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
Shattering the ‘Two-Seater Mentality’
Pat Gillette wants firms to put more women and minorities in the board room“Don’t fix the women. Fix the structure.” Pat Gillette is passionate about diversity. She speaks on the topic at about 40 events per year; and in 2006, she founded the Opt-In Project, bringing leaders from various industries to discuss how they were retaining and promoting women, so their strategies could be applied to law firms. She was also on the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and co-chair of the San Francisco Bar Association’s No Glass Ceiling Initiative. The Opt-In …
Pat Gillette on Diversity in the Board Room
The mediator has been speaking about diversity for 40+ years, and has reasons for optimismWhen she’s not mediating cases with JAMS in San Francisco, Pat Gillette is probably speaking about diversity—she does so at about 40 events per year. She worked as an employment lawyer for more than 40 years, watching as corporations made more progress than law firms, which still have a long way to go in her view. She has reasons for hope, however, as she explains here. https://www.youtube.com/embed/b6g0oygByhk Gillette’s story was also featured in the 2017 issue of Northern California …
Sometimes When You Lose, You Still Win
A tough case turned into a pro bono passion for Kate DeVries SmithKate DeVries Smith’s first pro bono housing trial was technically a loss. The partner and patent attorney at Pauly, DeVries Smith & Deffner in downtown Minneapolis got her start with Merchant & Gould. It was there, roughly 18 years ago, that she approached colleague Jeffer Ali about pro bono work. “I really buy into that notion that if you have a law license, you have an obligation to provide direct services,” Smith says. “That’s just always spoke to me. But I was struggling …
I Was Discriminated Against. How Do I Prove It?
Don Gasiorek gets as many as 50 calls per week with potential cases of wrongful termination, including employment discrimination. The Farmington Hills attorney says most cases don’t move beyond that initial interview. But some do, and it never hurts to call; after all, initial consultations are typically free. “For anybody who has been terminated or subject to any kind of adverse employment action, it’s worth their while to call a firm that specializes in employment law—just to see if …
Putting the Cards on the Table
Brent Cromley: Litigator. Mediator. Politician. MagicianChances are, Brent Cromley’s got a deck of cards on him right now. He likes the occasional game, sure, but more importantly, practice makes perfect, and you never know when there’ll be an audience. “If I’m at a bar or something, somebody might want to see a trick,” says Cromley, who is not only a distinguished litigator and mediator at Moulton Bellingham, but also a magician. He is, in fact, the only attorney in Montana who is a member of the International Brotherhood of …
A Code of Confidence
Jennifer Compton is helping fight the gender gap in technologyThere’s no telling how different Jennifer Compton’s life would be had she not taken a job as a lifeguard 30 years ago. The kids she watched were in Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County, part of a national nonprofit that empowers more than 140,000 girls each year. At 16, Compton had never been exposed to the part of her community that didn’t have the advantages her family enjoyed. “I thought I was going to a summer job, which it was, but it also became very evident that amazing things …
‘The Most Empowering Thing I’ve Ever Done’
Scott Tillett’s battle with substance abuseIn high school, I got a DUI a couple of hours before the Northridge earthquake hit. My dad and stepfather came to pick me up at the Calabasas substation. I think I got home around 2 a.m., put my head down on the pillow, and by 4 a.m. the world was shaking. The epicenter was probably 15 minutes from where I lived. It was a weird experience because it was the strongest earthquake that’s hit in my lifetime, and it kind of refocused my family. The timing felt uncanny. I was ready for severe …
Washington Cannabis Business: Operational Laws To Follow
Since Washington and Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2012, six other states have joined and it led to more than $257 million in sales for Washington in 2015. But while it’s increasingly becoming decriminalized under state laws, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug (alongside heroin) in the Controlled Substances Act of federal law. This has several implications for growers, processors, and retailers, according to the Washington attorneys who advise them. A federal agent …
The Council Counselor
Opportunity or obstacle? David Hyman helps clients deal with the government either wayFor nearly 30 years, David Hyman’s focus has been government relations. Jury trials are few and far between, but the practice offers its own unique sort of tension. “I can think of one or two times where I’ve been sitting in city council late at night on a vote when we knew it was close and didn’t know which way it was going to go,” he says. “But frequently you know long before. The tea leaves are there for everyone to read. There’s still some suspense, but it’s more of a …
Suing for Retaliation, If You Whistleblow While You Work
Hopefully you will never have to blow a whistle because of unlawful activity at your workplace, or, if you do, it is dealt with appropriately. Because take it from Louisiana employment attorneys: Retaliation is an ugly business. “I’ve seen a lot of companies operate a circle-the-wagon mentality for damage control when wrongdoing is brought out, rather than addressing the situation as they should,” says Christopher L. Williams, a solo practitioner and employment lawyer at Williams …
Find top lawyers with confidence
The Super Lawyers patented selection process is peer influenced and research driven, selecting the top 5% of attorneys to the Super Lawyers lists each year. We know lawyers and make it easy to connect with them.
Find a lawyer near you