Alumni Class Notes
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Class Notes compiled between February, 2010 and June, 2011.
1960
Claude B. Kahn, who has practiced law in Chicago for almost 50 years, spends six months each year as a professional ski instructor at Keystone in Colorado. For the remainder of the year, he returns to Chicago, where he practices law in a firm managed by his son.
1964
Manny Pokotilow, managing partner of Caesar, Rivise, Bernstein, Cohen & Pokotilow, spoke at a Webinar hosted by the Association of Patent Law Firms (APLF). His presentation--“Bilski v. Kappos: Did the Supreme Court Get it Right? Landmark or Question Mark?”--drew more than 60 patent and intellectual property counsel lawyers from some of the country’s leading corporations. Pokotilow’s practice focuses on litigation involving the enforcement of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. He is one of the founders of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee of the United District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
1965
A.J.D. Schmidt was named to Stanford Who’s Who for his work in the legal services industry. He is an attorney and director of Schmidt, Roth, Brennan & Carroccio, a general law practice that represents clients in civil, corporate, and criminal law as well as medical malpractice.
1967
Charles Shumate is county attorney for the County of Stafford, Virginia. Previously in private practice in northern Virginia, he has extensive experience in land use and real estate development law, commericial/business transactions, local government law, and the trial of complex real estate, commercial, and construction-related matters. Through Shumate, Kraftson & Sparrow, PC, Shumate served as special counsel and deputy city attorney for the City of Fairfax, handling all types of governmental litigation and other facets of municipal representation. Shumate served as a captain in the U.S. Army in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters, 1st Logistical Command. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Vietnam.
1968
Stephen B. Kaufman was named 2010 Businessman of the Year by the Throggs Neck Merchants Association. Kaufman has devoted his life to community service both as a citizen and as an elected public official. He is a New York state assemblyman and a member of the New York City Council.
1969
Terence E. Smolev, of Forchelli, Curto, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo, Cohn & Terrana, LLP, was chosen by his peers to appear in New York Super Lawyers. Smolev leads the firm’s Tax, Trusts and Estates Department. He was an adjunct professor of tax, estate planning, and business law at Hofstra University, where he served on the Board of Trustees. The author and editor of a number of tax-related texts, he wrote a chapter in Inside the Minds: Estate Planning Client Strategies.
1971
Ben Laves serves on Somerset, New Jersey’s Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee and its Rules and Regulations Committee. Laves was a staff attorney for Essex County Legal Services and then worked for the Essex-Newark Joint Law Reform Project, where he advocated for the delivery of proper medical and mental health services and the cessation of experimentation on involuntarily incarcerated psychiatric patients. He was the supervising attorney for three clinical law programs at Rutgers University School of Law and Seton Hall University Law School and was an adjunct professor at Seton Hall. Laves also assisted with the creation and formation of the nation’s first cabinet-level Office of the Public Advocate and subsequently served as one of its first deputy public advocates, managing northern New Jersey’s Essex County regional office.
Gary Lieber is a partner at Ford & Harrison, a nationwide labor and employment law firm located in Washington, D.C. He concentrates his practice on labor-management relations and defense of employment discrimination cases on behalf of management.
1973
Jeffrey N. Greenblatt has established his own family law practice in Bethesda, Maryland. His firm’s Web site is www.jnglaw.net.
1975
Scott D. Keller is serving a third 10-year term as judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County (Pennsylvania).
1976
Marcia C. Fidis co-authored Premarital and Domestic Partnership Agreements, published by MICPEL. The book is a guide to premarital and domestic partnership agreements in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia. Fidis is the co-founder of Pasternak & Fidis, PC, located in Bethesda, Maryland.
James M. Cameron Jr., office managing member for Dykema’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office, was ranked as a leader in his field in the 2011 The Best Lawyers in America. Cameron’s practice focuses on commercial litigation and he has handled patent infringement suits for Wayne State University and a variety of corporate entities. He also is experienced in construction contract litigation, having served as counsel for the city of Ann Arbor in disputes arising from the city’s construction of its wastewater treatment plant. Cameron also has an interest in alternative dispute resolution and has significant experience as a facilitator, mediator, and arbitrator. He has served as chairman of the Michigan Teacher Tenure Commission, a trustee on the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education, and as a trustee for Scio Township. He was recently appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve as a member of the State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.
1979
David S. Cayer is U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of North Carolina. Previously, he spent 16 years on the North Carolina trial bench.
Robert L. Duty, a member in Dykema’s Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, office was ranked as a leader in the field of Labor and Employment Law in the 2011 The Best Lawyers in America. Duty’s practice focuses on employment litigation, negotiation of executive contracts, employment consulting on mergers and acquisitions, non-compete/trade secret litigation, contract negotiations with labor unions, employment practices liability insurance, and general labor and employment advice and services. He is a resident expert in the state of Michigan on Equal Employment Law for The Experts Forum, a comprehensive Web-based risk management platform available to thousands of employers and several major insurance carriers nationwide. In addition, he serves as vice president of the Methodist Children’s Home.
Rhonda Hill Wilson, a nursing home negligence attorney in private practice in Philadelphia, is treasurer of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). She serves on AAJ’s Executive Committee and is a former member of its National College of Advocacy Board of Trustees.
1983
Kathy Bailey, founder and principal of Bailey Law Group, was named to the Board of Directors of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. Bailey is a longtime donor and volunteer of the theatre. She is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers and she was recognized as a “go-to advisor” on civil litigation, corporate law, and business transactions by Washington SmartCEO magazine.
Pamela Deese, a partner in the Intellectual Property Group at Arent Fox, was recognized by Intellectual Asset Management magazine as one of the “IAM 250: The World’s Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Lawyers.” Deese is well known for her work in developing and managing trademark licensing programs and her extensive experience in licensing programs for patent pools. She is serving her third term on the Board of Trustees of American University and is chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the School of Public Affairs.
Kim Guadagno is lieutenant governor of New Jersey, the first female to hold the position. Previously, she was the Monmouth County sheriff.
Norman Kinel is a partner in the Bankruptcy, Financial Reorganization & Creditor’s Rights Group of Lowenstein Sandler in the firm’s New York office. During the course of his 27-year career as a bankruptcy lawyers, Kinel has been involved in some of the largest and most complex bankruptcy cases in the country, including representing the Official Committee of Equity Security Holders in the Adelphia Communications case and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the 360networks (USA) Incorporated case. Most recently, he represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the high-profile Tavern on the Green case as well as creditors in the Lehman Brothers and Chrysler Corporation cases. Kinel, a noted and frequent author and commentator on bankruptcy law issues, was formerly a partner at Duval & Stachenfeld, LLP.
Thomas D. Martin Jr. was named a member of the Board of San Leon Energy, PLC. A London-based commercial lawyer, in 2006 he co-founded Green Corporate Finance (GCF), which specializes in IPOs, introductions, and mergers/acquisitions on the AIM Market, mainly focusing on renewable energy and oil and gas exploration. At GCF, he directs strategy, corporate development, and legal affairs. He has served as political advisor to two British members of Parliament and two U.S. senators, including Al Gore.
Robert Novick has been named co-managing partner at WilmerHale. His term will begin on January 1, 2012. Novick, who is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, is chair of the Regulatory and Government Affairs Department. He joined the firm in 2001 as a partner after four years in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
1984
Craig Brown is a principal at Balint Brown & Basri, a national legal staffing company providing high-level contract attorneys, document review teams, onshoring services, and consulting services. Brown is a pioneer in the contract attorney industry, having founded and served as president of Elaine P. Dine Temporary Attorneys, Paralegals & Compliance and as co-president of Strategic Legal Solutions.
1985
Jeffrey S. Fried is a member of the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York, Brooklyn College (his alma mater). Fried is a sports and entertainment attorney based in Washington, D.C. and represents athletes and entertainers, media interests, and the promotion of worldwide sports and entertainment events.
1986
Scott B. Allinson, a member of Tallman Hudders & Sorrentino, the Pennsylvania office of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, PA, is solicitor for the Lehigh Valley Regional Loan Pool, professionally administered by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation. In this role, Allinson provides legal services and guidance to new financing programs designed to provide start-up low interest expansion money to small- and medium-sized businesses. In return, participating institutions in the loan pool are able to share the risk, achieve economic development goals, and receive certain tax credits. In addition, Allinson served as vice-chairman for the 2010 Lehigh Valley Leadership Dinner, Celebrating 100 Years of Scouting. The dinner’s proceeds of $315,000 will support local Scouting programs.
Elayne G. Gold is an equity partner at Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux, LLP, an Albany, New York-based firm that she helped to establish in 1995. The firm’s practice focuses on New York public sector labor relations and real estate and bond financing in various states. Gold represents public sector employers, engaging in negotiations, grievance and discipline resolution, day-to-day contract administration, and all labor relations matters. She is a member of the board of the New York State Public Employer Labor Relations Association (NYSPELRA) and served as its president in 2003. In 2007, she received NYSPELRA’s William Holcomb Award for outstanding contributions to the field of labor relations. In addition, Gold was one of the contributing authors to Collective Bargaining and Labor Agreements: “Challenges to Citizen Oversight,” (ABA 2006).
Judith A. Harris, a member of the Pennsylvania office of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, PA, was a speaker at the Allentown Symphony Association’s planned giving seminar titled “Orchestrating Your Estate Plan in Uncertain Tax Times.” In addition, she was a guest on WDIY Radio’s weekly program Your Financial Choices, during which she discussed the Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty Program. Harris is chair of the Estate, Trust and Tax Practice Group at Tallman.
1987
Mary McClymont (LLM) is president of the Public Welfare Foundation, an organization that supports efforts to ensure fundamental rights and opportunities for people in need. Previously, McClymont was executive director of Global Rights, an international human rights organization, and was president and chief executive officer of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations.
Gary Pudles, president and chief executive officer of AnswerNet, received the American Teleservices Association’s (ATA) Spirit of Philanthropy Award. The ATA, a nonprofit trade association that represents 1.8 million professionals worldwide, presents the award annually to the member who best exemplifies the spirit of philanthropy. AnswerNet is the world’s largest telemessaging firm and a full service provider of inbound, outbound and e-bound contact center services. One of his many charitable efforts, Pudles established AnswerNet Cares to encourage AnswerNet employees to participate in communities where they live and work.
1988
Juan Osuna is acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review. He was appointed to the position by Attorney General Eric Holder in December. As director, Osuna supervises the chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals, the chief immigration judge, the chief administrative hearing officer, and all agency personnel. Previously, he worked as an associate deputy attorney general, focusing on immigration policy, Indian country matters, pardons and commutations, and other issues. Osuna teaches immigration policy at George Mason University School of Law.
1989
Paula Dubberly is deputy director for Policy and Capital Markets in the Division of Corporation Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Dubberly oversees two new offices in the division, one focusing exclusively on asset-backed securities and other structured finance products, the other reviews new securities products and capital market trends and develops recommendations for changes to enhance investor protection in securities offerings. She also continues to lead the division’s rulemaking efforts through her oversight of the division’s rulemaking office. Dubberly joined the Division of Corporation Finance as an attorney in 1992 and has served many roles in the division, including assistant director for disclosure operations, chief counsel, and associate director (legal), overseeing the division’s rulemaking efforts and its Office of Enforcement Liaison. She received the SEC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2009.
Gary S. Forshner, a shareholder in Stark & Stark’s Real Estate, Zoning & Land Use Group, was named a 2010 Best Lawyer in America for Real Estate Law. Forshner is chairman of the New Jersey Builders Association’s (NJBA) Master Sponsor Committee; a trustee of the NJBA and Shore Builders Association of Center New Jersey’s Political Action Committee; and a member of NJBA’s Environmental Committee & Land Use and Planning Committee and of NJBA’s Affordable Housing Task Force. He also is director of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Land Use Section.
