About David Levine
David Levine is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, American Heritage, and dozens of other publications. He is the author, co-author or ghostwriter of seven books, including the basketball books Life on the Rim (Macmillan) and In the Land of Giants (Little, Brown). His latest book, The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years, was published by Globe Pequot Press in 2020.
Articles written by David Levine
‘This is People’s Lives’
Erin Lee’s immigration work includes a newspaper columnIt wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t wholly the truth, either. But it’s how Erin Lee wound up in immigration law. After studying economics and music at UC San Diego, Lee interned at the Orange County DA’s office and worked as a legal assistant at a small bankruptcy firm. The DA’s office, she felt, “was pretty cool, kind of like Law & Order. I thought I could do a lot of different things with a J.D.” Except she got that J.D. in 2009, the height of the Great Recession, when law firms …
What’s Reasonable in an Employment Accommodation?
Georgia employment attorneys bring clarity to a murky and subjective area of lawThe consequences of an employer mishandling a request for a reasonable accommodation can be serious, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only raised the stakes. “Employees have suffered greater incidents of anxiety and depression and emotional distress resulting from being sick with COVID or losing loved ones to the disease,” says Rachel Benjamin, an employment and labor attorney at Hall & Lampros in Atlanta. “Some employers have been accommodating, and telework does provide options …
Both Sides Now
Jim Sturdivant went from JAG defense to DOJ prosecutionAs a football player, Jim Sturdivant played on both sides of the ball—defense in high school and offensive line as a freshman walk-on at Auburn. As an attorney, same deal. Before he was a white-collar criminal defense attorney, he was a federal prosecutor; and before that he was a JAG defense lawyer. Being on both sides of the ball, he says, helps him better understand the game. Sturdivant quit football after his freshman year (“I like to say that I was small, but I was slow,” he jokes), …
What’s Reasonable in a Reasonable Accommodation?
Lawyers attempt to unpack the definition under state and federal lawWhen a New York woman was hospitalized because of a pregnancy-related condition, she asked her employer for a few days off and wanted to modify her work schedule to have time for treatment and recovery. She thought it was a reasonable accommodation. Her employer didn’t and denied the request. That denial has proven costly so far. “The New York State Division of Human Rights ordered the company to pay back wages, emotional distress damages, attorneys fees and civil fines,” says the …
The Most Popular Guy in the Neighborhood
How Jim Hacker became the Beyoncé of the New York BarJim Hacker’s professional life can be neatly bookended by two men with the same name. When Hacker entered Albany Law School in 1981, he says, “I didn’t know a tort from a French pastry,” but at his freshman orientation a titan of Albany law came to speak. His name was E. Stewart Jones, and he brought with him a legal family legacy that dates back to 1898. “Everybody knew he was the guy,” Hacker says. In his address, Jones told the 1Ls that to be successful in this profession, you …
Trademark Advice from Georgia IP Attorneys
When and how to legally protect your business brandBranding a business has never been more important. “Our economy is largely digital now—it can change literally overnight—which means that businesses live and die by their brands. A strong brand not only signifies the quality of your products or services, it also sets your company apart in the sea of competition,” says Marcy Sperry, founder of Vivid IP in Atlanta. “Your brand is the soul of your business, so the sooner you can protect it, the better.” And perhaps the most important …
It Pays to Be Proactive When It Comes to Trademarks
Business advice from New York intellectual property attorneysBranding has never been more important, which is why missteps in trademarking logos, names and other elements can set a business back significantly. Take the owner of a new magazine who reached out to Kristin Grant, an IP attorney with an eponymous firm in lower Manhattan, to clean up a trademarking mess. In its trademark application, the company listed its services as “publication of magazines” in a particular trademark class: 41. “However, what they were actually offering is the …
Three Things to Look for in Your Next Contract
Tips from Atlanta attorneys who do it for a livingWhat’s the cost of a poorly written contract? Millions, potentially. Rob Hassett of Hassett Law Group in Atlanta represents clients in music and television. He’s seen contract offers that give a record label or a television show exclusive rights to an artist’s services for upwards of 10 years—often at onerous terms. “I have to tell them: If you sign that it won’t necessarily work out great,” Hassett says. Most of his clients listen, but some are simply eager to get a deal. A …
Best Practices for a Better Contract
Digging into the business of 'what if?' in New YorkOnce you begin litigation, you’ve lost. Daniel B. Faizakoff, an estate planning & probate attorney with an eponymous firm in Midtown, quotes the legal axiom in relation to a client who created a web-development business 16 years ago. “My guy did all the work and the others were passive investors. He was giving away 40% of the profits, and wasn’t happy,” Faizakoff says. Unfortunately, in the original contract, there were no defined parameters for how to withdraw from the company. …
How Do You Know If You Have a Workers' Comp Claim?
You don't always know, so attorneys suggest being on the safe side after a work-related injuryYou’re walking down the stairs at work when you fall and twist your knee. You’re out for a week. Can you claim workers’ compensation? Short answer: It depends. “If someone injures themselves falling up or down the stairs because of a pre-existing condition, then the injury is not compensable—because the stairs are not a special hazard but rather a ubiquitous condition,” says Michael H. Kaplan, a workers’ comp attorney at Kaplan Morrell in Denver. “The ubiquitous …
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