About Nancy Henderson
Nancy Henderson is an award-winning journalist who has published hundreds of articles in Smithsonian, The New York Times, Parade, The Wall Street Journal and other publications. The author of Sewing Hope and Able! How One Company’s Extraordinary Workforce Changed the Way We Look at Disability Today, she enjoys breaking stereotypes and often writes about people who are making a difference through their work. Over the years, she’s enjoyed listening to family stories about her grandfather, who prosecuted cases as a solicitor general in North Carolina long before she was born.
Articles written by Nancy Henderson
Manning of the People
Fearlessness fuels the fast-talking Matt ManningIn his second year at the University of Toledo College of Law, Matt Manning participated in what he calls a March Madness-style moot court tournament in which he represented a fictional mayor dubbed Captain Hook against an opponent defending the parents of Peter Pan—whose band of juvenile delinquent buddies had violated the city’s curfew. “No, I did not win,” says the 36-year-old personal injury, criminal defense and civil rights attorney in Corpus Christi. “Depending on who you ask, …
When Natural Disasters Strike
Advice from insurance coverage attorneys on how to weather the legal stormThe last thing Floridians had on their minds in late September 2022, with Hurricane Ian bearing down on their state, was exactly how much their insurers would pay if their homes sustained damage from wind as opposed to water. But attorneys who focus on insurance claims say those are exactly the kinds of nuanced details you should nail down before disaster strikes. From tornadoes and hailstorms to wildfires and earthquakes, scientists agree that the frequency and severity of natural disasters …
Passion Project
Ruchi Kapoor fights for parental rights at the appellate levelA decade ago, delinquency and child welfare cases were commonplace for Ruchi Kapoor in her job as a law clerk at Denver Juvenile Court. But one jury trial for a 10-year-old defendant tugged at her in a way none of the others had. “He just looked so small,” Kapoor recalls. “The handcuffs barely fit him, and something about that really evoked that sense of compassion from me. How can we live in a country where this is part of what our justice system was designed to do? How can this be …
Still Going Strong
Six leading Indiana attorneys reflect on the past 20 years and what lies aheadTo celebrate the 20th edition of Indiana Super Lawyers, we caught up with six attorneys we’ve featured in these pages over the past two decades to discuss how their practices have evolved, changes in the legal system and their predictions for the future. “My practice has changed dramatically,” says David Tittle, a partner at Dentons Bingham Greenebaum. “I’m not sure I can explain why, but I was happy that it did.” He’s not the only one. Practice Makes Perfect Nathaniel Lee, Lee …
‘What It Means to Be a Lawyer in the 21st Century’
Four 20-something attorneys on the challenges and the future of lawOne wanted to be a biologist, another an anesthesiologist, and a third hoped to play in the WNBA. But there was something that pointed each of them to the law. For Andrienne McKay, the would-be basketball player, it was a penchant for debate and a weekly ritual of watching Matlock with her father. Medically inclined Alexandria “Allie” Jones became intrigued while binding transcripts and discussing depositions with her mother, a court reporter. “I’d always joke that doctors get sued a …
New Frontier
Four immigrant attorneys talk about their paths to lawTo this day, Pablo Isaza keeps a photo on his refrigerator of his large extended family, with whom he spent every holiday when he lived in Colombia. “We were one of the first to leave, but I had some other cousins that left Colombia for the same reasons—the cartel and the dangers associated with the paramilitary groups there,” says Isaza, a personal injury and juvenile law attorney in Baton Rouge. “Since that picture, which was maybe 25 years ago, we don’t have another one of all of …
The Shakespeare Guy
The play’s the thing for Donald CapparellaIt was a two-pronged David-and-Goliath battle. Donald Capparella was defending a plastics company against a $20 million-plus lawsuit by Exxon Mobil Corp., which claimed his client had reported fake testing practices when Exxon bought the company. His client, meanwhile, was countersuing because Exxon refused to pay the balance it owed on the purchase. When the trial started in July 2003, it had produced 50,000 documents, and it was just Capparella, John Branham and Kelly Smits against a dozen or …
Getting Out of the Way
Laurie Koller helps juries draw their own conclusionsIn 2014, in the midst of a sexual assault trial, Tulsa litigator Laurie Koller listened intently as church officials struggled to explain why they failed to fire a caretaker who abused an 8-month-old boy at their day care center. Despite investigations by the police and district attorney’s office, the victim’s family declined to pursue charges to avoid toppling their church’s reputation. The perpetrator was later hired at a different church-based day care that wasn’t made aware of the …
Constructing a Well-Built Contract
Boston construction attorneys discuss what to look for—and look out forRecently, a Boston business owner found himself too busy to keep after his contractor, who’d dropped the ball in the final stages of a construction project. “It was pretty clear to me what was happening,” says Jeffrey Alitz, an attorney with Freeman Mathis & Gary. “The contractor started not showing up as much, missing weeks on end of not being on the site, and the schedule was starting to get off track—all signs that the contractor was looking to do other work.” Alitz’s …
Helping Employees Succeed
The ins and outs of reasonable accommodationA few years ago, Boston attorney Denise Murphy represented an employer with a worker who was so sensitive to light that she requested a complete replacement of the lighting system where she worked because it impeded her vision. “That’s not really a reasonable accommodation to change the entire lighting structure of a building,” says Murphy, who chairs the employment practice at Rubin and Rudman. “But what they were able to do was provide the employee with light-sensitive glasses that …
Find top lawyers with confidence
The Super Lawyers patented selection process is peer influenced and research driven, selecting the top 5% of attorneys to the Super Lawyers lists each year. We know lawyers and make it easy to connect with them.
Find a lawyer near you