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
The Right Connections
How Notre Dame law student Alisa Finelli linked need with know-howBy the time Alisa Finelli enrolled at University of Notre Dame Law School in 2012, she’d already seen some of the country’s best lawyers in action. She earned a degree in political science from Notre Dame in 2007, then worked in several roles at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and eventually landed in the Office of Public Affairs where she worked with lawyers from the criminal division. “I was sitting in the press office and doing a spokesperson role,” she says. …
How Dondi West Was Won
The Baltimore lawyer keeps his eyes on the frontiers of technology while helping fellow service membersWhen Dondi West hung a shingle on East Lombard Street in downtown Baltimore in December 2010, he worked a general practice while building his tech niche—which is what he’d set his sights on from the get-go. Having left the Navy in 2007, his social network was predominantly made up of service members, and a few came to him for help with family law matters and divorce cases. A light bulb went on over his head. “I asked myself, ‘What can I provide to my clients?’” he says. “It’s …
Using All 24
Perpetually busy Providence-based litigator Mark B. Morse never met a practice area he didn’t likeQ: In an age of specialization, your practice is so varied. A: I’ve always been interested in learning something new, taking on a variety of cases, getting involved, learning the nuances of a particular new issue, and therefore my practice developed in that fashion. Q: Do you have a favorite? A: I enjoy litigation, I enjoy the preparation and the actual trials. It’s a lot of work, but when you get in the courtroom, and after you’ve analyzed all of the issues, one sort of case is …
BMOC
Ian Cooper of Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jackstadt in St. Louis tells us about representing universities and handling controversiesQ: What first got you interested in the law? A: When I was 7 years old, I had a neighbor who was a very interesting and impressive individual. He showed me some of his really large law books with single words on them like “contracts” or “torts,” and I thought, “Wow, if there’s an entire book on one word, that has to be a really fascinating career.” Q: Did you ever get in touch with your neighbor after you became a lawyer? A: I did, actually, years later. Judge George …
From the Red River Valley to the Iron Range
Fergus Falls-based attorney and former state bar president Dick Pemberton of Pemberton Law has tried dozens upon dozens of cases in every corner of the stateQ: I understand you go out of town for work on a regular basis. A: Always have. I’ve done more trial work in places other than Fergus Falls by far than I have in Fergus Falls over the last half-century. Q: Where have you been? A: Well, we have to go back in time. A lot of my jury trial work was done many years ago when there were many more jury trials on the civil side than there are now. I tried cases in a large number of the county courthouses going across the Canadian border: in …
Pro Bono vs. Cons
Villanova Law student Vanessa Stine assists immigrants who’ve been victims of notario fraudVanessa Stine was volunteering for the nonprofit Friends of Farmworkers one summer between law school semesters when she noticed a disturbing trend. Many of her clients—low-wage immigrant farmworkers in need of legal aid for employment-related issues—had also been swindled by people claiming to be lawyers. The problem is often referred to as notario fraud, after the type of legal professional from Spanish-speaking countries, “notarios,” that scam artists impersonate. Scammers exploit …
The Grappler
Former collegiate wrestler C. James Zeszutek learned discipline on the mat. Now, as a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl in Pittsburgh, he puts it to use for some of college sports’ most well-known coachesQ: You’re a recent recipient of the Syracuse Letterwinner of Distinction award. You were on the wrestling team, correct? A: I was there ’68 to ’72 and about ... let’s see, 50 pounds ago? [Laughs] A lot of fond memories. I was lucky enough to have gotten a scholarship and had a great wrestling coach, Ed Carlin, from whom I learned not only so much about wrestling, but so much about discipline and life and how to handle yourself. We had some very good wrestlers. Benny Polano, Bob Rust: …
Choosing Battles
Q: You work with your husband, Joseph. What’s it like to practice with your spouse? A: It’s wonderful. We run our own law firm, so one or both of us are working while the other one is there for the children. Also he is just an excellent attorney, and it’s good to just have a good law partner, a good life partner. We tried the Ellis case together. Q: Tell me about that case. A: It was a unique situation because Kenneth Ellis’ sister was a nurse at the veteran’s hospital where he …
When Life Gives You Lemon Law …
How Amy Bennecoff makes lemonade for her clientsAmy Bennecoff has a lot on her plate. The attorney with Kimmel & Silverman, also known as “the lemon law firm,” appears regularly in court on behalf of clients in lemon law cases and other consumer issues. She’s licensed—and actively practices—in six states, including Tennessee and Wyoming. And she’s appeared on NBC and on local television and radio programs to discuss legal issues. Then again, Bennecoff’s used to answering tough questions before a crowd. “I’ve been in …
Building It From Scratch
Elder law solo practitioner Claire E. Lewis on the Affordable Care Act, dealing with end-of-life issues, and her involvement in establishing the practice area in IndianaQ: What was it that first got you interested in the law? A: There are a couple of factors. I was always interested in elder law, which really wasn’t even an identified field back when I was entering law school. After my grandfather died, my grandmother came to live with my family. So I grew up with an older adult in the household and I loved dealing with my grandmother, talking to her and talking to her friends. She’d have a bridge club over. And I just loved listening to the stories. As I …
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