About Marisa Bowe

Marisa Bowe Articles written 25

Marisa Bowe is a writer, editor and producer with credits in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Harper’s, New York Magazine, Slate, and PBS NewsHour, among others. She is co-editor of the oral histories Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs, and US: Americans Talk About Love. She graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a B.A. in modern European history.

Articles written by Marisa Bowe

How to Handle Child Custody Across Borders

International family law cases are on the rise; here's how they're resolved in New York

Trade isn’t the only thing on the increase in a globalized world with international borders. So are marriages between people from different countries—and with those marriages, inevitably, come international divorces and custody battles. These can be especially problematic and heartbreaking. “When somebody wants to move with a child far away from the other parent, somebody’s sort of winning and the other person is really losing,” says Patricia Fersch, a family law attorney at Fersch …

Not After the Big Part

Anne Vladeck and her family have been taking on big, fat firms for 70 years

“You won’t do it casually.” Anne Vladeck is talking plaintiff’s employment law in a nondescript conference room in the law offices of Vladeck, Raskin & Clark in Midtown. She knows the law school drill—you should be able to argue either side of a case—but she also knows there’s a difference between a job and a calling. “It’s really how you want to spend your time,” she says. “It’s not an accident that you will find mostly liberals doing plaintiff’s employment and …

When to Protect an Idea with a Patent, Copyright or Trademark

If you have a big idea in the Big Apple, here's what to do

Got a million-dollar idea for a product or service? Or maybe a song? You’ve got intellectual property. Can you—and should you—protect it with a patent, copyright or trademark? “The answer,” says intellectual property attorney Catherine Farrelly at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, New York, “is that it depends on what the invention or idea is. There is no protection for mere ideas under intellectual property law. There has to be a concrete expression of the idea for it to be …

‘You Dream of Crosses Like This’

The four attorneys who helped acquit Abacus bank

On Friday, December 11, 2009, Vera Sung, director of Abacus Federal Savings, a small community bank in Chinatown, was in the middle of a routine home closing. As the last few documents were about to be signed, the borrowers, a young couple, mentioned two checks they’d given to Abacus loan officer Ken Yu, who wasn’t present. Those checks were going toward the closing costs, right? Checks written to Yu personally? Sung became alarmed. When she talked to him, Yu hemmed and hawed, and she …

What Do I Do If I'm Being Cyberstalked in Florida?

Attorneys' advice on putting a stop to online bullies

Bullying and stalking are unpleasant realities, even when they are only virtual. “When I grew up, [bullying] occurred, but it happened more at school, physically,” says Eric “E.J.” Hubbs, a criminal defense attorney at Hubbs Law in Miami. “Now, it’s evolved to that happening on Facebook, on Snapchat, through text messages, the creation of a web page or weblog assuming the identity of another person.” Cybercrime and Online Harassment Laws Online stalking and bullying both fall …

Does Your Case Belong in Civil or Criminal Court?

Sometimes it's both. Here's a helpful guide to know for sure

Someone has done you wrong, and you’re looking for justice. Should you head for criminal or civil court?  Civil might work; any individual or entity can file a civil lawsuit. Criminal, the rules are different. “A person cannot bring a criminal case. Only the government or a grand jury can,” says Carrie Cohen, a white-collar criminal defense attorney at Morrison & Foerster.  Differences in the Types of Cases “A criminal case is not primarily always about money,” she adds, noting …

Untangling New York's Super-Confusing Rent Regulations

It’s complicated, so let the experts tell you

If you’re confused by rent regulation laws, you’re in good company. “Not for the novice or faint of heart,” says real estate attorney Lucas Ferrara of Newman Ferrara, who is also an adjunct professor at New York Law School and the author of a 2,000-page book on landlord-tenant law. “New York’s rent regulation laws have been called ‘an impenetrable thicket, confusing not only to laymen but to lawyers’ by no less an authority than New York’s highest court,” says litigation …

If You Haven't Written a Will, New York State Has

Where there's a will, there's a way

Talking to lawyers about wills, you learn three things:  You don’t know much about wills What you don’t know can’t hurt you after you die—but it can certainly hurt your loved ones So make a will—now “Do it,” urges Anita Rosenbloom of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. “We’re all mortal, including young people.” She tells of a man with no history of heart disease who died of a heart attack, leaving a 6-year-old son and a widow who was not a U.S. citizen. “While the woman …

Conscience Coupling

Husband-and-wife team Randolph McLaughlin and Debra Cohen are building a new kind of civil rights practice

“She was a pain in my ass,” says Randolph McLaughlin. “You can say neck,” suggests Debra Cohen.  “No, I’m going to be frank,” McLaughlin says. Then he concedes the point: “Maybe tuchus.” The civil rights attorneys are sitting in a 27th-floor conference room at Newman Ferrara, a boutique firm near Herald Square, where they’ve been working since 2013. They’ve been married since September 2001, practicing law as a team since 1996, and the story they’re telling is how that …

Injured by a Dog in New York? Here's What You Need to Know

Legal issues surrounding dog bite injuries in New York City

When personal injury attorney Pat James Crispi at Keogh Crispi was kindergarten age, he was attacked by a dog. The attack resulted in “a lot of initial bleeding but no emergency room treatment required,” and left him with strong opinions about dogs.  “When an owner has a dog and it charges at me, they say, ‘Oh, he’s just being friendly’—since when could you read a dog’s mind?” Crispi says. Fortunately, he adds, dog bite cases in New York City are uncommon. That could be …

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