About Timothy Harper
Timothy Harper is an award-winning journalist, author and lawyer. He has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Atlantic Monthly, among others. He’s also a collaborator, ghostwriter, and book doctor with a dozen books of his own, including License to Steal: The Secret World of Wall Street and the Systematic Plundering of the American Investor; and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the U.S. Constitution. He received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin and has taught in the journalism graduate schools at CUNY, Columbia and NYU.
Articles written by Timothy Harper
Building Families
A look at the legal complexities surrounding adoptionOf all the hoops prospective parents must jump through to adopt a child, one of the most stressful, according to adoption law veteran Clifford Greenberg, whose Manhattan offices are a four-minute walk from the New York County Family Court on Lafayette Street, is the home study: a required step in which a social worker visits the parents’ home to evaluate their suitability and prepare the family for the rest of the process. Many clients ask Greenberg how to present themselves in the best light …
Bases Covered
Jorden N. “Nick” Pedersen Jr. is on call for civilian contractors killed or injured abroad while on the job for the U.S. governmentAn American accountant was working for a company hired by the U.S. military to provide payroll services in Turkey. On a day off, he was moving a piece of exercise equipment into his apartment when the building’s elevator malfunctioned and he was killed. The man’s widow filed for workers’ compensation, but the claim was denied because it was not work-related. So she turned to Jorden N. “Nick” Pedersen Jr., who specializes in helping private contractors killed or injured while working …
Alan Zegas Plays the Bridge
His greatest hits have one thing in common: a Chris Christie chorusThe new client brought in documents related to his case, including printouts of old emails. The lawyer spread everything out on his conference table. The client pointed out one email in particular. Dated August 13, 2013, it read: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” The lawyer was Alan Zegas. The client was David Wildstein. And the email was the smoking gun in Bridgegate. “That was the bombshell,” Zegas says. The email led to high-level firings, legislative hearings, …
Legal Complexities of Adoption
Adoption is exciting, but also overwhelming. The more information you have, the more equipped you will be to handle the situation. This article addresses several frequently asked questions about the legal aspect of the adoption process. Adoption laws vary by state. Consult a local adoption law attorney about your options and the legal requirements to adopt in your state. What Is Adoption? "Adoption is a legal process where the parental rights of a child's biological parents are terminated, …
‘A Real Inspiration’
Getting the deal done and keeping quiet about it, with Marcia L. GoldsteinDuring a safari trip to Africa in 2006, Marcia L. Goldstein, prominent corporate bankruptcy lawyer, and her friend/client Becky Roof, prominent corporate restructuring adviser, watched from a safe vantage point as a pride of lionesses stalked a wildebeest. One particular lioness was clearly in charge. She guided the others as they crept through the brown grass that matched their tawny fur. When they had surrounded their prey, the lead lioness led a series of snarling feints, staying clear of …
Split Screen
Remi Spencer doesn’t just play a lawyer on TVIt’s a typical weekend for Remi Spencer. She works late Friday on several criminal cases at the new digs she designed herself in West Orange. At home on Saturday, she plays with her dogs, hits the gym, dresses up, and then a limo from a television network whisks her into its Manhattan studios. Stylists primp her hair and makeup, and she appears on a talk show that covers the presidential campaign. “Remi Spencer is the Heidi Klum of the courtroom,” someone tweets during her appearance. On …
Practicality Over Profundity
Land use lawyer Diane Whitney is all about common-sense solutionsDiane Whitney’s name gets things done. Lee Hoffman, a member at the Hartford office of Pullman & Comley, tells of failing to persuade an uncooperative court clerk to provide a document. “I then uttered the magic phrase, ‘It’s for Diane Whitney,’ and instantly the woman’s face was transformed,” Hoffman remembers. The clerk not only gave him the document, she spent the next 45 minutes recounting tales of Whitney’s knowledge, tact and kindness. As a partner at Pullman & …
The Dean of the Employment Bar
Betsy Plevan’s career has been based on finding the right fit: for her, for her clients and for a generation of female lawyersIt was 1974 and Bettina Plevan, all of 27 and a young mother not long out of law school, had landed an interview at Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn. Since 1875, the firm had been known for its high-quality work, but it wasn’t a “white shoe firm” dependent on Wall Street and banks; it was known, she says, as a “Jewish firm” because of the diversity of its lawyers, clients and practice. It was so progressive it already had several women associates and even a woman partner. During …
Promise Keeper
Kevin H. Marino, involved in the Bridgegate and Flash Boys trials, doesn’t believe juries believe ‘innocent until proven guilty’Federal prosecutors had spent four days presenting their case last autumn against James Quinn, a British pharmacist, in U.S. District Court in Virginia. Quinn, 73, was accused of exporting non-FDA-approved drugs to the United States, and faced years in prison. Quinn’s attorney, Kevin H. Marino, fought the prosecution’s case over those four days, cross-examining government witnesses to show that Quinn was innocent and had been tricked by an unlicensed American importer. Now it was his turn …
Diversity, not Divinity
Rotating careers and keeping true to self launched Don H. LiuSitting at a conference table at Xerox headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut, Don H. Liu grabs a pen and pad and draws a box with a large block “W” in the middle. The general counsel, executive vice president and secretary of Xerox Corporation has a lesson to impart. The box is a room full of executives, he explains. The “W” is a problem they are working on. If the room is full of white males, all with similar backgrounds and viewpoints, one of them says, “That’s a ‘W.’” The …
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