I come from a long line of unapologetic, big-mouthed ACLU members. I attended the School of Labor Relations at Cornell University. After graduation, I headed to California in search of work as a union organizer, but because I looked about 12 years old at the time, I failed. So I went to law school. Then I clerked for a judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Later I joined the firm of Riordan & Rosenthal: Dennis Riordan is one of the leading criminal appellate lawyers in California; Harold Rosenthal is among the premier trial lawyers in the state. Former deputy district attorney Donald Horgan joined the firm in 1996, which is now known as Riordan & Horgan.

Over the past fifteen years I have represented hundreds of defendants in all manner of appellate proceedings. I have never tried a case. I represent the convicted—in other words, everyone who calls my office has been found guilty by a jury and sentenced, usually for long periods, to state or federal prison.

(Here's a sampling of cases we've handled that have been widely reported in the media)

I have one previous book, Dog Stories (Chronicle Books, 1997), a gift-book with dogs declaiming about the foibles of their masters, together with terrific photographs by Jon Weber.

I live in Oakland, California, with my brilliant and lovely wife Dr. Jennifer Dykes, our dogs Sheva and Jake, and a cat named Fisch.