About Jim Zirin
Jim Zirin is author of three books, the latest of which is Plaintiff in Chief-Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits. He is host of the critically acclaimed television talk show, Conversations with Jim Zirin, which can be seen weekly throughout the New York metropolitan area, and on PBS stations nationwide.
In an early review of Plaintiff in Chief, Kirkus Reviews praised the “unique approach to the continuing deconstruction of the Trumpian edifice,” adding that “former federal prosecutor Zirin pieces together a highly damning portrait of Donald Trump as a serial abuser of the law. The book is so incriminating not only because of the author’s credentials, but also because the details are grounded in lawsuits filed by Trump, against Trump, or, in some instances, cross-filed by the opposing parties.”
Plaintiff in Chief:
A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits
A comprehensive analysis of Donald Trump’s legal history reveals his temperament, methods, character, and morality.
Unlike all previous presidents who held distinguished positions in government or the military prior to entering office, Donald Trump’s political worldview was molded in the courtroom. He sees law not as a system of rules to be obeyed and ethical ideals to be respected, but as a weapon to be used against his adversaries or a hurdle to be sidestepped when it gets in his way. He has weaponized the justice system throughout his career, and he has continued to use these backhanded tactics as Plaintiff in Chief.
In this book, distinguished New York attorney James D. Zirin presents Trump’s lengthy litigation history as an indication of his character and morality, and his findings are chilling: if you partner with Donald Trump, you will probably wind up litigating with him. If you enroll in his university or buy one of his apartments, chances are you will want your money back. If you are a woman and you get too close to him, you may need to watch your back. If you try to sue him, he’s likely to defame you. If you make a deal with him, you had better get it in writing. If you are a lawyer, an architect, or even his dentist, you’d better get paid up front. If you venture an opinion that publicly criticizes him, you may be sued for libel.
A window into the president’s dark legal history, Plaintiff in Chief is as informative as it is disturbing.
Previous Books
Supremely Partisan (Kirkus Star)
How Raw Politics Tips the Scales in the United States Supreme Cour
On the eve of a presidential election that may determine the makeup of Supreme Court justices for decades to come, prominent attorney James D. Zirin argues that the Court has become increasingly partisan, rapidly making policy choices right and left on bases that have nothing to do with law or the Constitution. Zirin explains how we arrived at the present situation and looks at the current divide through its leading partisans, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor on the left and Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the right. He also examines four of the Court’s most controversial recent decisions – Hobby Lobby, Obamacare, gay marriage, and capital punishment – arguing that these politicized decisions threaten to undermine public confidence in the Supreme Court.
The Mother Court
Tales of Cases that Mattered in America’s Greatest Trial Court
This is the first book to chronicle the history of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the most influential District court in the United States, from the perspective of a practicing attorney who has argued many cases before some of its most esteemed judges.
It gives first-hand insight into the evolution of our justice system—where it has been, where it is now and where it is going. It provides an anatomy of what a trial is all about in an American courtroom, featuring the most famous trials of the period in the greatest court in the nation. It gives the reader a taste of what the storied judges of the period— Weinfeld, Murphy, Mansfield, Tyler, Motley and Palmieri, to name a few—were all about, how they thought, how they judged, and why they were the worthy keepers of our sacred right to justice, as well as the historical traditions of the Court.
Conversations with Jim Zirin
Hosted by prominent attorney Jim Zirin (author of three books, and contributor to the Washington Post, Time, Forbes, The Times of London, The Hill, Bill Moyers and the LA Times), Conversations is a widely acclaimed and nationally syndicated TV talk show discussing politics, foreign relations, national security and the arts. Its estimated viewing audience exceeds two million people. The program, now in its sixteenth year, airs in the New York metropolitan area six times each week on CUNY-TV.
Doug Schoen
Who Will Be the Next President?
Listen to Conversations with Jim Zirin
Appearances
Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School
Op-Ed Archive
Washington Monthly, November 19, 2024
Moldova just rejected Putin and chose a future with the West. What did America just choose?
