Stevie’s story is Jason’s story.
Why an injury attorney wrote a picture book.
Jason Plotkin was bitten by a dog when he was a child — and he remembers the moment less than he remembers everything after it. The flinch at a leash jingling down the sidewalk. The yards he wouldn’t cut through. The way a place that used to feel safe suddenly didn’t.
The wound healed the way wounds do. The fear took its own time.
Years later, he gave the little boy in the book a name that means everything to him: Stevie, after his late father. This book is the plan he wishes his own family had — for the part of healing no bandage can reach.
Attorney. Author. Someone who made the climb himself.
Today, Jason is the CEO and Managing Attorney of Pinder Plotkin Legal Team, a Maryland personal injury firm. A lawyer for 20 years, he has represented thousands of injury victims — including children and families rebuilding their lives after dog bites — and kept seeing the same thing he’d lived: the stitches come out, the bills get resolved, and the child is still scared of the neighbor’s fence.
A lifetime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and recipient of Clio’s first Legal Impact Award for his community work, Jason has built his career on the belief that recovery isn’t finished when the paperwork is. He’s also a proud supporter of DogsBite.org, a national organization dedicated to dog bite victims and prevention.
He knows recovery from the inside, too. After surviving two serious car accidents, Jason wrote the best-selling Crash Course: To Recovery and Beyond to guide people through the days after a crash. The Pickle, the Patch, and the Puppy is its companion in spirit — a gentle, step-by-step path back to brave, from someone who made the climb himself.
For Maryland parents dealing with a dog bite right now
Jason’s firm offers a free Child Dog Bite Guide — what to do medically, emotionally, and legally in the days after a child is bitten.
Press, podcasts & speaking
Jason speaks about helping kids recover after scary experiences, dog bite safety for families, and the Bravery Ladder method.
Questions readers ask
Why did a personal injury attorney write a children’s book?
Because he was that kid. When Jason Plotkin was five years old, he was bitten in his aunt’s kitchen by a black lab named Bo who was just trying to grab a pickle. The bite healed. The Brain Alarm took longer. Years later, as a Maryland injury attorney, he kept meeting families in the same place he’d been — the medical treatment handled, the claim moving, and nobody with anything to say to the five-year-old who wouldn’t walk past the neighbor’s fence anymore.
Is the story based on a real child?
Yes. It’s Jason’s own. The little boy in the book is named Stevie, after Jason’s father. The illustrations are inspired by Jason’s nephew, Myles.
Does Jason Plotkin still practice law?
Yes. He is the CEO and Managing Attorney of the Pinder Plotkin Legal Team, a Maryland personal injury and workers’ compensation firm serving clients since 2002. He represents children and families in dog bite claims and people hurt in auto accidents throughout Maryland, along with truck, motorcycle, rideshare, workers’ compensation, and wrongful death matters. The book is not a second career; it came directly out of the first one.
Does Jason handle dog bite cases involving children?
Yes. The Pinder Plotkin Legal Team represents children and their families in dog bite claims throughout Maryland. Jason also teaches other attorneys nationally on this subject — in August 2026 he presented Attorneys’ Guide to Dog Bite Injuries: Representing Child Victims for the National Business Institute, covering liability frameworks, investigating the bite, insurance coverage traps, and damages. Parents with questions about a child’s dog bite can reach the firm at 1-888-844-5373.
The feeling that outlasts the injury has a name. Read about the Brain Alarm.