About Carole Hawkins
Carole Hawkins is full-time freelance journalist who has written more than 2,000 articles on business and public policy for The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville Business Journal and other regional newspapers. She has received awards from the Georgia Press Association and the Florida Press Club for business and feature writing.
Articles written by Carole Hawkins
‘We’re Constantly Putting Out Fires’
Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez on defending immigrants who face deportationA surprise email from a close high school friend hit Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez’s inbox when she was just three years into her immigration law practice, and it’s stayed with her. “I want you to know how proud I am of the work you do,” the email read. “I never had the guts to tell you I was undocumented.” Suddenly, memories of cheerleading and shared family trips became something deeper. “We’d lived seven miles from the Mexican border, but I never looked at my schoolmates or …
The Ritual of Serving Others
For Mo Hamoudi, that’s the path to overcoming childhood traumaIn the early 2000s, Mo Hamoudi felt alone in the world. His mother, Shucooh Niazmand, sick with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, had returned to Iran and died a year earlier. His only other family member, elder sister Leyla, had gone with her. But to Hamoudi, Iran no longer felt like home; he remained in the States. Then Al-Qaeda terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, not far from where he lived in New York City. Now he feared he might no longer be accepted in his adopted country. That …
Cuba Connection
Karel Suarez realized his dream of becoming a U.S. lawyer—then turned his earlier life into an assetWhen Karel Suarez was 19 and a recent Cuban emigrant, he worked as a valet at an upscale South Florida restaurant. In between collecting keys and opening doors, he crammed for an intensive English-as-a-second-language course. “I remember the guys who worked with me talking about it,” says Suarez. “I would tell them, ‘I want to be a lawyer.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, really? I want to be an astronaut!’” Twenty years later, Suarez is founder and managing partner at The …
Legacy Lawyering
Why father-and-son team Jan and Jonas Seigel can’t stop talking shopFor Jan and Jonas Seigel, the toughest part of working together comes after they leave the office. “We love what we do,” says Jonas, the younger Seigel. “It’s to the point where it drives my mother and wife crazy. They’ll say, ‘Are you talking about work again?’” Jan agrees: “When we go out socially, we try to not sit next to each other.” Few partnerships are conflict-free, but Jan and Jonas struggle to name a difference that challenges the father-and-son team at Seigel Law. …
Her Story Is Theirs
Duriya Dhinojwala came to the U.S. from India; now she helps other immigrantsIn 1990, 21-year-old Duriya Dhinojwala stepped off a plane in Chicago. “I was the wife of a foreign student, and we had no money,” she says. “But I still had a feeling of belonging here.” Today, Dhinojwala practices immigration and bankruptcy law as a partner at Brennan Manna & Diamond in Akron. Immigration is a niche here—only about 5% of Akron residents are foreign-born. But Dhinojwala’s immigrant status drew non-native clients from the start. They came because her story was …
Adopting Your Stepchildren
Stepparents play a very important role in a child's development and well-being. If you marry someone with children and help raise them, it already feels like you're their parent. However, without adoption, stepparents have very limited legal rights. Adoption allows stepparents to formalize their relationship with a child. Through the legal adoption process, the adoptive parent can access full rights by becoming a child's legal parent. Here is a brief overview of the most important things …
Paying It Forward
Adopted as an infant, Jay Aldis went on to volunteer for the agency that found him a homeJay Aldis has spent his career navigating the world of employment law, but his most profound journey began long before he entered a courtroom. Aldis was adopted when he was just a few days old, through Methodist Mission Home, a San Antonio-based child placement agency. Forty-three years later, the Gray Reed partner would serve on the board of that same agency, now called Providence Place, helping the organization serve other children. For six years, he was the board’s HR legal consultant. …
Tricky Business
Emily Gant helps her cannabis-company clients navigate the legal stumbling blocksA dozen years ago, a few eyebrows would lift when Emily Gant told people what she did for a living. Even while attending her daughters’ soccer games with husband Denver, Gant would inevitably be asked about her job. “Alcohol and cannabis attorney,” she’d reply. “You defend DUIs?” they’d ask, puzzled. She would explain that, no, her role was to help cannabis companies comply with government regulations. “Some were like, ’Dude, that’s so cool,’” Gant says. Others not so …
Should You Adopt Your Stepchild?
What feels like a no-brainer is actually more complicatedIf you marry someone with children, you’re already helping to raise them. Should you take one more step and adopt them? A stepparent most often adopts a stepchild when the biological parent is no longer a part of the child’s life, says family attorney Nancy Brodzki of Brodzki Jacobs in Coral Springs. Sometimes a biological father believes a child isn’t his and disappears before the birth. Or a divorced parent moves far away and loses contact. Then a nuclear family can form around …
Defending the Disabled
Edward Dabdoub on using the power of law for goodThe case that stands out for Eddie Dabdoub felt personal. After the 2013 birth of her daughter, Julissa Bradshaw suffered a stroke so disabling, she couldn’t hold the baby. Her life insurance company denied her long-term disability benefits on the basis that her pregnancy was a preexisting condition that contributed to the stroke. The trial court ruled in favor of the insurance company. The case caught the attention of Dabdoub, managing partner at Dabdoub Law Firm in Miami, where he focuses …
Find top lawyers with confidence
The Super Lawyers patented selection process is peer influenced and research driven, selecting the top 5% of attorneys to the Super Lawyers lists each year. We know lawyers and make it easy to connect with them.
Find a lawyer near you