About
It wasthrough Litopia Writer’s Colony that Donna met Lynn Price, editor of BehlerPublications. Lynnloved Donna’s fiction but Behler doesn’t publish children’s books. When Lynn heard that Donna was a lawyer, Lynn told Donna that she loved Donna’s writing,and that she wanted a “real writer” to do the book. How could anyone say no tosomeone who had called her a real writer? Donna’s book, The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All the Lawyers, hasbeen released by Behler Publications as part of their award-winning “Get itWrite” series. She not only met her deadlines, but turned her manuscript andedits in early, much to the shock of her editor, who wasn’t used to suchoutrageous behavior from writers.
Law practice
Donna founded her employment lawpractice, Donna M. Ballman, P.A in 1990. She focused her writing on nonfictionfor a number of years, publishing numerous articles on issues such asdiscrimination, sexual harassment, and employment law.
Her caseshave been anything but dull. The then-mayor of Miamionce accused her of trying to turn JoseMartiParkinto MartinLutherKingPark after she forcedthem to elect their commission members using districts so they would have blackrepresentation. She once set a drug dealer’s wife’s deposition back to backwith his mistress’s in order to collect on a big judgment. She sued a mobsterfor sexual harassment. The client swears her husband got the Gambino family’spermission before they filed the lawsuit, but Donna has no way to verify this.
Donna mether husband in politics. Donna represented Bill Clinton as his Florida GeneralCounsel for his first presidential campaign. When he was sued personally, shedefended him, although she says the case lasted about ten minutes. During thecampaign, she got to spend a day riding around with Hillary Clinton. Sheintroduced Hillary to Marjory Stoneman Douglas (also a Wellesley alum), and was present when Hillarymet Janet Reno.
Her husbandand she spent two nights at the White House when Marjory Stoneman Douglasreceived the Medal of Freedom. While there she also got to sit with Marjory andwatch the signing of the Brady Bill and talk to 101-year-old Marjory aboutbees.
Having theattitude that, if you have a minute with the most powerful man in the world,you ought to ask him for something, Donna convinced then-President Clinton to free the children in Guantanamo when it was being used as animmigration facility. Donna knew the President was releasing them when she gota letter telling her so. He apparently hadn’t told the State Department yet, sothey were a bit surprised.
She has been named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs'Lawyers in America, 2007; in 2000 as a member of Leading Florida Attorneys, votedby members of the Florida Bar; named a Top South Florida Attorney in 2002,2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 by South Florida Legal Guide, featured on Sky Radio Network on the Forbes “America’s MostInfluential Women” program, Lifetime Television Network's 1996 special,"Full Disclosure: Sexual Harassment," and Bulgarian TV Co-Op’sprogram: “Women in America: Atlanta/Miami.” She’s beeninterviewed about her cases and legal issues by numerous media, from radio andtelevision news to newspapers including the Wall Street Journal.
Shehas taught numerous seminars and has served on the Editorial Advisory Board forJames Publishing, a legal publishing company.
Back to fiction
The birth of Donna’s twodaughters led her to return to the writing she loves most – fiction. She pennedpicture books for the girls, then joined SCBWI to learn the craft of writingfor children. Her story The Year SantaShaved was a finalist in the South Florida Writer’s Guild children’s storycompetition in 2006. She took that tiny bit of encouragement and took workshopsthrough Writer’s Online Workshops, SCBWI, and MediaBistro. She began to writemiddle grade and young adult novels. And she joined Litopia, an online writer’scolony.
As anemployment lawyer in weird, wonderful, multicultural South Florida, Donna Ballman has had many unusual and quirkyexperiences, but none have made a better cocktail story than when a guy shesued for sexual harassment of his employee put a voodoo curse on her, and thenanother client’s Santeria priest offered her the antidote. That true story led her to write Cursed, her middle grade novel thathighlights what happens when voodoo meets Santeria meets a suburban middleschool girl. She hopes it will one day appear on these pages.
