About Erik Lundegaard
Erik Lundegaard has been a senior editor at Super Lawyers since 2005 and its editor in chief since 2013—during which time the magazine has won close to 100 journalism awards around the country. His freelance writing has been published by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Salon, MSNBC.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Seattle Times and The Believer, among others. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota, studied Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, and lives in Seattle, Washington, where he is a long-suffering Seattle Mariners fan. In his spare time, he is working on a book about the movies of James Cagney.
Articles written by Erik Lundegaard
The Three Lessons of Edward Tolley
The prominent Athens trial lawyer talks about what he’d do to change the justice systemQ: You’ve been away from Athens for a while. Were you trying a case? A: I’m sorry I’ve been so hard to get in touch with. In the past 24 months, I’ve tried four civil cases and six federal trials: one of them was 35 days, two of them were three weeks, one of them was a week. It just happened that way. So when you’re in trial, you’re in trial, and it’s hard for people to get in touch. So I do apologize. Q: You do both criminal and civil. Any preference? A: They both have …
You Messed with the Wrong Marine
How elder abuse litigation attorney Kimberly Valentine transcended a tough upbringing to become a voice for the vulnerableQ: You hung a shingle in 2012. What made you take that step? A: I do elder abuse litigation and I’m very selective about the cases I take. Q: Selective how? A: The ideal case for me is where I can develop this fantastic relationship with a caring family who did everything they could do to provide for the best interest of their—usually—parent. They trusted that the right thing was going to happen, and the right thing did not happen, and their family member ended up being neglected. …
500 Hours of Prep for a 30-Minute Argument
If Kathryn Karcher lives in Washington state, why is she president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers?Q: After you graduated from law school, you biked across the country. Was this a reward for getting through school? A: Everybody that I knew took some sort of major vacation or trip after law school. My thought process was that I could go to Europe for two weeks any time, but I can’t go on a cross-county bicycle trip any time, and I might not have a gap like that again in my life. Q: Did you go alone? A: I had a boyfriend at the time but he’d never ridden a bike. He just said, …
Labor Force
Barbara Zack Quindel on east coast sarcasm, the Wisconsin idea, and the last five years for Wisconsin laborQ: As a labor lawyer, how have the last five years in Wisconsin under Gov. Walker felt to you? A: I would say pretty much everything that has gone on is in direct opposition to the kind of work we’ve done to defend and expand the rights of working people—employees—in all aspects of their work life. Q: I live outside the state but I’ve certainly read about some of the battles: Act 10, the “right-to-work” measure … A: I think people outside the state are a bit baffled, given …
An Innocence Man
Barry Scheck talks Louima, Lyons, and whether the state has executed an innocent manIn 1992, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld founded the Innocence Project, a clinical program within the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law that focused on overturning wrongful convictions using DNA evidence. Since then hundreds of convictions have been overturned thanks to DNA evidence, and their program has become a network, with organizations around the nation and globe. All told, innocence organizations have been part of nearly 400 exonerations worldwide. We spoke with Scheck this summer. …
Schroer as in Prayer
Appellate attorney Janet Schroer on repair work, staying in Oregon despite a gubernatorial directive, and why you have to know everything about everything in the caseQ: How are you? A: My gosh, I’ve had a heck of a day. It’s one of those days where you come in expecting to do one thing, and things take a turn. Q: Is this still a good time? A: [Sighs] I think it’s as good a time as ever. Q: [Laughs] You sound like you’re about to sit down for a dental appointment. A: I feel that way. I’m that way with photographs, too. Q: This is out of left field, but how do you pronounce your last name? A: Schroer. Like “prayer.” …
Balasubramani, Offline
Internet attorney Venkat Balasubramani loves talking about tech matters and legal theory, less so about himselfWhen it’s pointed out that his battered iPhone 4, sitting on a tabletop at a Central District coffee shop on a drizzly February afternoon, is hardly cutting-edge technology, Venkat Balasubramani, 44, a lawyer who focuses on Internet and tech matters, laughs and shrugs. “I like it,” he says. “It works.” Balasubramani is surprisingly laid-back for an attorney. He’s wearing a dark shirt and jeans, and holding meetings at a coffee shop in the middle of the afternoon because his …
Right Way for Right-of-Way
Eminent domain attorney and Expo Line advocate Bradford B. Kuhn on why the easiest way from Point A to Point B isn’t necessarily a straight lineQ: You’re the chair of Nossaman’s eminent domain practice. Who do you tend to represent in your cases? A: A significant chunk is public agencies: LA Metro, San Diego Association of Governments, San Bernardino. I primarily do the right-of-way acquisition component. If you’re building a huge corridor for a new rail line, or a freeway that’s widening, it’s a lot of work to actually acquire the properties for the project. Q: Are you ever involved in choosing where to put these …
Mind the Gap
Why W. Lewis Garrison Jr. has been accused of turning Alabama into ‘tort hell’There’s an accountability gap in federal drug law, and W. Lewis Garrison Jr. is trying to close it—at least in Alabama. The gap exists, in essence, because of the often-competing desires to make drugs both safe and affordable. In 1962 under the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments, drug companies, including generics, were required to prove the efficacy and safety of their products to the FDA. (That’s the safety aspect.) Twenty-two years later, the Hatch-Waxman Amendments allowed generic …
Playing With the Interplay
Nancy Crow on the giant puzzle of tax law and the special joy of the Windsor decisionQ: So how much money does a person need to make in order to hire a tax lawyer? A: It really depends upon what you need a tax lawyer for. Recently in my practice, I have been focusing a lot on estate and trust issues. In that area, the estate tax exemption was $60,000 when I started practicing law and it’s now $5.43 million. But I do a great deal of planning transactions for people who have a lot less money than $5.4 million, I can assure you. Sometimes people contact me as a tax lawyer …
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