About William Wagner
William Wagner is an award-winning writer and editor who’s been at it for thirty-plus years. He has written for everything from Sports Illustrated to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and also is the author of a book about the Chicago Cubs titled Wrigley Blues. Wagner has contributed to Super Lawyers since 2005 and has thoroughly enjoyed interviewing and profiling an array of fascinating attorneys.
Articles written by William Wagner
Strategies for Businesses To Prevent Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is a malicious software, also called malware, designed to disable computer systems and capture sensitive data until the victim pays a ransom to recover access. Ransomware attacks are on the rise, and the tools deployed by threat actors — people or groups who intentionally cause harm to digital devices or systems — are increasingly sophisticated. “Assume you're going to get hit at some point,” says Jason Kravitz, head of the cybersecurity and privacy practice at Nixon Peabody …
What, If Anything, Can Be Done About Ransomware Attacks?
Attorneys’ advice when you’re virtually shut downIn November 2022, a ransomware attack shut down schools in two Michigan counties for multiple days. From classroom technologies to the heating, the schools’ critical systems were rendered nonfunctional. James J. Giszczak, co-president and co-chair of the Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group at McDonald Hopkins in Bloomfield Hills, sees business operations incapacitated virtually every day. “We probably get three to five ransomware calls per day from clients that need help,” he …
Cultural Resolution
Linda Mealey-Lohmann’s longtime passion for ChinaIn the mid-’70s, Linda Mealey-Lohmann was a voice major at the University of Minnesota when the trajectory of her life changed. “I love languages, and as a voice major you have to sing in all different languages,” she recalls. “I was making my Chinese friends teach me Cantonese. At one point, they said, ‘You should take a Chinese class since you love language so much.’” She connected with it so well that she changed her major to East Asian studies—and that was just the …
Repping P.R. in D.C.
How Ivelisse Bonilla got the chance to help her home islandIvelisse Bonilla has always wanted to contribute to the greater good—particularly for her home, Puerto Rico. “I’ve always been passionate about politics and public service,” she says. She got her chance in 1999 when she was a young employment attorney at McConnell Valdés, the island’s largest law firm. A colleague of Bonilla’s had just been appointed head of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington, D.C.—the agency that represents the Puerto Rican government …
Fast, Cheap, and In Your Control
The reasons why so many prefer mediation for resolving business disputesMediation is a relatively simple and straightforward process for resolving business disputes—and that’s precisely the point. More often than not, according to attorneys who practice this type of law, it’s the best option. “A successful mediation is one where the parties select a mediator, the parties follow the mediation rules, the counsels show up and do their part, and the representatives of the disputing parties show up and do what they’re supposed to do,” says Mary Patricia …
Use Mediation for Your Business Dispute
Mediation is a type of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that provides a relatively simple and straightforward process for resolving business disputes. In many business disputes, mediation is the best option by being faster, more cost-effective, and enabling creative solutions. For legal advice about using mediation to resolve disputes and avoid business litigation, talk to a mediation and ADR attorney. How Mediation Works The disputing parties and their attorneys agree on a neutral third …
In-Laws in Law
Dan O’Connell and Lindsey O’Connell bridge the generational divideFor two of the lawyers at Maplewood-based Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, family law is literal. When Lindsey O’Connell joined the firm in 2015, she went into practice with her father-in-law, family law mainstay Dan O’Connell. “I am married to Dan’s youngest son, Kevin,” Lindsey says. “He and I went to UMD together. The very first time I met Dan, they came up to visit us in Duluth. I got to go out to dinner with Dan and Lynne. I had known I wanted to go to law school, and I …
What Do I Need To Do Before Filing a Discrimination Lawsuit?
To file a discrimination lawsuit, you first need to file an EEOC charge to initiate an agency investigation and go through conciliation within the statute of limitations. Most states require filing a formal complaint alleging adverse employment action with the state labor agency before the filing deadline and exhausting administrative remedies to get a right-to-sue letter. Gather evidence of employer retaliation based on your protected class, including internal HR reports, company policies, and …
All the Small Things
Starting a tax-exempt org in Illinois isn’t as simple as it may seemNonprofit fundraising comes in all shapes and sizes—from raffles to membership dues—but there are certain practices that apply across the board. For starters, as Park Ridge attorney Jessica M. Wojtowicz Heston succinctly puts it: “Call an attorney.” It’s better to make that call sooner rather than later, she says. As for why, look no further than the Illinois General Not For Profit Corporation Act. It is filled with potential pitfalls for the uninitiated. “It has all sorts of rules …
Cutting Through the Darkness
How education attorney Darcy Kriha helped a blind immigrant gain citizenshipDarcy Kriha didn’t choose the law as much as she was called to it—literally, by Jean Dolores Schmidt. Basketball fans in Chicago and beyond know “Sister Jean” as the much-loved chaplain of the Loyola University men’s team. Kriha, however, knew her long before that—as her academic adviser at Mundelein College (which later merged with Loyola) in the late 1980s, who provided hands-on guidance. “Sister Jean knew I needed a little help because I was the first generation in my family to …
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