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
'Some Kind of Difference'
Igor Raykin spent a decade teaching underserved kids before entering education lawWhen Igor Raykin graduated from law school in 2000, he didn’t want to be a lawyer. Nor did he want to be a reporter, citing the dim career prospects, even though he got his bachelor’s in journalism. “For a long time, I wanted to teach,” he adds. “But I let some people talk me out of the prospect.” After talking himself back into it, the following summer Raykin entered Metropolitan State University of Denver’s teaching program. Because of the timing, he had limited internship …
What Does a Small Business Lawyer Cost and Do I Need One?
There's a saying that if something doesn't have a price tag, you probably can't afford it. While there's truth to it in some circumstances, that's not necessarily the case with attorneys. The reason many don't advertise a single price is that costs are largely based on needs, which vary from case to case. However, just as there are large corporations and small startups, the same is true of law firms. “If you're working with a small business, you have to be reasonable and understand the …
'The World is Not Equal'
Melaney LaGrone uses her police and prosecutor backgrounds to help criminal defense clientsBeing a lawyer was never a lifelong passion. In college, I majored in criminal justice studies, and when I graduated, I wanted to go to the U.S. Marshals but the marshals weren’t hiring. Because I attended University of Detroit, right in the heart of the city, I met a lot of police officers and they were like, “We’re hiring. Come on.” So I went straight out of the academy to “gang squad.” They changed the name to “special enforcement section” because we ultimately did more …
The Lucky Ones
Five attorneys under 40 discuss student debt, the Great Recession, and the good fortune that got them hereBy the time they were in undergrad, each of the five millennial Super Lawyers listees we spoke with knew they wanted to be attorneys. But barriers, like rising tuition costs and the Great Recession, remained. “In college it still felt like a distant dream,” recalls family lawyer Alexandra Masters. Even in law school, these attorneys weren’t considering specific practice areas or firms. “I interned at any firm that I could, just to get exposure to as many areas as possible,” says …
The Costs and Fees Associated with Hiring an Attorney
One of the main concerns people have when they’re looking to hire a lawyer for the first time is: “How much do they cost?” Attorney fees and fee arrangements range depending on the type of case, the area of law, the law firm, the amount of time it will require, and other deciding factors. But here are some common fee structures you may need to know about if you reach out for legal representation for your legal issue. Flat Fee or Fixed Fee A single, lump-sum payment is common in …
The Confidence Builder
How Jennifer Frankola’s work as a Bronx middle school teacher informs her special-needs practiceIn September 2001, Jennifer Frankola was scheduled to take the LSAT at the World Trade Center. The attack affected more than the exam for Frankola. “9/11 clarified my perspectives on things,” she says. “I felt called to public service.” Education had always been important in Frankola’s family—“it was seen as a door opener for immigrant kids like myself,” she says—while a courtroom visit for a Manhattan College course opened her eyes further. The case being tried, Campaign for …
Science Fiction and Science Fact
Kirsten Mayer takes on junk science one wrongful conviction at a time“Science and scientific testimony, in my experience, have an outsized impact in a courtroom,” says Kirsten Mayer. She’s seen it in her 20-plus years defending healthcare and life science companies from False Claims Act violations, and she’s seen it in two cases she tried with The Innocence Project and New England Innocence Project. “In certain criminal cases, scientists came into court and testified about things like hair microscopy, bite mark comparison, or bullet mark striation, …
How Much?
An overview of costs and fees associated with hiring an attorneyOne of the main concerns people have when they’re looking to hire a lawyer for the first time is: “How much do they cost?” While exceptions always exist, the following is a general overview of the most common ways attorneys charge for legal services. Flat or Fixed Fee A single, lump-sum payment is common in areas of law where the legal work is often straightforward and unlikely to run into complications—wills, estate planning, patents or trademarks, and certain tax filings. If your …
Prices in a Crisis
What to know about price gouging and price fixing during an emergencyOn Jan. 31, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a national public health emergency, which subsequently triggered Section 396-R, the New York price gouging statute that protects goods and services vital for consumers’ health, safety and welfare. Additionally, on March 16, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection enacted an emergency rule making price gouging illegal for products needed to prevent the spread of the virus. …
How to Avoid Trouble Up North, Eh?
Some legal tips if you’re detained over the borderImagine you’re taking a business trip up to Canada. Then you’re out for a night on the town, one thing leads to another, and you wind up incarcerated in a foreign land, facing a justice system you’re unfamiliar with. What are you to do? “It’s a little more scary when you’re in another country,” says Stuart G. Friedman, a criminal defense attorney in Southfield, who practices on the border with a Canadian lawyer. “They can use that sense of isolation to make you feel guilty, even …
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