Roy Black (attorney)

Early life and education

Black was born in New York City in 1945. 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. and then earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Miami in 1967 and a Juris Doctor at the University of Miami School of Law. While attending UM, Black was a member of the Zeta Epsilon chapter of Alpha Tau Omega. 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

Until his death a partner in Black Srebnick, a Miami-based trial firm specializing in civil litigation and criminal defense, Black also served as an adjunct instructor of criminal evidence at the University of Miami School of Law. In 1983, Black represented police officer Luis Alvarez, whose killing of Nevell Johnson Jr. had sparked the 1982 Overtown riot. Alvarez was acquitted. In 1992, Black represented police officer William Lozano, whose killing of Clement Lloyd had sparked the 1989 Miami riots. Lozano was convicted, however on appeal his conviction was overturned and in a retrial in 1993 he was acquitted. 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 provided legal commentary for various NBC news shows and played the "managing partner" of The Law Firm, a short-lived reality-based television show pitting lawyers against each other week-to-week in a legal version of The Apprentice.

Roy Black was chosen as a top lawyer by Super Lawyers between 2006 and 2024.

Personal life and death

Black was married three times. In 1984, he married his second wife, Naomi Morris Black, with whom he had a daughter, Nora Black (psychotherapist, San Francisco). In 1994, Roy Black married Lea Black, who had been a juror in the William Kennedy Smith trial and would later be a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Miami. They began dating several months after the trial. They had a son, RJ, who like his father, occasionally appeared on the show, for example, in a second-season episode, in which the three discuss one of Black's cases.

Black died at his home in Coral Gables, Florida, on July 21, 2025, at the age of 80.

References

References

1. "Roy Black".
2. (April 17, 2009). "Castroneves acquitted on tax evasion charges".
3. (February 1, 2011). "South Florida's Best and Brightest".
4. Conchita Sarnoff & Lee Aitken. (March 25, 2011). "Behind Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's Sweetheart Deal". The Daily Beast.
5. (September 15, 2008). "The Verdict".
6. [http://www6.miami.edu/miami-magazine/spring98/black.html Miami Magazine: "Black's Magic" BY CHRISTOPHER BOYD] Spring 1998
7. Sajjad, Muhammad. (January 9, 2025). "Roy Black: The Renowned Attorney and His Journey to Legal Excellence".
8. Christopher Boyd. (Spring 1998). "Black's Magic". Miami Magazine.
9. Rohter, Larry. (May 29, 1993). "Miami Police Officer Is Acquitted In Racially Charged Slaying Case". The New York Times.
10. Hartocollis, Anemona. (June 16, 2022). "A Businessman Is Acquitted in a Georgetown Admissions Trial". The New York Times.
11. "Roy Black listing at IMDB".
12. "Roy Black".
13. [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105209,00.html People Magazine: "Love and the Law - Four Years After the William Kennedy Smith Trial, Lawyer Roy Black and a Juror Are Husband and Wife" by Karen S. Schneider] March 6, 1995
14. Karen S. Schneider. (March 6, 1995). "Love and the Law". [[People (magazine).
15. "Season 2 Bio: Lea Black".
16. Weaver, Jay. (July 23, 2025). "Roy Black, one of the nation’s premier defense lawyers, dies in Coral Gables at 80". Miami Herald.
17. "Jeffrey Epstein lawyer Roy Black dies in Florida at age 80, firm says".