MEET CHUCK

Chuck Lichtman is a recently retired attorney by trade, and a lifelong writer and civic activist by heart. 

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As a Senior Partner in a major Florida law firm, Berger Singerman, Chuck’s legal practice focused on representing victims of large frauds including securities matters and Ponzi schemes, complex corporate, finance and shareholder litigation, and other “bet the business” cases.  Numerous times he was court appointed as a Receiver by federal or state judges, and he often served as counsel for receivers or trustees.  His most noted representation was serving as Lead Litigation Counsel for the Trustee in the notorious Scott Rothstein $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme, which concluded with a 100% recovery for the victims of the fraud, in only four years.

While he was practicing law, Chuck’s work was consistently recognized by (i) Chambers USA, (ii) Best Lawyers in America two-times as its Lawyer of the Year and for eighteen straight years for his excellence in his practice areas, (iii) by The South Florida Business Journal twice as its Best in the Bar, and (iv) numerous other attorney rating publications. He handled approximately 140 cases at trial or in significant evidentiary hearings. He also successfully mediated numerous cases pending in South Florida and co-authored with Broward County Circuit Judge Robert Rosenberg, the first set of court rules used in the county’s Business Court. To this day, he foundationally credits his success to the good fortune of having five incredible mentors that shaped him, including: (i) Indiana University Basketball Coach Bob Knight, (ii) serving as law clerk to Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor of Charles Manson, (iii) serving effectively as the right hand to Robert L. Shevin, a two-term Florida Attorney General, (iv) Bob Danzig, CEO of the Hearst Newspapers and most important, his father.    

Even though Chuck practiced law for 42 years, writing was always his passion. As a young boy, after seeing From Russia With Love, he announced that he wanted to write spy novels and he stayed forever focused on that goal. Over the years he wrote and produced a play in high school that actually made money (which was donated to charity), wrote numerous short stories, was the Editor-in-Chief of his high school newspaper, and worked on the student newspaper at Indiana University. Having grown up in Gary, Indiana close to Chicago, he dreamed of working for the Chicago Tribune, yet when the newspaper gave him a job offer, he declined the opportunity because the newspaper insisted he start off by writing features, instead of immediately sending him overseas to cover hot spots. So instead, Chuck went to law school at DePaul University College of Law, where he founded a newspaper, the Cause of Action, that remained in operation for over thirty years.  

Chuck’s first espionage thriller, The Last Inauguration, was published in 1998, drawing broad acclaim.  Thoroughly researched, the story involved Saddam Hussein hiring the notorious terrorist “Carlos the Jackal” to kill the President of the United States and his cabinet at an inaugural ball.  While writing the book, the real life Carlos was captured by the French in Sudan after decades on the run.  Working through Carlos’ Paris based lawyer, Carlos agreed to give Chuck his first ever interview. Unfortunately, the Minister of Justice of France obtained an injunction prohibiting the interview on the basis of “State secrets.”  Nonetheless, in a letter from Carlos to Chuck, he wrote, “I have just finished reading The Last Inauguration, and I must admit that although I am depicted as a rogue mercenary mass murderer, I did have a few good laughs seeing myself in the most unseemly situations, some of which could have happened in real life.” Through hard work and some luck, in April 2022, Chuck finally completed achieved his goal, taking the first comprehensive interview of Carlos, which lasted for seven days, from his prison cell outside Paris.  

Chuck’s well-reviewed second novel, The Sword of David, was released nationwide in September 2021 and features some of the characters who appeared in The Last Inauguration. The Sword of David is a heavily researched fast-paced, action-packed thriller, with The Da Vinci Code features, while still being a Middle East terrorist thriller. It features stops in Ethiopia, Mecca, London, Paris, Afghanistan, Istanbul, Lebanon, Rome and Jerusalem. Chuck visited most of those locations to support his extensive research on history, religion and locale, relevant to the storyline.  The novel has consistently been noted for its stunning, unexpected yet satisfying conclusion, which is completely poignant as to today’s events in Israel.

Chuck also spent a significant amount of time over fifty years working on state and federal elections, all the way back to the early 1970’s as a teenager and continuously thereafter.  In the 2000 Bush/Gore recount, he led the effort in finishing the vote count in Broward County for Al Gore, and was notoriously dubbed by the Press as “the Chad Guy.” After that election, at his own expense and time, he ran around the country ultimately founding the nation’s first comprehensive voter protection program with the help of John and Cam Kerry, Eric Holder, Ron Klain, Howard Dean, Joe Sandler and Mitchell Berger, which was fully operational by the 2004 presidential election. He served as Statewide Lead Counsel for the Florida Democratic Party, leading its voter protection programs 2002 through 2020 in conjunction with the campaigns of John Kerry, Barack Obama and Joe Biden in their quest for the presidency, and state and gubernatorial candidates in Florida, including United States Senators Bob Graham and Bill Nelson.

Chuck is in his fourth year proudly combating anti-Semitism, by serving as a member of the National Board of Directors of Secure Community Network (“SCN”), which is responsible for providing site inspections, security services, assistance and training for every Jewish organization and building throughout the United States.  SCN, which is affiliated with the Jewish Federations of North America, is the only Jewish based entity in the United States charged with this boots on the ground responsibility. He is also a member of the Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Chair of the Security Committee for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. 

Chuck lives in Boca Raton with his wife and dog, where he is working on his next novel and writes blogs. He is looking forward to getting out of the house and mediating business lawsuits in the practice areas that he worked in, while serving as an attorney.