About Emily White
Articles written by Emily White
Defending People after the Worst Day of Their Life
Criminal defense attorney Margaret Sind Raben of Gurewitz & Raben shares stories of incorrect paperwork, double jeopardy and the legal definition of a dating relationshipQ: You have a pretty small firm. How did it come to be? A: I graduated from law school in 1986. I was an older student. I went to law school in my late 30s, and then worked for Harold [Gurewitz, my current law partner] as a researcher during law school. When I graduated, he was starting a firm with another lawyer, and they hired me. So I’ve worked for Harold pretty much since 1984. In 1995, we went out on our own. Once we made the decisions, which took all of about 10 minutes, Harold asked me …
Work, Life, Balance
Diane Polscer launched a small law firm when her daughter was three days oldQ: How did you get into the insurance-defense business? A: I originally got involved by being a member of the Defense Research Institute in the late ‘80s, an organization that consists of defense lawyers from all over the country. In the late ‘80s, particularly, environmental insurance coverage became an issue, and my involvement with insurance law started with a few cases involving environmental insurance coverage. Environmental laws were becoming stricter, and large and small corporations …
This Property Was Condemned
Idaho land use lawyer JoAnn Butler talks sprawl, zoning and seeing the futureQ: Can you talk a little about the history of zoning law? A: It started in New York City in the early 20th century. High rises and tenements had been built so close together that there was very little light, very little air that could circulate between the buildings. Fire could spread easily. So when you talk about zoning, you talk about protecting the public health, safety and welfare. That’s really the whole background behind zoning. It was to develop a regulatory system that would allow …
The Art of Reversal
Appealing court decisions, Rhonda T. Chambers searches for the flaw in the reasoning and gets the courts to take a second lookQ: In 2013 you wrote an article for The Alabama Lawyer about the fact that, in Alabama, the court does not need to write an explanation of their decisions if the appeal is denied. A: Yes, it was an appellate rule. I think it is Alabama Appellate Rule 53 that was added, back in the 1990s, and I think the intentions were good. There were cases that needed to be decided, or could be decided, without writing an opinion. Those were maybe landline dispute cases or cases that were tried before a …
The Need Factor
Elder law attorney Franchelle C. Millender on getting benefits to people who have fallen out of the social safety netQ: Your name, Franchelle, is very unusual. Where did it come from? A: If my parents were going to have a boy, they were going to name him Frank. So I think it’s from my mother’s imagination. Q: How did you decide to focus on elder law? A: I got into it originally [in] about 1991. I was doing real estate and some probate and estate planning and looking for a little more. I read something about the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, which at that point was about three years old. …
Something is Rotten in the Condo Complex
From Park Avenue to rural North Carolina, Daniel K. Bryson advocates for plaintiffs whose homes are falling apartQ: How did you get involved in construction law? A: Well, I was one of the first attorneys to handle cases involving defective synthetic stucco. I’ve been practicing for about 26 years now. I started off doing defense work. I represented a lot of insurance companies, bonding companies, general contractors and subcontractors. About 16 years ago, the firm I was working with [Maupin Taylor & Ellis] got a call from Wilmington, North Carolina. Someone was installing plantation shutters on …
The Original
In 1904, University of Denver kicked off the first clinical program in the nation. today, it’s still going strongAt University of Denver Sturm College of Law, its 110-year-old law school clinics are a pro bono hothouse. In 2004, Donald L. Sturm, who graduated in 1958, gave the school a $20 million gift to encourage it to keep the legal heat turned on and to fuel its clinical program. Founded in 1904, Denver’s law clinics were the first clinical program in the nation to offer students academic credit coupled with the chance to gain practical legal experience. Today students are still working hard for …
The Battle For the Next Best Thing
Patrick Perotti has collected more than $25 million for charity using the cy pres doctrineQ: Talk about initiating a class action; what kind of questions do you ask people seeking to file this kind of lawsuit, where they believe they are part of a large group of people who were wronged? A: Well, when people seeking to file a class action lawsuit go to you, you have to investigate questions like: How did this happen to you? Is this something which was done to more people than [you]? Are there lots of people online … complaining about this problem? Is the company a company that is …
No Lies, Please
Criminal defense attorney John Colette tackles the tough cases—but expects clients to tell him the truthThe clients who contact criminal defense attorney John Colette are not always what could be called safe bets. Often they are penniless or have had their assets frozen. They might stand accused of statutory rape, murder or bank fraud. Colette has represented drug dealers with Colombian cartel connections who were arrested while traveling along Mississippi’s so-called “Cocaine Corridors.” He was local counsel involved in the case of a 21-year-old man who, while vacationing with his parents …
A Woman in a Room Full of Men
Is intellectual property law a boys’ club? Ask Tulsa’s Rachel BlueQ: How did you start out? A: I grew up in Tulsa and I went to the University of Mississippi for a year, but then I found that I did not have enough blond hair. I went to Texas and finished undergrad at Texas. Got out a year early, came back to Tulsa, decided I didn’t want to go to grad school and worked for a lawyer instead. He offered to pay for law school if I would stay here and work for him while I was in law school. I did that and I went to the University of Tulsa for law school and …
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