About Jerry Grillo
Jerry Grillo is an award-winning journalist who has written for Newsday, ESPN, Golf Magazine and Atlanta magazine, among others. For 14 years, he was senior and executive editor at Georgia Trend, where he helped transform the magazine into a leading business resource. His book, The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography, was published in April 2021 by the University of Georgia Press. A biography of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize is slated for publication by University of Nebraska Press in 2024.
Articles written by Jerry Grillo
A Firm of One
It’s just Mark Chinn—and softwareTwenty years ago, while the rest of the world was sleeping, Mark Chinn struggled with fits of anxiety. “I’d wake up at 3 a.m., as if a little man had crawled on my shoulder to tell me I forgot something,” says Chinn, 63, a divorce lawyer and the only employee of Chinn & Associates in Jackson, Mississippi. Inevitably, his wife, Cathy, would wake up to see him pulling on his jeans in the wee hours and ask what he was up to. “I didn’t really have an answer for her. I only knew that …
The $500 Million Man
Saying “I’ll see you in court” to Pete Law is probably not the best way to start the dayThe coincidence of name and career are just that, a coincidence, and one Peter A. Law is reminded of on a routine basis. He’s cool with that. “Every time someone walks in, I hear what a great name I have,” Law says. “I used to hear about it in law school, because the professors would always say, ‘Where’s Mr. Law? I understand we have the law in our classroom.’ Really, it doesn’t get old. It’s like an icebreaker.” But he didn’t become a lawyer because of his name; he became …
The Best Lawyer Bobby Lee Cook Has Seen
What criminal defense attorney Steve Sadow knows can acquit youSteve Sadow was 11 when the idea hit him with life-defining force during commercial breaks for an old black-and-white TV show, The Defenders, starring E.G. Marshall. “I turned to my father and said, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to be a criminal defense lawyer,’” says Sadow, 60. It was all he ever wanted to do. It’s all he’s done. “I’ve never been a prosecutor,” Sadow says. “I’ve never handled a contract case. I know nothing about civil law; I don’t even venture a …
A Miracle in Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico
The American Immigration Lawyers Association comes to the aid of families targeted for deportationOver the course of several months last year, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) engineered a massive pro bono showdown in the high desert, bringing hope and freedom to hundreds of marginalized people. “It was a bit of a miracle in the middle of nowhere,” says Philip Smith, an immigration attorney, AILA member and partner at Nelson Smith in Portland, Oregon. That’s what the lawyers who worked on the Artesia Pro Bono Project called the place: Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico. …
Golden Opportunities
Brian H. Ratcliff takes on a new firm and the Arkansas Bar presidencyIt’s the middle of July and Brian H. Ratcliff is one month into his term as president of the Arkansas Bar Association. “Or another way to look at it is I’m one-twelfth done,” he says. Ratcliff, 52, is actually very glad to have the gig. It’s the fulfillment of a promise he made to a now-departed friend—the same friend whose last advice helped guide Ratcliff through the biggest transition of his professional career: a move to PPGMR Law. “It’s a good story, a long time in the …
Singles and Doubles
Why estate planning is more about batting average than powerSince each life comes with an unspecified expiration date, it’s best to plan your estate as soon as you can. Doing so in New York, though, can be uniquely challenging. “New York is an expensive place to live and an expensive place to die,” says Carlyn S. McCaffrey, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery. State and federal estate tax rules have gone up and down for decades—although last year Congress declared the estate and gift tax exemption amount “permanent” at $5 million, …
Two Bobs and a King
How Brinson Askew Berry became the biggest firm in RomeThey’d talk about it over drinks, Bob Brinson and King Askew, how they’d be better off on their own, away from the big firm—the kind of cavalier bravado you’d expect from young men at a bar. “We talked about it for three years, off and on,” Brinson says. “You talked about it,” Askew corrects. Brinson was a young partner and Askew a senior associate at Rogers Magruder Hoyt, one of the largest firms in Rome, Ga., at the time. One night after a Rome Bar Association meeting, they …
The Greg Maddux of Georgia Law
Tom Carlock isn’t intimidating; he just beats youColleagues agree on the following: that Thomas Carlock, a civil defense trial lawyer, has an easygoing style that belies a competitive nature; that he remains good-natured even as he exploits his opponents’ weaknesses. They just disagree on the proper metaphor to describe him. Joey Loudermilk, executive vice president and general counsel of Aflac, the Columbus-based insurance giant that has used Carlock’s services for 20 years, goes the baseball route. “Basically, Tom is Greg Maddux,” …
Feet on the Ground
Teri Plummer McClure ensures that UPS runs smoothlyTeri Plummer McClure’s love for the law might be in her DNA. “My grandfather was a lawyer, but he didn’t go to law school. He sat for the bar the old-fashioned way [reading for the bar, apprenticing under an attorney and then taking the bar exam] and was a great advocate for the people in his community,” says McClure, general counsel, corporate secretary and senior vice president of legal, compliance, audit and public affairs for UPS Inc., the Fortune 500 package delivery company based …
The Possible Dream
Charles Kuck, lover of both Don Quixote and Atlas Shrugged, has five ways to reform immigration lawThe ink on Charles Kuck’s unframed law school diploma was barely dry when he realized that helping people was much more rewarding than suing people. It was 1989, the summer following his graduation from law school at Arizona State University, and he was employed at the Phoenix office of Mariscal, Weeks, McIntyre & Friedlander. He wanted to be a litigator but knew most first- and second-year lawyers rarely see the inside of a courtroom, and he hadn’t even passed the bar yet. Then a …
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