Jeff Klang, regional counsel for the Great Lakes Region of the Federal Aviation Administration, was named the Federal Bar Association’s 2009 Transportation Lawyer of the Year.
Michael Newman, a partner in Dinsmore & Shohl’s Cincinnati office, was appointed by the national president of the Federal Bar Association (FBA) to the FBA’s national Task Force on Diversity. Newman is one of only two attorneys in private practice in the United States and the only attorney from the Sixth Circuit appointed to the seven-member Task Force. The group, chaired by the Honorable Donovan Frank, a U.S. District Judge from the District of Minnesota, examines ways in which diversity can continue to be fostered in the FBA. Newman is chair of Dinsmore & Shohl’s Labor & Employment Practice Group and serves on the firm’s Diversity Committee. In addition, Newman received the FBA’s 2010 Elaine R. “Boots” Fisher Public Service Award, presented annually to one individual for his or her “exemplary community public and charitable service.” Newman was selected for his efforts undertaken on behalf of minority law students, his Board of Trustees service for numerous organizations and his longstanding community volunteer work for the Red Cross, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the Fine Arts Fund. Newman supervises Dinsmore &Shohl’s Pro Bono Appellate Program, which he created.
James A. Plemmons, an attorney in Dickinson Wright’s Detroit office and the practice department manager for the firm’s Automotive, Product Liability Litigation, Trouble Suppliers, Telecommunications and Family Law practice areas, was named one of the state’s Leaders in Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
1990
Andrea Ball is director of the California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP), where she works with the higher education community, businesses, schools, and districts to help implement practices that effectively prepare students for success in college and careers. She also works to increase awareness about these effective strategies by sharing information directly with policy makers. CAPP is based in the California State University Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach. Previously, she was deputy superintendent of the California Department of Education’s Government Affairs and Charter Development Branch.
Barry Featherman, a director in the Washington, D.C. office of Duane Morris Government Affairs, LLC, received the 2010 GRAVITAS Award presented by Gravitas Capital Advisors to “recognize individuals of outstanding achievement whose work and activities have impacted and improved the lives of people around the world.” The award was presented to Featherman for his work to improve the relationships between the United States and Latin American nations and to bolster Latin American’s political, economic, and social stability. Featherman was appointed by former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo to serve as the executive director of the Global Center for Development and Democracy, based in the Washington, D.C. office of Duane Morris. He also served as the director of the transition team for the assistant secretary general of the Organization of American States. He is active in numerous civic, political, and charitable organizations and frequently speaks on and teaches U.S., Latin American and Caribbean relations.
Paul Hagen, who leads the International Environmental Practice at Beveridge & Diamond, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail. A regional environmental organization, the Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail is dedicated to conserving treasured landscapes, creating public access, and promoting education and stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay.
1991
Marci Alboher is a senior fellow at Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank on boomers, work, and social purpose. She is the author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success, is a regular contributor to The Takeaway on public radio, and writes the blog “Working the New Economy” for Yahoo! Previously, she was a blogger and columnist for The New York Times.
Mark D. Collins, a director of Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, Delaware, was recognized for excellence in Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Collins, chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Department, focuses his practice on bankruptcy, insolvency, and creditors’ rights, with particular experience representing debtors, institutional lenders, creditors’ committees, and acquirers in national Chapter 11 cases.
Brian Taylor Goldstein is a principal at FTM Arts Law, a division of Fettmann, Tolchin & Majors, PC. FTM Arts Law received the 2010 Sidney R. Yates Advocacy Award, presented by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. The Yates Award honors New York Congressman Sidney R. Yates who died in October 2000 at the age of 91 and whose commitment to the arts was legendary. FTM Arts Law was chosen for the award in recognition of its successful advocacy efforts to improve the process by which foreign artists and performers obtain visas and work authorization to enter the United States; its workshops and seminars providing basic legal knowledge and business skills to artists and arts professionals; and the impact of its work on the arts industry. FTM Arts Law is dedicated to strengthening artistic relationships, creative problem solving and prevention, and empowering the arts and the arts community.
Michael S. Miller, managing principal of New York City-based Weiss & Hiller, PC, was appointed and sworn in as an arbitrator for the New York Civil Court in February. In May, he was certified as a life member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Drew Wrigley is lieutenant governor of North Dakota. He took over the position in December from Jack Dalrymple, who became governor when former Governor John Hoeven resigned to become North Dakota’s newest U.S. senator. Previously, Wrigley was vice president at Noridian Administrative Services, LLC, which administers Medicare claims in a number of states. Wrigley also was a U.S. attorney for eight years, Hoeven’s deputy chief of staff, a prosecutor in the Philadelphia district attorney’s office, and general counsel for a North Dakota workers’ compensation agency.
1992
Gustavo Koch (LLM) is executive vice president of Continental Gold Limited, an advanced-stage exploration company with eight gold projects covering 200,000 hectares in Colombia. In the newly created position, Koch oversees general administration of the Medellin office, manages operational activities in Colombia, and continues to act as liaison between the Colombian and Canadian offices. Previously, Koch was general counsel of the company since 2007.
Thomas J. Ramsdell is an attorney at Howard & Howard, PLLC’s Chicago office. Ramsdell concentrates his practice in litigation involving land use, intellectual property, and a wide array of business disputes and torts. He has represented clients in federal and state trial and appellate courts in matters involving theft of trade secrets, patents, copyrights, breach of contract, fraud, deceptive trade practice, downzoning, spot zoning, vested rights, mandamus, landmarking, unlawful withholding of permits, TIFs, and the privatization of public land.
Howard A. Scheck is chief accountant in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement. As chief accountant, Scheck leads the division’s accountants as they provide technical accounting expertise during financial fraud investigations. He rejoins the SEC staff from Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, LLP, where he was a partner in the Forensic & Dispute Consulting practice. As such, he led teams of forensic accountants in conducting accounting and FCPA investigations arising from whistleblower complaints and SEC inquiries. He also worked with public companies to enhance their antifraud and FCPA compliance programs. Prior to that, he worked at SEC for 10 years, including as a branch chief in the Division of Enforcement.
Thomas A. Sporkin is head of the new Office of Market Intelligence at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The office is responsible for the collection, analysis, and monitoring of the hundreds of thousands of tips, complaints, and referrals that the SEC receives each year. The tips are analyzed according to internally developed risk criteria as well as SEC priorities, utilizing the expertise of the SEC’s other divisions and of the specialized units to help analyze the tips and identify wrongdoing. Previously, Sporkin served as deputy chief in the Office of Internet Enforcement since 2001 and prior to that was senior counsel and staff attorney in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
1993
Adam G. Silverstein is managing partner in the Bucks County (Pennsylvania) office of Fox Rothschild, LLP. Silverstein oversees and manages day-to-day office operations in addition to serving his clients. He serves on the firm’s Executive Committee that sets firm policy for 475 lawyers in 15 offices nationwide. He also serves as co-chair of the firm’s Probate Litigation Group.
Kira Sinkler is deputy commissioner of External and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Bureau of Reclamation. She was appointed to the position by President Obama. She is responsible for the bureau’s national relationships with federal, state, and local governments, as well as citizen and other nongovernmental groups. Previously, she was counsel to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the United States Senate.
1994
Eric Galler is a partner at Wilson International Law, in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group. Galler represents private and public companies in matters dealing with private equity transactions, mergers, acquisitions and disposals, company reorganization, and commercial transactions. Previously, he was general counsel of Global Secure Corporation, a homeland-security focused software developer. He also is founder of General Counsel Solutions, LLC, a provider of fixed-fee outsourced general counsel services. He clerked for the Honorable Irma S. Raker, of the Court of Appeals of Maryland.
1995
Gabriel Eckstein (LLM ’97) is professor of law at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth. In addition, he is director of the International Water Law Project, senior fellow at Texas Tech Center for Water Law & Policy, and treasurer of the International Water Resources Association.
In fall 2009, Karen Barker Marcou was honored as a “Star of the Bar” by the DC Women’s Bar Association for her outstanding commitment to community service. In January 2008, Marcou and two other women founded the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (DCVLP), a charitable organization that provides pro bono legal services to low-income women, children, and families in the District of Columbia in domestic violence, custody, foster care, adoption, and other family law cases. DCVLP provides its volunteer lawyers with training, mentoring, office space, and malpractice insurance so they can use their skills to help some of the District’s poorest residents. DCVLP has 75 active volunteers and a total of 175 members on its listserv. The volunteers contributed more than 3,000 hours of pro bono legal services in 2009. For more information, visit www.dcvlp.org.
Lisa Morgan is senior vice president of Middle Market Commercial Insurance for The Hartford Financial Services Group, Incorporated. Morgan leads The Hartford’s $2 billion Middle Market Commercial Insurance unit, which serves the property and casualty protection needs of mid-size businesses and other entities such as educational institutions and industry associations. Morgan has held a variety of positions since she joined The Hartford in 2001, most recently as vice president of Middle Market operations.
Scott Stewart is a partner at Patton Boggs, where he focuses his practice on environmental litigation and regulation in the firm’s environmental, health, and safety practice. Previously, Stewart was a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, where he led the litigation team in a Clean Water Act enforcement in U.S. v. Chevron Pipe Line Company.
Michael Verga is a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton, in the Washington, D.C. office. Verga leads the Intellectual Asset Acquisition & Transactions Team in the Intellectual Property Department. He represents clients in the strategic development and enforcement of intellectual property portfolios including patent drafting and prosecution reexamination counseling, due diligence, and licensing in the electrical, software, computer, and medical device fields.
1996
Michael Bruckheim opened a practice, the Law Office of Michael Bruckheim, LLC, focusing on DUI/DWI defense, general crime defense, civil litigation, domestic violence, and mediation, in the District of Columbia and Maryland. The office is located in The Casey Building in Gaithersburg. Bruckheim spent more than 11 years litigating in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, prosecuting and later supervising prosecutions in the Criminal Section. A trained mediator, he also is certified to administer field sobriety tests. His firm’s Web site is www.brucklaw.com.
Richard P. Ferrin is counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Ferrin’s practice focuses on antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and administrative review proceedings in the firm’s Customs & International Trade Practice.
Mark D. Pihlstrom is a partner at Faegre & Benson, LLP, in Minneapolis. He focuses his practice on mergers, leveraged buyouts, and other corporate transactions.
Vanessa L. Allen Sutherland and her husband Immanuel are the parents of daughter Sydney, born in August 2009. Vanessa is senior counsel at Altria Client Services, an affiliate of Phillip Morris USA.
1998
Sarah C. Lindsey is a partner at Warner Norcross & Judd, LLP, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She concentrates her practice on complex commercial and environmental litigation and appeals. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan.
Texas Tech University School of Law Professor Vickie Sutton’s research was cited in a July 2010 Presidential Executive Order that will help the United States achieve a balance between increasing the nation’s defense against the threat of biological weapons and reducing the obstacles that scientists faces as they conduct research on potentially dangerous microbes. Sutton’s survey polled 198 scientists, asking how stressed they were about the possibility they might inadvertently violate one of the many regulations or rules relating to their work, which could harm their careers or trigger negative consequences in the field. They also were asked how stressed they were about the possibility of injury or death from their work with some of the world’s most deadly pathogens. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they were moderately or high stressed about the possibility they might unwittingly break a rule while only 16 percent of those surveyed reported being moderately or highly stressed about the possibility of injury or death. Sutton is the Paul Whitfield Horn Professor, the Robert H. Bean Professor of Law, director of the Center for Biodefense Law and Public Policy and director of the Law and Science Certificate Program and The JD/MS Program in Life Sciences, Texas Institute of Environmental and Human Health. Sutton was on leave from Texas Tech from 2005 to 2007 while serving as a political appointee for President George W. Bush, as the chief counsel for the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. Before joining the Texas Tech faculty, Sutton served in President George H.W. Bush’s administration as assistant director in the White House Science Office and in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the White House, she was responsible for coordinating science and technology research programs at the cabinet level. After her White House service, Sutton was executive director of the Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine, where she led the development of the institute's research initiatives.
