About Trevor Kupfer
Trevor Kupfer is a senior editor on Super Lawyers’ staff. He is editor of the Illinois, South Carolina, Michigan, and Wisconsin magazines, in addition to being a writer and fact-checker of Super Lawyers’ other projects. He has a degree in journalism from an accredited program (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) and has written for such newspapers and magazines as Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Volume One, Wisconsin State Journal, The Capital Times, Global Food Forums, and various publications under the groups Tribune Media Services, Capital Newspapers, and Conley Media. He has served on crime and courts beats and, in college, he aided an investigation through the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
Articles written by Trevor Kupfer
Tackling Giants
Suzanne Bish’s record-breaking, decade-taking race discrimination caseGeorge McReynolds called Stowell & Friedman in 2005 after the firm’s landmark settlement with Merrill Lynch in a case alleging gender discrimination, which ultimately yielded $250 million on behalf of nearly 900 female financial advisors. McReynolds, who was calling about alleged race discrimination, had followed the case. And he said he had one that was even more severe. At the time, Suzanne Bish had been working with Mary Stowell and Linda Friedman for about a year, getting …
Turning Down the Crescendo of Stress
How Ty Kelly launched a mental wellness resource group at Baker DonelsonIn October 2023, one of Ty Kelly’s family members had a mental health crisis. “It basically took over my life,” Kelly recalls. “How do I take care of them and get them the resources they need? There wasn’t anyone to help, so I had to do research, find various places, call doctors, figure out when they can get in, figure out what their insurance covers. It was all-consuming. How can I hope to bill hours while also solving the most mammoth problem I’ve ever needed to solve? It …
Woodwind Energy
Patti Epstein Putney’s love for music eases the stresses of work“We as lawyers need to stay in touch with our creative sides. It’s critical, honestly, for my well-being,” says Patti Epstein Putney, a medical malpractice litigator at Bell, Moore & Richter in Madison. “I always tell younger lawyers, whether it’s athletics or dance or whatever your passion is, don’t give it up just because you’re a lawyer working long hours. How we are defined is not just by our profession. It’s by the things that make us who we are.” For Epstein Putney, …
The Law of Lawyering
Michael Downey lives and breathes legal ethicsThere was a moment early in Michael Downey’s career when he wasn’t sure if he was best suited for practicing law or teaching it. The classics major was working in civil litigation when he met with Dan Keating, then associate dean of WashU Law, to discuss which path to pursue. “From that conversation, I started getting involved in legal ethics,” Downey says, “then started doing a lot of lawyer discipline-related activity and, really, things just kind of grew from there.” Two decades …
The Stakeholder
Kate Hedgeman carved her nonprofit niche after seeing the need firsthandGrowing up, Kate Hedgeman got a sense of service thanks to her father, an Albany police officer. “It’s one of the top ways you can give back to your community,” she says, “and it’s a pretty thankless job.” One memory stands out: When Hedgeman was 8, by her estimation, she and her father were eating in a restaurant when a man had a heart attack in the parking lot. “[My father] got up from the table and started CPR until the fire department and EMS came,” she recalls. “It was …
Dishing on a Dish
Bill Panagos’ go-to icebreaker itemEvery item in Bill Panagos’ office has a story. And after 43 years in intellectual property, including with the Army TACOM, BASF, Lear and S.C. Johnson, Panagos has acquired several. Among the most interesting is a mirrored dish in the conference center at Panagos Kennedy in Troy. “It’s an icebreaker I use to talk to inventors about why their cutting-edge stuff might not be tomorrow,” he says. “It puts a humility to the entire thing.” Many have guessed it’s a Vulcan neural …
Can’t Stand the Heat, Get to Litigation
Before law, Chelsea Clark gave cookery school a tryWhen Chelsea J. Clark finished high school, she sought to become a chef. “My family thought I was crazy, but it turned out to be the greatest learning experience for many different reasons. I learned to adjust to a different culture. I learned so much about teamwork, and what I’m cut out to do and not cut out to do,” she says with a laugh. The civil litigator at Bruner Powell Wall & Mullins in Columbia signed up with Tante Marie School of Cookery in Surrey, England. “For a time, it …
Flexible Benefits
How yoga makes Michele Dinterman a better attorneyIn 2016, as Michele Dinterman was about to begin her career at Niles, Barton & Wilmer in Baltimore, she was looking for relief. “So I decided to take a yoga class,” says the civil litigation defense attorney, “and I ended up loving it.” So much so that Dinterman decided to take the teacher training as well. “I was essentially learning to litigate at the same time as becoming a yoga instructor. It ended up being incredibly impactful on my life in a ton of different ways. And it …
The Highest of Runner’s Highs
Eric Harlan’s run as a wingman with Athletes Serving AthletesMore than a decade ago, a law partner introduced long-distance runner Eric Harlan to a fellow marathoner. “Long story short, the friend was buddies with the founder of Athletes Serving Athletes. And next thing you know, I became a wingman,” says the class action litigator with Smith, Gildea & Schmidt in Towson. ASA’s mission is to elevate the quality of life for people with limited mobility by empowering them to train for and participate in mainstream running events. “We run with …
‘Same Skills, Different Environment’
Before law, Isabelle Faust's biggest passion was figure skatingAt 9 years old, Isabelle Faust fell in love with figure skating—“the kind you think of when you watch the Olympics: singles free skating with the jumps and spins,” says the Amundsen Davis litigator. Faust competed through high school, earning gold medal designations in five U.S. Figure Skating disciplines. That’s when most skaters quit, Faust says. “But I didn’t want to be done.” Faust (upper left) and her team in 2011 after winning a regional competition at Indiana University. …
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