About Beth Taylor
Beth Taylor has been a senior editor for Super Lawyers since 2003, and has won dozens of awards for headline-writing and editing throughout her career. Previously, she was an editor and covered courts for The Orlando Sentinel. She also worked for go2net and KIRO-TV in Seattle, where she wrote for and edited their websites. In addition, Beth edited The Kitsap Business Journal and Media Inc. Beth has written travel books, including Around Seattle With Kids for Fodor’s and Seattle Day By Day for Frommer’s, and online travel guides for Google. Her travel writing has appeared in publications including the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. Beth has a B.A. in communications/journalism and a master’s degree in political science.
Articles written by Beth Taylor
Steve Berman: Putting the Brakes on Alleged Emissions Cheating
The Seattle heavy-hitter accuses GM of deception similar to that used by VolkswagenWhen the scandal involving Volkswagen’s self-acknowledged cheating on emissions tests rocked the auto industry and shocked consumer advocates in 2015, Seattle lawyer Steve Berman had to wonder if the German manufacturer was the only one trying to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes. “I did a deep-dive in Europe and uncovered studies there that [indicated] there was widespread cheating,” he says. “I then thought to myself, ‘If the German companies—who many think are the best …
Florida Legal Community Mourns 'Brilliant' Plaintiff's Litigator
Coral Gables' Ervin Gonzalez 'understood the human condition'Ervin A. Gonzalez, who passed away on June 8 at age 57, was one of the most successful plaintiff’s personal injury litigators in the state. His victories ranged from the Chinese drywall cases to the BP oil spill claims. He was a past president of the Dade County Bar Association and of the Miami-Dade County Trial Lawyers Association, as well as a former governor of The Florida Bar. “We felt like we got a first-round draft pick,” says Dean C. Colson of the firm’s decision in 2000 to …
The Long, Globetrotting Apprenticeship of Jason C. Astle
What becomes a pre-law student most?Jason C. Astle didn’t go to law school until he was 31. He was too busy doing a few other things: helping run a domestic-violence program in Durango; building an elementary school in Cameroon; and keeping defendants out of jail in England. You know: the usual. “I didn’t want to regret walking away from opportunities,” explains Astle, who had his heart set on becoming a lawyer ever since he and his high school team in Evergreen won the state mock trial championships. “The salaries …
The Riveter
Lisa Sparks opens doors to the law for underprivileged girlsIt was only a decade ago that Lisa Sparks, a first-generation high school graduate who grew up in a Baltimore steel mill neighborhood, was navigating her way through college and law school. She not only got the J.D., but did so at age 22, and summa cum laude. “I was voted most likely to be the first woman president in my fourth-grade class,” Sparks says. “I never really got the politics bug, but talked about being a lawyer off and on since elementary school.” Now a construction lawyer …
Two Common Mistakes in the Asylum Application Process
When Melisa Peña moved from Peru to the U.S. as a child, she decided to become a lawyer someday so she could help her parents get permanent residency (green card) — a goal she ultimately achieved. For herself, she acquired U.S. citizenship, along with a degree from Florida International University College of Law. Now, she spends her days helping other immigrants. “The thing my clients like about me is that I’m very honest,” says Peña, an immigration attorney at Jarbath Peña Law Group …
Future Lawyer of America
Jessica Palvino has come a long way from walking her cows every morning to walking the halls of the courthouse.Q: Straight from college, you walked into the middle of a huge case at McGinnis Lochridge. A: I did a summer clerkship here, then right out of school in June of 2005, I immediately started working [here] with Ray Chester, who at the time had just filed the first or second Ortho Evra [contraceptive] case in the nation. My very first hearing that I ever got to argue at was a motion to compel hearing on the Ortho Evra cases—sick with the flu, by the way. I was not going to miss that opportunity …
Uncle Bill
Robert F. Brennan talks ABOUT consumer law ... and UNCLE William J. Brennan Jr.U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. was dubbed “probably the most influential” justice of the last century by no less an authority than fellow justice, and political foe, Antonin Scalia. But to Bob Brennan he was Uncle Bill. “He was just the smartest guy in the room,” recalls Brennan, who practices consumer rights law in La Crescenta. “It was like he was the sun and the planets were revolving around him. … The man just had an incredible presence.” Justice Brennan had …
Games Over
Bankruptcy lawyer Laura Day DelCotto isn’t playing around when it comes to protecting her clientsQ: Do bankruptcy clients tend to come to you when there’s still time to help, or when it’s time to be dug out of the ditch? A: More the latter. [Laughs] I wish there were more in the former. We will occasionally find someone who comes in to say, “I see this coming out on the horizon. Are there any tweaks I can make now to avoid this?” But the vast majority come in when there is already a major problem. Not that you can’t help them, but sometimes they’ve done things that [make] you …
A Tale Worth Telling
To Nashville litigator Gail Ashworth, every case is a page-turnerQ: What case really stands out for you? A: I don’t generally do a lot of domestic work, but [this] involved numerous courts, numerous lawsuits [around a woman’s] tragic murder. When her husband was expelled from Mexico, where he had spirited the children away for several years, he tried to hide them. The FBI helped us locate them. The maternal grandparents had seen them every day of their lives up until this horrible event when the children were young, 2 and 6. We were able to get custody …
The Accidental Lawyer
Carl Roth has racked up $2.4 billion worth of patent cases—and championed a heroic burn victim along the wayQ: You’re known for both intellectual property and products liability litigation. Let’s start with IP. A: The first intellectual property case I was involved in was Digital Switch, against Motorola. We made the lawyers leave the room and they worked it out. It turned out to be very, very beneficial for both of them. That led to us getting a call from Texas Instruments. They had a problem and needed a quick resolution, and they heard that I might be able to do that for them in the Eastern …
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