About Carlos Harrison
Carlos Harrison is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, two-time Emmy nominee, and author of 16 books ranging from biographies to legal issues (e.g., The Ghosts of Hero Street, Trained to Kill, and The Memorandum). A graduate of the University of South Florida, his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Miami Herald, People, and other publications. Several of his articles for Super Lawyers have won awards from the Society for Professional Journalists.
Articles written by Carlos Harrison
From Way Downtown
That’s how Sacramento attorney Shaye Diveley helped deliver an arena for the Kings—and just before the buzzerIt was a slam dunk. The fight to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings brought accusations against the city of violating state regulations, as well as two appellate court battles and a first-ever state-mandated race against the clock to complete all legal challenges. It resulted in a landmark decision on the constitutionality of a law that revamped the state’s sweeping environmental protection statute—and just nine days before the deadline under the new, expedited judicial-review …
Visionary Man
Eugene Pettis’ plan to lift others up the ladderThrough his office window, Eugene Pettis looks out over a changing downtown Fort Lauderdale skyline. There’s a metaphor in that evolving view. Pettis grew up not too far from where his office is now, in what he remembers was then called the “colored” part of town. Black attorneys were a rarity at that time. No African-American had served on the board of the South Florida Water Management District, or in the University of Florida’s student government, and none had been president of the …
Reposting Without Permission Could Be a Costly Mistake
That cute cat photo you want to share with your Facebook friends? The inspirational Pinterest post your friend sent you? Or the photograph of the perfect sunset you want to use on your blog? Beware before you share. Any one of them could potentially get you in copyright trouble. Intellectual Property Law and the Internet “The internet did not change intellectual property law,” says Jorge Espinosa, intellectual property attorney at Espinosa Trueba Martinez in Miami. “It just pumped it up …
‘Never forget where you came from’
His mother’s words inspire Frank Herrera Jr. to help empower the Latino communityWhen Frank Herrera Jr. was a boy, his dad took him to see the opening chapter of a trial that would make history and change the lives of Hispanics across the country. In a courtroom in Edna, legendary San Antonio attorney Gus Garcia was defending a local Mexican-American man accused of murder, in front of an all-white jury. As Garcia anticipated, in 1954 the case would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court—the first Mexican-American civil rights case to do so, with the first Latino …
On Becoming Perry Mason
Rhonda Hunter started out her career as Della Street—but soon realized she could aim much higherRhonda Hunter has a mission: “to end racism in Dallas.” She chuckles. But she means it. Hunter, a family law attorney at Farrow-Gillespie & Heath, was the first minority president of the Dallas Bar Association, and she used her inaugural speech to light a fire under the legal community. “When she gave that speech, I thought that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive,” says Dallas attorney Ron Massingill. “I mean, holy smoke! That was a firebrand speech. It got everybody’s …
A-Plus-Plus
Plaintiff’s attorney Ted Leopold and a ‘perfect textbook case of corporate greed’As a high school linebacker—and later as a coach—Ted Leopold knew you couldn’t be afraid to tackle a larger opponent. As a plaintiff’s attorney, he still practices that. “At the core,” he says, “are my beliefs and strong attitudes toward helping those that are less fortunate or need help against the misdeeds of corporations or individuals.” To that end, he has taken on a city for allegedly not providing proper care for its police, and opposed police accused of using excessive …
If it quacks like a duck …
… It’s probably Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox, working its magic on a juryThe ducks, the Grinch and the Beatles: They each have a connection, of sorts, with Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox. The Dallas boutique litigation firm, which has taken on Lance Armstrong, defended Visa, and racked up an impressive string of multimillion-dollar victories in its 22 years, won the largest verdict of 2014 in Texas. At $319 million, it was the third-largest in the nation. The total judgment was for $535 million. For that one, thank the ducks. The case involved an alleged …
Judicial Merit
Former judge Deborah Hankinson on access to justice, bringing appeals, and the battle over Prop 12Two black-and-white photographs hang on the wall next to Deborah Hankinson’s desk. One shows the first time three women sat as Texas Supreme Court justices, picked to preside over a single case involving a men’s fraternal organization in 1925. The other shows the next time three women sat in the same capacity—elected this time—more than seven decades later. Hankinson was one of them. It’s a position she never would have imagined herself in as she was growing up. Nor would she have …
‘BENJAMIN CRUMP. JUSTICE.’
The Tallahassee attorney for the families of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin has one goal: proving that black lives matterIntegration came late to Lumberton, North Carolina. It wasn’t until fifth grade that Benjamin Crump rode the bus to the other side of town to attend what had been the all-white school. One day shortly after he started there, a classmate—a white girl—pulled out a $100 bill to pay for her lunch. “We were just in shock,” he says. “I remember thinking, ‘My mother would have to work two weeks to get $100.’” Most of the African-American kids ate government-subsidized—and largely …
She’s Got You Covered
Amy Elizabeth Stewart’s favorite things include digging into complex insurance policies, serving as head rainmaker and helping women move out of ‘second chair’Amy Elizabeth Stewart is a self-proclaimed nerd. She is currently talking about scrutinizing an insurance policy dealing with an evolving coverage area that includes computer hacking. “It’s cyber, which I really love. It’s new. I love getting to see the policies and compare them—they’re not standardized,” she says. “And I just got giddy. It was embarrassing.” Her reaction may seem extreme to those of us who view policy language with the excitement usually reserved for actuarial …
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