{{Short description|Canadian criminal defence lawyer and writer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use Canadian English|date=April 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Robert Rotenberg | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|4|21}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | parents = {{Plainlist| *Dr. Cyril Rotenberg *Gertrude Rotenberg }} | spouse = | children = 3 | relatives = {{flatlist| *Lawrence *David * Matthew (brothers) <!-- *Max *Sarah (paternal grandparents) --> }} | years_active = | occupation = {{hlist|Lawyer|novelist}} | website = {{url|robertrotenberg.com}} }} '''Robert Rotenberg''' (born April 21, 1953) is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer and writer, based in Toronto.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Julie |title=Robert Rotenberg on engaging readers, why more men should read fiction and his love of #haiku. |journal=49th Shelf |date=May 9, 2012 |url=https://49thshelf.com/Blog/2012/05/092/Robert-Rotenberg-on-engaging-readers-why-more-men-should-read-fiction-and-his-love-of-haiku |access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref> He has worked as a criminal defence lawyer from the 1990s. As of March 1, 2024, he practices as part of the association of Rotenberg Shidlowski Jesin. Rotenberg's first novel, ''Old City Hall'' is an international best-seller.{{citation needed lead|date=February 2026}} He has written seven additional novels.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Rotenberg |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/199375.Robert_Rotenberg |website=Goodreads |access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Robert Rotenberg was born and raised in Toronto, with three brothers (Lawrence, David, and Matthew)<ref name="Obit1">{{cite news |title=Dr. Cyril Rotenberg Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?n=cyril-rotenberg&pid=125995144 |work=Toronto Star |access-date=April 8, 2019 |date=April 11, 2009}}</ref> sons of Jewish parents Dr. Cyril Rotenberg,<ref name="Obit1" /> a physician, and his mother Gertrude Ruth (Gertie) Rotenberg, described as a "woman of initiative, of new ideas and steady values."<ref name="Obit2">{{cite news |title=Gertrude Ruth ROTENBERG Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theglobeandmail/obituary.aspx?n=gertrude-ruth-rotenberg&pid=189709506 |access-date=April 8, 2019 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=October 21, 1999}}</ref> Rotenberg studied at the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall and the London School of Economics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Rotenberg |url=https://rsjlaw.ca/about/robert-rotenberg |website=Rotenberg Shidlowski Jesin |access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref>
Older brother David Rotenberg also attended the University of Toronto and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.<ref name="Intini">{{cite journal |last1=Intini |first1=John |title=David Rotenberg (Profile) |journal=Maclean's |date=April 29, 2002 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-rotenberg-profile |access-date=April 4, 2019 |publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref name="York" /> He left Toronto in 1971,<ref name="Workaday">{{cite web |title=Interview: David Rotenberg |url=http://workadayreads.com/2012/01/interview-david-rotenberg.html |website=Workaday Reads |access-date=April 6, 2019 |date=January 25, 2012}}</ref> eventually making a name for himself first as a theatre director in the United States,<ref name="Gothe">{{cite journal |last1=Gothe |first1=Jurgen |title=The Writings Of David Rotenberg |journal=Nuvo |date=November 1, 2009 |issue=Winter 2009 |url=https://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/winter-2009/the-writings-of-david-rotenberg |access-date=April 6, 2019}}</ref> and, after he returned to Toronto in 1987, he was a well respected acting teacher and best-selling novelist.<ref name="York">{{cite web |title=David Rotenberg |url=https://theatre.ampd.yorku.ca/profile/david-rotenberg/ |website=School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design |publisher=York University |access-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404030452/https://theatre.ampd.yorku.ca/profile/david-rotenberg/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ProActorsLab">{{cite web |title=David Rotenberg, Artistic Director |url=http://www.proactorslab.com/instructors/rotenberg.html |website=Professional Actors Lab |access-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927124149/http://www.proactorslab.com/instructors/rotenberg.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Quill">{{cite journal |last1=Quill |first1=Greg |title=David Rotenberg's worlds collide: Interview |journal=Toronto Star |date=March 26, 2013 |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/03/26/david_rotenbergs_worlds_collide_interview.html |access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>
== Career == While in Europe in the early 1980s, he was the managing editor of English-language magazine ''Passion, The Magazine of Paris''.<ref name="Wilson" /> When he returned to Canada, he and a partner founded and published ''T.O. The Magazine of Toronto'', which ran for six years and folded in 1988 .{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} He also worked for a year as a radio producer at CBC Radio.