The Hill, November 6, 2024
Don’t let Trump drag America ‘back to before’
The Hill, November 5, 2024
Washington Monthly, October 29, 2024
Imagining Trump with a Republican-Controlled Congress and the Roberts Court
Washington Monthly, October 28, 2024
How Kamala Harris Can Finish Strong Against Donald Trump
Washington Monthly, October 18, 2024
The Supreme Court seems inclined to let Richard Glossip be executed
The Hill, October 13, 2024
Has Jack Smith botched the Trump indictments?
The Hill, October 7, 2024
As a New Supreme Court Term Begins, Even Some Conservatives Are Running from Samuel Alito
Washington Monthly, October 7, 2024
Mayor Adams’s Turkish delights
The Hill, October 3, 2024
Harris needs to take off the gloves
The Hill, September 28, 2024
What Is Going on With Georgia’s Board of Elections?
Washington Monthly, September 24, 2024
The supremely partisan court of Chief Justice Roberts
The Hill, September 20, 2024
In last week’s debate, Trump showed his true character
The Hill, September 17, 2024
The Hill, September 11, 2024
A Lot of People Underestimated Harris
Washington Monthly, September 10, 2024
The special counsel’s superseding indictment of Trump likely won’t pass muster
The Hill, September 5, 2024
Trump Sues the Justice Department for $100 Million
The Nation, August 27, 2024
Will Trump avoid prison because of prosecutorial blunders?
The Hill, August 26, 2024
Why the Supreme Court punted on regulating social media
The Hill, August 20, 2024
Harris rally crowds should not be chanting ‘lock him up’
The Hill, August 13, 2024
Inside the MAGA Bubble, A Child’s Rape Was Ridiculed, Demagogued
Washington Monthly, August 13, 2024
Trump’s Slur of Harris—“Is She Indian or Is She Black?”—Echoes a Creepy Episode From His Past
Washington Monthly, August 7, 2024
Judging Biden’s Supreme Court reform plan
The Hill, August 1, 2024
The Perpetrator and the Prosecutor
Washington Monthly, July 29, 2024
I’m 84 and Know Something About Aging. It Was Right for Biden to Get Out of the Race
Washington Monthly, July 22, 2024
Here’s how to reform US Supreme Court to counter political bias
London Times, July, 18, 2024
Chief Justice Roberts’s Rule of Disorder: Where the Trump Legal Cases Stand
Washington Monthly, July 17, 2024
Trump, long comfortable with political violence, becomes another victim
The Hill, July 15, 2024
Project 2025, Trump’s forsworn manifesto
The Hill, July 9, 2024
Can the president be officially criminal?
The Hill, July 5, 2024
This Horrible Supreme Court Term
Washington Monthly, July 2, 2024
The Supreme Court has crowned the president king
The Hill, July 2, 2024
Biden lacked oomph but the transcript tells a different tale
The Hill, June 29, 2024
At the Supreme Court, Here Come the Bribes—and a Biden Victory on Disinformation
Washington Monthly, June 27, 2024
Alito is a partisan, radical conservative
The Hill, June 12, 2024
The moral hypocrisy of Trump’s GOP enablers
The Hill, June 10, 2024
Trump was convicted by a jury of his peers
The Hill, June 5, 2024
Will Donald Trump End Up Behind Bars?
Washington Monthly, June 3, 2024
The verdict of history: Trump is guilty
The Hill, May 31, 2024
Trump’s Sordid Case Goes to the Jury
Washington Monthly, May 29, 2024
Who will hang next week, Trump or the jury?
The Hill, May 27, 2024
Justice Alito lets his freak flag fly
The Hill, May 20, 2024
Washington Monthly, May 17, 2024
The Hill, May 16, 2024
In Cohen vs. Trump, which liar will the jury believe?
The Hill, May 14, 2024
Will the Supreme Court crown King Donald?
