About Rebecca Mariscal

Rebecca Mariscal Articles written 28

Rebecca Mariscal is the associate editor on Super Lawyers’ staff. She serves as editor for multiple Super Lawyers magazines and consumer articles, as well as being a writer, fact-checker and proofreader.  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

The Unadoptables

Waggin’ Trails Rescue Foundation gives dogs a second shot

It all started with Papi, a rescue dog with untreated glaucoma who needed his eyes removed. “We got involved in Papi’s care,” says Chuck Sheldon, a San Francisco products liability attorney who spent his childhood surrounded by critters, as his father was a large animal veterinarian. “And it just grew from there.”  After working with the organization that rescued Papi, Sheldon and his wife—and law partner—Ingrid Campagne founded Waggin’ Trails Rescue Foundation in 2012. …

True to Her Roots

EmmaRose Strohl brings a lifetime of farm experience to her agribusiness practice

EmmaRose Strohl’s first job was a little sweeter than most.  “Growing up, we always had Emma and Grace’s Country Honey,” Strohl remembers of her childhood on a hobby farm with her sister. “We didn’t sell a lot of honey. We mostly gave it away.”  The goal was not profit, but experience. The family would spread out on their front porch—harvesting honey is a messy job—to cut off combs, spin the extractor, open the spigot for honey to flow out, and, of course, taste-test …

Her Why

Kharimah Dessow’s lived experience helps her connect with family law clients

Kharimah Dessow knew she wanted to help people. She just didn’t know quite how yet. A single mother of three and survivor of domestic violence, Dessow was searching for a way to support those experiencing the same trauma she did, knowing the stigma that surrounded it.  Then a friend who was in law school, Carolyn Sutherland, introduced the idea of doing so as a lawyer. “I don’t want to do that, I want to help people,” Dessow remembers responding, not knowing her friend was …

A Life of Its Own

Gerry Chapman on the practice of immigration law and the necessity of meaningful reform

In nearly four decades as an immigration attorney, Gerry Chapman has worked cases that have set lasting national standards. But it’s the lesser-known ones, involving abused or neglected immigrant children for whom he’s secured state custody orders so they can achieve lawful permanent residency, that stand out for him. “It’s seeing the relief just wash over everybody’s faces once we walk out of the courtroom and we know we’ve got a custody order because we know the rest of the case …

Horse Crazy

Elizabeth Hill finds peace and connection at her barn

Elizabeth Hill was in a Moscow square with her recently adopted 13-year-old daughter, navigating the foreign streets and the new relationship, when the horses came marching in. At the time, the girl didn’t speak any English, and Hill’s Russian was limited. But her daughter’s eyes lit up. “She just was beside herself, and she’s jumping up and down and she’s pointing at the horses and she’s all excited,” Hill remembers of that day in 2007. “And I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, is …

Estate Planning Tips for Blended Families

With just over 40 percent of first marriages ending in divorce, blended families—made up of spouses with children from previous relationships—are becoming more and more common. The extra pieces in this family dynamic can lead to additional considerations when it comes to estate planning. “The easiest way to move forward, I believe, is [to] go into it with good communication between the parties,” says Bridget La Rosa of White and Williams in Manhattan. Planning Ahead Is Key La Rosa asks …

‘You’ve Got This’

How Joy Beitzel supports survivors of sexual violence

When her clients step up to the stand in civil court, Joy Beitzel tries to be a calming presence for them. She knows these clients, survivors of sexual violence, have had control taken away. Beitzel and her coworkers at the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault do everything they can to help them reclaim it. “I have been able to tell clients, ‘You can just look at me if that feels best. You don’t have to look at the attorney or the other party,’” Beitzel says. When they lock …

Pri-Tal’s Travels

One lawyer’s meandering journey to Antarctica and back

By the time Ben Pri-Tal found out he was accepted to Tulane Law School, he was on a ship headed for Antarctica. He had to find a satellite phone to call back to defer. “I said, ‘Well, I think I’ll take another year before I get back,’” he recalls. He’d already been traveling for a few months by then. Pri-Tal was no stranger to the road, having visited Europe and Asia and lived in South Africa and the Middle East. This trip was prompted by his decision to switch career paths from …

How State Law Protects Victims of Revenge Porn

While revenge porn is relatively new as a legal concept, there is no shortage of cases. Attorney Andrew Stengel’s New York firm gets a call every day from another victim. The law that passed in New York in 2019 concerning revenge porn was several years in the making, with advocates fighting since 2013 to get the protections in place. Now 48 states have similar revenge porn statutes, from Texas to Vermont to Pennsylvania. “One of the most important things about these laws is that it’s a …

In Translation

How David Gair went from teaching to tax law

David 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 …

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