About Nancy Rommelmann

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Nancy Rommelmann Articles written 23

Nancy Rommelmann writes for Reason, Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. She is the co-host of the podcast, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, and writes the Substack Make More Pie. Her most recent book is To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder. She lives in New York City.

Articles written by Nancy Rommelmann

The Moving Target

Former ‘Top Gun’ pilot Thomas P. O’Brien on meeting presidents and staring down gang members

When you hear about an attorney who’s flown F-14s, faced down the Crips and Bloods, and prosecuted biker gang members with names like “Danger” and “Monster,” you assume the guy is going to be a steely-eyed Clint Eastwood type. Then Thomas P. O’Brien gets on a Zoom call and he’s self-deprecating and kinetic—cracking jokes about his lack of prowess with technology (“I’m like the lawyer who attended the Zoom court hearing with the cat filter on his face,” he says), and …

'It's a Fraud, It's All a Fraud'

Ira Lee Sorkin and Marc Litt on the Bernie Madoff case

Though Americans love going big, no one wants “Architect of Largest Ponzi Scheme in History” as their epitaph. But that was The New York Times obituary headline for Bernie Madoff last April. For decades, Madoff’s brokerage firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, seemed to regularly outperform the S&P 500, offering investors annual returns of 50%—and, with at least one client, 550%. It all came crashing down in December 2008. If the financial devastation was …

Soft Landings

Victoria Blachly speaks for those who can’t speak for themselves

Victoria Blachly doesn’t bring people back from the dead. Just nearly.  Blachly is a fiduciary litigator focusing on matters affecting the elderly. Many of her clients are experiencing memory loss while trying to navigate complex end-of-life legal issues. “It is definitely a challenge, working with clients with memory loss,” says the Samuels Yoelin Kantor partner. “I’m often dealing with families fighting about wills and trusts, or capacity cases, undue influence, financial elder …

The Law and Aging in America

What we don't talk about when we talk about getting old

The golden years: a time to relax, reflect and enjoy the fruits of one’s labors. Scratch that. For many older Americans, it’s a time of decline, pharmaceuticals and financial ruin. Most of us cannot predict whether we will be laid off, and if so, whether we will ever find work again; whether we will suffer a catastrophic illness, and if we do, who might try to profit. When you add that seniros may not want to be a burden on caregivers, or may feel stranded in a world where there’s always …

The Straight Shooter

How Sylvia Goldschmidt fell into family law

“I did one last Friday with a judge,” says Sylvia Goldschmidt. “It wasn’t the same.”  It’s late May and she’s referring to a divorce case she’s handling via teleconference. Like nearly everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, the founding partner of Goldschmidt & Genovese, who normally works out of her offices in Manhattan and White Plains but is speaking from her home in Westchester, has had to improvise. This means court dates carried out via Zoom, with only attorneys and …

Mixed Judicial Arts

Former Superior Court Judge Peter Polos now passes judgment on MMA fights

A look at the CV of the Honorable Peter Polos—Air Force ROTC, former Superior Court judge and litigator—shows a man invested in the basic concepts of fairness. “I am definitely rule-oriented,” he says. “I can’t even tell you how upset I get when something is unfair.”  He’s still a judge, by the way. Not in superior court, from which he retired in 2010, but as a licensed judge in mixed martial arts competitions.  He’s a longtime fan. In high school, Polos swam and played …

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Steve Cohen began law school at 58; now, at 68, he’s on the Rising Stars list

Steve Cohen has worked in advertising and publishing, served in the Navy, written seven books, co-chaired Hillary Clinton’s White House task force on early childhood literacy, and launched a number of startups. At age 58, he started law school. Last year, he cofounded the firm Pollock Cohen. This is his first year on the Rising Stars list. He’s 68. The first really rich guy I knew said to me that he returns every phone call within 24 hours. And the first phone call that’s returned is from …

Capitalizing on Offshore Wind

How New York can become the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy

Last December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for New York state to have a 100% carbon-neutral electricity supply by 2040. “New York must be the most progressive state in the nation moving to renewables,” he said during a speech at New York City’s Hunter College. Good timing. With politicians trying to outgreen each other—even stalwart Republicans like Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Matt Gaetz are proposing conservative solutions to climate change—being ambitious when it comes to wind, solar …

A Long Way from the Mole Hole

Five legendary Georgia attorneys on practicing law for half a century

Most became lawyers by accident—although one, with tongue firmly in cheek, says it was destiny. Another chose law because he’d heard it was less anti-Semitic than other professions—but anti-Semitism was still prevalent. So was sexism and racism. Bobby Lee Cook remembers segregated drinking fountains in courthouses. Miles Alexander of Kilpatrick Stockton says, “I’m very careful not to use the term ‘good old days’ when I talk to students who have just passed the bar. Most of them …

Dina Alexander Leans In

The real estate attorney helps guide Portland through its growing pains

In 2002, shortly after Dina Alexander returned to Portland following stints with real estate firms in hot, techy markets (Seattle 1996; San Francisco 1998), Robb Ball, founding partner of Ball Janik, the firm that wooed her back, stopped by her office. He was going on sabbatical and had a small favor to ask: “Can you cover this work while I’m away?” “This work” turned out to involve the South Waterfront Central District, a parcel of land running alongside the Willamette River south of …

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