After graduating from Penn State, Paul Levine, J.D. ’73, began his career as a courthouse reporter for the Miami Herald. Drawn to the drama of criminal trials, he enrolled at Miami Law, serving on the University of Miami Law Review and on the winning team at the 1971 National Moot Court Competition. He resigned his partnership at a national law firm to pursue writing full-time. The author of 24 novels, including the Jake Lassiter and Solomon vs. Lord series, he received the John D. MacDonald Award and nominations for the Edgar, Macavity, and Shamus prizes. His historical thriller Midnight Burning was recently named “Best Historical Thriller of 2025.” Levine also wrote 20 episodes of CBS’s JAG and co-created First Monday.
What aspects of the curriculum or faculty had the most significant impact on your legal education and career trajectory?
Professor M. Minnette Massey’s Civil Procedure course—and her superb coaching of our moot court team—stay with me to this day. We’re all the sum of the encounters that shape us, and Professor Massey’s intelligence, wit, and steady encouragement formed the bedrock of my legal education and influenced everything that followed.
How did your education at the University of Miami School of Law prepare you for your career?
Research, writing, and public speaking—those were the foundational skills of law school, and they’re the tools I use every day. I may write fiction now (and did my best to keep it out of my legal briefs), but everything I learned at UM was transferable. The discipline of clear thinking and clear expression turned out to be the perfect training ground for a novelist.
What opportunities or connections did you gain at the law school, and how did they influence your career?
Serving on both the Law Review and the championship moot court team opened doors for me downtown. My second job—first as a senior associate and later as a partner in a national firm—was a direct result of my time at UM Law. The hiring partner at the Philadelphia-based firm called Professor Massey and asked for a recommendation for a litigation associate. I was fortunate to be the person she named.
