Jonathan Shapiro

Art of Telling Stories

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I Love L.A.

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I love L.A… on location filming my new show for Amazon.

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The Day I Met Donald Trump….

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I was in New York City for the television upfront presentation. NBC had picked up my one and only comedy and was touting it, along with the rest of its schedule, which included Trump’s television series.  I was standing with our show’s star, waiting for our turn to walk the red carpet. Trump was standing behind us, a large man with the body of a Dutch farmer or college football lineman gone to fat. He grabbed our star by the shoulder. “You’re a winner,” Trump said to the star. “I’m a winner, too. And there aren’t many of us left.” Trump shook our hands and then managed to slip ahead and walk the carpet before us. Neither the star nor I said a word to him. I recall his hand was warm, plump and soft; a pampered hand. As to whether it was small or not, I cannot say. As for his hair, it was ochre and grey, the color of a woodland creature’s winter pelt. The color of his skin was salmon. Our show was canceled. Trump’s show remains on the air. It did not occur to me that I was meeting the future Republican nominee for President.

Bullies with Badges

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Prosecuting a bad cop is the hardest work a lawyer can do, as Lizzie Scott learns in my debut novel, “Deadly Force: A Lizzie Scott Novel” (available April 7 from Ankerwycke). Pre-order it here.

Police work is tough. It requires the physical stamina of the toughest blue-collar jobs and mental acuity of the highest white-collar professions. The cop on the beat has to be tougher and quicker than any threat he confronts. He also has to know the law as well as a lawyer, human nature as well as a shrink, and his community as well as a sociologist. I’ve worked with the police as a prosecutor, covered them as a reporter, and relied on them as a citizen. Nobody admires the police more than I do.

Which is why, on the rare occasion when one of them goes bad—or starts off that way—it offends me. Democracy can survive a lot: bad politicians, stupid judges, a jejune media. But a bad cop is fatal. He destroys the law and justice system upon which the entirety of our nation is founded.

Americans have a healthy respect for the police. Which is why convincing 12 of them to convict a bad one is almost impossible. Police officers are by definition law-abiding, brave, and honest. That’s why prosecutors hate prosecuting police officers. They are hard cases to win, but they are even harder cases to bring. The practice in the US Attorney’s Office when I was there was to leave it to the DOJ Civil Rights Division or handle it as the last case you did in the office. Because a lot of police never trusted a prosecutor after she went after one of their own.

Here’s just one sad example of the politics of police prosecution:

The Best Book Review of My Life!

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Jan Breslauer Book Review of Lawyers, Liars, and the Art of Storytelling

I received the Best Book Review of My Life!

Here is a snippet:

Shapiro is offering a way for lawyers to get back in touch with stories and humor (not jokes — he doesn’t want you to tell jokes, and especially not lawyer jokes). He models liberal use of self-deprecating wit and the artful quip. My personal favorite is Chapter 9, footnote 6: “Even if the author is my wife, Betsy Borns-Shapiro (the ‘Shapiro’ is silent).”

Please go read the full review HERE!

 

Kevin Costner In Talks To Star In David E. Kelley’s Amazon Drama Pilot ‘Trial’

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Nellie Andreeva over at Deadline.com shared this:

“In what would be a big coup for Amazon” (shameless plug link), “I hear the streaming service is talking to Kevin Costner for the lead in one of its pilots. I’ve learned that the Oscar winner is in negotiations to star in Trial, the Amazon Studios drama from The Practice, Ally McBeal and Picket Fences creator David E. Kelley. With him on board, the project would get a 10-episode straight-to-series order. David Semel, who has directed the pilots for such series as Heroes, Person Of Interest, Madam Secretary, and most recently, CBS’ upcoming Code Black and Amazon’s The Man In The High Castle, is expected to direct.”

Read full post.

 

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On the Radio

Listen to Jonathan:
Champions of Justice Radio Show
May 2015
Click Here to Listen

Recent Posts

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Testimonials & Reviews

Jonathan Shapiro
"Storytelling - the art of connecting with, captivating and persuading one's listeners - is the key to courtroom success. For the new generation of lawyers raised on texting, tweeting, and e-mailing, the art of old-fashioned storytelling has proven elusive, as those who can truly teach this ancient art form are fast disappearing.

Thankfully, here comes Jonathan Shapiro - one of America's greatest trial lawyers and storytellers - to the rescue. A wonderful and witty raconteur, a storyteller extraordinaire, an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood writer, and a former Rhodes Scholar who became an expert in the art of persuasion, Jonathan shares his secrets in this extraordinary book - a must for every lawyer."

 
Steve Zipperstein
General Counsel, Blackberry
http://us.blackberry.com/company/newsroom/executive-team.html
Jonathan Shapiro
"Storytelling - the art of connecting with, captivating and persuading one's listeners - is the key to courtroom success. For the new generation of lawyers raised on texting, tweeting, and e-mailing, the art of old-fashioned storytelling has proven elusive, as those who can truly teach this ancient art form are fast disappearing.

