Talk Justice, an LSC Podcast: John Grisham on Storytelling and Justice
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WASHINGTON鈥擝estselling author and lawyer John Grisham joins LSC Board Member Robert Grey for a conversation on how his journey from small-town lawyer to big-time author influenced his philanthropic priorities and made him an advocate for access to justice on the latest episode of LSC鈥檚 鈥淭alk Justice鈥 podcast, . Grey, who serves as president of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, interviewed Grisham at a D.C. forum celebrating LSC鈥檚 50th anniversary on April 9.
Grisham tells the story of how he started his own law practice as a newly minted attorney in his small town in Mississippi. He didn鈥檛 have many clients at the start, and then those who did show up at his door couldn鈥檛 afford to pay him. But quickly after taking a few housing cases for families in the nearby trailer park, he saw how essential a lawyer was to a fair outcome.
"Low-income people get run over all the time, unless they show up with a lawyer," Grisham says.
Grisham serves on LSC鈥檚 Leaders Council, which works to raise public awareness of the current crisis in civil justice. He knows that storytelling is a powerful tool for raising awareness. Grisham says that when he鈥檚 writing a book about an issue like wrongful convictions, legal aid or the denial of access to justice, he crafts a legal thriller around that idea. He wants the suspenseful story to pull the reader through the novel in two or three days.
鈥淭hen when the book is over, they think about that issue鈥攂ut maybe they never thought about it like that before,鈥 says Grisham. 鈥淪o, what I want to do is raise awareness of the issues that I care about.鈥
He explains that he and his wife know that they have the opportunity to make an impact, and they are very purposeful with their philanthropy and advocacy, focusing their efforts around childhood hunger, homelessness and injustice.
In addition to the podcast episode, the event was also livestreamed and the . More information about the events and speakers at all of LSC鈥檚 50th anniversary events can be found here.
Talk鈥疛ustice episodes are available鈥痑nd on Spotify, Stitcher,鈥疉pple鈥痑nd other popular鈥痯odcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC鈥檚 Leaders Council. The next episode of the podcast鈥痺ill look at putting generative AI to the test for legal services.
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