About Rebecca Mariscal
Rebecca Mariscal is the editorial assistant on Super Lawyers’ staff. She serves as a writer for multiple Super Lawyers magazines and consumer articles, as well as being a fact-checker and proofreader. She manages the Super Lawyers Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social profiles. She studied communication and journalism at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota where she was also a senior reporter for the university’s news site TommieMedia. She has previously worked for newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Her work has been featured in the Pioneer Press, Duluth News Tribune, Star-Observer and more.
Articles written by Rebecca Mariscal
In Translation
How David Gair went from teaching to tax lawDavid Gair was 16 years old when he left the U.S. for the first time, boarding a plane to spend the school year as an exchange student with a family in the small town of La Almunia, Spain. He quickly discovered his Spanish II education wasn’t enough. “Man, it’s trial by fire,” he says. “I had a headache for the first month I was there, just because it was so much information in my brain.” Even so, the experience enhanced his love for Spanish and he eventually earned a master’s …
A Little Bit of ‘I’ll Show You’
How Judy Langevin learned to do good where she canIt was at Berkley in the late 1960s that Judy Langevin decided she wanted to save the world. It was a common notion among the students there, amidst the Vietnam War and the growing civil rights and women’s liberation movements. “I can remember sitting on the steps of Sproul Hall and watching students being beaten by cops with clubs and being dragged, and the blood from their injuries ending up on the concrete of Sproul Plaza,” Langevin says. “I can remember walking across campus and …
Not Just a Job—a Cause
Kostan Lathouris’ promise to represent tribal interests and sovereigntyFrom a young age, Kostan Lathouris would join his grandmother Loretta to make the two-and-a-half hour drive from Southern Nevada to the Chemehuevi Reservation in southeastern California. There, they would sit in the back row of their tribe’s council meetings, listening as the agenda unfolded. After the meeting, the two would gather with family and debrief about the issues. Lathouris with his grandmother at his graduation. “I got my sense of civic duty and responsibility and integrity from …
‘That Freedom to Advocate’
Aida Macedo’s search for the perfect practiceIn 2018, Aida Macedo was on the partner track. She’d spent the past six years at Miles, Sears & Eanni doing plaintiff’s litigation, handling multimillion-dollar personal injury, wrongful death and products liability cases. “I really enjoyed it. They taught me how to practice law in a way I think everybody should be taught, which is in a strategic, smart, and slow-paced way,” she says. The firm supported her pro bono immigration and prisoners’ rights cases, too. “It’s not easy …
Moving Forward
Three young attorneys on the outlook for the futureOf all the challenges facing the youngest generation of lawyers, one of the biggest has been navigating disruptions during the very first days of their careers. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Derrick Maultsby Jr. of Frost Brown Todd in Pittsburgh had to take his Bar exam remotely. In addition to abiding by the standard clothing rules, he had to be on camera at all times and was even told not to touch his face. “I was able to take it in a corporate office setting, but I felt for people who …
The Unicorn
Jessie Pellant turns a wild idea— a hybrid law firm/creative agency—into realityWhile working in intellectual property law at a large firm in the early 2010s, Jessie Pellant repeatedly tried to push the idea of reaching out to creative agencies to synergize between a client’s legal work and brand work. “We’re getting cease and desist letters for our client brands that were never researched and cleared, never vetted after they spent $20,000 on their branding package,” she says. “And I was like, ‘There needs to be a better system for this.’” Her idea wasn’t …
Farm Aid
Former farm kid Cecelia Neihouser Harper now represents agribusiness clientsCecelia Neihouser Harper grew up on a crop farm in the Francesville area, surrounded by a rotation of corn and soybeans. The oldest of four, she helped out as needed, learning to drive the tractor that pulled the grain cart in the fall and the anhydrous ammonia tanks for fertilizer in the spring. It’s not the easiest job for a young teenager. “It’s stressful because you don’t want to hit anything,” she says. “You don’t want to spill any corn or beans.” But she enjoyed the …
Good Behavior
Beth Hutchens’ behavioral therapy background brings depth to her immigration practiceAfter graduating from UNC with a political science degree, Beth Hutchens moved to San Francisco, planning to work on political campaigns. Instead, she took the first job she was offered, as a behavioral therapist. “I ended up loving it,” she says. The nonprofit FACES provided services to children with autism. Hutchens had an interest in psychology as an undergrad, but to prepare for the new role she attended classes at the University of Nevada at Reno followed by six weeks of training, and …
Paying It Forward
Why Payal Salsburg averages two hours a day of volunteer workWhen Payal Salsburg moved to Boston from Florida in 2012, the walk to her office took her six minutes. Today, it’s closer to 20. “I’m standing and talking to everybody, ‘Hey, I’ll see you next Sunday,’” she says. After starting a white-collar criminal defense practice at Laredo & Smith, Salsburg began volunteering as a way to feel more connected to the community—helping out at places like Rice Sticks and Tea Asian Food Pantry, St. Francis House day shelter, and Massachusetts …
How a Domestic Partnership Compares to a Marriage, Legally Speaking
What the law says in New YorkWhen Obergefell v. Hodges was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the country, the legal protections for domestic partnerships in some states ended or were phased out. New York, however, has maintained such protections for all interested couples. A domestic partnership is, simply put, a legal relationship for close and committed couples. “It’s a recognition that they are in a special committed relationship while affording some of the rights …
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