About Erik Lundegaard
Erik Lundegaard has been a senior editor at Super Lawyers since 2005 and its editor in chief since 2013—during which time the magazine has won close to 100 journalism awards around the country. His freelance writing has been published by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Salon, MSNBC.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Seattle Times and The Believer, among others. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota, studied Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, and lives in Seattle, Washington, where he is a long-suffering Seattle Mariners fan. In his spare time, he is working on a book about the movies of James Cagney.
Articles written by Erik Lundegaard
Three Days in September
Kimberley Best Robidoux on working employment-side immigration law in the first year of the second Trump administrationOn Friday, September 19, 2025, around 4 p.m., Kimberley Best Robidoux, an immigration attorney at Wolfsdorf Rosenthal in San Diego, was at a networking event on a boat when all hell broke loose. In a group Slack chat, a firm partner posted that President Trump had issued a proclamation that a $100,000 fee would be attached to H-1B petitions for those entering the United States. It was set to start on September 21—less than 36 hours away. “We knew we had to take action immediately,” …
Wax of Miramax
Gary Wax distributed movies before turning to appellate lawAppellate lawyers often deal with a lot of unearned animosity, says Gary Wax. “We get a case that’s been contentiously litigated for years, and the lawyers on both sides hate each other’s guts,” says Wax, of Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland in Los Angeles. “I had one of those recently where I contacted opposing counsel—I had never spoken to him before—but because he was so worked up about the last seven years, he immediately started calling me a crook.” How does Wax handle …
Even in Difficult Times
Jeanne L. Nishimoto works to keep veterans housedDuring the pandemic, a Gulf War veteran with PTSD walked into Jeanne Nishimoto’s office at the UCLA Veterans Legal Clinic needing assistance with disability benefits. While she was helping him, he also mentioned problems with his landlord. “As I worked with him, I realized that—in part because of his disability—different things would trigger him that we would not think of as particularly triggering,” she remembers. “Unexpected text messages or notes on his door might seem benign, …
Whiskey Junction
Yosi Yahoudai’s impressive collection“My collection is definitely not just for show,” says Yosi Yahoudai, a PI plaintiff’s attorney at J&Y Law in Century City. “Those bottles are meant to be enjoyed.” Yahoudai is talking about whiskey—with a preference toward bourbon—and he’s got quite the curated collection: about 100 different bottles to share with guests. “Every single one means something to me,” he says. “I collect more for the history, the craft, and the stories behind each bottle. No two whiskeys …
Something There Is That Loves a Wall
Gregory Brown took court to the office“I’ll take you to court!” is a common-enough threat, but it’s the rare person who can take the court to them. Gregory Brown, a business litigator at Brown & Charbonneau in Irvine, is one such rarity. “I’d say it’s close to 100 pounds,” he says of the portion of wall from the San Francisco Superior Court that sits in his office. “Probably 24 inches by 30. It’s big. Four inches thick of solid granite.” How did it wind up in his office? In the early 2010s, Brown had a …
The Diplomatic Route
Sheri Oluyemi brings a broad perspective to her employment practiceAs a teenager, Sheri Oluyemi moved from an all-girls boarding school in Abuja, Nigeria, to a co-ed public school in Ottawa, Canada, and quickly adjusted to her new surroundings. “It should have been a bigger shock,” says Oluyemi, an employment attorney with a solo firm in Atlanta. “I guess I’m predisposed to change.” Of course, by then, she’d already lived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; and Lagos, Nigeria. And yes, world geography buffs, those are all current or …
Isle of Dogs
Hastings Shadmehry’s office menagerieExpect a warm and tail-wagging welcome at Hastings Shadmehry, a family law firm in Alpharetta co-founded by Andrea D. Hastings and Mali Shadmehry. On any given day, you might encounter four to six dogs. Angus, an English bulldog, and Bridget, a lab-terrier puppy, belong to Hastings, while Stormie, a pit bull, and Nyxie, a French bulldog puppy, are owned by Shadmehry. Attorney Lisa Haddock-Malas often brings in Zeus, a Maltese. And don’t overlook Ellie the goldendoodle, who belongs to …
Super Lawyer Creates Super Lawyers
The legal comic universe penned by Owen “Mac” Bailey Jr.Move over, Daredevil and She-Hulk, there’s competition on the horizon! Olen M. “Mac” Bailey Jr., an estate planning and probate lawyer in Memphis, has, with his son Jackson and artist Andy Gray, created Barrister Comics, which he dubs “The world’s first legal comic universe.” “As a father of a teenage son, I was looking for a father-son collaborative project for us to connect and bond over,” says Bailey. “As a lawyer, I was always looking for original ideas to market my …
Team Player
Before providing injury victims some safety, Kevin Retoriano was one on the fieldAs a football player, Kevin Retoriano is used to pivoting. He began playing organized ball in eighth grade—his mother nixed it before then—and after a growth spurt became a star running back at Clairemont High School. Senior year, he was recruited by Montana State, who offered him a full ride but wanted him on defense: strong safety. That was the first pivot. In his junior year, he was first-team all-league and was looking to become All-American his senior year; but during a scrimmage at …
Westside Story
The origins of The Legal Runaround raceAs close to September 11th as possible, The Legal Runaround, a 5k race sponsored by the Atlanta Bar to benefit the families of fallen and injured Atlanta police officers, is held at a local park—originally Piedmont, currently Westside. Most of the participants are attorneys and their families, plus the latest class of police recruits. “We usually have somewhere between 200 and 250 runners,” says Louis R. Cohan, a business litigator at Cohan & Levy, who has chaired the event for …
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