About Natalie Pompilio
Natalie Pompilio is an award-winning freelance writer based in Philadelphia. Formerly a staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News and The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Natalie was on the ground in Iraq in 2003 and in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. She’s collaborated on four Philadelphia-centric books: More Philadelphia Murals and The Stories They Tell (with Jane Golden and Robin Rice); Philadelphia A to Z (with photographer Jennifer Zdon); Walking Philadelphia: 30 Walking Tours Featuring Art, History, Architecture, and Little Known Gems (with photographer Tricia Pompilio) and This Used to Be Philadelphia (with photographer Tricia Pompilio. She holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, and she’s a rabid New York Yankees fan.
Articles written by Natalie Pompilio
An Appeal to Collegiality
John Hare and Chip Becker face off in major appellate cases and team up everywhere elseIn 2025, appellate attorneys John Hare and Charles “Chip” Becker were opposing counsel at least eight times—with more than $3.5 billion in play. In one Superior Court of Pennsylvania case with $177 million at stake, Becker, for the plaintiff, made the more successful argument. In another, Hare, for the defendant, persuaded the court to overturn a $1.09 billion judgment and to order a new trial for his client. And after these courtroom battles? Hare, of Marshall Dennehey, and Becker, of …
‘Sweat Equity Will Pay Off’
How an aha! moment made James Williams’ case against Blue Cross Blue ShieldNo matter the odds, television lawyers always seem to pull rabbits from hats. Working around the clock, they find the in-house memo, executive email or meeting transcript that blows apart the defense’s case and ensures a win for the good guys. That just doesn’t happen in real life. In fact, James Williams has a spiel he often pulls out during voir dire to explain that to potential jurors. “I say, ‘Look. This isn’t TV. There’s not going to be an aha! moment. We won’t …
Narrow Focus, Wide Perspective
How Milo Schwab wound up exclusively practicing civil rights lawIn May 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Americans took to the streets to protest police brutality and racial injustice. Some police agencies treated the protesters as a threat, and in Denver, they used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper balls as tools for crowd control. “I kept seeing videos—these horrific videos online, on social media—about what was actually happening at the protest here in Denver, and that wasn’t matching up with what the media …
Meeting Every Need
Christine Matus helps map the future for those with special needsIn 2009, Christine Matus gave birth to the second of two children, her younger daughter, Juliana, now 16, who is autistic and was also diagnosed with Down syndrome. Back then, even as a general law practitioner, Matus had trouble finding information about the nuances of special needs estate planning. It can involve trusts, wills, real estate, guardianships, housing and government benefits. “The more I learned about it, the more I realized it might be very helpful to help educate other …
It Came From Outer Space
The inside story on Mica Nguyen Worthy's space debris case“There are no slip-and-fall liability cases in outer space—instead, they’re slip-and-float.” That’s the kind of joke Mica Nguyen Worthy has heard too many times. Worthy, a partner in the Charlotte office of Cranfill Sumner, made history in May 2024 when she submitted the first-ever space debris claim to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, on behalf of a Florida family whose home was hit by space junk jettisoned by the agency. NASA chose to settle with Worthy’s client …
Murray & Murray & Murray & Murray & …
A short history of the family firm in Sandusky that has existed for nearly 100 yearsThe law firm of Murray & Murray has been the talk of the town since 1931, when Emmett and Thomas Sr. went into business together at “the only law firm of brothers in Sandusky,” as an article in The Sandusky Register noted that year. In the decades that followed, the firm became known for high-profile wins against big industries—and also for the sheer number of Murrays-at-law. At least 17 have practiced at the personal injury firm, which has been in operation more than 90 years. …
Give His Regards
Jason Baruch brings a cool head to the hot lightsBroadway is a fickle business. Years of work and millions of dollars can produce a must-see musical or an overnight flop. You never know. But sometimes you do. “There are moments when you are seeing or hearing something for the first time,” says entertainment attorney Jason Baruch, “sitting on the edge of your plastic seat in this small, uncomfortable rehearsal room, and you feel, ‘This is going to be something.’ It’s thrilling.” Baruch felt that thrill when he first heard a …
‘A Just and Important Fight’
Walter Kelley takes us inside his landmark wrongful death verdict against R.J. ReynoldsWhen a Massachusetts jury in 2023 ordered R.J. Reynolds to pay $200 million to the family of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer—the largest wrongful death suit award in Boston history—the family’s attorney, Walter Kelley, wasn’t surprised. “The verdict … wasn’t an anomaly or a fluke. It was a just result based on the strength of the evidence the jury heard,” Kelley says. “If future juries listen just as carefully to the facts and apply the law as instructed, I …
Starting the Conversation
Allison Stewart’s podcast invites women attorneys to share their storiesWhen Allison Stewart invites attorneys onto her podcast, Women in Law on the Record, some demur, saying, “My story’s not very interesting,” or “I haven’t done anything spectacular,” or “I’m not as far along as I thought I’d be.” Afterward, “They always end up feeling proud of themselves,” says Stewart, who practices civil litigation in the Dallas office of Greenberg Traurig. “That’s one of my favorite things about the whole process: seeing women take pride in their …
The Healer
Former critical-care nurse Jane Morrow now advocates for victims of medical malpracticeWhen Jane Morrow reflects on some of the proudest moments of her 30-plus years as a medical malpractice attorney, it’s not the big financial settlements and verdicts that come to mind. “I think about the times where I just showed up for the patient or for the client, at the most vulnerable times of their lives,” says Morrow, who recently completed Red Cross disaster training and is ready for her first deployment. “That’s what’s meant the most: that I was there for them, that I was …
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