About Emma Way
Emma Way is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. By day, she is a director of editorial product at Axios, serving as the connector between 30 local reporting teams across the country. The Delaware-native and Washington College graduate has been writing for Super Lawyers since 2018.
Articles written by Emma Way
The Long View
Candace French on protecting Navajo Nation water rights for the futureThe case Candace French is most proud of started before she was born, and its legacy will shape tribal nations’ access to water for generations to come. “I fought for water they’re going to drink in 100 years and beyond,” says French, who practices at Sacks Tierney in Scottsdale. She’s been central to the Navajo Nation’s water rights efforts in Arizona’s Little Colorado River Basin, a sweeping, decades-long legal battle over one of the most essential resources in the Southwest. …
Pilot Light
Ben Whitley takes to the skies to serve clients and communitiesBy the time Hurricane Helene reached western North Carolina in late September 2024, its winds had eased, but the unrelenting, record-breaking rainfall washed out roads and bridges and eroded entire mountainsides and communities. The storm and catastrophic flooding that followed killed more than 100 people statewide, and left thousands more cut off. No running water. No electricity. No way to receive aid. Except by air, which became the fastest—and sometimes only—option to reach these remote …
Pivotal Paths
Three young attorneys share their journeys in law and look to the futureLaw was never part of Fareshteh Hamidi’s plan. An aspiring physician assistant, Hamidi had just been rejected from PA school two years running. “Instead of potentially getting my heart broken a third time, I looked for other avenues to work in healthcare tangentially. … Law school fell into my lap,” says Hamidi, a litigation associate with Steptoe & Johnson in Oklahoma City. Morgan Lawson, a first-generation college student, decided as a teenager that she was going to law school. …
The Great Profession
Perennial Super Lawyers listees reflect on the last two decades of law in North CarolinaTwenty years ago, as the first edition of North Carolina Super Lawyers was published, the state was ina renaissance. Its population was growing faster than ever, adding hundreds of new residents every day. Musicians like Eric Church, Kellie Pickler and Anthony Hamilton were still in the early years of releasing hits. The UNC men’s basketball team was crowned the NCAA champions, led by their new coach Roy Williams. Things haven’t slowed down since. In this anniversary edition, we caught up …
The Run of the City
Dwight Williams swapped press conferences for family lawIt’s midnight, and Dwight Williams’ pager has just gone off. He’s groggy and in his pajamas, but he can’t ignore the calls from reporters. Sleep will wait. It’s just another day in 1996 as deputy press secretary for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Williams always wanted to go into law; but after graduating from NYU, he rose from an intern in Giuliani’s office to a leader on the mayor’s communications team. The career path was put on …
It Takes Crew (to Make a Thing Go Right)
How Morgan Foster’s experience as a coxswain lends itself to lawThere’s a magic to rowing that’s hard to imagine unless you’ve felt a crew boat lift and float on top of the water as eight rowers pull in precise harmony. Watching over all those ripples and micromovements is a magician of sorts—the coxswain. “A lot of it comes down to trusting your instincts,” says Morgan Foster, who helped steer her team to the NCAA Championship at Brown University in 1999. “When everyone’s rowing together and the oars are catching at the exact same time … …
Uniform Performance
How Andre Pennington honed his legal chops in the Air ForceSome cases will stick with Andre Pennington forever. The founder of Pennington Law joined the Air Force early in his legal career, starting as a prosecutor before going on to handle estate planning matters and advocate for airmen who had made mistakes. In one case, he represented an airman who had risen through the ranks quickly. In a short amount of time, the man went from a desk job stateside to driving tanks in Iraq around 2010. “I’m sorry to be graphic,” Pennington says, “but he’d …
Work Worth Doing
Chris Olson’s civil rights success is no solo effortBehind every civil rights case, and every major moment, in Chris Olson’s nearly 30-year legal career, he has a long list of credits. There are legendary attorneys like James “Fergie” Ferguson, Burton Craige, Hoyt Tessener, David Rudolf and Sonya Pfeiffer who have acted as both inspiration and aid for his work. There are the leaders in exonerating wrongly incarcerated North Carolinians like Jamie Lau and Jim Coleman with the Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic and Chris Mumma with North …
Paddling Ahead
Adam Van Grack flows through complex litigation just as he does whitewater rapidsWhitewater kayaking is like skiing, but in an avalanche. The rapids are always changing, whipping the kayak and occupant off course. The feeling Adam Van Grack gets when he’s flying through rough rapids is one that’s matched only when he’s in the courtroom. Both require focus and flexibility. “You have to take every rapid in every moment, understanding that your game plan might change immediately,” says the Olympic-qualifying athlete and commercial litigator. If an opponent …
Cool in Combat
Family attorney Justin Crozier was an Army mental health specialistIn combat, tempers run hot. “You have to maintain an edge,” says Justin Crozier, who worked as a combat medic and mental health specialist in the Army for 10 years. “Without it, you’re not going to be able to do the job that you’re hired to do—to keep us safe.” But the problem with that mindset, he adds, is that it can cause military personnel to remain guarded, and not share the struggles they’re experiencing. Crozier compares it to an overheated car: Putting your foot on the …
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