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
Bass Ace
Peter Strand earned his rock ‘n roll stripes in Yipes!As a kid, it took a while for Peter Strand to find the right instrument. Piano didn’t enthrall him, too many classmates played drums, and cornet just didn’t cut it. In the late 1960s, when he formed a garage band with his brother and best friends in their Milwaukee suburb, he went with guitar, but it wasn’t a perfect fit. Then one day, he hit a literal lucky break. “I happened to break the two strings that aren’t on a bass, so I started playing bass notes on a regular guitar,” …
Like Lawyer, Like Daughter
Jere and Julie Beasley work together, argue togetherFresh out of college, Julie Beasley was confident she’d snagged a job at a power company, particularly after the interviewer asked about her father, Jere. “Of course, I got on my high horse and I was talking about how great he was,” she says. Soon after, she ran into one of her father’s law partners, who told her, “Well, you know we’ve sued them several times.” “Obviously, I did not get the job,” Julie, 55, says, laughing. It’s now been 25 years since she joined her …
5,000 Elvis Cards Can’t Be Wrong
Why Lucian Pera’s annual greeting never gets stamped ‘Return to Sender’It wasn’t that Lucian Pera was a rabid Elvis Presley fan, or that Pera’s mom happened to share the King’s January 8th birthday, or even that Pera and Presley went to the same dentist. Pera never spotted Elvis during one of those impromptu Cadillac giveaways. He never even attended a concert. “Elvis was not somebody whose music I terrifically appreciated as a child,” says Pera, 57, president of the Tennessee Bar Association and a partner at Adams and Reese, where he focuses on …
How Does Bankruptcy Filing Affect My Spouse?
Bankruptcy filing affects your spouse, depending on whether you file jointly to discharge joint debt or for individual debt discharge. Individual filing does not harm the non-filing spouse's credit score, but it does not extend creditor protection for joint liability, cosigned loans, or marital assets in community property states. When filing individually, the means test considers household income and shared assets. Filing jointly puts an automatic stay on collection actions against separate …
Kit Petersen’s Magic Touch
Though she keeps some ‘fairy dust’ on hand, her real power lies in listeningCatherine “Kit” Petersen was a junior at the University of Oklahoma law school in the mid-1970s when a student raised his hand during a discussion about a civil rights case. “Teacher, we don’t need to talk about this, because we have affirmative action right here in class,” he said sarcastically. “We all know the only reason that women are here is because the federal government makes the law school accept them.” Petersen, one of only 14 female students in her class of 212, fired …
What Does This Class Action Letter Mean?
You get a postcard or email informing you that there is a class action against a large corporation, and you're a class member. What do you do? Class action litigation involves a large group of people combining their similar claims against a defendant. The email or postcard you receive is notification of the class action, your legal rights, and the next steps to take. For most class action claim forms, your best option is to remain in the class. However, some class members may want to exclude …
The Nicest Guy in the Room
M. Michael Stephenson cuts hearts out as politely as possibleMore often than not, the first thing M. Michael Stephenson does before cross-examining a witness is offer him or her a glass of water. “I want to be the nicest guy in the room,” says Stephenson, 60, partner at McNeely Stephenson in Shelbyville and one of the state’s most experienced trial lawyers. “People help those they like. If they don’t like me, they may punish my client. So I try to do everything I can to be pleasant, professional and polite to everyone in that courtroom. …
Chicago’s Hospitality Lawyer
Larry Eppley helps clients transform historic buildings into high-end hotelsLarry Eppley took a few real estate classes as an undergrad and in law school in the 1980s, but it was years before he was able to apply that knowledge. A group of entrepreneurial friends asked him to negotiate the acquisition of an aging Sheraton hotel in a northern Chicago suburb, and the new owners gave it a substantial facelift. After that, more clients hired him to represent their hospitality projects. “Eventually it became sort of a niche,” he says. Now managing partner at Sheppard, …
‘I’ve Got This’
How civil rights lawyer Dana Kurtz used her legal skills to overcome a family tragedyDana Kurtz was working in her office on July 7, 2014, when the call came in. Her husband, Curt Kmiecek, a U.S. Air Force Special Operations veteran and experienced skydiver, had landed in a tree during a solo jump on the outskirts of Chicago. He was being flown by air ambulance to the nearest trauma hospital. Kurtz, a civil rights plaintiff’s lawyer and founding president of Kurtz Law Offices in Hinsdale, raced with her stepdaughter and paralegal to the hospital, praying the whole time. …
With Liberty and Health Care for All
Before petitioners in King v. Burwell challenged the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2014-2015 session (and lost), and before Republican members of Congress voted to repeal the ACA more than 60 times beginning in January 2011 (and never did), lawyers around the country were anticipating ways the ACA might bump up against existing health insurance law. William Frumkin, an employment and labor lawyer from White Plains, New York, was one of them. For Frumkin, the …
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