about me

I am a retired trial lawyer. I started out with a view to being rich, like many lawyers. But, I discoverd that working for the top 1% was boring and not emotionally fulfilling. So, I moved to rural Northern California and opened a genral law practice. Before long I found myself representing women for the local Shelter and I became the chief trial lawyer for the Child Protective Service. I discovered that protecting women and children from abuse was far more satisfying. Never did become rich, but I felt fulfilled. I write about the cases I handled and the people I met. However, I do so in fictional form and in a mystery genre so that the reader becomes engrossed in the story, while learning about the underlying subjects.

Below is my published bio:

Michael Arkin is a former Independent State Hearing Officer who was appointed to hear and determine contested cases between school districts and parents as part of the California Special Education Hearing Office in Sacramento, California.

He is a former United States Department of Justice trial attorney (honors program law graduate) in Washington, D.C. where he was responsible for the trial and appeal of complex tax cases throughout the United States.

Following his government service, he engaged in the private law practice for 44 years in California before relocating to New Mexico to write on a full time basis. His law practice in San Bernardino and San Diego focused on tax, securities and corporate law. However, in 1982 he relocated to San Andreas and Angels Camp, California where his practice was balanced among providing legal services as Chief Trial Counsel to Child Protective Services, as special counsel to the Superior Court for children in high conflict child custody cases, and as counsel for battered women referred by the Calaveras Women’s Crisis Center. He relocated to Nevada County in July 2002 and retired from active practice in December 2005. Since then, he and his Shetland Sheepdogs, "Dakota" and "Taz" have been living and writing in Northern New Mexico.

Mr. Arkin received undergraduate degrees from George Washington University and the University of Oklahoma with a major in psychology, and minors in sociology, philosophy and English. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity while at OU. He also received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma where he served as Managing Editor and Articles and Book Review Editor of the Oklahoma Law Review. While living in Oklahoma, he was an avid fisherman and hunter. He also bred and trained Beagle dogs for competition in Field Trials throughout the Southwest.


His writing credits include numerous published special education Decisions, lead articles published in trade journals, including Oklahoma Law Review and California Lawyer magazine, a guest editorial in The Los Angeles Daily Journal, co-authorship of a non-fiction work, From The Depth of the Mines Came the Law, (Arkin and Laskin, Word Dancer Press, 2000), and a work of fiction, Out of Balance, a socially relevant mystery (PA 2009). He is currently preparing his second novel, Judicial Indiscretion, for review and publication.

favourite books

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), People of the Book (Geraldine Brooks), Blessing Way (Tony Hillerman), and Sophie's Choice (William Stryon).

my websites