Patrick J. Wells, an attorney in the Great Lakes Region of the Federal Aviation Administration, received the Lawrence R. Schneider Award. The award honors the memory of Lawrence R. Schneider, chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1971 to 1974. Wells received the award for “outstanding dedication and exemplary service to improve aviation and efficiency including exceptional performance on the O’Hare Modernization Program.”
1999
Christine Levonian Greshem and Heather Mays-France ’01 formed Rudolph, France & Gresham, PC, with another partner from their previous commercial real estate practice. The firm, located in Montgomery County, Maryland, provides commercial leasing representation to national and local developers and regional and local tenants. Their Web site is www.rfglegal.com.
Michael Rae is assistant general counsel in the Corporate Law Department at AEGON Corporation.
Robert J. Wagman is a member of Dickinson Wright, PLLC, in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He specializes in government contracts litigation and counseling. Previously, he was a special counsel at Baker Botts, LLP.
2000
Dan Binstock is a partner at Garrison & Sisson, Incorporated, a leading Washington, D.C. attorney search firm. Binstock co-chairs the firm’s Partner and Practice Group Division. Previously, he was head of the Washington, D.C. office of a national attorney search firm. A frequent lecturer at National Association for Law Placement conferences and U.S. law schools, he is one of the nation’s leading authorities on the Washington, D.C. legal market. He was recently selected by Harvard Law School to counsel its rising second-year students on the D.C. market. Prior to becoming a legal recruiter in 2004, Binstock practiced intellectual property law with Finnegan Henderson.
Rose Cuison Villazor, a faculty member at Hofstra University School of Law, made a presentation on U.S. immigration law before the United Workers Movement-NMI. Villazor also served as an instructor for the CNMI Summer Pre-Law Program. Prior to joining Hofstra, Villazor taught property, immigration law, and advanced citizenship at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. She was a human rights fellow at Columbia Law School where she focused on the domestic application of international human rights and was a clerk for the Honorable Stephen H. Glickman, of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
Todd P. Taylor is counsel at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. A patent litigator, Taylor has experience in various phases of litigation pertaining to patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. He has represented complainants and respondents in Section 337 patent infringement matters before the International Trade Commission, as well as representing clients in appellate matters before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
2001
Kenneth A. Gary is associate publisher for The National Law Journal and Legal Times. In addition to managing the Washington, D.C. office, he is responsible for building the brand name through partnerships, sales, advertising, marketing, and events.
Danielle M. Machata is a shareholder at Godfrey & Kahn, where she is a member of the Corporate Practice Group in the Milwaukee office. She focuses her practice on buy- and sell-side mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, venture capital equity and debt financing, and general corporate matters.
Heather Mays-France and Christine Levonian Gresham ’99 formed Rudolph, France & Gresham, PC, with another partner from their previous commercial real estate practice. The firm, located in Montgomery County, Maryland, provides commercial leasing representation to national and local developers and regional and local tenants. Their Web site is www.rfglegal.com.
2002
Cynthia Bryant (LLM) is senior legal advisor in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Office of Native Affairs and Policy, which deals with Native American tribes and communities. Previously, Bryant was a senior attorney in FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, where she directed actions against carriers that didn’t publicize services aimed at residents on tribal lands.
Anthony J. DelGiorno is a shareholder in the law firm of Rammelkamp Bradney, where he concentrates his practice in elder law, estate planning, business organizations, and general litigation. He serves on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Elder Law Council and has served as the council’s newsletter editor for three years. He lectures regularly on Medicaid and estate planning, and elder abuse prevention and is a featured columnist in the Senior News and Times of Central Illinois. Since 2006, he has taught business law at Illinois College in Jacksonville.
Jaime Elizondo is offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Elizondo began his coaching career at The Catholic University of America in 2001 and then moved on to coach at William and Mary, Hofstra, and Syracuse. While at Hofstra, Elizondo mentored Charles Sullivan, Marques Colston, Devale Ellis, Shaine Smith, Kyle Arrington, and Khareem Huggins, all who went on to play in the NFL. At Syracuse, he coached Mike Williams, a Fred Blientikoff finalist for best receiver in college. In 2007, he joined the New Orleans Saints as special teams/wide receivers assistant coach in the NFL Minority Internship Program. He moved to the CFL in 2008 as the wide receivers/assistant special teams coach for the Montreal Alouettes.
Rebecca Grady Jennings is a director at Middleton Reutlinger, where she focuses on insurance defense, professional errors and omissions, and commercial litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Jennings clerked for the Honorable William J. Haynes Jr., United States District Judge in the Middle District of Tennessee.
Regen O’Malley was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the YWCA of New Britain, Connecticut. An attorney at Halloran & Sage, LLP, O’Malley focuses her practice in the areas of insurance and appellate law.
Steven Ragland is a partner at Keker & Van Nest, LLP, in San Francisco. His practice areas include contract and commercial, copyright and trademark, intellectual property, professional liability, trade secret, and white collar criminal.
Shannon Hampton Sutherland is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Duane Morris, LLP. Sutherland prosecutes and defends a wide range of commercial and public-sector disputes in state and federal courts and in arbitration across the United States, including in contract, covenant not to compete/restrictive covenant, trade secret, breach of fiduciary duty, software upgrade and implementation, zoning, infrastructure, and construction payment, delay, and defect matters.
Andrew Winternitz was awarded a Mike Mansfield Fellowship, presented by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. The fellowship program is a two-year, government-to-government exchange established by Congress in 1994 to build a corps of U.S. government officials with substantial Japan expertise. Mansfield Fellows are able to develop an in-depth understanding of Japan through a year of Japanese language and area studies and a year of practical work in the Japanese government. Winternitz is deputy director for Japan policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. During his year in Japan, Winternitz plans to examine aspects of Japan’s international relations and defense programs that are important to the U.S.-Japan alliance relationship.
2003
Amy Long operates the Law Office of Amy Long, PLLC, in Alexandria, Virginia. The practice is limited to immigration and nationality law.
Haley Dempsey Maple is an equity partner at Forizs & Dogali, PA, in Tampa, Florida. She concentrates her practice on commercial litigation, construction litigation, insurance coverage, professional malpractice, and class actions. She was elected to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Alpha House of Tampa Bay and to the Board of Directors of Tampa’s Network of Executive Women. In addition, she holds a leadership position within the ABA Section of Litigation on the Membership & Marketing Committee and serves as the editor-in-chief of the Woman Advocate Committee of the Section of Litigation. She has a five-year-old son Logan.
Kirill Reznik was re-elected to a four-year term as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in November. He has represented District 39 since 2007.
2004
Duane Blackman works in the Tort Division of the New York City Law Department. He received a Tort Division Chief Award for exceptional performance.
Tabitha Renee Brown was sworn in as a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court in October. Her admission to the bar was granted by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The admission ceremony was held in open court by all nine of the justices and was followed by a private reception at which Clerk of the Court General William K. Suter was in attendance. Brown is a solo practitioner and also serves as a director of the American Psychological Association. She is the founder of HOPEJUSTICE (hopejustice.com), an online community of resources for women and young people and is a volunteer attorney with the Maryland Foreclosure Prevention Project. She lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland with her husband and their four children.
Jennifer Luong Clarke and her husband, Gregory, announce the September 2009 birth of son Alexander. Clarke is counselor on Oversight and Investigations in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Scott Lyons is anticorruption advisor at USAID as part of the Civilian Response Corps.
Shirley C. Rivadeneira is a member (title?) of the White House’s Office of Presidential Personnel, which oversees the selection process for Presidential appointments. The office’s staff members recruit qualified candidates to serve the president in departments and agencies across the government. Previously, Rivadeneira was special assistant to the assistant secretary in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Amy Magdanz Rose is senior staff attorney at BuckleySandler, LLP. Her practice focuses on the representation of clients in the areas of banking, regulation, and consumer financial services.
Jessica Strasnick, an assistant district attorney in the Essex (Massachusetts) District Attorney’s Office, was promoted to the Superior Court Trial Team.
2005
Catherine Chang is senior contracts administrator at SGIS, a national government contracting firm. Chang manages SGIS contacts and reviews, negotiates and authors contracts and contract policies and procedures. She also advises SGIS employees on any contract issues, requirements, risk reviews and assessments, and serves as the point of contact for several SGIS contracts. She is based in the Washington, D.C. metro area office. Previously, Chang was a contract and proposal manager for a national provider of mass notification solutions.
Meredyth Cooper is an associate at Lydecker Diaz, where she focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, construction litigation, insurance insolvency, creditor’s rights, professional liability, and business torts. Previously, she represented architects and engineers in professional negligence matters and served as a judicial intern with the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, handling family law matters.
Arthur Elkins Jr. (LLM) is inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He was nominated by President Obama in November 2009 and was confirmed in summer 2010. An independent office within EPA, the inspector general’s office helps the agency protect the environment in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. The office performs audits, evaluations, and investigations of EPA and its contractors, to promote economy and efficiency, and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. Prior to his nomination to inspector general, Elkins was associate general counsel within the EPA’s Office of General Counsel.
John K. Kim, an associate at Livingston Barger, is vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Judicial Evaluations Outside of Cook County for the Illinois State Bar Association. The committee investigates and evaluates the qualifications of Illinois candidates for nomination to the U.S. District Court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as candidates for nomination, election, retention and appointment to the Illinois Supreme Court in all judicial districts, and to the Illinois Appellate Court in the districts outside Cook County. He also represents the Tenth Circuit as a delegate to the General Assembly of the state bar association. At Livingston Barger, Kim defends health care professionals, health care institutions, and long-term care facilities in litigated matters.
Olivia T. Luk, an associate at Jenner Block, LLP, in Chicago, was named a 2010 Illinois Super Lawyer Rising Star. She was recognized in the area of patent litigation. She is a founding member and president-elect of The Richard Linn American Inn of Court, an Inn specializing in intellectual property law. She also is founder of the Linn Inn Alliance of IP Inns, along with the Honorable Richard Linn and Hal Wegner; chair of the Federal Circuit Bar Association Membership Committee; member of the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Competition Midwest Region Organizing Committee; member of the Intellectual Patent Law Association of Chicago Judicial Appointments Committee; and investigator for the Chicago Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Committee.
John Passante is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Criminal Justice & Homeland Security at Bergen Community College in northern New Jersey. He teaches a variety of courses related to criminal law, criminal procedure, and the criminal justice system. Previously, Passante was a legal/educational consultant for CourtTV, performed grant-related work, and clerked for the Passaic County assignment judge of the New Jersey Superior Court.
Erin Shute is an assistant district attorney in the office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. She is assigned to the Criminal Court/Intake Bureau.
Margaret Comer Sylvester and Geoffrey Worthing Foster were married in 2010. She is (insert new title and position here). He is an assistant news editor for the sports section of The Wall Street Journal.
