From the Courtroom to Palm Beach: Peter Antonucci ’90 on Law, Life, and His Latest Novel
After a distinguished career as a commercial litigator at two of the world’s leading law firms, Peter Antonucci ’90 has built a second act as an acclaimed novelist—drawing on a lifetime of experience navigating complex, high-stakes worlds.
Antonucci spent his legal career in the New York City offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Greenberg Traurig, where he focused on commercial litigation at the highest levels. Over the course of his practice, he served as national counsel in hundreds of class-action consumer fraud and pharmaceutical liability cases and worked extensively in antitrust, bankruptcy, and punitive damages litigation. He also authored more than three dozen professional articles, a book on punitive damages, and numerous chapters in legal periodicals.
In 2012, Antonucci’s longstanding commitment to public service was recognized with the American Bar Association’s Sen. Edmund S. Muskie Lifetime Pro Bono Service Award. He retired from the active practice of law the following year, at age 52.
But rather than slow down, Antonucci embarked on a radically different chapter.
High-Stakes Litigation to Life at Sea—and Around the World
For six years, he lived and traveled aboard The World, the largest privately owned residential yacht, as a part-owner and member of its Board of Directors. Spending much of each year at sea, he visited more than 1,000 cities in over 100 countries and traveled to Antarctica on three consecutive voyages. In 2017, he was part of a journey that reached 78°43’ south latitude, the southernmost point ever reached by a passenger vessel—an achievement recognized with a Guinness World Records certificate and one that surpassed several historic exploration benchmarks.
Then he became a bestselling author, with three of his novels—Scandal at Sea; Tides of Betrayal, and, most recently, A Palm Beach Affair—reaching Amazon bestseller status.
Global Exploration to Bestselling Fiction
Antonucci's travels became the foundation for his Billionaires at Sea trilogy, a series of novels offering a fictionalized, insider’s look at life aboard an ultra-exclusive global community. The trilogy includes Billionaire’s Paradise: Ecstasy at Sea (2019), Scandal at Sea: Billionaires in the Deep (2022), and Tides of Betrayal: Scandal on the Waves (2023).
The series has attracted wide readership and national media attention, with coverage on CNN, Business Insider, The New York Post, and numerous other outlets, and is currently under development for a streaming adaptation.
Antonucci’s most recent novel, A Palm Beach Affair, turns his attention from the open ocean to another tightly curated world—Palm Beach, Fla. Released in early 2026, the novel explores scandal, secrecy, and social politics within an exclusive condominium community.
Blending romantic suspense with social commentary, the story follows Grace Remsen, an independent entrepreneur whose unapologetic presence unsettles her neighbors, and Marc Cappellini, a condominium board president who looks beyond gossip to uncover the truth beneath Palm Beach’s polished facade. A mischievous puppy serves as the unexpected catalyst that brings their worlds together.
Brooklyn Law’s Lasting Influence
Though his fiction spans continents and cultures, Antonucci credits his legal training at Brooklyn Law School with shaping the way he thinks—skills he says have served him far beyond the courtroom.
"Brooklyn Law taught me how to think critically—how to be analytical with clients and when facing opposing counsel," Antonucci said. "Those skills stay with you for life."
Today, he still draws on that training in everyday negotiations, in dealings with his homeowners’ association, and in his role as Chair of the Judicial Committee of USA Bobsled/Skeleton, part of the United States Olympic movement.
Antonucci recalls that some of his most formative lessons came not only from the classroom but from the courthouse steps just outside the Law School. He and his close friend and classmate Marc Agnifilo ’90, now a highly respected criminal defense attorney and founding partner of Agnifilo Intrater, often spent their after-school hours watching live trials.
"We learned as much watching bad lawyers make mistakes as we did watching great lawyers deliver perfect arguments," Antonucci reflected.
Being steps away from the Brooklyn courthouses created opportunities that few law schools can replicate. As a student, he witnessed firsthand the atmosphere and stellar lawyering surrounding the 1992 trial of John Gotti, an experience that underscored the immediacy and gravity of the legal system in action.
Antonucci also speaks warmly about the professors who shaped his experience. He took every course taught by Professor Richard Allan, regardless of subject matter, simply because he valued Allan’s approach to teaching. He credits Ruth Bader Ginsburg Professor of Law Susan Herman’s criminal law class with making complex material engaging and unforgettable. And he remains deeply grateful to Professor Stacy Caplow for helping him secure a clerkship early in his career.
A member of Brooklyn Law School’s Class of 1990, Antonucci says the Law School’s combination of rigorous academics, proximity to the courts, and faculty mentorship provided a foundation that has influenced every chapter of his life—from elite law firms, to global exploration, to bestselling fiction.
Today
Antonucci lives in Palm Beach with his wife, Tami, their dog Daisy, and their horses, Vera and Lucy. He is the proud father of two children, Alexander and Nicole, and continues to write while drawing inspiration from a life shaped by law, travel, and close observation.