Why Do We Love Legal Thrillers? | Lance McMillian

Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Lance McMillian acclaimed legal author and scholar.

Guest Bio

Lance McMillian

Lance obtained his B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Phi Beta Kappa and his J.D., University of Georgia, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif. He is a full-time professor of law at John Marshall School of Law where he teaches Torts, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, Constitutional Law Seminar, First Amendment Seminar, White Collar Crime, Domestic Relations, Depositions, Law Office Management, Remedies in Context, Scholarly Writing.

Professor McMillian joined the Atlanta’s John Marshall faculty in 2007. Before embarking on a teaching and writing career, Professor McMillian wore many different hats in the legal profession, including those of civil litigator, commercial arbitrator, and certified mediator. The focus of his practice centered primarily on complex litigation—class action prosecution and defense, business torts, constitutional torts, and discrimination. In 2002, he became a founding partner of the law firm of McMillian & Camp, LLP. Following its inception, the firm was approved as lead counsel by numerous federal and state courts in class and collective actions arising under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. In this role, Professor McMillian successfully negotiated several six and seven-figure settlements. As a neutral, Professor McMillian mediated and arbitrated over 100 active lawsuits.

Professor McMillian’s writing career is just as diverse. He is a novelist and creator of the Atlanta Murder Squad series. The first book in the series, The Murder of Sara Barton, won a prestigious B.R.A.G. Medallion and became a #1 Best Seller Legal Thriller on Amazon. His nonfiction work has appeared in such legal journals as the North Carolina Law Review, the Washington and Lee Law Review, the Wisconsin Law Review, the Alabama Law Review, the Tennessee Law Review, the Southern Cal Interdisciplinary Law Journal, and the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. He also contributed a chapter for Lawyers In Your Living Room! Law On Television, a book project from the American Bar Association that also featured essays from actors Sam Waterston and James Woods. A number of federal and states courts, including an opinion by Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, have cited Professor McMillian in their opinions.

Professor McMillian is married to Justice Carla Wong McMillian of the Georgia Supreme Court. Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) is a private for-profit law school in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1933 and named for John Marshall, the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. AJMLS is accredited by the American Bar Association. It was among the first southern law schools to integrate. It is in Midtown Atlanta and is accredited by the American Bar Association. AJMLS offers five J.D. programs: full-time day, part-time day, part-time evening, accelerated/spring start, and a Criminal Justice Certificate Program (led by MacArthur Genius Fellow, Jonathan Rapping).

Lance’s books are:

To Kill A Lawyer (2021)

Death to the Chief (2021)

The Murder of Sara Barton (2020)

Lance’s latest novel is “Hard Way to Die,” the 4th in the Atlanta Murder Squad series, and takes place at a Georgia State Bar Annual Meeting on Jekyll Island.