Kublicki, Nicolas M.

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KUBLICKI, Nicolas M.

PERSONAL: Born in Los Angeles, CA; son of Tadeusz Kublicki. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. (political science), 1987; Pepperdine University School of Law, J.D., 1992; George Washington University National Law Center, LL.M., 1993.

ADDRESSES: Office—Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP, 9401 Wilshire Blvd., Ninth Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212-2974. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Office of Policy Development, assistant to deputy director, 1992-93; U.S. Department of Justice, assistant to senior trial attorneys of Environmental Enforcement section, 1993-94; Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger Law Offices, Los Angeles, CA, associate, 1994-97; Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP, associate, 1997-2002, partner, 2002-03. Teaches real estate transactions at Pepperdine University School of Law and lectures to high schools, universities, and international policy groups. Pepperdine University School of Law Mentor Program and Moot Court Program, judge.

MEMBER: St. Vincent de Paul Society of Beverly Hills (president), California Bar Association, District of Columbia Bar Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: American Jurisprudence Award in administrative law; Vincent S. Dalsimer Moot Court Competition first place, for best repondent's brief.

WRITINGS:

The Diamond Conspiracy, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2002.

Has written numerous articles for various law publications. Pepperdine Law Review, articles editor.

SIDELIGHTS: Immediately upon receiving his law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1992, Nicolas Kubicki went to work for the U.S. Department of Justice, a fact that critics have well noted in reviewing Kubicki's debut novel, The Diamond Conspiracy. The twisting plotline and the details of what happens behind the scenes in various government departments colors his story, helping him to "authenticate the details of a conspiracy that stretches to the highest levels of the White House," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Patrick Carlton, the protagonist of the story, is a lawyer at the Department of Justice. His supervisor is a vindictive man, who gives Carlton what first looks like a very obscure and unexciting assignment: investigating a minor anti-trust suit over a small diamond mine in Arkansas.

Carlton takes on the case without any enthusiasm until he discovers some papers on the mine that lead to connections with a large South African diamond company, Waterboer. Waterboer is a monopolistic international company so large that no other diamond companies can compete with it. Carlton becomes suspicious about the whole affair when he wins a large and quick settlement. As he digs deeper into the case, he uncovers corruption in very high places, including senior officials at the White House.

Offering Carlton assistance is an unlikely group which includes members of the Mafia and of the Papal offices of the Catholic church in Rome. Also helping him is Erika Wassenaar, a beautiful young woman fresh out of Pepperdine Law School. It is through Wassenaar that Kublicki adds an element of romance. He also adds eccentricity through other characters who aid in the case, including a CIA agent and a billionaire entrepreneur.

Noting his background in law and his ability to write an engaging story, many critics compare Kublicki to the writer Tom Clancy. Like Clancy's novels, wrote Stacey Alesi for the Library Journal, Kublicki's The Diamond Conspiracy "takes readers on a whirlwind, worldwide journey through corruption."