About Taylor Kuether
Taylor Kuether is a writer, editor, digital storyteller and editorial director. She’s written for Super Lawyers, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Society, HuffPost, The Washington Post and more.
Articles written by Taylor Kuether
Pilot Program
Chris Stevenson puts in the work—in court, in the sky and on the pageLawyer, author, pilot, father of five, husband, dog dad—Chris Stevenson wears a lot of hats. First came pilot. After graduating from Purdue University’s aviation program, Stevenson worked as a flight instructor for about a year before flying Boeing 727s for a cargo company. “I got to go all over North America in the middle of the night, which is a little less glamorous than it may seem,” says Stevenson. “I did that for about two and a half years and realized I had a desire to go to …
Untying Knots
In construction litigation and mediation, Ty Laurie leaves it all on the fieldIn 1999, Ty Laurie, who was then 13 years into his construction-litigation career, was tasked with representing the Chicago Bears in their renovation of Soldier Field, the oldest stadium in the NFL. Since a lot of stadiums are built in the parking lot adjoining the stadium, Laurie explains, construction doesn’t have to be rushed. “You could miss two years or more. We renovated the stadium in the footprint of the existing stadium. We could only miss one season of play.” The Bears made a …
Looking Forward
Three young lawyers on the challenges and opportunities facing their generationMarisol González Castillo, Tiara M. Oates, and Jeremy Chavez come from different backgrounds, work at different firms, and practice in different areas, but they do share something powerful in common: They represent the future of the legal profession in Wisconsin. They are closer to the beginning of their careers than to the end, but in reflecting on what the future could hold, each gave perspectives on the potential challenges and opportunities. “We’re seeing a lot more proliferation …
Scary, Terrifying, Amazing
Jennifer De Angelis’ SCOTUS experience led to "good law," and a future lawyerJennifer De Angelis may have made history when she appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, but it was the last thing she wanted to talk about. "When I left the courtroom that day, The Wall Street Journal reporter and a couple of others came up to me and asked me how it felt to be the first pregnant woman to argue before the Supreme Court,” she says. “I have no way to confirm one way or another, but I just remember thinking, ‘I’ve done all this work and that’s what you want to …
There and Back Again with Tom Albin
Why he started and returned to his best fit: Connecticut Legal ServicesMost attorneys get a degree or two on the way to law school. Tom Albin took it a bit further—and longer—than that. “I had delayed my entry into the legal field—I was doing six degrees including a Ph.D., and that took a lot of time,” Albin says. “I was older than a lot of the other new attorneys because I’d spent 14 years in college and graduate school.” Albin, whose Ph.D. is in Romance linguistics, originally planned to practice international law, which felt like a natural fit …
‘Never Underestimate Anybody’
What Rick Hoffmann learned from John Roberts while prepping him for a SCOTUS argumentRick Hoffmann remembers a lot of activity at the Supreme Court of the United States the day he was there in 2000—and it wasn’t for his intellectual property case. “We happened to go when there was something pending on their calendar at the same time,” says Hoffmann, an IP litigator at Reising Ethington in Troy. “It was the Bush and Gore hanging chad.” It was Nov. 29, and the court was days away from hearing Bush v. Gore. “When we left [the court], there was a lot of …
Knowing When to Push
How Saraphoena B. Koffron went from teen mom to opening a family law practiceSome lawyers have an epiphany or “aha moment” that prompts them to go into law; some grow up as an argumentative child who adults say will make a great lawyer someday. “I didn’t have that,” says Saraphoena B. Koffron, founding partner of Austin+Koffron in Kalamazoo. “What I had was a series of challenges and injustices that I refused to get the best of me, that propelled me towards law school.” Koffron was the youngest of six children in a low-income family, and her parents …
Taking a Side
Wes Allison uses his journalism background to advocate for the little guyWhat does it take to be a journalist? According to Wes Allison: “I dig up facts and I hassle the man.” Now a plaintiff’s lawyer, Allison uses those skills to advocate for clients. “I typically bring lawsuits—on behalf of people who couldn’t normally afford a lawyer—against larger entities, hospitals, banks, insurance companies, trucking companies,” he says. “It’s sort of a David-and-Goliath existence.” Allison worked as a journalist for 18 years before making …
20 & Counting
Five Chicago attorneys look back on two decades of life and lawTo mark the 20th edition of Illinois Super Lawyers, we caught up with five Chicago attorneys who have graced our pages over the last two decades: Thomas A. Demetrio, Patricia Brown Holmes, E. Lynn Grayson, Flint Taylor, and—our first-ever cover subject—Robert A. Clifford. Below, the lawyers recall 20 years of growing, changing, and practicing—and consider what’s ahead. Practice, Practice, Practice Flint Taylor, People’s Law Office; Civil Rights: We’ve continued to do the same kind …
A Moral Obligation
Why Catherine Mohan helps immigrant children and familiesIn 2016, Catherine Mohan felt compelled to become more active in pro bono—specifically, by representing children in immigration court. It might seem an odd choice for the chair of McCarter & English’s Products Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions group; but for Mohan, the cause is personal. “I am a first-generation American,” she says. “My father emigrated from Ireland. … America was great to my dad, he raised five great kids, and I had the most unbelievable …
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