[2] The success of the Handbook, which ranked #1 on The Washington Post best seller list and presumably drew on White's personal experience practicing law with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Hogan & Hartson,[3] led to television appearances, speaking engagements, and other books, as a result of which The American Lawyer magazine declared White "The Official Lawyer's Comedian.
He served as Articles Editor of the Columbia Law Review,[7] which published his first legal writing, "Pacifica Foundation v. FCC: 'Filthy Words,' the First Amendment, and the Broadcast Media,"[8] during White's second year.
White served as law clerk to U.S. District Court judge Thomas A. Flannery,[11] and then joined Hogan & Hartson, where he spent roughly 3 years.
Upon leaving Hogan & Hartson, he spent 4 years to promoting his first book, commencing his career as a public speaker and corporate entertainer, and attempting without success to become a screenwriter.
There he consulted primarily for corporate law departments, where he performed such tasks as a substantive and stylistic overhaul of Exxon's "Guidelines for Use of Outside Counsel."
Although even less known as a poet, White's tribute to legal warriors, "An Ode to Litigation,"[25] met with general acclaim when it appeared in the National Law Journal, and one of its 32 stanzas is quoted in Jennifer L. Pierce's treatise, Gender Bender Trials: Emotional Lives in Contemporary Law Firms:[26] My basic goal would be of course, my client's exculpation, But also, for myself, the other lawyer's subjugation.
[32] Although his roots lie in legal comedy, White has demonstrated a broader range, beginning in 1992-1993, when he served as editor-in-chief of, and primary writer for, Current Comedy, a twice-monthly "Humor Service for Public Speakers & Business Executives"[33] founded by former television gag writer and presidential speechwriter Robert Orben.