The Hill, April 27, 2024
Trump’s moaning about being forced off the campaign trail is nonsense
The Hill, April 24, 2024
Why the Trump Trial is Like a Bullfight
Washington Monthly, April 22, 2024
Picking a jury in Manhattan: The art of the feel
The Hill, April 17, 2024
The trials of O.J. and Trump — a study in parallels
The Hill, April 14, 2024
Washington Monthly, April 9. 2024
Judge Merchan vs. Roy Cohn’s protege
The Hill, April 5, 2024
Trump’s attacks on judges and their families threaten us all
The Hill, April 1, 2024
The Roberts Court Really Could Give Trump Blanket Immunity
Washington Monthly, March 26, 2024
The end of the Fani Willis affair
The Hill, March 16, 2024
How the Justice Department’s Trump Prosecution Ran Aground
Washington Monthly, March 12, 2024
Trump wins again in the MAGA Supreme Court
The Hill, March 5, 2024
Is it time for Jack Smith to throw in the towel on prosecuting Trump?
The Hill, March 4, 2024
Has the Supreme Court gone ga-ga or MAGA?
The Hill, February 29, 2024
Why Hur’s Gratuitous Smear of Biden Is a Study in Prosecutorial Abuse
Washington Monthly, February 14, 2024
Rocky Mountain low: Colorado’s lawyer didn’t get it right before the Supreme Court
The Hill, February 9, 2024
Can Andrew Cuomo Really Make a Political Comeback?
Washington Monthly, February 6, 2024
Can Trump delay his legal reckoning past Election Day?
The Hill, February 4, 2024
If the conservative justices actually believe in originalism, they must disqualify Trump
The Hill, February 1, 2024
Trump and Giuliani Can’t Easily Wiggle Out of Defamation Payments
Washington Monthly, January 21, 2024
With Trump’s victory in Iowa, we’re inching toward autocracy
The Hill, January 18, 2024
Trump the Autocrat at the Counsel Table
Washington Monthly, January 13, 2024
Trump’s immunity appeal was both laughable and frightening
The Hill, January 10, 2024
To disqualify or not to disqualify: The Supreme Court confronts the ‘laugh test’
The Hill, January 8, 2024
Will Trump’s disqualification case be Bush v. Gore for 2024?
The Hill, January 2, 2024
Can Trump delay his legal reckoning past Election Day?
The Hill, February 4, 2024
If the conservative justices actually believe in originalism, they must disqualify Trump
The Hill, February 1, 2024
Trump and Giuliani Can’t Easily Wiggle Out of Defamation Payments
Washington Monthly, January 21, 2024
With Trump’s victory in Iowa, we’re inching toward autocracy
The Hill, January 18, 2024
Trump the Autocrat at the Counsel Table
Washington Monthly, January 13, 2024
Trump’s immunity appeal was both laughable and frightening
The Hill, January 10, 2024
To disqualify or not to disqualify: The Supreme Court confronts the ‘laugh test’
The Hill, January 8, 2024
Will Trump’s disqualification case be Bush v. Gore for 2024?
The Hill, January 2, 2024
Will Trump’s Disqualification Turn on Whether an 1869 Case Was Wrongly Decided?
Washington Monthly, December 27, 2023
Is the Colorado decision a Rocky Mountain high?
The Hill, December 20, 2023
Can Trump Delay His Way Out of Criminal Convictions?
Washington Monthly, December 19, 2023
Do You Oppose Jewish Genocide? ‘It Depends’ Is Not the Right Answer
The Messenger, December 14, 2023
Is a president immune from prosecution? The Supreme Court will decide
The Hill, December 11, 2023
Trump’s ‘similar acts’ unveiled before his election interference trial
The Hill, December 7, 2023
Santos, Menendez, Trump: The ethics mirage in Washington
The Hill, December 4, 2023
Hunter Biden’s Offer to Give Public Testimony — Risky Bluff or Smart Strategy?