He and associates Alvin Shidlowski and Jacob Jesin have had a criminal law practice in Toronto since the early 1990s Rotenberg, Shidlowski, Jesin, defending, as Rotenberg describes it, "everything from murder to shoplifting." Cases attracting particular attention have included the defence in 2007 of an Ontario College of Art and Design student who planted a fake bomb and posted a YouTube video about it as part of an art project, which in turn prompted an evacuation during a gala fundraiser at the Royal Ontario Museum.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} Rotenberg continues to actively practice law while focusing on his writing career, saying he plans to write 20 legal thrillers set in Toronto.<ref name=npr>{{cite news|last=Wertheimer|first=Linda|title=Rotenberg's Toronto Thrillers Mix Canadian Courtesy With Murder|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/07/01/196243452/rotenbergs-toronto-thrillers-mix-canadian-courtesy-with-murder|work=NPR Books|publisher=NPR|access-date=September 9, 2013|date=July 1, 2013}}</ref>
== Writing == {{Promotional|section|date=March 2013}} Rotenberg's first novel, ''Old City Hall'', is set in Toronto. The novel features scenes in the city's historic Old City Hall, until recently used as a courthouse.<ref name=npr/> The book was published in February–March 2009 in North America and the United Kingdom, and audio and translated international versions have been published in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Poland, India, Japan and Israel. Critical reviews of the novel were mixed to positive.
Since then, he has published ''The Guilty Plea'' in 2011, ''Stray Bullets'' in 2012 and ''Stranglehold'' in 2013, "Heart of the City" in 2018, "Downfall" in 2021 and "What We Buried" in 2024 . All of his books have been on the ''Globe & Mail'' bestseller. The 2011 publication was a finalist for the British Crime Writers' Association New Blood Dagger Award.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Robert Rotenberg|url=https://www.kingstonwritersfest.ca/festival-author/robert-rotenberg/ |access-date=February 4, 2021| website=Kingston WritersFest}}</ref> All Rotenberg's books are set in Toronto, and feature the same ensemble cast.<ref name=npr/> A 2021 book, ''Downfall,'' has the male protagonist, Ari Greene, promoted to head of homicide squad of the Toronto Police Force.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Downfall by Robert Rotenberg|url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/robert-rotenberg/downfall.htm|access-date=February 4, 2021|website=www.fantasticfiction.com}}</ref> his seventh novel, "What We Buried" published February 2024. His eighth novel, "One Minute More," was published in February 2025. It is a prequel set in July 1988 when the world leaders, the G-7, met at Hart House at the University of Toronto. It features a young Ari Greene, chasing a would-be assassin on her way from the Quebec border to Toronto.
In 2013, NPR broadcast a feature story about Rotenberg and Toronto for their ''Crime in the City'' series, describing how he developed his characters by giving them actual locations in Toronto to live.<ref name=npr/>
Rotenberg also teaches writing to aspiring novelist, does writing seminars at various law firms in Toronto as well as lecturing at an LLM program at Osgoode Hall Law School. He has participated in The Word on the Street, Authors at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto and the Ottawa International Writers Festival, Thrillerfest in New York City, among other literary events.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 18, 2017 | title=Robert Rotenberg|url=https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/robert-rotenberg/|access-date=2021-02-04|website=Book Series in Order}}</ref>
He has written for two episodes for ''Murdoch Mysteries'', "Murdoch Schmurdoch" (2018) and "Manual for Murder" (2019).{{cn|date=January 2026}}
==Personal life== Rotenberg lives and works in Toronto.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Rotenberg |url=https://49thshelf.com/Contributors/R/Rotenberg-Robert |website=49th Shelf |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Archives: Speakers |url=https://wildwriters.ca/speakers/page/2/ |website=WildWriters.ca |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Participating Authors: Robert Rotenberg|url=https://ourpubliclibrary.to/contest/authors/RobertRotenberg.html|access-date=February 4, 2021 |website=ourpubliclibrary.to}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://rsjlaw.ca/ Rotenberg Shidlowski Jesin law firm] *{{IMDb name|9647131}} * [http://blog.macleans.ca/2009/03/05/everybody-lies-even-in-toronto/ Everybody lies. Even in Toronto. ''Macleans'', March 5, 2009] * [https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/595480 Lawyer's whodunit set in Toronto court, ''Toronto Star'', March 3, 2009] * [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090228.ROTENBERGQUE28/TPStory/ Murder most local, ''Globe and Mail'', February 28, 2009]{{dead link|date=May 2013}} * {{YouTube|vN3N7T4AYFg|''Old City Hall'' book trailer}} * [http://www.cba.org/CBA/Awards/justicia/scalesinjustice.aspx The Scales of Injustice, ''Globe and Mail'' (reprinted by The Canadian Bar Association), January 11, 2003]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotenberg, Robert}} Category:Living people Category:Canadian male novelists Category:1953 births Category:Canadian lawyers Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Canadian mystery writers Category:Novelists from Toronto Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:University of Toronto alumni