2006
Jennifer Cleary is director of Regulatory Affairs for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Previously, Cleary served as the organization’s legal counsel, when she was an associate practicing in the Antitrust and Federal Regulation Section of Mintz Levin. She also was a clerk for the Department of Justice, Office of Information and Privacy.
Adam J. Cohen is an attorney in the FBI’s Office of General Counsel, in the Privacy and Civil Liberties Unit. Previously, he was doing contract work with the Department of Defense, leading the department’s efforts to establish its first civil liberties office.
Mark Hayes is a shareholder in the Washington, D.C. office of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, in the Health & FDA Business Practice. Previously, Hayes was health policy director and chief health counsel for the Senate Finance Committee for Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA). He served as principal negotiator for the “Group of Six” health care reform negotiations that led to the key coverage, delivery system, and financing provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which was signed into law in March 2010. In addition, he served as principal negotiator for the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 and the Medicare Improvements of the Patients and Providers Act of 2008.
Sara Ibrahim joined the American Immigration Lawyers Association in October 2009 as the Information and Communications associate.
Dave Jacquette and Amy Colleen Jacquette were married in August 2009. Attending the wedding in St. Michaels, Maryland were groomsman David Latimer, Phil Hinkle, Matt Williams, Corielle Wright, Tonya Kesseyeun, Catherine Landers, Jimmy Howell, Kevin Wllen ’01, and Christian Levesque ’01. Dave and Amy met while interning at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., where she is an assistant U.S. attorney. He practices trademark litigation at Howrey, LLP, in Washington, D.C.
Griesing Law, LLC, co-founded by Kathryn Goldstein Legge, was certified as a women’s business enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council in August 2010. To earn certification from the council, a company must prove that its ownership is controlled at least 51 percent by women. Griesing Law was co-founded in January 2010 by Legge and Francine Friedman Griesing. The Philadelphia firm represents public Fortune 1000 corporations and closely held companies in complex business transactions and high-stakes litigation as well as advises its clients on how to reduce risk and contain litigation costs.
2007
Ethan Austin co-founded GiveForward, an online Web site dedicated to making fund raising simple and easy. The privately held social venture, which is based in Chicago, provides users with an effective online tool to contribute to a variety of causes. Although GiveFoward focuses its marketing efforts on medical-related fund-raising needs, the site can be used for any fundraising purpose. For more information, visit www.giveforward.com.
Deborah E. Band was named to Stanford Who’s Who for her work in the human resources field. Band is a human resources specialist for the Department of Homeland Security. She is president of the School of Kinesiology. (where?)
Nicholas Basco is division chief of the Juvenile Unit for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. He is responsible for the prosecution of juvenile sexual battery cases and administration of the Juvenile Drug Court program. In addition, he supervises and trains young attorneys in the state attorney’s office.
Christian M. Devos is a doctoral candidate at Leiden University in Leiden, the Netherlands. His thesis is titled “Post-Conflict Justice and Local Ownership.”
Anjanette Hamilton earned the highest score on the February 2010 Texas bar exam. The Texas Supreme Court invites the person with the high score on the exam to speak at the swearing-in ceremony. Hamilton’s speech was so memorable that it was published in the July 2010 edition of the Texas Bar Journal. Hamilton is an attorney in the El Paso office of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, the third-largest legal services provider in the nation with more than 140 attorneys in Texas.
Alyssa Sandrowitz is an associate in the Intellectual Property and Technology practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP, in the Washington, D.C. office. She focuses on patent prosecution. Previously, she was an associate at Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox.
2008
Arianna Chernove is an associate with the administrative law team at Hunton & Williams, LLP.
Jeffrey Dinwoodie published an article in the University of Miami Business Law Review titled “Ignorance is Not Bliss: Financial Illiteracy, the Mortgage Market Collapse, and the Global Economic Crisis,” 18 U. Miami Bus. L. Rev. 181 (2010). In addition, he published an article in the Dayton Law Review titled “’Unpatriotic’ Profits: The Risks Companies Face From International Business Activities and the Need for a Heightened Duty of Oversight for Corporate Directors,” 34 U. Dayton L. Rev. 377 (2009).
Martha Plante is a regulatory analyst in the Office of Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
Daniel Raposa is an associate attorney at Tully Rinckey, PLLC. He focuses his practice on federal sector labor and employment law.
Emily Strunk is an associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP. Previously, she was an associate at Bryan Cave.
2009
Jillianne Monique Arguello married Dr. Alexander Hussein Tejani in June 2010. She is an associate at Tressler, LLP, and he is an orthopedic surgery resident at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
Mariano Corcilli is an associate at Lydecker Diaz, where he focuses his practice on constitutional law, administrative law, governmental liability litigation, and complex business litigation. Previously, he was a criminal prosecutor for the Palm Beach County Office of the State Attorney. He also is an active duty sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.
Naseem S. Ramin is an associate in the Detroit office of Dykema. Her practice focuses on general litigation with an emphasis on business and commercial litigation.
Alan Joseph Rukin married Dr. Heather Janel Hoffman in August 2009 in Norfolk, Virginia. Rukin is pursuing an LLM at Georgetown University and Hoffman is a professor at The George Washington University. They reside in Washington, D.C.
Erik Swanson, an associate at Bullivant Houser Bailey, PC, is the founder of Roots and Wings International (RWI), a nonprofit organization that promotes elementary through university education in rural Guatemala. The organization provides full-tuition university scholarships to indigenous youth from families that earn less than $2 per day, an after-school elementary tutoring program, a computer lab program, and a community development program. RWI is currently raising funds to construct a university preparatory school in the rural highlands of Nahualá, Sololá. The tutoring and computer lab programs are housed in the Roots and Wings International Learning Center in Pasac, Sololá, made possible by TECO Guatemala’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program. Bullivant Houser Bailey also has partnered with RWI, donating to provide a network and Internet connectivity for the computer lab. For more information about Roots and Wings International, visit www.rootsandwingsintl.org. At Bullivant Houser Bailey, Swanson is in the Corporate, Finance, Securities and International Transactions Practice Group, where he focuses his practice on preformation planning and entity formation as well as intellectual property matters including trademark and copyright.
Class Notes (to appear in the Summer 2010 issue of the Advocate Magazine) compiled between August 1, 2009 and February 15, 2010.
1972
Everard A. Marseglia Jr., an attorney specializing in natural resources law, was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2010. Marseglia practices with the Houston, Texas firm Liskow & Lewis, which recently was ranked first in the United States by The Best Lawyers in America for its oil and gas practice.
1973
Kenneth Lore was a runner-up in the Real Estate Lawyer category for Washington Business Journal’s Top Lawyers for 2009. Lore, a partner at Bingham McCutchen, LL P, is co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. His practice focuses on complex equity and debt real estate transactions. He has been recognized by inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, the Best Lawyers List, Super Lawyers and by Washington Post Magazine, the Washington Business Journal and Washingtonian magazine. He is the author of Mortgage-Backed Securities: Developments and Trends in the Secondary Market, the leading text on the subject, published by West Publications since 1985. He is chair of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies National Advisory Board and WCL’s Dean’s Advisory Council, president of the Foundation for the National Archives and a member of the Boards of Directors for the National Housing Conference and the Center for Housing Policy.
1974
Reggie Walton, U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, was inducted into the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame. As a student at Donora High School in Donora, Pennsylvania, Walton was a standout football player and sprinter on the track team. After graduating, Walton attended West Virginia State University on a football scholarship, where he lettered three years—as a freshman, sophomore and junior— before an injury sidelined him during his senior year. Walton was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1981 and 20 years later was nominated to his present position by President George W. Bush. In 2007, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed him to serve a sevenyear term as judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and in 2004, President Bush appointed him to serve as chairperson of the National Prison Rape Reduction Commission. He is an instructor in the Harvard University Law School’s Advocacy Workshop and a faculty member of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.
1975
Richard Neumann Jr., a professor of law at Hofstra, is a National Burton Award Winner for Outstanding Contributions to Legal Writing Education. He is the author of the textbook Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing and is the co-author of Essential Lawyering Skills and Legal Writing. He also is a co-author of the first edition of the ABA Sourcebook on Legal Writing Programs. He is an editorial advisor to Aspen Publishers, one of the largest publishers of law school textbooks in the United States and has served on several committees of the American Bar Association’ Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. He has served as chair of American Law Schools’ Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research; a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Writing Institute and a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. The Burton Awards, established by the Burton Foundation, are dedicated to rewarding effective legal writing. The program honors partners in law firms and law school students who use plain, clear and concise language and avoid archaic, stilted legalese. The foundation was established by William C. Burton, a partner in the international law firm of D’Amato & Lynch. A former New York state assistant attorney general, Burton is the author of the authoritative reference Burton’s Legal Thesaurus, published by McGraw-Hill. Gilbert S. Rothenberg co-wrote a chapter titled “Protecting the Fisc,” which was published in the ABA Tax Section’s Careers in Tax Law. Since graduating from WCL, Rothenberg has worked for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, currently serves as chief of the Tax Division’s Appellate Section and acting deputy assistant attorney general for Review and Appellate. Rothenberg also is an adjunct professor at WCL, where he has taught a variety of tax classes for more than two decades.
1977
Jonathan Kreisberg is regional director of the National Labor Relations Board’s office in Hartford, Connecticut. In this position, Kreisberg supervises the processing of unfair labor practices and representation cases filed under the National Labor Relations Act in the state of Connecticut. A career NLRB employee, Kreisberg began his work there in 1976 as a law
student intern in the Division of Judges. He served as staff counsel to a board member, a field attorney, a supervisory attorney and lastly, the Hartford office’s first regional attorney.
1978
James M. Cameron Jr., office managing member for Dykema’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office, is listed in the recently published Best Lawyers in America Guide. He is recognized in the fields of bet-thecompany litigation, commercial litigation, intellectual property law and product liability litigation. His practice focuses on commercial litigation and he has handled patent infringement suits for Wayne State University and various corporate entities. He also has experience in construction contract litigation, having served as counsel for the city of Ann Arbor in disputes arising from the city’s construction of its water treatment facility. He was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve as a member of the state’s Attorney Discipline Board.
David Landau is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Duane Morris, LL P. Previously, Landau chaired the Intellectual Property and Trade Secret Litigation Group at WolfBlock, LLP. Landau represents technology companies, energy companies, manufacturers, and other enterprises primarily in trademark, copyright, patent, software licensing, and franchise issues. He regularly handles trade secret, confidentiality and non-competition litigation and his experience includes securing a landmark decision that, under Pennsylvania law, a doctor’s patient list is a trade secret. Landau served as solicitor for the borough of Yeadon and special counsel for Nether Providence Township, both in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Early in his career, he was national staff counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Washington, D.C. and handled major civil liberties and civil rights litigation, representing the ACLU before Congress on legislative issues.
Karen Lockwood recently retired as a partner from Howrey, LLP, to start The Lockwood Group. In this new endeavor, she consults for law firms on minority hiring, retention, and advancement.
1979
Rhonda Hill Wilson, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney, received the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) Distinguished Service Award for the second consecutive year at its annual convention. Wilson was presented with the award for her exemplary service to the organization. Also during the convention, Wilson received the AAJ Women’s Caucus’ Marie Lambert Award, which recognizes and honors women members of AAJ who demonstrate exemplary leadership to the profession, the community, AAJ, and the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus. The award was established by the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus in 1997. Recently, Wilson was elected to serve as AAJ’s parliamentarian and was appointed to chair its Diversity Taskforce. She also is a member of AAJ’s Executive and Membership Oversight committees, as well as the National Finance, Justice List, Law School and Organization Review committees.
