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
High Hopes
Two attorneys on the advantages of youth, its challenges, and the future of lawDuring Georgia Malik’s first court appearance—less than a month after she passed the bar in 2020—the opposing counsel asked, “Are you the attorney? How old are you?” “I was like, ‘Old enough for a law license,’” says Malik, a civil litigator with Cranfill Sumner in Raleigh. “Having to navigate this [age issue] has always been challenging.” Misconceptions about youth aren’t the only stumbling blocks for young attorneys in the early days of their careers. For Chris …
What To Know Before You Sign a Software Licensing Agreement
While combing through a proposed software license agreement with a business client, Brian Gamsey discovered language that would have let the vendor use the client’s data to train artificial intelligence. “That was something the client very much did not want,” says Gamsey, of Mills Gamsey in Atlanta. “We were able to get them to not use that feature as part of the offering once the license agreement was in place.” Choosing the wrong software vendor or signing without reading the fine …
‘Self, We Need to Get This Work Done’
Five attorneys on the joys and challenges of going soloLike any work situation, hanging a shingle has its pros and cons. “The biggest pro, I think, is being able to be your own boss and choose what you’re going to work on and handle the cases the way you think you should,” says personal injury and civil rights attorney Miguel Dominguez. “The biggest challenge is that you’re responsible for bankrolling these cases. It’s also your responsibility to figure out where the next case is going to come from. At the end of the day, it’s still a …
Sharing Her Story
Elizabeth Kurowski Quante supports others with Type 1 diabetesFor Elizabeth Kurowski Quante, the hardest part of being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 14 was “getting used to a completely new normal,” she recalls. “I couldn’t eat without thinking about it. I couldn’t exercise or go out for a walk without thinking about what my blood sugar is,” she says. “If I wanted to eat a piece of cake at a birthday party, I would have to prick my finger and then give myself a shot of insulin.” Rather than try to hide her struggles, she …
'I’m Trying to Fix Things’
Carey Acerra is determined to right the wrongs of the nursing home industryEven the dog in the courtroom was on Carey Acerra’s side. For reasons unknown, when her opposing counsel spoke during the five-week trial in 2016, a rescue dog the judge adopted—a small black shih tzu with a graying muzzle—would often bark.And each time the canine interjected, Acerra, who was representing the family of a dementia patient fatally neglected at a Memphis nursing home, said, “See? Even the dog is objecting.” It helped lighten the mood. The jurors visibly relaxed. …
‘If You Want to Be a Lawyer, Go Be One’
Five Missouri attorneys reflect on the past two decades of life and lawTo celebrate the 20th issue of Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, we caught up with five former cover subjects: José Bautista (2018), James Cooling (2005), Don Downing (2012), Todd Graves (2017), and Susan Ford Robertson (2014). Robertson, an appellate attorney in Kansas City, Missouri, is still having the time of her life. So is her father, who practices trial law at the age of 88. “My dad told me, ‘Do something that makes you want to get up, jump out of bed and can’t wait to see the …
What To Do if Your Social Security Disability Benefits Get Denied
While employed as a mechanic, a client of Shivam Patel’s developed an autoimmune condition that attacked his soft tissue, muscles and organs, including his heart. On the transplant list for decades, he eventually became unable to work and relocated to the Carolinas to live with his daughters while awaiting the results of his Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application. Unfortunately, the moves only complicated the process. After two denials, says Patel, a solo attorney in New York …
Know What You Are Signing Away in Your Employment Contract
Employment lawyer Sarah Brown often sees clients who are shocked when the contract provisions they ignored come back to haunt them. “What I see most is people who have either been terminated or who want to go to a different company, and they have an employment agreement that’s standing in their way,” says Brown, of Brown & Curry in Kansas City, Missouri. “They went ahead and signed it without even understanding it or thinking about the ramifications. Trying to fix it after the …
Point of Fact
Daniel Gomez marries facts with storytelling as counsel for his Native American clientsDaniel Gomez had only been out of law school a few years when his skills were put to the test in one of the most complex cases of his career. He and his colleagues filed a breach of trust lawsuit on behalf of the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging the U.S. government had mismanaged the tribe’s assets, leaving an environmental disaster on the reservation from indiscriminate lead and zinc mining. At one point during discovery, opposing counsel scheduled what …
How Employers Can Avoid a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
When clients call Renee Inomata for advice, the No. 1 question she hears is: “I need to let somebody go. What are the risks involved?” Inomata, a former litigator who now focuses on helping employers avert mistakes as an employment defense attorney at Casner & Edwards in Boston, adds: “A lot of what I deal with is trying to avoid a wrongful termination claim.” Consequences of Unlawful Termination Claims for Employers Simply put, wrongful termination takes place when a worker is …
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