About Jessica Tam
Articles written by Jessica Tam
Putting on a Clinic
Robert F. Redmond Jr. puts the pro in pro bonoAfter nearly 20 years as a trial attorney—with more than 10,000 cases under his belt—Robert F. Redmond Jr. set his sights on a new challenge. “I thought if we can do mass tort litigation across the country, we could probably do a pro bono clinic in Richmond,” says the partner at McGuireWoods. All he needed was a group to help. In the early 2000s, he found one: the state’s growing community of new immigrants. In 2005, Redmond founded a pro bono clinic with the Virginia Hispanic …
The Collector
Rupert M. Barkoff is an introvert by nature, but when he’s passionate about something he goes all inRupert M. Barkoff, chairman of the franchise team at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, could probably set up his own franchise, since he owns roughly 6,000 cigarette cards and 550 snow globes. But he didn’t set out to collect either. The cigarette card collection began in 1982 as an inheritance from his mother. He was drawn in by their rarity and their beauty. “They’re breathtaking,” he says. Originally made to keep a pack of smokes from crumpling, collectible cigarette cards were …
The Amazing World of Nadia Hasan
When the business litigator talks pro bono work, one word keeps coming up over and overIt’s a drizzly, gray afternoon in April, and barely any light is filtering into the conference room at Cozen O’Connor in downtown Minneapolis. But Nadia Hasan, talking about her pro bono work, is shining. “The people who work at that organization, and do the hands-on work, they’re amazing,” she says. The organization in question is the Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project, which seeks legal solutions for domestic violence victims. As co-chair and board member, Hasan raises funds …
Making Her Mark (And Protecting Yours)
From Switzerland to Pennsylvania, Dina Leytes talks IP lawLast December, intellectual property lawyer Dina Leytes traveled to Geneva for a workshop on case trends involving the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. “It’s led by luminaries in the domain name field, who highlighted and analyzed some of the most interesting domain name decisions in the past few years,” she says. “And, of course, I got my fill of cheese and chocolate.” The trip brought her back to her old stomping grounds. After graduating from law school in 2006, she …
The 554 Million-Dollar Man
Sam Buffone led the way for the Navajo Nation’s historic settlement—oh, and he kept Google out of trouble, tooAs we were going to press, Samuel J. Buffone, 68, lost his three-year fight with cancer. Andrew L. Sandler, chairman of BuckleySandler, remembers his longtime friend and partner: "Sam Buffone was one of the great lawyers of his generation. He was truly one of the just few; a man who dedicated his career to being a champion of justice. Over his storied 45-year career, Sam represented torture victims; sought justice for victims killed in a car bombing in Washington, D.C. by agents for Chilean …
In Good Hands
Shelice R. Tolbert on good lawyering, good health and good lessons learnedShelice R. Tolbert was hired at Kopka Pinkus Dolin to handle workers’ compensation matters in 2003, but she soon became an insurance defense lawyer. “One of the attorneys had an injury and couldn’t come in, so I ended up inheriting her caseload,” she says. Insurance companies have called on Tolbert to represent their insureds ever since, in cases mainly involving premises liability, motor vehicle accidents or insurance coverage issues. In her most memorable case, Tolbert defended Nasir …
Location, Location, Location
Real estate attorney Susan Lee Daly’s parents crossed the 38th parallel, then an ocean, to give her this opportunityReal estate attorney Susan Lee Daly knew her parents had escaped from North Korea; but it wasn’t until 2013, when one of her sons interviewed her mother for a school assignment on immigration, that she heard the whole story. Daly’s mother, who grew up under the Japanese occupation of the peninsula, escaped from the Communist North at age 19 with her aunt and 12-year-old cousin. “They left on a train heading south and were detained by North Korean soldiers and sent to a detention …
Power Broker
Todd V. McMurtry carries on a family tradition in his litigation and municipal practiceTodd V. McMurtry has forged his own reputation as an outstanding litigator in northern Kentucky, but he credits his father with blazing the trail. McMurtry remembers his mother telling him and his younger brother, “Don’t bother your dad; he’s in trial.” He would read about his father’s cases in the newspaper and visit Stephen McMurtry’s office. His uncle loves to tell the story of overhearing two homeless men talking in front of the public library. “One said, ‘You know, who you …
Paradigm Shifts
Jerry Gonzalez fosters relationships between corporations and minority- and women-owned firmsTwenty years ago, when Gerardo “Jerry” Gonzalez first met the head of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, it wasn’t exactly a high-end affair. “We met at a McDonald’s on the south side of Milwaukee,” Gonzalez says. The Hispanic Chamber became a pro bono client of Gonzalez’s, and ever since the chamber has grown. It’s now at almost 1,000 members, and includes an annual black-tie event with 1,600 attendees. “It’s a paradigm shift from where it started,” Gonzalez …
Something Positive from Something Bad
How Personal Injury Law Hooked Don CorsonEven after 29 years of practice, Don Corson grows modest at the mention of how he graduated first in his class at University of Oregon School of Law. “Why don’t you start out by embarrassing me?” he says with a laugh. The co-founder of The Corson & Johnson Law Firm in Eugene has racked up victories for personal injury clients across the state. One of his successfully resolved cases was for a 6-year-old who was injured on the sidelines at his sister’s soccer game in 2011. “A soccer …
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