1980
Scott M. Gerard is a partner in the Stamford, Connecticut office of Murtha Cullina, LL P. A transactional lawyer, he is a member of the firm’s Business Finance Department, where he handles matters for banks and privately held companies. He has more than 28 years of experience dealing with business asset and stock acquisition and/or sale, as well as acting as in-house counsel to many companies.
Maria Giannuzzi is the author of a photographic history of the Windsor Locks Canal. She develops and leads workshops to encourage and help others to create a career at any age. She recently launched a literary blog, My Brilliant Career at www.onewomanband.wordpress.com.
1981
Mark I. Gruh in is co-managing partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Saul Ewing. Gruhin is a partner in the firm’s Business Department and is co-chair of its Venture Capital/TECC Practice Group. He has more than 28 years of experience as a business lawyer with an extensive amount of general corporate experience in the areas of high technology, biotechnology, securities regulation, financial transactions and investments in real estate and closely held corporations.
1982
Jeff Feinstein has been teaching history and government at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Virginia for 10 years. In fall 2008, the National Honor Society presented him with a Faculty Spotlight Award and at graduation in the spring he received the Outstanding Faculty Award. His sons, Zachary and Noah, attend West Potomac as well.
1983
Dorothy Fleming Green, a partner at Latham, Shuker, Eden & Beaudine, LL P, was recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for her dedication, leadership, and excellence in labor and employment law. Listed in Best Lawyers in America, Green is a member of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, the Orlando Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers, the Virginia Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the Florida Bar Association, where she is a member of the board.
Norman Kinel is a partner in the New York office of Duval & Stachenfeld, LL P, where he practices in the Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Business Reorganization Practice Group. Kinel has been involved in some of the largest and most complex bankruptcy cases, including representing the Official Committee of Equity Security Holders in Adelphia Communications, one of the largest Chapter 11 cases ever filed. He continues to represent debtors, committees, bond holders, equity holders, trustees, and other major parties in Chapter 11 cases nationwide and in complex bankruptcy-related litigation appeals. Previously, he was the founder and cochair of the 15-attorney Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Department at Dreier, LLP, and as a bankruptcy partner at Sidley Austin, LLP.
1984
Arthur Affleck is vice chancellor for development and university relations at Fayetteville State University (FSU). Affleck is responsible for the leadership of all development, alumni relations and marketing and public relations programs. His duties include building private support for the institution through the management of an integrated, comprehensive program of external relations, including annual giving, major and planning giving, corporate and foundation giving, alumni relations, prospect research, donor relations and stewardship. He also oversees marketing and public relations, crisis communications, university publications and special events. With more than 25 years in higher education, Affleck has served in admissions, student affairs and university development. Prior to joining FSU, he was senior vice president of B&C Association, a firm that provides strategic planning, campaign counsel, public relations and marketing services for corporations and higher education institutions. From 2005 to 2007, Affleck was vice president for institutional advancement at Bennett College in Greensboro, where he was in charge of the college’s $50 million Revitalizing Bennett Campaign. As such, he coordinated major fundraising events with President Bill Clinton, Senator Robert Dole and Oprah Winfrey.
1985
William C. Thum is a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LL P. A member of the Corporate Department in the firm’s New York office, Thum focuses his practice on matters involving derivatives and has extensive experience in tailoring derivatives documentation across fixed income and equity derivatives products including prime brokerage. He assists clients, including investment funds, in developing and updating derivatives documentation policies and trading agreement templates, analyzing risk in legacy agreements, assisting in derivatives litigation and drafting transaction agreements for complex equity and credit derivatives trading.
1986
Christine Ferguson was elected to the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Board of Directors. She is a research professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Previously, Ferguson was counsel and deputy chief of staff to the late John H. Chafee (R-RI), where she spearheaded efforts to reform national health and social policy with a particular focus on health services to medically underserved populations. She then served as director of the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, where her work in Medicaid reform, early childhood education, child care and child welfare reform was nationally recognized. Ferguson also served as commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and founded First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization.
Judith A. Harris, a partner with Tallman, Hudders & Sorrentino in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, is president of the Estate Planning Council of the Lehigh Valley. The council works to increase public awareness of the importance of estate planning and promote effective and efficient estate planning through its membership of qualified professionals. At Tallman, Hudders & Sorrentino, Harris is a member of the Management Committee and is chair of the Estate, Trust and Taxation Practice Group. Her practice focuses on taxation, wills and trusts, and estate administration. Harris is a member of the board of the Fund to Benefit Children & Youth, Incorporated, having served as president from 2006 to 2009. She also is a member of the board of the Allentown Symphony, a member of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church, a member of the board of the Lehigh County Agricultural Society and recently completed 10 years as a member of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority Board of Governors, where she chaired the Personnel and Law committees and was vice-chair of the Finance Committee.
Andrew J. Sherman is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day. He practices in the firm’s Global M&A and Corporate Transactional Group.
David W. Whitmore is chief operating officer and general counsel at Levick Strategic Communications. Previously, he was executive vice president of Racepoint Group in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for the firm’s public affairs, government relations, crisis management and issues management practice groups. Prior to joining Racepoint, Whitmore provided communications and management counsel to various clients in Washington, D.C., Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
1988
Michael J. Newman was appointed chair of the Federal Courts and Practice Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association. He also is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association Board of Trustees and was elected to serve as Sixth Circuit vice president for the Federal Bar Association. He is chair of the Labor and Employment Appellate Practice Group of Dinsmore & Shohl, LL P, in Cincinnati. His practice focuses on labor and employment, commercial and business litigation, and mediation/arbitration. Newman also serves on the editorial board of The Federal Lawyer Magazine and is a master of the Potter Stewart Inns of Court.
1990
Jeff Chin co-authored an article in the spring 2009 edition of the California Western Law Review. The article, “‘I Was Put Out the Door With Nothing’— Addressing the Needs of the Exonerated Under a Refugee Model” examines the situation of the wrongfully convicted upon release through interviews with exonerees and makes recommendations for providing social services to them. Chin is associate director of the California and Hawai’i Innocence Projects.
Michael G. Hoffman is chief legal officer at CAS Partners, a property and asset management services company. Hoffman, who has practiced law for more than 19 years, brings more than 14 years of in-house counsel and executive management experience to the company. In the newly created position of chief legal officer, he is responsible for all aspects of CAS’ legal affairs, including corporate and transactional work, dispute resolution and legal compliance coordination.
1993
Steve Hamrick established The Hamrick Group, LLC, in July.
David Jaffe, WCL associate dean for Student Affairs, was appointed to chair the D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Committee, effective November 1, 2009. The Committee supports the D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP), a free and confidential program assisting lawyers, judges, and law students who experience problems that interfere with their personal lives or their abilities to serve as counsel or officers of the court. Jaffe has been a member of the Committee since 2007.
Lisa Harris Jones, founder and member of Harris Jones & Malone, LLC, was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by the Maryland Daily Record for the second time. She also was selected for the list in 2005. Jones concentrates her practice in lobbying and government relations, corporate and real estate law. She was named one of 40 Under 40 by the Baltimore Business Journal in 2001, the Top 25 Young Leaders to Watch by the Baltimore Times in 2002, and honored as a 21st Century Woman by the Maryland Coalition for Responsive Government in 2000.
1994
A case for which Jonathan C. Dailey, an associate at Surovell Markle Isaacs & Levy, PLC , is serving as lead counsel was profiled on the front page of the March 5, 2009 City Paper. The case involves the destruction of the laboratory of Dr. Jafar Vossoughi, a University of the District of Columbia (UDC) researcher and professor. The contents of the lab, essentially Vossoughi’s lifework, was destroyed by university officials who were involved in an acrimonious tenure dispute with him. Six years after the suit was filed, the jury has spoken and the appeals are over—Vossoughi will collect nearly $2 million for the destruction of his laboratory. The District of Columbia has agreed to pay the judgment, including interest.
Melissa Met Field s and her husband, Tillar Scott Fields, announce the birth of a daughter, Grace Tillar Fields, in November 2008. Grace joins half-siblings Nicholas, age 10, and Emma, age 9. Fields works in the Contracts and Legal Group of CACI International, Incorporated, where she specializes in defense intelligence work.
Joseph T. Kelliher is executive vice president of Federal Regulatory Affairs at FPL Group, Incorporated, a newly created position in which he oversees all aspects of FPL’s federal energy regulatory policy. FPL is a leading clean energy company with 2008 revenues of more than $16 billion, approximately 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity and more than 15,000 employees in 27 states and Canada. Prior to joining FPL, Kelliher was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a senior policy advisor for electricity and other domestic issues at the U.S. Department of Energy, was majority counsel on lectricity, nuclear waste, hydropower, energy conservation and DOE management for the U.S. House Committee on Commerce and legislative programs director for the American Nuclear Energy Council.
1995
Sam Yee was chosen as one of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s 2008 Best Under 40. As such, he was profiled in the January/ February 2009 issue of Diversity & the Bar, a publication of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Yee, special assistant attorney general, works in the Office of the Attorney General of the state of New York, where he prosecutes Medicaid fraud cases. As Baltimore City assistant state’s attorney, he tried more than 30 homicide cases from 2002 to 2007. He is involved with the Chief Judge Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition.
1996
Deborah Ben-Canaan is a managing director and office head of Major, Lindsey & Africa’s San Diego office. She has been with the office since its inception in June 2001. Major, Lindsey & Africa is the world’s largest and most-experienced legal search firm, with offices throughout the United States, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Her corporate clients include Quizno’s, Cardinal Health, Nestle, Hitachi Home Electronics, Public Storage, ITT Industries, Northrop Grumman, James Hardie Industries, and Advanced Bionics, among others. She also has expertise in public entity and national law firm searches. Previously, she practiced general civil litigation in the San Diego office of Gordon & Rees, and business litigation with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, also in San Diego.
1997
Bruce D. Armon is managing partner of Saul Ewing’s Philadelphia office. As managing partner, Armon oversees more than 100 attorneys and serves as the firm’s hiring partner. Armon concentrates his practice in healthcare law, assisting physicians, physician groups, hospitals, ancillary providers, pharmaceutical and nutritionalcompanies and insurers. He serves on the boards of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and Adath Jeshuran Synagogue.
David A. Berman and his wife, Evelina, welcomed a son, Marc Nathaniel, in November 2008. Marc joins big brother, Sean, age 5. Berman is a media and information technology counsel for New York City, where he represents the city’s radio and television stations.
1998
Karhlton Moore is director of the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OC JS). He is responsible for the administration and evaluation of state and federal grants for law enforcement, victim assistance, juvenile justice, crime prevention and courts and corrections programs. Previously, he served as chief legal counsel and legislative liaison for OCJS, assistant deputy legal counsel in the Governor’s Office, assistant attorney general in the Ohio Attorney General’s office in the Court of Claims Defense and Capital Crimes sections. Moore serves on the National Criminal Justice Association advisory council and board of directors, the
Commission on African American Males, and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
1999
Jennifer Reid Cervenka (LLM) is a partner at the Providence, Rhode Island firm of Partridge Snow & Hahn. She concentrates her practice on environmental and insurance law, including compliance, permitting, site remediation and redevelopment. In 2007, Cervenka was named one of Providence Business News’ 40 Under Forty winners.
Arthur Sidney (LLM) is chief of staff in the office of Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA). Previously, he served as a legislative director for Representative Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX), to whom he provided legal counsel on crime, international trade, antitrust, intellectual property, courts, administrative law, the Internet and immigration issues while staffing Jackson on all Judiciary Committee hearings. Prior to that, he was a private practitioner, and an international attorney for the Commerce Department, where he specialized in international trade litigation before the federal courts of specialized jurisdiction, NAFTA, and the WTO.
