My novel Laws of the Spirit grew quite organically from my years in the legal field. Although entirely fictional, the ideas behind it were inspired by the scenes played out every day in criminal courtrooms across the country. One of the major threads of the story is that the “bad guy”—that is, the undeniably guilty defendant—is not evil, and might even be deserving of mercy. As humans, none of us want to be defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done. And each of us has our own unique backstory.

The law is like any other profession—some people are great, dedicated players in the justice system. Some aren’t. Some are flawed, but doing their best. In writing this book, I hoped to show some of that rich diversity, some of the problems, and some of the people who want to be part of the solution.

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