About James Grippando . . . The Speaker.

Since the blockbuster debut of The Pardon in 1994, James' public speaking events have drawn over a quarter million spectators, and he has reached millions more by radio and television.

Most recently, James spoke with New York Times bestselling author James Patterson at the Direct Marketing Assocation 2007 Leaders' Forum in Florida, he was the keynote speaker at the La Jolla Writers Conference in California, and he was one of just three authors in the world invited to speak to top book executives at the management meeting for Direct Group/Bertelsman in Berlin. Numerous colleges and universities have made him a keynote speaker, including Brandeis University, the University of Florida, the University of Indiana, Mercer University, the University of Miami, the University of Missouri, Nova Southeast University, and the University of Scranton. James is a highly sought-after speaker for public libraries, literary societies, bookseller conventions, publishing sales conferences, book festivals and writers' conferences, his appearances dotting the globe from the Melbourne Book Fair in Australia to the Mystery Writers of America Symposium in New York, from Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival to the Miami Book Fair International. He has addressed sales reps and management at HarperCollins Publishers, wholesalers and retailers at SEBA and other bookseller conventions, and readers at bookstores in virtually every major city in America. He has also delivered keynote addresses at scores of law-related events, including the United States Judicial Conference, the annual conference for the National Association of Bar Presidents, "Law Day" for the Texas Bar Assocation, and many other federal, state and local bar conferences and bar-sponsored events.

James is a frequent guest on TV and radio. Recent television appearances include Catherine Crier Live and Nancy Grace on Court TV, Good Morning Atlanta on ABC, South Florida Today on NBC, and FOX News in the Morning in San Diego. He has done many taped interviews for Internet viewing, including recent segments for the Doubleday Book Club and Kids' BookPlanet Book Club. Often complimented for his "great radio voice," James has entertained millions of listeners worldwide.

James especially enjoys speaking to school children about his craft, and he is an active participant in the "Kids Love a Mystery Program" sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America. He serves on the Board of Trustees at St. Thomas Episcopal Parish elementary school, where he lectures regularly to students from kindergarten through sixth grade. He also takes aspiring young writers with him on research trips to fun places like crime labs, and one of those tours was even made into a television episode that aired on public television in Florida. The publication of his first novel for young adults, Leapholes, has made him a very popular speaker at schools and school-sponsored book fairs across the country, from Palmer-Trinity in Miami, where he spoke to a group of over 700 middle and high-school students, to Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School in San Diego, where he met 150 fifth and sixth-graders. On average, James makes 2-3 school appearances each month during the school year.

A trial lawyer since 1983, James has made countless appearances in state and federal courts around the country, both at the trial and appellate level. He is now Counsel to Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, one of the nation's leading litigation law firms, headed by David Boies. He was a faculty member with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and he has served as an adjunct professor of law.

If you would like James to speak at your event, contact the publicity department at HarperCollins directly or send an e mail from this website using the subject line "Speaker Request - Attention D. Fisher."