2002
Steven and Erika Rivera Ragland live in San Francisco with their two children, Logan and Riley. The Raglands have formed a nonprofit charity to raise awareness of and research money for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a degenerative neuromuscular disease that affects their son Logan. The charity, which recently received IRS nonprofit status, also focuses on initiatives like making city playgrounds accessible to all children. Ragland is an associate at Keker & Van Nest, where he focuses his practice on criminal and civil litigation, particularly criminal defense, securities litigation, shareholder derivative lawsuits, and complex business and partnership disputes.
2004
Jill Borak and her husband, David, welcomed Elijah Alexander in July. He joins brother Sam, 7 years old, and sister Addie, almost 3 years old. She works part-time as an attorney at her own practice.
Shirley C. Rivadeneira is an at-large member of the Montgomery County (MD) Democratic Central Committee. She is an attorney with the U.S. Labor Department and was active in the Obama-Biden campaign.
Sejal Shah, an associate with Duane Morris, LL P, was accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Shah, a member of the firm’s Energy, Environment and Resources Practice Group, focuses on electricity, natural gas, and pipeline matters. She has extensive experience in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) litigation and regulatory compliance for both RTOs/ISOs as well as investor-owned utilities.
Patrick Togni is president of the Board of Directors of BounceBack Kids, a nonprofit organization that enriches the lives of children with serious medical conditions and their families through free year-round athletic and social activities. BounceBack Kids was featured in People magazine and in an Emmy-nominated story that aired during the 2005 men’s NCAA Final Four on CBS. Togni practices international trade law with King & Spalding, LL P.
Benjamin J. Weir and Rebecca D. Romo ’07 were married in August. He is an attorney with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and she is an associate at Becker, Kellogg & Berry in Springfield, Virginia.
2005
Wendy L. Brasunas married Hans Nicholas Appleyard Heilbut in September. Previously, Brasunas was an associate in the New York office of Jones Day, where she specialized in trademark and intellectual property law.
Synta Keeling is a field attorney in the Baltimore Region 5 Field Office of the National Labor Relations Board. She focuses on unfair labor practices, litigating cases for Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Previously, she was an associate in The Law Office of Nancy M. Lawrence.
Olivia T. Luk, of Jenner & Block, LL P, in Chicago, was named one of the 2009 Illinois Rising Stars in the February 2009 issue of Illinois Super Lawyers and Chicago magazines. Luk focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation.
Ethan G. Ostroff is an associate at Troutman Sanders, LL P, in the Complex Litigation Practice Group in Virginia Beach, VA. His practice focuses on general and commercial litigation with an emphasis on consumer finance litigation, representing various entities in construction, maritime, commercial lease, and business torts litigation. Previously, he was an associate at Vandeventer Black, LLP, a law clerk to the Honorable H. Thomas Padrick Jr., the Honorable A. Bonwill Shockley and the Honorable Frederick B. Lowe, of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court, Second Judicial Circuit. He also served as a legal intern to the Honorable Richard W. Roberts, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is a member of the American, Federal, Virginia, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk Portsmouth bar associations and a member of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys.
2007
Robin Murphy is an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County, Illinois. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is the second-largest prosecutor’s office in the nation, employing nearly 900 assistant state’s attorneys.
Rebecca D. Romo and Benjamin J. Weir ’04 were married in August. She is an associate at Becker, Kellogg & Berry in Springfield, Virginia and he is an attorney with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
2008
Nathan Herschler, a legal fellow with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), was selected as one of 21 up-and-coming wildlife conservationists in the country to participate in a two-year intensive training course titled Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders. During the two-year course, Herschler will be trained in wildlife campaigning and leadership skills at White Oak Conservation Center in Florida. Participants plan, implement and evaluate a conservation campaign benefiting an endangered species. Previous projects have helped Southeast Asian bears, okapi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, declining amphibian populations, jaguars of northwest Mexico and pangolins captured in the illegal wildlife trade. Through his work, Herschler assisted with precedent-setting litigation, including two cases that reached the Supreme Court.
James Mitchell is the policy and legislative coordinator for the fish campaign at Food & Water Watch. His work includes open ocean aquaculture, seafood safety, and catch share management programs.
Lisa M. Pietrzak was admitted to the Delaware bar in March. An associate in the Corporate Department of Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, she focuses on corporate governance and corporate litigation control before the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Delaware Supreme Court.
Daniele M. Schiff man married Tobias W. Heffernan on Valentine’s Day. They were married by WCL Civil and Criminal Trial Advocacy professor, the Honorable Michael D. Mason, of the Montgomery County Circuit Court. Former classmates Amanda Dupree ’09, Dan Kecman ’09 and Wendi Moy ’08 attended the ceremony. Schiffman is an associate in the Litigation Department of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LL P.
Abby Tibbs is the chief of staff in the office of state Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin, of the Oregon State Legislature. Tibbs, who previously was a policy advisor in the office, began her career as an intern in the White House, spent five years working for public policy organizations in Washington, D.C., then served as a legislative aide in the Maryland General Assembly.
2009
David A. Curtiss married Erin Jane Gustafson in September. He is an associate in the New York law firm Shearman & Sterling. She is an associate at Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom, LLP, also in New York.
Class Notes (to appear in the Summer issue of the Advocate Magazine) compiled between August 1, 2008 and February 15, 2009. Additional class notes will appear in the fall.
1963
Blair D. Howard was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. Recognized in the areas of Criminal Defense, Personal Injury Plaintiff: General, and Personal Injury Plaintiff, Medical Malpractice, he is a founding member and senior partner at Howard, Morrison, Ross & Whelan in Warrenton. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the Fauquier County, Virginia State and American bar associations, the Association for the Administration of Justice and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
1968
William E. Artz was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the area of Personal Injury Plaintiff: Medical Malpractice. Artz operates William E. Artz, PC, a medical malpractice firm in Arlington. A trial lawyer for more than 36 years, he is certified in civil trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.Artz is a mediator in the D.C. and Virginia court systems, a fellow in the American College of Trial Attorneys and a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates. He served as president of the Trial Lawyers of Metropolitan D.C., president of the Arlington County Bar Association and director of the Arlington County Bar Foundation.In 2002, he received the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Trial Lawyers Association of Washington, D.C
1970
Charles N. Blitzer is a member of the Board of Directors of Znomics, Incorporated, a pioneer in the development of zebrafish as a vertebrate genetic platform to accelerate drug discovery. Blitzer has more than 30 years of experience in executive leadership positions in the pharmaceutical industry, having led many public and private companies from start-up to profitability, including Barbeau Pharma, Fulcrum Pharma, and MGI Pharma. Blitzer was also with Marion Merrill Dow, last serving as vice president, Corporate Development, where he was responsible for worldwide licensing and business development activities. Znomics is focused on identifying and developing new pharmaceutical products for treatment of human disorders and diseases. The company’s drug discovery platform is based on its cataloged library of mutations in the zebrafish, called the Zenemark Library. The library, the first in a vertebrate, currently contains more than 11,000 strains of fish representing mutations in approximately half of the known genome. Zebrafish share 80 to 90 percent of the same genes as humans.
David Gespass is president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild. He will begin his term as president at the Guild convention in Seattle in October. Founded in 1937, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States.
Marvin D. Miller was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the areas of Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Plaintiff: General. He operates the Law Offices of Marvin D. Miller in Alexandria.
John K. Zwerling was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. He was recognized in the Criminal Defense, Criminal Defense: White Collar, Civil Rights/First Amendment practice areas. He is a partner in the firm Zwerling, Leibig & Moseley, PC, of Alexandria. Zwerling is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He was the founding president of the Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys and is a founding member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and serves on the Legal Committee of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law. In addition, has served as an instructor in Forensic Expert Training at the FBI Academy, as well as a member of the faculty for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Georgetown University.
1971
David E. Sher was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. He was recognized in the areas of Criminal Defense: White Collar, Personal Injury Plaintiff: General, and Professional Liability: Defense. He is a named partner at Sher, Cummings and Ellis in Arlington.
John Toole was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the area of Real Estate. He is a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group and a member of the Business Department at Cooley, Godward, Kronish, LLP, in the Reston office. Toole represents institutional owners, developers, investors and users of various types of commercial real estate, nationally and internationally. As part of his real estate practice, Toole has developed a specialty advising developers and users of state-of-the-art data center facilities. He recently completed terms as a member of the National Board of Directors of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties and as a Board member and general counsel of its Virginia Chapter.
1972
Thomas J. Colucci was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the area of Real Estate. One of the founding principals of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, Emrich & Walsh, PC, in Arlington he is a specialist in real estate law, focusing on the development, transactional and business aspects of real estate. Colucci serves on and with various management and professional committees, such as the Board of Directors of AHV Group, Incorporated (Arlington Health Venture), and Arlington Eldercare Corporation, subsidiaries of the Arlington Hospital Foundation; the Regional Advisory Board of Chicago Title Insurance Company; and the Real Estate sections of the Virginia State Bar and the American Bar Association.
1973
Kathleen Johnson (LLM ’93) is employed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to initiate a project in Tajikistan to combat human trafficking. Previously, she worked in Tajikistan with the ABA Rule of Law Project and for the OSCE in Bosnia and Croatia.
Lydia B. Parnes joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Previously, she was director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection for 27 years. During her tenure, Parnes helped lead many of the Bureau’s signature efforts, including the National Do Not Call Registry, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, an award-winning data security and privacy program, innovative consumer and business education, and the Consumer Sentinel, a database of consumer complaints available to more than 1,700 law enforcement organizations in the United States, Canada and Australia.
1974
Gerald A. Schwartz was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the area of Personal Injury Plaintiff: General. Specializing in personal injury and death cases, he operates the Law Offices of Gerald A. Schwartz in Alexandria.
Jonathan Shapiro was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. Recognized in the Criminal Defense area, Shapiro is a partner at Greenspun, Shapiro, Davis & Leary, PC, in Fairfax. For three years, he served as a clinical instructor at WCL’s Criminal Justice Clinic and as director of the now-defunct (?) Institutionalized Persons Clinic.In 2001, WCL honored him with the Peter Cicchino Alumni Award for “Outstanding Advocacy in the Public Interest Within the United States.”
J.T. Westermeier was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the areas of Intellectual Property and Information Technology/Outsourcing. Westermeier is of counsel in the Reston office of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, where he focuses his practice on intellectual property suppliers and users and related intellectual property issues. He is the founder and served as co-chair of Georgetown University Law Center’s Advanced Computer and Internet Law Institute and is co-founder and currently co-chair of the Virginia Continuing Legal Education’s annual "Virginia Information Technology Legal Institute."
1975
Gregg Peters Monsees announces the November birth of his first grandchild, Lila Joyce Casto.
1976
Susan M. Pesner was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the areas of Real Estate, and Estate Planning and Probate. She is an attorney at Pesner, Kawamoto, Conway in McLean. She was a member of the Council of the Virginia State Bar, a member of the Executive Committee of the Council of the Virginia State Bar, chair of the Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar, and a member of the Council of the Real Estate Section of the Virginia Bar Association. She is currently chair of the Real Property Section and Ethics Subcommittee.
1978
James M. Cameron, managing director of Dykema’s Ann Arbor office and a member of the firm’s Litigation Group, was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to the Attorney Discipline Board (ADB). The ADB appoints hearing panels to conduct the trial-level proceedings in which the Attorney Grievance Commission has filed a formal complaint alleging that a member of the State Bar of Michigan has committed misconduct. Cameron, who has an interest in alternative dispute resolution and experience as a facilitator, mediator and arbitrator, has served as chairperson of the Michigan Teacher Tenure Commission, a trustee of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education and a trustee of Scio Township.