The Messenger, November 29, 2023
After the January 6 Attack, How Can Trump Remain on the Ballot?
Washington Monthly, November 20, 2023
Washington Monthly, November 17, 2023
Trump wants to turn the government into a weapon for personal revenge
The Hill, November 13, 2023
Could Trump’s delay-at-all-costs legal strategy actually work?
The Hill, November 8, 2023
Trump 2.0: Trump’s Justice end game
The Hill, November 6, 2023
A strong libel case against Netflix and Ava Duvernay
The Hill, October 15, 2023
Can Trump conceivably beat the legal clock–and the rap?
The Hill, October 9, 2023
Is the New York fraud suit against Trump biased?
The Hill, October 5, 2023
The removal dilemma: Trump’s fatal choice
The Hill, October 2, 2023
It’s Good to Be a Judge. For Some, a Little Too Good.
Washington Monthly, October 1, 2023
A ‘murder of lawyers’ argues about Trump and the 14th Amendment
The Hill, September 27, 2023
Senator Menendez and the Presumption of Innocence
The Messenger, September 27, 2023
The Hill, September 17, 2023
Does the Constitution disqualify Trump from running for president?
Trump ‘Looks Forward’ to Testifying. Will He Be His Own Worst Witness?
The Messenger, September 11, 2023
The Hill, September 5, 2023
Confused about Trump’s legal problems? Read this.
The Hill, August 30, 2023
Donald Trump’s Mug Shot Moment: Can He Keep the Old Gang Together?
The Messenger, August 28, 2023
Can Trump’s co-defendants make a federal case out of the Georgia indictment?
The Hill, August 22, 2023
What Will It Take for GOP to Decide It’s Time to Rid Itself of Donald Trump?
The Messenger, August 18, 2023
Will the Prosecution of Trump Have Terrible Consequences?
Washington Monthly, August 15, 2023
Trump says he has blanket immunity. Not so fast.
The Hill, August 15, 2023
Two-Tiered Justice, or Vindicating the Rule of Law?
The Messenger, August 5, 2023
Trump’s Free Speech Defense is Unlikely to Prevail
Washington Monthly, August 2, 2023
Yet another Hunter ‘bombshell’ is a dud
The Hill, August 2, 2023
Hunter’s ‘Humpty Dumpty’ Plea Deal: Why It broke and What’s Next
The Messenger, July 29, 2023
The Hill, July 25, 2023
How Serious is the Authoritarian Threat Here and Abroad?
Washington Monthly, July 24, 2023
“Diet Coke Valet” is the Tail Wagging the Dog in Trump Documents Case
The Messenger, July 15, 2023
The Hill, July 10, 2023
Which Will be Tougher: Picking a Trump Trial Date or Proving the Case?
The Messenger, June 28, 2023
“What about Hunter Biden?’ We now have the answer
The Hill, June 21, 2023
Washington Monthly, June 20, 2023
How Trump ended up with Judge Cannon
The Hill, June 16, 2023
How Delay and Recusal Might Save Trump
Washington Monthly, June 12, 2023
Is There Life After Indictment for Donald Trump?
The Messenger, June 9, 2023
The Hill, June 7, 2023
The Hill, June 5, 2023
Tom Hanks, Donald Trump, and the End of Truth
Washington Monthly, May 20, 2023
Trump’s Next Indictment: Just a Question of ‘What’ and ‘When’
The Messenger, May 26 2023
Durham Report Didn’t Vindicate Trump, and It Missed the True ‘Crime of the Century’
The Messenger, May 21, 2023
Only Republicans Want to Push Us Into Default
The Nation, May 17, 2023
Trump, Santos and our calamitous-ish political landscape
The Hill, May 12, 2023
To testify or not to testify: Trump’s fateful choice
The Hill, May 8, 2023
The latest stench in the Supreme Court
The Hill, May 2, 2023
The Reversal of Trump’s Fortunes
Washington Monthly, April 28, 2023
Reform hope after US justice embroiled in gifts scandal
London Times April 27, 2023
Why is everyone trashing Alvin Bragg?
