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Scott Turow    

Attorney & 11-Time Bestselling Author

Scott Turow is the author of eleven bestselling works of fiction, including Testimony, Identical, Innocent, Presumed Innocent, and The Burden of Proof, and two nonfiction books, including One L, about his experience as a law student.

His books have been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and television projects.

He has frequently contributed essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic. His most recent novel is THE LAST TRIAL.

Speech Topics


Language, Truth and Professionalism

It's Only Words: Thoughts of a Lawyer & Novelist

Truth to Justice?

Government Ethics In Illinois: An Oxymoron?

Is there such a thing as a culture of corruption? How does it sustain itself? How can the same political culture produce both Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich? What are the prospects for reform? And what reforms seem essential? In this stimulating keynote presentation, Turow examines answers to these seemingly unanswerable questions and more.

Storytelling in the Courtroom

A novelist talks to lawyers.

The Billable Hour Must Die

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Confessions of a Death Penalty Agnostic

Turow's keynote speech, Confessions of a Death Penalty Agnostic, provides a balanced discussion of a very volatile topic: capital punishment. As a prosecutor, Turow supported the death penalty reluctantly. However, his experiences as a defense lawyer and as a member of the Illinois Capital Punishment Commission made him realize that the important question about capital punishment is not whether it is moral, but whether it can work as a legal institution to give Americans what they want – justice.

Where Are You Perry Mason?

A discussion of the popular image of lawyers, focusing on the dizzying ambivalence Americans feel about lawyers and tracing the reasons for both their liking and loathing: attorneys' power in American society, their perceived dark sides and their ideals as reflected in stories in books, movies and TV.

How I Got To Be Two Things

Humorous reflections on having two careers. Tracing my early ambition to be a novelist, my many early failures and how the great break of my literary career turned out to be my decision to go to law school, with the ensuing challenges of maintaining careers as both a writer and a lawyer.

A Novelist Goes to Hollywood

A discussion of the rewards and perils when the movies buy your books. Six of my books have been purchased in Hollywood with one movie and two TV miniseries resulting. I recount the fun-interaction with stars and many good creative experiences-and the follies of Hollywood's complex business calculations, which sometimes make sense when you understand their perspectives.

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