Jonathan Shapiro (writer)

Jonathan Shapiro is a television writer and producer, attorney, adjunct law professor, public speaker, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney as well as Of Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis. He is the co-creator and Executive Producer, with David E. Kelley, of Amazon Prime's TV show Goliath starring Billy Bob Thornton. Shapiro has written fiction, such as Deadly Force: A Lizzie Scott Novel (ABA Publishing 2014)[1] as well as two books of non-fiction: How to Be Abe Lincoln: Seven Steps to Leading a Legendary Life (ABA Publishing 2023)[2][3] Lawyers, Liars, and the Art of Storytelling (Ankerwycke 2015).[4] Shapiro has also written episodes of TV shows such as The Calling,[5] The Blacklist, Boston Legal, The Practice, Mr. Mercedes and Life and is also a frequent collaborator of fellow attorney-writer-producer David E. Kelley.[6] He was also a consulting producer on the HBO Series The Undoing.[7] Shapiro's first play, Sisters in Law, based on the relationship between U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg premiered as part of the Phoenix Theater Company 2019-2020 Season.[8] Seven different productions of the play have followed, including in New York, as well as the Wallis Annenberg Center, Los Angeles, California.[9][10][11]

Early life and background

Shapiro received an undergraduate degree and graduate degree at Harvard University in 1985, where he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oriel College at Oxford University, and his J.D. degree, at the University of California Berkeley School of Law in 1990.[12] Shapiro is Jewish. He serves on the Advisory Board of Indiana University's Borns Jewish Studies Center.[13]

While attending Berkeley Law's Boalt Hall, Shapiro worked as a staff writer for The Recorder from 1987-1990. He was also a Contributing Editor at The Ring magazine covering fights in the U.K. and U.S. from 1987-1993.[14][15] Upon graduation from law school, became a Honors Program Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Organized Crime & Racketeering Division (1990-1992) in Washington, D.C.. Following that position, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the United States Attorneys Office at the United States District Court for the Central District of California for six years from 1992-1998.[16] He then entered private practice, working briefly at O'Melveny & Myers in 1998 before returning to the public sector as Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante from 1999-2000.[16] From 2013-2015, while writing TV pilots, Shapiro was Of Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.[16]

In 1981, Shapiro served a one year term as the student member of the California State Board of Education.[17] In 2010, he was appointed by the California State Senate to a four-year term on the Commission on Government Economy and Efficiency (the Little Hoover Commission).[18] He was re-appointed in 2014, and was later elected Chairman of the Commission.[19] Shapiro, who handled a number of pro bono political asylum cases, was also the founder and director of Public Counsel's Emergency Fund for Torture Victims.[6]

Shapiro also was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Southern California School of Law, where he taught federal criminal law, as well as Loyola Law School, and the UCLA School of Law.[12]

Additional TV/film career and writing

In 2014 at the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter's Emmy Awards held in Washington, D.C., Shapiro won an Emmy Award for the short film/PSA Fair and Free, which he conceived, wrote and produced and which also featured former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.[20] The short film was part of the National Association of Women Judges Informed Voters Project, which encourages women of all backgrounds to exercise their right to vote and make a difference in the electoral process.[20] Shapiro also received a separate Emmy nomination for his script.[20]

Shapiro has also received a Peabody Award for his writing work on Boston Legal[21] and several Humanitas Awards for his writing and/or producing on Boston Legal (for the episode "Roe v. Wade: The Musical" (2008)) and The Practice (for the episodes "Honor Code" (2002) and "Final Judgment" (2006)), and was further nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award for his writing on The Practice episode "Killing Time" (1997).[22][23]

References

  1. ^ Shapiro, Jonathan (2016). Deadly force: a Lizzie Scott novel. Chicago, Illinois: Ankerwycke. ISBN 978-1-63425-275-1.
  2. ^ Shapiro, Jonathan; Kelley, David E. (2023). How to be Abe Lincoln: seven steps to leading a legendary life. Chicago, Illinois: ABA Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63905-334-6. OCLC 1393077114.
  3. ^ "Scholars' Library: Jonathan Shapiro on 'How to be Abe Lincoln'". Alumni Oriel. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  4. ^ Shapiro, Jonathan (2016). Lawyers, liars, and the art of storytelling: using stories to advocate, influence, and persuade. Chicago: American Bar Association. ISBN 978-1-62722-809-1.
  5. ^ "The Calling (TV series)", Wikipedia, 2025-02-08, retrieved 2025-05-30
  6. ^ a b Jonathan Shapiro, About, http://www.artoftellingstories.com/about/ Archived 2016-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ The Undoing (TV Mini Series 2020) - Full cast & crew - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-05-30 – via www.imdb.com.
  8. ^ Cooley, Lee. "Review: SISTERS IN LAW at Phoenix Theater Company". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  9. ^ "Three Questions: Talking with Jonathan Shapiro about "Sisters in Law" (Sep. 18 – Oct. 13, Wallis Annenberg Center)". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  10. ^ Stacy, Leah. "Theater Review | 'Sisters In Law'". CITY Magazine. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  11. ^ Shapiro, Jonathan (2023-10-07). "Book Versus Script: The Pain and Pleasure Continuum". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  12. ^ a b Writing His Own Ticket, USC School of Law, http://weblaw.usc.edu/press/article.cfm?newsid=3819
  13. ^ "Advisory Board". Borns Jewish Studies Program. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  14. ^ Kalb, Deborah (2016-09-16). "Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb: Q&A with Jonathan Shapiro". Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  15. ^ "The Ring [Magazine] - The Bible of Boxing, December 1987: Spinks Lewis Cover Photo by Collins, Nigel; Inigo, Manolo; Shapiro, Jonathan; Coats, Christopher: (1987) First Edition. Magazine / Periodical | RareNonFiction, IOBA". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  16. ^ a b c LinkedIn, Jonathan Shapiro, https://www.linkedin.com/in/legalshapiro
  17. ^ Bathen, Sigrid (July 12, 1981). "Whiz Kid Heads for Harvard" (PDF). sigridbathen.com. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  18. ^ "Jonathan Shapiro". KCRW. 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  19. ^ "A New Plan for a New Economy: Reimagining Higher Education – Little Hoover Commission". Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  20. ^ a b c Art of Telling Stories, We Win an Emmy, http://www.artoftellingstories.com/we-win-an-emmy/
  21. ^ Peabody Awards, Boston Legal, http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/boston-legal
  22. ^ IMDb, Awards - Jonathan Shapiro, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1236705/awards?ref_=nm_awd
  23. ^ Art of Telling Stories, Lizzie Scott, http://www.artoftellingstories.com/lizzie-scott/
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