Biography
Since 1988, Gary Kinder
has taught lawyers around the country how to make their writing clear, concise, and compelling. His in-house clientele includes
some of our largest and most prestigious law firms: Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering; Bingham McCutchen; King & Spalding;
Dorsey & Whitney; KMZ Rosenman; Perkins Coie; Paul Hastings; and Jones Day. Lawyers frequently evaluate his one-day seminar,
Writing Techniques for Winning Cases, as the best CLE they have ever attended. [lawyers' comments] What
distinguishes him from others who teach writing to lawyers is that besides being a lawyer and teaching writing, he also writes. He
is the author of three books of narrative nonfiction, including the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller,
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. [book reviews]
How he began teaching to other lawyers
As a student at the University of Florida College of Law, Gary won awards in statewide legal writing competition. Upon graduation, he was
asked to teach in the College's legal writing program. After passing the Florida Bar, he traveled west and worked as a prosecutor
before deciding to devote his career to writing. His first two books of investigative journalism were
bestsellers. The Washington Post called Kinder's Victim "a mirror of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood in its intensity and the
feeling of 'being there'."
Armed with reviews describing his prose as "absorbing and cleanly written" (Newsweek) and hailing him
as "a highly gifted writer" (The Boston Herald), he approached the Seattle firm of Perkins Coie in 1988 about
becoming an in-house editor. A partner at the firm had a different idea - have Gary teach the firm's lawyers how to
do what he did so well: write precisely, vividly, and memorably.
Gary developed his first course to help lawyers make their writing more accessible and streamlined. Within months he was presenting the seminar to Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles and to other national firms. Since then, it has evolved into an all-day presentation of advanced writing techniques that is one of the most highly recommended CLEs in the country. [lawyers' comments] [selected clientele]
In the spring of 2000, the American Bar Association selected Gary to create a series of online, interactive CLEs on advanced writing. [ABA online writing CLEs]