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
Making Pigs Fly
When it comes to truck accident litigation, Morgan Adams takes the cases others pass byOn a shelf behind Morgan Adams’ desk, next to the tall can of Whoop Ass energy drink, sits a cobalt blue ceramic pig with wings he bought on the Arizona-Mexico border while researching a case involving a trucking accident. His client was a young woman whose family had been told she would never be compensated for her injuries, which included catastrophic brain injury. “That’s one of the things I’m proudest of,” says the Chattanooga attorney, pointing to the small, stout-bodied …
Righting Wrongs
The Choctaw Nation’s Michael Burrage makes opioid producers payBetween 2007 and 2017, 4,653 Oklahomans unintentionally died from prescribed opioids. According to the state, more overdose deaths in Oklahoma involve prescription opioids than all illicit-drug deaths combined. And the numbers are similar across the nation. In turn, many firms are suing opioid makers over accusations of creating widespread addiction. But Michael Burrage thinks his firm, Whitten Burrage, is working harder than the rest. And he has the receipts to prove it. “Our people are …
The Laws Dealing with Special Education in New York
Long before she became a special education attorney, Adrienne Arkontaky discovered firsthand how much effort it takes to advocate for a child with special needs. When her daughter Jordan, who is blind and has severe cognitive and physical disabilities, started school, Arkontaky took it upon herself to read up on federal and state regulations affecting her child. She scoured Jordan’s formal evaluations to make sure they were correct and networked with other parents. “I was lucky because I …
When Is a Contractor a Full-Time Employee?
The IRS estimates that U.S. business owners have misclassified millions of contract workers. Sometimes these misclassifications are in error, but often employers do so to avoid paying for overtime, health insurance, employment tax obligations, insurance coverage, and protection against on-the-job harassment and discrimination. A job title does not determine whether a position is contract work or full-time employment. States have different rules to determine employment classification. To find …
Instrument of Change
Benjamin L. Hall III believes in the power of the written word—and the pen that creates itFifty years ago, when Benjamin L. Hall III’s grandfather passed away, there was one item his grandson, then 14, really wanted to remember him by. “That was his fountain pen,” Hall says. It wasn’t an expensive pen; just a Sheaffer, a “poor person’s pen,” Hall says. Yet it meant the world. “He stressed being intellectually fit,” Hall says of his grandfather, who was the son of a slave. “He would always make this statement: ‘The brain is a trapped organ, and the only way it …
Caregiver
How Randy Papetti has freed innocent parentsIn 1998, four years after joining Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie in Phoenix, Randy Papetti was walking down the hallway when a frustrated criminal defense colleague approached him. He was repping a man serving 35-to-life after being convicted of killing an infant due to a medical diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, and asked Papetti to help write the brief. Despite Papetti’s lack of experience with the subject matter—“I knew nothing about it, so it was an enormous learning curve,” he …
Nice Being the Boss
“Pay your quarterly taxes” and other lessons from family law attorney Emily YuGrowing up in New Jersey, Emily Yu’s family expected her to become a doctor, an accountant or a lawyer. “I liked to argue,” she says. “So…” Her goal, however, wasn’t to climb the ladder at a large firm. The 34-year-old founder of Yu Family Law in Atlanta envisioned herself as an entrepreneur, partly because, she admits, “I do better calling the shots.” She concentrated on family law, first at Meriwether & Tharp in 2011, then a year later, at Hunter, Weinstein & …
Great Heights
Imposing in stature, litigator David Herzog takes his work—not himself—seriouslyIn 2009, at the close of a monthlong trial in California, a jury ruled against David Herzog’s client, a Chinese manufacturer accused of producing contaminated fiberglass used in insulator rods that had allegedly caused several electrical failures. From the beginning, the jurors appeared unsympathetic to the foreign company, and raised their hands during voir dire when Herzog asked, “Who thinks we’re starting in a hole?” Ultimately, they concluded there must be something wrong with the …
Illinois Discrimination Claims: Steps To Avoid Lawsuits
Until a few years ago, many Illinois employers hadn’t established clear company policies on equal employment and sexual harassment, says Seth Halpern, who heads the employment law practice at the law firm of Malkinson & Halpern. “Now it’s a necessity,” he says. “If the employer does everything in good faith and by the book, they have a much greater chance of defending against an employee’s claim. If you don’t have a company policy for reporting, the employer may lose their …
What Are the Legal Steps for Successful Business Relocation?
Evan Sauer has seen his share of lease transactions as a real estate attorney. But it wasn’t until his firm got rid of its expensive office space, and he began working remotely several years ago, that the headaches hit home. He says that the business move, and the challenges that prompted it, “Helped me see the difficulties and complexities for our clients and guide them through the process.” Developing a Business Relocation Plan for Your Office Move One way to avoid pitfalls in such a …
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