About Beth Taylor

Beth Taylor Articles written 178

Beth Taylor was a senior editor for Super Lawyers for more than 20 years, and has won dozens of awards for headline-writing and editing throughout her career. Previously, she was an editor and covered courts for The Orlando Sentinel. She also worked for go2net and KIRO-TV in Seattle, where she wrote for and edited their websites. In addition, Beth edited The Kitsap Business Journal and Media Inc. Beth has written travel books, including Around Seattle With Kids for Fodor’s and Seattle Day By Day for Frommer’s, and online travel guides for Google. Her travel writing has appeared in publications including the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. Beth has a B.A. in communications/journalism and a master’s degree in political science.

Articles written by Beth Taylor

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What happens to our e-pulse after death? Estate planning Anne Coventry is on the case

Online banking, cloud-based family photos, automated electronic payments: all convenient benefits of the digital age. For the users. Less so for their heirs.  “The way we used technology during life to make our lives easier can actually complicate how we wrap up a person’s financial affairs after death,” says Anne Coventry, an estate planning attorney with Pasternak & Fidis in Bethesda.  With a dad who spent more than 20 years as a public defender, Coventry eventually found her way …

Tackling an Epidemic

Cleveland’s Stephen Walters focuses on fighting the opioid crisis

When Stephen E. Walters began hearing—more and more frequently—about the growing crisis of opioid addiction, the managing partner at Reminger in Cleveland, Ohio, decided he couldn’t read another tragic headline without stepping up to help. “Deaths from opioid overdoses nationwide have skyrocketed in the past decade,” notes Walters. “There are so many alarming statistics, it is hard to cite just one study. Most recently I read that at least 4,149 Ohioans died from unintentional drug …

Legal Community Mourns Attorney Who Helped Shape Seattle

Melody McCutcheon’s  projects ranged from Safeco Field to the Yesler Terrace housing redevelopment

Melody B. McCutcheon, who passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 14 at age 64, was a key player in shaping much of the landscape in Seattle and environs. “Probably the most well-known one was Safeco Field,” said Gary Fallon, a banking attorney and managing partner at Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson, where McCutcheon practiced land use/zoning and environmental law for 29 years. “The Mariners loved her, and she did all the work associated with getting that permitted and built. She did a lot of …

Robert Hilliard Cries Foul Against Major League Baseball

The Texas attorney is handling a lawsuit that would force ball clubs to do more to protect fans

When a 1-year-old girl was hit in the face by a 105 mph line drive at Yankee Stadium Sept. 20, news of the incident was sobering—but hardly unexpected—to Robert C. Hilliard. The Corpus Christi attorney is handling a California lawsuit seeking class action status on behalf of season ticket holders who bought seats along first and third base lines, past the netting. The suit accuses the MLB of failing to protect fans. “The purpose of the class action was to compel MLB to change its rules …

Hilarie Bass: Hitting the Ground Running

The new ABA president is tackling issues ranging from gender equity to fake news

True to form, Miami business litigator Hilarie Bass has wasted no time getting down to business in her new role as head of the ABA. The co-president of global firm Greenberg Traurig, who began her term as Bar president on Aug. 15, is already addressing issues ranging from gender equity at law firms to homelessness among youth to reforms in legal education to the shrinking access to justice. She’s even taken on fake news. First, gender equity. Bass is launching a nationwide study to find out …

How To Avoid a Fence Dispute in My State: FAQs

Fences can be a good thing for neighborly relations. If you live in a residential area, a fence can identify property boundaries and act as a backdrop to landscaping. Fences also keep outdoor pets and kids safe while keeping wanderers out. If you live in a more rural area, a landowner's fence can provide boundary markers, as well as protect and contain free-range livestock.   When you have a boundary fence that runs along the boundary between your property and your neighbor, there are …

Policyholders Accuse Insurer of Underpaying Their Claims

San Francisco insurance-coverage lawyer Ivo Labar is spearheading a class action against The Hartford

Some 18,000 policyholders are suing their insurer, The Hartford, in a breach-of-contract class action that accuses the company of systematically underpaying property-damage claims filed by California residents.   Ivo Labar, who practices insurance-coverage law at Kerr & Wagstaffe in San Francisco, is the lead attorney in the case, which he is handling along with colleague Michael von Loewenfeldt, an appellate attorney at the same firm.   The suit, Labar says, claims that The Hartford is …

'Adopt-a-Nazi' Program Takes on White Supremacists

San Francisco attorney Cody Harris turned to GoFundMe to counteract a planned extremist rally  

When Cody Harris heard that a rally planned for San Francisco was likely to draw a crowd similar to the neo-Nazi/white supremacist march that ended in tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, he wanted to respond in a way that would be both productive and nonviolent. His solution: “Adopt-a-Nazi (Not Really).”   “I came across a story regarding a small town in Germany, Wunsiedel, that decided to combat an annual neo-Nazi march through town by donating money to an anti-extremist group for …

Steve Berman: Putting the Brakes on Alleged Emissions Cheating

The Seattle heavy-hitter accuses GM of deception similar to that used by Volkswagen

When the scandal involving Volkswagen’s self-acknowledged cheating on emissions tests rocked the auto industry and shocked consumer advocates in 2015, Seattle lawyer Steve Berman had to wonder if the German manufacturer was the only one trying to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes.   “I did a deep-dive in Europe and uncovered studies there that [indicated] there was widespread cheating,” he says. “I then thought to myself, ‘If the German companies—who many think are the best …

Florida Legal Community Mourns 'Brilliant' Plaintiff's Litigator

Coral Gables' Ervin Gonzalez 'understood the human condition'

Ervin A. Gonzalez, who passed away on June 8 at age 57, was one of the most successful plaintiff’s personal injury litigators in the state. His victories ranged from the Chinese drywall cases to the BP oil spill claims. He was a past president of the Dade County Bar Association and of the Miami-Dade County Trial Lawyers Association, as well as a former governor of The Florida Bar.   “We felt like we got a first-round draft pick,” says Dean C. Colson of the firm’s decision in 2000 to …

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