Phillip Margolin (born 1944)[1] is an American writer of legal thrillers.

in Government in 1965, from American University in Washington, D.C.,[2] he worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia until 1967.

[3] He graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1970,[4] and has worked for 25 years as a criminal defense attorney, an occupation of choice inspired by the Perry Mason books.

[6] Phillip Margolin is also the president of Chess for Success, a non-profit organisation "dedicated to helping children develop skills necessary for success in school and life by learning chess".

[3][7][8] He has also co-authored Vanishing Acts (Madison Kincaid Mystery) with his daughter Ami Margolin Rome.