Talk Justice, an LSC Podcast: John Grisham on Storytelling and Justice
Contact
Carl Rauscher
Director of Communications and Media Relations
rauscherc@lsc.gov
202-295-1615
WASHINGTON—Bestselling 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’s “Talk Justice” podcast, released today. Grey, who serves as president of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, interviewed Grisham at a D.C. forum celebrating LSC’s 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’t have many clients at the start, and then those who did show up at his door couldn’t 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’s 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’s 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.
“Then when the book is over, they think about that issue—but maybe they never thought about it like that before,” says Grisham. “So, what I want to do is raise awareness of the issues that I care about.”
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 video can be viewed here. More information about the events and speakers at all of LSC’s 50th anniversary events can be found here.
Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council. The next episode of the podcast will look at putting generative AI to the test for legal services.