Nils Victor Montan is senior consultant at the law management consulting practice of Robin Rolfe Resources. Montan has 30 years of experience in IP management and leadership, including tenure as vice president and senior IP counsel for Warner Brothers and as a law firm partner. He has been active in IP community organizations as past president of the International Trademark Association and as elected chairman of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition for which he later served as its full-time chief executive officer. Currently, Montan chairs the Board of Advisors of the Authentics Foundation, an international organization dedicated to raising public awareness of counterfeits. Montan has testified before the U.S. Congress in support of IP legislation, given presentations at industry, bar and government conferences around the world and taught as an adjunct law professor at Loyola University School of Law, UCLA and USC.
1979
Stuart J. Kaswell is executive vice president and general counsel at the Managed Fund Association (MFA), the leading trade association of the hedge fund industry. In this role, he represents the hedge fund industry on domestic and international legislative and regulatory policy issues. Previously, he was partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Bryan Cave, LLP, where he practiced in their White Collar Defense & Investigations, Securities Litigations & Enforcement practice groups. Prior to that he was a partner in the financial services group at Dechert, LLP; senior vice president and general counsel at the Securities Industry Association; Republican (minority) counsel for the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives and in several positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bruce McDonald, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, LLP, received the Outstanding Volunteer Award for 2007-2008 from the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law. He was recognized for the representation he provided and the work he did in an intellectual property dispute over the Section’s logo. McDonald advises clients and serves as trial and appellate litigation counsel in federal court and regulatory actions primarily involving claims of trademark and copyright infringement, unfair competition and interpretation of international intellectual rights.
James C. “Jim” Simpson Jr. was named by Governor Haley Barbour to the Gulfport State Port Authority, which manages or operates port facilities in Gulfport, Mississippi. Simpson is a former lawmaker who served in the Mississippi State House of Representatives from 1994 to 2007. Currently, he is an attorney with Montgomery Barnett, where he has worked for more than 20 years. While a member of the House, Simpson was selected as the 2004 National Legislator of the Year by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
1981
Heidi Pasichow is an associate judge on the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Previously, she was with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
1982
Peter W. Buchbauer was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the area of Family Law. He is an attorney at Buchbauer & McGuire, PC, in Winchester.
Marcia M. Maddox was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. Recognized in the area of Family Law, Maddox is a founding partner in the firm Maddox, Cole & Miller, PC, in Vienna. A trial attorney for more than 25 years, prior to law school, she served in the White House as assistant press secretary to Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson. Maddox is president of the USA Chapter of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (IAML) as well as a member of itsExecutive Committee and the Board of Governors. She is a certified fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is a member of approximately eight different law and family law organizations and is active in the Fairfax Bar Association. She has been appointed as a neutral case evaluator for the Fairfax County Circuit Court, where she evaluates divorce and property matters; she has also functioned as a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem.
1983
Donald F. King was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the areas of Criminal Defense, Criminal Defense: White Collar, and Civil Rights/First Amendment. King is a principal with the firm Odin, Feldman & Pittleman, PC, in Fairfax, where he heads the Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. He founded, directed and served as president of the Northern Virginia Bankruptcy Bar Association and chaired the Board of Governors of the Bankruptcy Section of the Virginia State Bar. In addition, he is an NCAA football referee, officiating games in the Division 1AA, Patriot League and Atlantic 10 Conference.
Sturgis Sobin is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling, LLP. He has represented clients in more than 40 intellectual property cases before the U.S. International Trade Commission under Section 337, as well as in related U.S. district court litigation.Sobin has served as lead trial counsel in multiple large and complex trials covering a range of technologies and commercially valuable IP rights. In addition to extensive practice of international trade and IP litigation, Sobin has represented clients involved in large-scale, high technology antitrust and unfair competition cases and complex economic damages.
1984
Bruce W. Henry was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer recognized in the areas of Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights, Banking, and Real Estate. Henry is an attorney at Henry, O’Donnell, Dahnke & Walther, PC, in Fairfax. He represents banks, businesses and creditor committees in complex bankruptcy Chapter 11 business reorganizations and has substantial expertise in lender representation in litigation matters and in condemnation cases.Listed in Best Lawyers in America for bankruptcy in Virginia, Henry has applied his broad understanding of business, accounting and real estate on behalf of clients in most of the substantial bankruptcy reorganization cases filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
1985
Leigh-Alexandra Basha was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the areas of Estate Planning & probate, Tax, and International. She is a partner in the northern Virginia office of Holland & Knight, LLP, where she heads the firm’s International Estate Planning Practice. Basha focuses her practice in the areas of domestic and international taxation, estate planning and administration, business law, and pre-marital agreements.
Brian M. Hirsch was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. Recognized in the area of Family Law, he is an attorney at Hirsch & Ehlenberger, PC, in Reston.
Scott Kadish was chosen as a 2009 Ohio Super Lawyer. Kadish is the partner-in-charge of Ulmer & Berne, LLP’s Cincinnati office and also is a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He chairs the firm’s Shopping Center Group as the result of his nationwide representation of landlords and tenants in the development and lease up of shopping centers. In addition, he counsels clients on other real estate and business transactions and general business law. Kadish is a past recipient of the Greater Cincinnati Outstanding 40 Under 40 Award; an adjunct professor of real estate law at the University of Cincinnati and is a charter member of the national Business Institute Ohio Advisory Council.
John Wagner, partner in the Environmental Group at Certilman Balin, presented “Finding the Solution to Unresolved Boundaries” and “Handling Right-of-Way Problems” at the National Business Institutes Seminar “Boundary Disputes: Resolving Client Conflicts,” in September 2008. Wagner represents private clients, from individual landowners to multi-state development companies as well as municipalities, in real property, zoning, land use, title, landlord/tenant, and environmental law matters, and, in particular, matters involving environmental review of zoning and land use actions pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. Wagner’s practice also encompasses subdivisions, variance, special permit, water supply and sewerage, highway work permit, wetlands, and zoning change applications.
1986
Diane Horvath is director of goods and services procurement for the Ontario Provincial Government. As director, she manages a staff of 60 and a $3 billion portfolio. She recently completed a three-year term on the volunteer Board of Directors of Pride Toronto, one of the largest queer culture festivals in the world. Horvath and her partner, Khlaire, are active in environmental organizations in Toronto, where they reside.
In February, Andrew Sherman joined the Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day, where he is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Transactional Practice Group. Jones Day employs more than 2,400 lawyers in 31 cities worldwide. Established in 1893, the firm serves as counsel to nearly 300 for the Fortune 500’s multinational companies and has been the worldwide leader in mergers and acquisitions for 33 consecutive quarters.
Jeri Kaylene Somers is vice chair of the United States Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. The Board was established by Section 847 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 to hear and decide contract disputes between government contractors and executive agencies under the provisions of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978. Previously, she was a board judge with the United States Department of Transportation Board of Contract Appeals, an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, Va., and recently retired as a judge advocate with the U.S. Air Force with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
1987
Bruce Kapsack’s book Innovative DUI Trial Tools recently was released by James Publishing. He is currently working on California DUI Law, Science and Procedure for Tompson-West Publishing. Kapsack is the first attorney in California to take and pass the American Bar Association’s DUI Board Certification Exam. In addition to his own books, Kapsack has written annual supplements for California Drunk Driving Defense by Lawrence Taylor and California Drunk Driving Law by Ed Kuwatch. In addition, he has written for a number of periodicals including The Champion and The Advocate.
1989
Johnny Chiu (LLM) is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling, LLP. He focuses his practice on litigation matters before the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. district courts as well as state courts involving patent, trade secrets and other intellectual property matters.He also advises clients on compliance and negotiations strategies in the course of creation and operation of U.S. subsidiaries or affiliates of foreign investors.
Charlie C.H. Lee was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the areas of Construction Litigation and Construction/Surety. Lee is a founding partner of Moore & Lee, LLP, in McLean, specializing in all areas of construction, government contracts and suretyship law concerning heavy industrial and commercial projects. His experience includes all phases of construction contracting, from contract formation and review to litigating and arbitrating disputes on behalf of contractors, subcontractors, sureties and owners. In addition, Lee serves as an arbitrator on the Construction Panel for the American Arbitration Association.
Edna Ruth Vincent was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer. Recognized in the area of Family Law, Vincent is principal attorney at Colten Cummins Watson & Vincent, PC, in Fairfax. Vincent is active in several bar associations. She has served as the chair and subcommittee vice-chair of the Virginia State Bar Fifth District Disciplinary Committee. She was a board member of the Old Dominion Bar Association, was a member of the Virginia State Bar Professionalism Course Faculty and was president of both the Virginia Commission on Women and Minorities in the Legal System and the Northern Virginia Black Attorneys Association. A member of the Fairfax Bar Association, she has served on its Judicial Screening, Circuit Court, and Membership committees. Vincent currently serves as a Commissioner in Chancery to the Fairfax County Circuit Court. At the invitation of the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, Vincent served on the Commission on Virginia Courts in the 21 Century: To Benefit All, To Exclude None, which studied the future of Virginia's judicial system. She also is the recipient of WCL’s 2006 Women and the Law Leadership Award and was keynote speaker at the Women and the Law Leadership Luncheon. In 2008, Vincent was appointed by the chief justice of Virginia Supreme Court to serve a three-year term as a member at-large of the Virginia State Bar Council, the governing body of the mandatory state bar.
1990
Jeffrey Brenner was recognized as a leader in the field of “Litigation: General Commercial” in the 2008 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Brenner practices at Nixon Peabody, LLP, one of the largest law firms in the United States, with 700 attorneys in 18 office locations. The firm was recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one if its “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2008, the third consecutive year it was named to the list.
Scott C. Frost was named an Illinois Super Lawyer by Chicago Magazine and Law & Politics. He also was elected a fellow in the Litigation Counsel of American (LCA), a trial lawyer honorary society for his effectiveness and accomplishment in litigation and superior ethical reputation. Frost is managing partner at Statman Harris & Eyrich, LLC, specializing in complex commercial litigation.
Leslie Silverman practices in Proskauer Rose’s Labor and Employment Department. Previously vice chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), she led EEOC’s Systemic Task Force, which examined the Commission’s effort to combat systemic discrimination and resulted in the launch of a comprehensive nationwide program to address pattern or practice, policy or class cases in which alleged discrimination has had a broad impact on industry, profession, company or geographic location. Prior to joining EEOC, Silverman served as labor counsel to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
1991
David Brill is a director at BlackRock Solutions. Previously, he was vice president and principal legal counsel at Thomson Reuters. He recently spoke at The Argyle Executive Forum in Chicago on risk management. He and his wife Hayama and their daughter Sienna Rose live in New York City.
Mark D. Collins, a director of Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, Delaware, was listed in the 2008 edition of Delaware Super Lawyers. As chair of the firm’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group, Collins concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and creditors’ rights, representing debtors, lenders, creditors and acquirers of national Chapter 11 cases.
Linda M. Correia was lead counsel for two female Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) coaches who registered complaints of sex discrimination in the university’s sports programs. They had brought suit against FGCU for violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a federal law that prohibits discrimination and retaliation in educational institutions receiving federal funds. The university paid $3.4 million to settle claims of retaliation against the coaches.
Brian Goldstein married Monica Felkel in November. Goldstein is a partner in the Entertainment Division of Fettmann, Tolchin & Majors in Fairfax, Virginia. He also is the general and artistic director of Lord Foppington & Company, a touring theater company that produces period comedies. He is president of the North Virginia Board of Governors and a director on the statewide Board of the Virginia Opera.
