About Ross Pfund
Ross Pfund is the managing editor of Super Lawyers. He is the editor of the Minnesota, Colorado, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Southwest magazines. An award-winning editor and writer with more than 20 years of experience, he has a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota. His work has also appeared in the Star Tribune and the Norman County Index. As a child, he knew he was cut out for a career in journalism because he never once stuck his hand into his father’s printing press.
Articles written by Ross Pfund
Surprise, You’re Aleutian!
An unexpected phone call puts Tom Weathers on a new path in lifeIn 1998, Tom Weathers was a mild-mannered civil litigation associate at Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May in Oakland. Then a man claiming to be a private investigator from Alaska telephoned him out of the blue and said that Weathers owned stock in a company called Sealaska Corp., that the man had been searching for Weathers for eight years, and furthermore, that Weathers himself had Aleutian heritage. “I thought it was a scam,” Weathers says. But he decided to call the …
The King of Pro Bono
Pro bono work gives Blum the chance to get out of the office and into the courtroomJonathan Blum can still remember his first pro bono case. “When I started work in 2000, there really wasn’t a program at my firm,” Dallas’ Weil, Gotshal & Manges, he says. “We just had a pro bono partner that coordinated [activities] at a clinic in West Alice. I volunteered there, then started going on my own to the clinic. The West Alice community is predominantly Hispanic, and I speak Spanish, so it was a good fit. It’s an advice-only clinic, but you can take cases later if …
The Pen is Mightier
Panatier likes making trouble across party linesMothers, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Such seemed to be the sentiment of one of Chris Panatier’s first editorial cartoons. “There was a group on campus called the [Texas] Cowboys, and they were sort of a fraternity’s fraternity — the super-elite frat boys,” Panatier recalls of his sophomore year at the University of Texas in the mid-’90s. “They were forcing plebes, or whatever you want to call them, to swim back and forth across a body of water in full dress, while …
Oh, Oh, It's Magic
Beckman can turn a Barbie doll into a living, breathing human beingIn 1997, Syd Beckman was your average mild-mannered family law attorney, who just happened to pass by a magic shop every day on his way to the courthouse. Then, one day, his curiosity got the better of him and he went inside. “I talked to the guy behind the counter and said, ‘Can you show me something that’s easy to learn?’” Beckman recalls. An inauspicious beginning, to be sure, but everyone has to start somewhere. Eight years later, Beckman is an award-winning magician –– not …
Bock in the Saddle Again
In court or the arena, Bock takes challenges in strideAmy Bock knows a thing or two about tricky maneuvering. She has handled federal civil rights class action suits while working in the Dallas City Attorney’s Office and –– perhaps more impressively –– she has handled horses in dressage competitions as a member of USA Equestrian and the U.S. Dressage Federation. “Dressage is like ballet for horses,” Bock explains. “They have to perform intricate movements –– it’s not just jumping. You have to constantly work on technique. …
The Lawyer as Swinger
Doug Clapp scores low on the golf course and high in his law practiceIt’s Doug Clapp’s big moment. He’s near the first tee of New York’s Oak Hill Golf Club in 1998, making his first appearance at the United States Amateur Championship. The announcer calls his name — it’s his turn to tee off. He kisses his wife, who is pregnant with their first child, and walks to the tee box. A whole lifetime of playing golf, those hours and hours out on the course, has led to this one moment. He’s standing at the tee. What happens next? Ask someone else, …
Video Games Will Rot Your Brain
For Damon Watson, playing games is serious businessDamon Watson is a video gamer. A guy you could trade Tomb Raider tips with. A guy whose thumbs likely display the flattened quality that comes from pressing the same button thousands of times. A guy who actually knows what Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords is. Got a good mental picture in your head of who he is and what he looks like? Surprise — he’s no pale, pimply-faced 13-year-old sitting in his parents’ darkened basement. Watson is a 33-year-old attorney recently of …
The Long Road to Justice
More than 50 years ago, the government withheld financial reparations from the families of three plane-crash victims. Now that might change, thanks to Drinker Biddle & ReathGeorgia, October 1948, midafternoon. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning Cold War and the picturesque countryside near the town of Waycross, a U.S.Air Force B-29 bomber cut through the clear autumn sky. Looking to the heavens, children at play could see a physical symbol of America’s victory in World War II, an emblem of American ideals, strength and durability.Then the B-29 exploded.Thirteen men were on the plane when it lifted off. Only four made it back to the ground …
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