1. Are you a real lawyer?
Yes, I am a real lawyer. I graduated from Harvard Law school in 1973. I had a great career as a trial lawyer and diplomat, before joining the legal academy. I am a member of the bars of Ohio, District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
2. Are you a real law professor?
Yes, I am a tenured full Professor of Law at the Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Florida. I have been teaching since 1998 at the school. I specialize in Criminal Law, Evidence, Immigration Law, Refugee Law, and White Collar Crime. In 2004, I was a visiting professor at Wake Forrest Law School in Winston Salem, North Carolina. In the Summers of 2011 and 2013 I taught Comparative Immigration Law in our summer program in El Escorial, Spain.
3. Why do you write your humor stories?
As a Professor, I am expected to research and write scholarly articles on the law. After reaching full professor with 13 scholarly articles to my credit, I decided that I wanted to write about the funny and humorous aspects of criminal law. Something completely unscholarly.
4. Are the stories in your book true stories?
Yes. All the stories are true.
5. Where do you get the content for your humor stories?
I read newspapers and wire service reports and collect the humorous and weird criminal law stories I find. I originally posted 4 stories each week on my blog for my law students. The students loved the stories and I decided to put them in books.
6. What kind of work to you do?
As a law professor, I am paid to write and to teach. I teach the kind of substantive courses mentioned in question 2 and I continue to research scholarly aspects of the law, but I have my most fun collecting and editing the weird criminal law stories that I find. I am also, asked to speak to school groups and occasionally I appear as a legal analyst for CBS, Radio News, and FOX Radio News.
7. How can I get in touch with Professor Birdsong for speaking engagements?
For my contact information please click here.