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
Penney Lane
Fred Penney on the next wave of legal marketingFred Penney’s not a famous actor, singer or athlete. He’s a personal injury lawyer who 30 years ago founded an eponymous firm in Roseville, population 135,000. So why does he have 1.2 million Instagram followers? It’s all part of the job these days, he says. Penney has always promoted his businesses in unusual ways, like putting his name on race cars, but it’s his use of LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook that have garnered him ink in Forbes and Entrepreneur. Colleagues and opposing …
My Name is My Name
Five Pennsylvania solo acts on why they stepped out aloneBy 2018, five years into her legal career, Jennifer Gomez Hardy had noticed something: She was doing a lot of work but wasn’t making a name for herself. At one firm, bosses wouldn’t even allow her to put her name on motions she was winning. “How could I build my reputation if I couldn’t put my name on anything?” asks Hardy, 42, who practices personal injury law in Philadelphia. Which is why she left her midsize firm on a Friday and opened her solo practice the following Monday. …
All the Single Ladies
Five New Jersey solo acts on why they stepped out on their ownWhen Abhisha Parikh went looking for her first job as an attorney, one firm said she wouldn’t have direct contact with her clients; others seemed more concerned with billables. She was intrigued by a firm that wanted her to head its immigration section, but that changed when one of the partners suggested she come to his country club where they could “discuss the opportunity poolside.” “That was a breaking point,” Parikh, 32, recalls. “After six to eight months of interviews, I …
Highway From the Danger Zone
Retired Air Force Captain Byeongsook Seo brings an engineer’s mind to the lawByeongsook Seo normally doesn’t use military analogies when talking about his work as a commercial litigator. But he can’t resist when he reflects on how his six years in the U.S. Air Force inform his practice. “In the Air Force, I was leading a crew of upwards of 50 members and it gave me perspective on how to manage a team and complete a mission. When you’re going to trial, it’s important to know which team member has what role and how to motivate them to get the best out of …
'What a Democracy Should Be'
Election law attorney Martha Tierney on the gold standard in Colorado and trouble elsewhereWhen Martha Tierney entered the world of election law in the 1990s, campaign finance reform was “the playground where the fights were,” she remembers. Increasingly in the 2000s, the fights centered on voter requirements, including voter ID and maintaining active registrations. Today, it’s all about election policies—how, when and where citizens can cast ballots, and which entity has the final say on an election’s legitimacy. “There are a lot of efforts to make it harder to vote …
Working Within
In a polarized world, Michael Greene finds his way by focusing on the factsWhen Mike Greene was in middle school, a white classmate called him the N-word. The boys began fighting and Greene ended up in the principal’s office. When he got home, Greene told his father what happened. “I thought he’d be on my side,” Greene says. “He said, ‘Well, where was he while you were in the principal’s office?’ I said, ‘In class.’ He said, ‘What was he doing?” I said, ‘Learning.’ ‘And where were you?’ I said, ‘At the principal’s office.’ “Then …
Catching Up With the Coluccis
Darin and Dino on brotherhood, making clients happy, and who Mom liked bestDino and Darin Colucci agree on a lot—including which of them their late mother preferred. “He was my mother’s favorite,” Darin says. “Everybody knew it was true. You just had to move on and accept it.” Dino interjects: “He’s leaving out that I worked awful hard for a long time to be mom’s favorite. I put the time in. I put the effort in.” Growing up, the Colucci brothers shared a room, played football—Dino at offensive guard, Darin at quarterback—and built the …
'We Need to Tell Other Stories'
Lisa E. Davis’ decades-long battle for inclusion in entertainment and lawSome people don’t see much of a connection between entertainment law and racial justice, but Lisa E. Davis knows otherwise. “The greatest opportunity and source of wealth for African Americans prior to the civil rights movement was in the field of entertainment,” says Davis, a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. “It was the one place they were allowed to collect wealth—though not as much as the people controlling the large companies that distributed our intellectual …
Changing the Narrative
There’s nothing Sherry Fox loves more than being underestimatedIt’s not often a lawyer mentions her work in surrogacy and reproductive law in the same breath as she does her work defending police officers after arrests go wrong. The two might seem incongruous to some, Sherry Fox acknowledges, but for her, the blend sings of balance. “I get a raised eyebrow, but the common thread is that they are both people-focused,” she says. Lawyers who specialize in other types of law, like business or real estate, “rarely work with the people who will be …
Uncommon Conviction
Karol Corbin Walker’s faith-forward approach to life and the law began at homeTwice a day, Karol Corbin Walker hits pause on her business, commercial and employment litigation work to connect with people, and it has nothing to do with the deeply isolating pandemic. It’s a long-practiced, reflective pause, a daily routine each morning and evening of sharing spiritual messages, devotionals, prayers, affirmations and such with the 100 or so people across her various social groups. “You never know what another person is going through,” Walker says. That’s why she …
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