Thankfully, here comes Jonathan Shapiro - one of America's greatest trial lawyers and storytellers - to the rescue. A wonderful and witty raconteur, a storyteller extraordinaire, an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood writer, and a former Rhodes Scholar who became an expert in the art of persuasion, Jonathan shares his secrets in this extraordinary book - a must for every lawyer."

 
Steve Zipperstein
General Counsel, Blackberry
http://us.blackberry.com/company/newsroom/executive-team.html
Jonathan Shapiro
"During his presentation, Jonathan had our group laughing. Afterward, he had us thinking. He was insightful and humorous, on point and just plain clear. I hope we have a chance to hear him again."

 
Will Fleet

Newspaper publisher and former president of CNPA
http://press.gistcloud.com/will-fleet-named-california-newspaper-executive-year/
Jonathan Shapiro
"Lawyers, Liars, and the Art of Storytelling is a masterful book about storytelling by the master himself. Shapiro reveals the rewards of storytelling in the real and fictional legal worlds. Most importantly, he divulges the secrets to being a successful storyteller. It is a fun and interesting read for lawyers and non-lawyers alike."

 
Laurie L. Levenson

Professor of Law

David W. Burcham Chair of Ethical Advocacy

Loyola Law School
http://www.lls.edu/aboutus/facultyadministration/faculty/facultylistl-r/levensonlaurie/
Jonathan Shapiro
“Jonathan Shapiro is one of the most charismatic, dynamic and eloquent speakers that we’ve ever hosted. He combines humor and intelligence in an incredibly memorable way.”

 
Rabbi Arnold Rachlis
University Synagogue
http://www.universitysynagogue.org/category/rabbis-blog/
Jonathan Shapiro
“Jonathan Shapiro is a terrific speaker: incisive, information, entertaining, and always engaging. We did modern-day trials of Biblical passages and Jonathan always was dazzlingly in his insights and wit.”

 
Erwin Chemerinsky

Founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, the University of California, Irvine School of Law, author of The Case Against the Supreme Court (Viking, 2014).
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/chemerinsky/
Jonathan Shapiro
"Lawyers, Liars and the Art of Storytelling left me with a new respect for lawyers; but this book goes far beyond the courtroom. Anyone who wants something from any other human in life or business (especially non-profits) could learn a thing or two from this book.

We all have a story to tell and should never stop learning better ways to tell them. Jonathan Shapiro should teach an online course. I'd take it."

 
Angela Shelton

author, screenwriter, orator
http://angelashelton.com/
Jonathan Shapiro
The art of advocacy is the art of taking the truth and fashioning it into a compelling story. No one does this better than Jonathan Shapiro. Shapiro jumps from story to story so quickly that you don't realize how much you've learned until the book ends, and suddenly the learning stops. This book persuasively teaches persuasion, but does so and with an unrivaled range that surveys everything from Aristotelian Theory to the marital status of Col. Klink on Hogan’s Heroes.
The Honorable Jeffrey Bleich

US Ambassador to Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_L._Bleich
Jonathan Shapiro
"Nobody I know - and I mean nobody - is funnier, smarter or has a wider breadth of references than my friend Jonathan Shapiro. His is a remarkable brain. Fortunately for us, he's chosen to use it for Good instead of Evil. This book is a bit of a miracle; informative, insightful, poetic and funny. Top to  bottom, every page. I can't wait for his next book; I know he has more great stories to tell."
Paul Reiser
Actor, writer, producer, stand-up comedian
http://www.paulreiser.com/
Jonathan Shapiro
"Jonathan Shapiro's 'Lawyers. Liars, and the Art of Storytelling'  is so intriguing and witty that for awhile I was certain that I had written it."
Alan Zweibel
Original SNL writer and Thurber Prize winner for his novel The Other Shulman
http://www.alanzweibel.com/
Jonathan Shapiro
"Storytelling is, at its core, about persuasion, and Jonathan Shapiro’s breezy narrative of the architecture of persuasion is a pretty close-to-perfect demonstration of that art."
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski

of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals



 
Jonathan Shapiro
"The first year of law school is designed to bleach away the stories. Jonathan Shapiro gives us the stories back. He demonstrates the power of storytelling and its inevitable importance. More important, he offers advice on how to do it well. Running at the subject from a variety of directions, he moves storytelling to center stage. If Jonathan did not exist, one might have to invent him in order to have this book written correctly."
Professor Bob Berring

former dean of Berkeley Law School
Jonathan Shapiro
"The site is great, the videos informative, and can’t wait to read the Lawyers, Liars & Storytelling book."
Billy Walters

law student
Jonathan Shapiro
Part prescriptive teaching, part memoir, always entertaining and never lecturing, this resource provides storytelling lessons gleaned from years of trial practice and television writing, wrapped in — what else — great stories.
LegalNews.com
http://www.legalnews.com/detroit/1395778/

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