The Hill April 22, 2023
Clarence Thomas’s Vacation Scandal Shouldn’t Fade From Memory
Washington Monthly, April 13, 2023
Daily News, April 12, 2023
Trump indictment: The odds are in Alvin Bragg’s favor
The Hill, April 6, 2023
The Hill, March 31, 2023
What Happens if Trump is Indicted?
Town & Country, March 23, 2023
The Hill, March 20, 2023
Indict Donald Trump over Stormy Daniels payoff? Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s dilemma
Daily News, March 15, 2023
Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices Solves a Lot of Problems
Washington Monthly, March 13, 2023
Pence to Trump: I Just Can’t Quit You
Washington Monthly, February 28, 2023
George Santos: A grifter in the American tradition
The Hill, February 17, 2023
Prosecutors seek a rat in Trumpville
The Hill, February 6, 2023
The Hill, February 1, 2023
Has Merrick Garland Outmaneuvered Himself?
Washington Monthly, January 27, 2023
The Hill, January 23, 2023
Delay Has Already Weakened Garland’s Case Against Trump
Washington Monthly, January 18, 2023
The Hill, January 16, 2023
The Biden papers and the Mar-a-Lago documents: Apples and oranges?
The Hill, January 11, 2023
The Hill, January 3, 2023
When is it a crime not to remember?
Daily News, January 1, 2023
How Big a Deal Is the January 6th Committee’s Criminal Referral?
Washington Monthly, December 21, 2022
What Will the Manhattan D.A. Do Next with Trump?
Washington Monthly, December 12, 2022
What happened to the investigation into the Dobbs draft leak?
The Hill, December 3, 2022
Will Alvin Bragg get the Trump bragging rights?
The Hill, November 27, 2022
To indict or not to indict, that is the question
The Hill, November 20, 2022
Mr. Attorney General, the time to indict Trump is now
Daily News, November 15, 2022
Do we really need a special counsel to indict Trump?
The Hill, November 6.2022
A Primer on Trump’s Legal Woes
Washington Monthly, November 2, 2022
The midterms: Between the election and the agenda falls the shadow
October 30, The Hill
Is the Supreme Court about to make another political decision?
October 21, 2022, The Hill
Great Britain’s Conservatives Are Screwing Up The Economy
October 6, 2022, Washington Monthly
Britain’s economic slump: Does the fault lie with Brexit?
September 30, 2022, The Hill
Can Garland Keep Donald Trump From Office?
September 27, 2022, Washington Monthly
Has Garland screwed up the Mar-a-Lago case?
September 13, 2022, The Hill
Indict Trump Over Mar-A-Lago Documents? Don’t Indict? There’s a Third Option
September 7, 2022, Washington Monthly
Is the Mar-a-Lago case doomed?
September 7, 2022, The Hill
Who is more likely to be indicted-Donald Trump or Hunter Biden
August 26, 2022, The Hill
A tribute to a great prosecutor
August 23, 2022, Daily News
Can Trump be disqualified from running for president?
August 10, 2022, The Hill
Abortion: The litigation that will not go away
August 4, 2022, The Hill
The Supreme Court’s Originalist Obsession Continues
July 29, 2022, Washington Monthly
The government calls Pat Cipollone
July 28, 2022, The Hill
There’s more than. enough evidence to charge Trump with seditious conspiracy
July 26, 2022, Daily News
Is New York about to become the Wild West?
July 15, 2022, The Hill
July 3, 2022, History News Network
The challenge of prosecuting Trump
June 20, 2022, The Hill
Trump’s Involvement in the January 6 Conspiracy Is Easy to Prove
June 12, 2022, History News Network
In America, the rule of law remains elusive
June 5, 2022, Daily News
June 5, 2022, History News Network
Is the spike in gas prices good for America?
May 23, 2022, The Hill
If the US bans abortion, what rights will be axed next?
