Daniel R. White

    Daniel R. White — attorney, author, raconteur — is a master of the art of communication.

    Dan White wears multiple hats for P.E.G.®, offering both sophisticated writing instruction and hilarious orations on life, love and the law that are guaranteed to delight any gathering of lawyers, judges, or just plain folks.

    A native of Atlanta, Mr. White overcame his southern accent to graduate from Harvard College and Columbia Law School, where he began honing his editorial skills as articles editor of the Columbia Law Review. In addition to being named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Dan received Columbia’s Dawson Award, which included funding to study advocacy in the chambers of Justice Thurgood Marshall.

    After completing a federal clerkship in Washington, D.C., Dan joined the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson, where he litigated and handled general corporate matters.

    Never a shy scholar, Dan burst onto the legal literary scene with The Official Lawyer’s Handbook (Simon & Schuster 1983), which promptly soared to best-sellerdom, ultimately ranking #1 on The Washington Post list.
That book was followed by a flurry of law-related books that remain American classics:

• White's Law Dictionary — An Indispensable Guide To Legalese (Warner Books) 
• What Lawyers Do, And How To Make Them Work For You (E.P. Dutton)
• Trials and Tribulations — An Anthology of Appealing Legal Humor (Penguin Books USA)

    Dan's byline has appeared in countless magazines, from the ABA Journal to Cosmopolitan, plus a few we probably shouldn’t name (Medical Meetings). He has written speeches for corporate executives, humor for Jay Leno, and even a poem, “An Ode to Litigation,” for the National Law Journal.

    Further demonstrating his skills with the written word, Dan has served as editor-in-chief of two national newsletters: Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report, now owned by Incisive Media., and Current Comedy, the nation’s oldest source of humor for public speakers. In addition, while working as a consultant in the Legal Business division of Arthur Andersen, Dan rewrote Exxon’s Guidelines for Use of Outside Counsel.
Who better to teach your lawyers, paralegals, and others to write?

    Think Mark Twain with a law degree — that’s Dan White.

    His unique brand of legal levity not only carried The Official Lawyer’s Handbook to the top of the best-seller lists, but also made Dan one of the most sought-after lecturer-entertainers in the country. From Florida to Alaska, Vermont to Hawaii, and even in Canada, Dan’s hilarious but penetrating observations have enlightened and enlivened law firms, law schools, bar associations, and several of his friends – in 49 of the 50 states. (We won’t identify the lone holdout. It knows who it is.)

    If you’ve caught one of Dan’s numerous television or radio appearances, you know that although he pokes fun at the legal profession’s foibles, he does so with affection and a smile. No lawyer-basher he, Dan comes from a long line of lawyers; he’s a card-carrying member of that union.

    Dan White is a refreshing, often provocative, and always delightful change of pace from the talking-head, war-story spouting speakers who grace so many legal gatherings (and who are the reason so many lawyers and their spouses avoid those functions).

    And by the way, those spouses and significant others will definitely “get” Dan’s multi-faceted humor. In fact, they’re usually the ones laughing the hardest.

    Dan’s dynamic presentations will be carefully crafted to suit your organization's needs and personality. His after-dinner programs typically run about 25 minutes (though he'll go as long as you want), and require nothing more than a mic and a couple of attentive audience members.

    Dinners, retreats, conventions, bar mitzvahs — Dan White does it all. (He'd probably do children's birthday parties, if asked.)