justice to the story. While presiding over a capital case, Judge Gardiner formed an "emotional relationship" with prosecutor Howard Scheinberg...WHO WAS TRYING THE CASE!

They exchanged nearly 1,400 text messages and phone calls DURING THE TRIAL. Scheinberg got a conviction, asked for the death penalty, and Judge Gardiner granted it.

When all this came to light, the Judge resigned, and just last week lost her law license. Disbarred. Prosecutor Scheinberg lost his job and was suspended for practice for three years. (The defendant got a new judge and was re-sentenced to life in prison).

Question for Patty Smiley and Jackie Winspear and the cop-scrivener Jim Born. Is that fair? Disbarring the female judge but only suspending the male prosecutor? Weren't they both public officials who violated their oaths?

Meanwhile, last week, another seven South Florida lawyers were disbarred or suspended for everything from stealing $665,000 from clients to arguing with judges, to failing to pay Bar dues.

To which I can only say...

Music to my ears.

Paul Levine

Journalism, Education and Sex in Public Places

From the messy desk of Paul Levine...

Rambling thoughts from a non-rambling man:

Sex in Public Places

When I was editor-in-chief of Penn State's student newspaper, "The Daily Collegian," about a zillion years ago, we did not have a "sex columnist."  At the time, there was allegedly a sexual revolution going on, but I seem to have missed the battle cry.

These days,"Jill" (no last name) is the paper's sex columnist, and her current piece is "Jill Talks About Adrenaline Rush of Hooking Up with Risk of Getting Caught." 

Essentially, sex in public.

Okay, so we were behind the times, with all our anti-Vietnam War editorials and blaming Nixon for everything, including awarding the 1969 mythical national championship in football to Texas...BEFORE the bowl games.  (Yes, Penn State went undefeated that year).

Anyway, I'm all for a sex columnist because, unlike fellow scribbler Jim Born, I'm a hip dude and a hep cat.

Eavesdropping in the Locker Room

So I'm in the locker room at the University of Miami student/alumni gym today, and I'm listening to two undergrads:

First Guy: Dude, I flunked the midterm in Beginning Pottery.

Second Guy: Yeah, I cut Jogging class.

First Guy: I'm thinking about taking Stretching.  All chicks.

So I suppose I should confess.  Back at Penn State, I failed Etiquette.  Really, I had a deadline at The Daily Collegian, causing me to miss the final.  A dinner party.

Jake Lassiter in Trouble Again

Just why did Jake Lassiter slug his client? The answer is revealed over on my website blog where Jake is "Flirting with Disbarment."

This all takes place in "Last Chance Lassiter," a prequel to the 10 book series featuring the linebacker-turned-lawyer. Herewith, as lawyers, say, a brief excerpt from Jake's disbarment hearing:

JUDGE BUCKSTROM: Apparently, Mr. Lassiter, you have a propensity for violence.

JAKE LASSITER: Not really, Your Honor. The only time I was arrested, it was a case of mistaken identity.

Q: How’s that?

A: I didn’t know the guy I hit was a cop.

Q: But in this case, Mr. Lassiter, you have admitted striking your own client.

 A: Technically, he wasn’t my client. It was our first meeting, and I hadn’t agreed to represent him.

Q: So why did you hit him?

 A: He came at me with a baseball bat from the collection on my office wall. Barry Bonds. Mark McGuire. Alex Rodriguez.

 Q: You collect from any players who didn’t break the rules? A: Innocent until proven juiced, Your Honor.

 Q: So your testimony is...your prospective client attacked you with your own bat?

 A: Under Florida’s stand-your-ground law, I could have shot him with a machine gun. You can read the rest of the "transcript" here.

 Paul Levine