May 19, 2022, The Times (London)
A draft, a leak and an inflection point in Supreme Court history
May 4, 2022, The Hill
A tale of two would-be prosecutions: Donald Trump and Hunter Biden
May 3, 2022, Daily News
Did trump ‘entrap’ the Jan. 6 rioters?
April 15, 2022, The Hill
On “Smoking Guns”-Yesterday and Today (and Tomorrow?)
April 12, 2022, History Network News
Will Donald Trump Beat the Rap after all?
April 3, 2022, Daily News
Four GOP senators who should go back to law school
March 25, 2022, The Hill
Decoding Partisan Declarations of What Makes a “Good Judge”
March 23, 2022, History News Network
Is Merrick Garland finally ready to indict Donald Trump?
March 15, 2022, The Hill
The case against Donald Trump in Manhattan
March 1, 2022, Daily News
Ahmaud Arbery can begin to ‘rest in power’
February 23, 2022, The Hill
Is it time to recall the recall?
February 4, 2022, The Hill
Prince Andrew easily could have won his bid to get the suit against him tossed
January 20, 2022, Washington Post
Has the Supreme Court lost its compass?
January 4, 2022, The Hill
The gathering coup: 2022 and the years that follow will further test our democracy
January 3, 2022, Daily News
Newsom’s paradox: California v. Texas
December 14, 2021, The Hill
The Stench is Coming from the Supreme Court
December 13, 2021, History News Network
Merrick Garland, Steve Bannon and the rule of law
December 2, 2021, Daily News
A miscarriage of justice in Kenosha
November 19, 2021, The Hill
Will SCOTUS Force Us All to Find Out How Polite an Armed Society Will Be?
November 14, 2021, History News Network
The Alec Baldwin case: The law intersects with politics
October 25, 2021, The Hill
The case against Cuomo weakens
October 22, 2021, New York Daily News
The Supreme Court’s partisanship is becoming increasingly difficult to deny
October 4, 2021, The Hill
Trump’s weird lawsuit in Poughkeepsie
September 28, 2021, New York Daily News
The new front in Americans’ long fight for the right to vote
September 23, 2021, Prospect (London)
The tragedy of 9/11–an inflection point in American history
September 10, 2021, The Hill
Masks and vaccines: What price freedom?
August 23, 2021, The Hill
Is this fair treatment for Cuomo?
August 10, 2021, New York Daily News
New Yorkers must decide how disqualifying Andrew Cuomo’s behavior has been
August 4, 2021, The Hill
July 23, 2021, The Hill
Trump Cheated on His Taxes. What Happens Now?
July 19, 2021, History News Network
Why Trump (probably) won’t be indicted
July 12, 2021, The Hill
Trump is suing New York over a golf course. That could be a big mistake.
June 28, 2021, The Washington Post
The punctuated sentence of Derek Chauvin
June 27, 2021, The Hill
What’s Happened to Merrick Garland
June 16, 2021, The Hill
COVID vaccine passports pose more questions than answers
June 7, 2021, The Hill
How long will Trump remain immune?
May 28, 2021, The Hill
The curious case of the COVID-19 origin
May 17, 2021, The Hill
May 11, 2021, The Hill
Will we finance Biden’s spending with confiscatory taxes?
April 28, 2021, The Hill
Is the antidote to bad speech more speech or more regulation?
April 19, 2021, The Hill
April 9, 2021, New York Daily News
Can Derek Chauvin possibly be acquitted?
March 31, 2021, The Hill
Will diplomacy work with Iran?
March 24, 2021, The Hill
Politicization of the Judiciary
March 1, 2021, History News Network
February 16, 2021, Bill Moyers
January 28, 2021, The Hill
Were Trump’s Pardons Even Legal?
January 17, 2021, History News Network
Incitement and the First Amendment
January 12, 2021, Bill Moyers
January 8, 2021, Bill Moyers
January 5, 2021, Bill Moyers