Roy Black (born February 17, 1945) is an American civil and

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

trial attorney. He is known for his gaining an acquittal, in 1991, of

William Kennedy Smith William Kennedy Smith (born September 4, 1960) is an American physician and a member of the Kennedy family who founded an organization focused on land mines and the rehabilitation of landmine victims. He is known for being charged with rape in a ...

on charges of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

and for his representation of

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

radio commentator

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

. Other celebrities whom Black has represented include actor

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom '' Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...

, racer

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...

, '' Girls Gone Wild'' creator

Joe Francis Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program ''Real TV'' before rele ...

, artist

Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...

, financier

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...

, and pop musician

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

. Black is also informally referred to by his nickname, "The Professor."

Early life and education

Black was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1945.Miami Magazine: "Black's Magic" BY CHRISTOPHER BOYD
Spring 1998 His parents divorced soon after his birth and his mother remarried in 1951 to a British automotive executive who moved the family to Connecticut and then to Jamaica. Black attended

Jamaica College Jamaica College (abbreviated J.C. or JC) is a public, Christian, secondary school and sixth form for boys in Kingston, Jamaica. It was established in 1789 by Charles Drax, who was the grand-nephew of wealthy Barbadian sugar planter J ...

and then earned an undergraduate degree at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

in 1967 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

at the

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school in ...

. While attending UM, Black was a member of the Zeta Epsilon chapter of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

. Following his 1970 graduation, he received the highest possible score on the Florida Bar Exam. After school, he worked as an assistant public defender. In 1973, he worked as an adjunct professor in criminal evidence at the University of Miami.

Career

Currently a partner in Black Srebnick, a

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

-based trial firm specializing in civil litigation and criminal defense, Black also serves as an adjunct instructor of criminal evidence at the

. In 2022, Black won an acquittal for a client charged with bribing a Georgetown University tennis coach to admit his daughter to Georgetown, ending the U.S. Government's unbroken streak of convictions in the " Varsity Blues" prosecutions. In addition to his legal work, Black provides legal commentary for various

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

news shows and played the "managing partner" of ''

The Law Firm ''The Law Firm'' is an American reality competition series which aired on NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Ent ...

'', a short-lived reality-based TV show pitting lawyers against each other week-to-week in a legal version of ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

''.

Personal life

Black has been married three times. In 1984, he married his second wife, Naomi Morris Black, with whom he has a daughter, Nora Black (psychotherapist, San Francisco). In 1994, Roy Black married Lea Black, who was a juror in the William Kennedy Smith trial and was a castmate on ''

The Real Housewives of Miami ''The Real Housewives of Miami'' (abbreviated ''RHOM'') is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on February 22, 2011, then revived on Peacock on December 16, 2021. Developed as the seventh installment of ''The Real House ...

''. They began dating several months after the trial. They have a son, RJ, who like his father, occasionally appears on the show (e.g., in episode 2.7, "Bras and Brawls, Part I", in which the three discuss one of Black's cases).

References

External links

Roy Black Official Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Roy 1945 births Living people American legal scholars Television personalities from New York City Criminal defense lawyers Florida lawyers Lawyers from New York City University of Miami alumni University of Miami School of Law alumni