About Susan G. Hauser
Susan G. Hauser is a Portland writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, People, O, and many other publications. She holds a B.A. in English from Portland State University and an M.A. in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago.
Articles written by Susan G. Hauser
It Takes a Tugboat
How Bert Markovich navigated his way to maritime lawBert Markovich never saw the ocean until he was an adult. Growing up in Butte, Montana, then serving as captain of Montana State University’s 1976 title-winning football team, he had his sights set on high school coaching and teaching. So how did he end up as a cook on a tugboat? It was 1977, and he’d followed his heart—and wife-to-be Theresa—to the coastal Oregon town of North Bend, where she had been hired to teach at the local high school. Bored and jobless—with a recent double …
He Had Us at Hello
Stephen Oddo was Jerry Maguire before Jerry MaguireIn the 1990s, Stephen Oddo, a shareholder rights attorney at Robbins Arroyo in San Diego, worked two jobs that bring to mind the power and glamour of both Washington, D.C., and Hollywood. First, he was press secretary to Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.); then after getting his J.D., he was a sports agent. He was Jerry Maguire before Jerry Maguire. So was being a press secretary anything like you see on TV? “Not at all,” says Oddo. “I certainly provided quotes to journalists, and I was …
Downhill Lawyer
To improve his practice, Brad Stanford hit the slopesBrad Stanford did not join the Mount Hood Ski Patrol for the usual reasons: adventure, glamour, helping injured skiers, the cool red jacket. He did it to become a better lawyer. An ardent skier since he was 6 years old, Stanford began representing ski and recreation businesses soon after arriving at Farleigh Wada Witt in 1990. “It didn’t even occur to me that this could be a niche area,” says Stanford. “I was fortunate.” But Stanford realized he could be even better if he experienced …
Keith Kessler Goes the Distance
The Hoquiam lawyer fights for injured cyclistsSeattle is often touted by national media and cycling organizations as one of America’s most bike-friendly cities. But Keith Kessler sees another side to the story. The Hoquiam lawyer is a nationally renowned authority on roadway safety. He has written extensively on the issue—most recently in “Bicycle Litigation,” a pamphlet co-authored with Daniel Laurence, a colleague at Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Koehler Moore Kahler, and published by their firm in 2015. “We’ve got roads …
The Border Patrol's Loss
Things haven’t always gone the way Michael Gavito wanted—usually, they’ve turned out betterWhen Michael Manuel Gavito graduated from college in 2000, his sights were set on a career in law enforcement rather than law. Growing up in Brownsville, on the border with Mexico, he dreamed of becoming a border patrol agent. Gavito, an avid angler and hunter, explains: “I like the outdoors, so I thought, ‘This is for me!’” After completing the lengthy application process, he was told to wait for word on entering the border patrol academy. So he waited. And waited. His father had a …
Guns, Ground and Self-Defense
If you use deadly force, be ready to prove you feared for your lifeBe reasonable. That’s good advice in most situations. It’s also the key idea behind any self-defense case. “Most states’ self-defense laws, be they ‘stand your ground’ or not ‘stand your ground,’ are really not that dissimilar,” says Portland criminal defense lawyer Janet Hoffman. “The standards that we already have in place require that the force be reasonable, and that your perceptions of [the threat of] serious physical injury or death be reasonable before you …
Workplace Privacy?
There’s just one place at work where you’re safe from monitoringThe right to privacy is a venerable and hallowed concept, one that began to take shape more than a century ago. But if people think it extends to workplace communications performed on company-owned devices, “They’ve got their heads buried in the sand,” says Chrys A. Martin, an employment and labor lawyer with Davis Wright Tremaine. “Every employee knows now that somebody can listen to their voice mail or tap into their email or sites they’ve been accessing,” she …
The Unashamed Progressive
Business lawyer Steven Berman works for same-sex marriage, GMO labeling and marijuana legalization; and note the pedigree“You don’t know your clients, you never get into court, you work until your soul is beaten down.” Steven Berman isn’t talking about his current practice. He’s talking about why, fresh out of Harvard Law in 1994, he didn’t follow many of his classmates to big paychecks at Wall Street or large East Coast law firms. “It just wasn’t appealing at all,” he says. Instead, he took the road less traveled: He moved 3,000 miles to a city he had visited once three years earlier, and where …
Spreading Justice
Steve Fury co-founded a volunteer group that helps coach trial lawyers in AfricaEleven years ago, Seattle attorney Steve Fury was asked to help teach a trial-skills program in Malawi. He got hooked. The personal injury attorney went on to co-found Justice Advocacy Africa in 2010. To date, about 40 trial lawyers, mostly from Washington state, have paid their own way for weeklong trips to Africa, where they serve as trial-skills coaches for lawyers in Botswana, Uganda or Kenya. They also make substantial personal donations to help continue the work. “We’re humbled by how …
We Are Repeat Players
Bankruptcy attorney Teresa H. Pearson knows it’s all about practice, practice, practiceSince high school in Gillette, Wyo., Teresa H. Pearson always liked to be part of the band. Clarinet was her instrument, marching with the woodwinds in heavy uniforms. Looking back, it makes sense to her: The work of the marching band was similar to the work of bankruptcy law. Both band and the law were subcultures. Everyone had their particular practice area—woodwinds or percussion. In bankruptcy law, as in band, “we are all a bunch of repeat players,” she says. Connections were formed …
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