In 2008, Linda Howell was appointed as a federal administrative judge (Veterans Law Judge) by then President George W. Bush. On March 24, 2008, she was sworn in by the Honorable James B. Peake, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is married to Brian Siebel ’90, a senior attorney with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. They have two children, Elizabeth and Ethan, and live in the Washington, D.C. area.
Christopher R. Ryan was named Outstanding In-House Counsel for 2008 by the Washington Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA), the largest regional bar association for in-house counsel. Ryan, deputy general counsel of K12, Incorporated, was recognized for his lead role in the company’s initial public offering and the transition to public-company processes, as well as his work in support of two major acquisitions completed by K12.
1992
Richard Nagle was named a 2008 Virginia Super Lawyer in the Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice and Health Care areas. A director at the firm Hancock, Daniel, Johnson & Nagle, PC, in Fairfax, he focuses his practice on representing health care providers in the defense of professional liability litigation.
Jordan B. Yeager joined Curtin & Heefner, LLP, in its Employment and Public Sector Section. Formerly in private practice as the named partner in a public interest law firm, Yeager served successfully as counsel in several groundbreaking cases, including in matters involving constitutional rights issues; claims of reasonable accommodation against a municipal defendant; and the right to a jury trial in a whistleblower retaliation case. Currently, Yeager serves as solicitor of the Bucks County Democratic Committee, as a referral panel member for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia. In addition, he is an active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and the National Police Accountability Project.
1993
Cherae L. Bishop is senior director of Congressional Affairs for the American Red Cross. As such, she acts as a liaison on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and the Red Cross. Previously, Bishop provided legislative and strategic expertise to Volunteers of America, Incorporated, as vice president of Legislative Affairs and Public Policy. She also served as manager of Constituency Relations for Altria Corporate Services Incorporated, where she obtained the support of key constituency organizations to pass tobacco buyout legislation. She also has worked for Weyerhaeuser Company, where she secured federal funding for the Washington State Forest and Fish Plan, the American Forest and Paper Association and the National Association of Manufacturers.
Kara Chayrigues Bennett was married in June 2008. Her name is now Kara C. Martinez.
Ann Southard Murphy announces the June 30th birth of Samuel Southard Hernly.
Richard R. Verma, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, was appointed to the Congressional Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Verma’s appointment was announced in May 2008 by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Republican Leader John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. A partner in Steptoe’s Government Affairs and Public Policy and International practices, Verma rejoined the firm at the end of 2007 after holding a number of high-level public service positions, including as senior national security advisor to Senator Reid.
1994
Ilsa Flanagan is director of sustainability at the University of Chicago. In this newly created position, Flanagan will help the university community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and conserve natural resources, renovate and construct green buildings, improve transportation options and recycling, among other initiatives. Previously, she was senior vice president and director of Sustainable Development at LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO.
In January, Joseph T. Kelliher resigned his position as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). During his three-and-a-half-year tenure, Congress increased FERC’s authority over enforcement, reliability and infrastructure development under the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The FERC chairman manages an agency staff of about 1,300 and a budget of about $260 million. As chairman, Kelliher had been a champion of competitive power markets, expanding natural gas infrastructure and providing incentives for more investment in the electric grid.
1995
Joseph G. Contrera is counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Limited, an intellectual property law firm based in Chicago. He concentrates his practice in patent prosecution, litigation, U.S. Food & Drug Administration administrative and regulatory matters, as well as technology transfer and licensing.
Gabriel Eckstein (LLM ’97), the creator and director of the International Water Law Project (IWLP), was selected as a “neutral” in the Track II water rights negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The IWLP “serves as the premier resource on the Internet for international water law and policy issues. Its purpose is to educate and provide relevant resources to the public and to facilitate cooperation over the world’s fresh water resources.” Ecksteins is the George W. McCleskey Professor of Water Law and director of the Center for Water Law and Policy at Texas Tech University. An expert in U.S. and international water law and policy, he has served as an expert advisor or consultant on U.S. and international water and environmental issues to various organizations, including the World Commission on Dams, Organization of American States (OAS), U.S. Agency for International Development, and local water districts in Texas.Currently, Eckstein is an advisor to the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s International Hydrological Programme(UNESCO-IHP) and Ambassador Chusei Yamada of the U.N. International Law Commission in the development of an international agreement on transboundary ground water resources. He also participates in meetings of ISARM (International Shared Aquifer Resources Management) Americas Programme, a joint effort of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, UNESCO-IHP, and OAS, and advises on issues related to international water law and transboundary ground water resources.
Fedora J. Nick, director of the Executive Bar Review and managing partner of the National Bar Review, LLC, welcomed her third son, Kai Nick Taxon in September 2007. He joins older brothers Samson and Asher.
Michael Weinstein is chair of the White Collar Practice Group at Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, PA. Previously, he was a trial attorney and federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice.
1996
Matthew M. Greenberg is partner in the Wilmington, Delaware office of Pepper Hamilton, LLP. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities, and Delaware corporate and alternative entity law. Greenberg is a member of the Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA) for which he serves as vice president at-large. He also is co-chair of DSBA’s Community Service Committee and chair of the association’s Governance and Bylaws Committee as well as a member of the Alternative Entity Subcommittee of the DSBA’s Corporation Law Council, which is responsible for drafting amendments to the Delaware statutes governing limited liability companies, limited partnerships and partnerships. He also serves on the board of the Delaware Lawyers Assistance Program and provides services to the American Inns of Court Foundation.
David A. Kessler was a finalist in the Washington Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA) Corporate Counsel Awards Program. WMACCA is the largest regional bar association for in-house counsel. He is senior corporate counsel at Symantec Corporation.
Linda Woolley joined the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) as executive vice president, Government Affairs in August 2008. Based in DMA’s Washington, D.C. office, Woolley is responsible for strategically managing the advocacy, legislative and political efforts of the association, supporting DMA’s overall business and marketing objectives and building upon DMA’s position in the direct marketing community and business world at large. Previously, Woolley was principal of LegisLaw, a full-service public affairs and government relations consulting firm that she founded in 1999. She has been director of public affairs for ITT Industries and director of public affairs for ITT Corporation. In addition, she has held senior positions with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health and the Environment.
Sean Hunt is senior vice president and general counsel of Cryptek, Incorporated, a leading innovator of secure information-sharing and information-assurance products and solutions. Hunt has global responsibility for all legal matters of the firm and its subsidiaries, including corporate, transactional, intellectual property and litigation matters. Prior to joining Cryptek, Hunt was senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of TVI Corporation, a publicly traded manufacturer of shelters and personal protection equipment for military and first responders. Previously, he was vice president, general counsel and assistant secretary for Visual Networks and in private practice with K&L Gates, LLP. Prior to entering the legal profession, Hunt held managerial, financial and engineering positions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cigna Securities and Booz, Allen Hamilton.
1997
John P. Casey, a land use attorney at Robinson & Cole, LLP, was elected to the Board of Directors of Connecticut Legal Services, Incorporated (CLS). CLS is a private, nonprofit, civil law firm dedicated to providing access to justice as a means of improving the lives of low-income people. Casey’s practice focuses on land use and environmental matters, particularly zoning, wetlands and coastal permitting, as well as litigation related to land use permitting and real property disputes. He is a volunteer with Lawyers for Children America, which provides representation to child victims in abuse and neglect proceedings, and is a member of the town of Groton (Connecticut) Democratic Town Committee. Casey is president of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Cruise Ship Task Force, a nonprofit entity that promotes and coordinates cruise ship visits to ports in Connecticut, and treasurer of the New London Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides grants for educational programs in New London, Connecticut.
Heather Kofron was named a 2008 Virginia Rising Star in the areas of Employment & Labor, Civil Litigation Defense, and Health Care. The Rising Star designation recognizes top up-and-coming attorneys in the state. A partner at Vandeventer Black, LLP, in Richmond, Kofron concentrates her practice in civil litigation, with a focus on insurance defense, products liability, employment litigation, personal injury and wrongful death defense, medical malpractice defense, warranty/lemon law, and business and commercial disputes. Kofron is an experienced trial attorney through all phases of litigation in state and federal courts throughout Virginia. Her recent notable cases include defending a national security company against a sexual assault claim that arose on a prominent university; defending national long-term care providers against survival, personal injury and wrongful deaths claims; and prosecuting and defending claims for civil conspiracy, tortious interference, violations of trade secrets and other business related torts.
Kevin Levey is a partner with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP, in the Washington, D.C. office. An energy lawyer, Levey’s practice includes international business transactions such as infrastructure projects development, project finance, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and privatizations. He has expertise in the development of nuclear, solar, biomass and other renewable energy-based and clean coal-fired power projects. He has represented large multinational companies in the design, financing, construction, operation and acquisition of major power generation, LNG terminal and pipeline projects in Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico. In addition, he has advised the governments of Nigeria, Panama and Serbia on a variety of public infrastructure privatization and commercialization projects.
1998
Julie Cillo was named a 2008 Virginia Rising Star in the area of Family Law. The Rising Star designation recognizes top up-and-coming attorneys in the state. A partner at Hall & Hall, PLC, in Midlothian, Cillo is secretary to the Metropolitan Richmond Family Law Bar Association and holds leadership roles in a number of other civic and professional organizations working for the citizens of Virginia.
Michelle B. Ferguson was named shareholder/director at Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC, where she will continue to focus her practice on employment law, including drafting all types of employment documents and personnel policies, conducting employee trainings and independent investigations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims and representing clients in all types of employment law matters. Ferguson was selected in 2006 as the Denver Bar Association’s Young Lawyer of the Year.
1999
Jonathan M. Gelchinsky is a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, in the Cambridge, Massachusetts office. Gelchinsky handles trademark litigation, domestic and international trademark prosecution and disputes, trademark clearance and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
From her home in Israel, Jasmin Keshet (LLM) announces the birth of twin girls, born on May 23, 2007.
2000
Asad Ba-Yunus serves on the Florida Bar’s Voluntary Bar Liaison Committee. Ba-Yunus is the outgoing and first president of the Florida Muslim Bar Association and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Islamic Society of North America. He is a precinct committeeman for the Democratic Party in Broward County and serves on the Board of the Center for Voter Advocacy, a Florida-based voter education, outreach and empowerment organization. Previously an assistant state’s attorney in Miami-Dade County, he is in private practice as a senior associate at a small civil practice firm in Fort Lauderdale, specializing in medical malpractice defense.
Carlos A. Calderin was appointed by the Dalton (Georgia) City Council to the Dalton Public Safety Commission. Calderin maintains a practice, Calderin & Oliva, PA, in both Dalton and Miami.
Meetesh V. Patel is president of Kinetic Power Corporation and a member of the Board of Directors of Octillion Corporation. Octillion is a next-generation alternative and renewable energy technology incubator and Kinetic Power is a wholly owned subsidiary specifically focusing on generating electricity from moving vehicles. Previously, Patel founded and managed MVP Law Group, PA, representing corporate clients, entrepreneurs, scientific and research organizations, hospitals, teaching institutions and others with matters ranging from planning, structuring and early contract negotiations to the buying and selling of successful business ventures.
2001
Jim Ferg-Cadima was selected by Harvard Law School as a 2008-2009 Wasserstein Fellow. According to Harvard, “The Wasserstein Public Interest Fellows Program brings outstanding public interest attorneys from across the country to the Harvard Law School campus for one or two days during the year to advise law students about public service careers. Wasserstein Fellows are selected based on the depth and diversity of their public interest experiences, the areas of expertise which interest students, and the personal qualities that will make them excellent advisers.” In addition, Ferg-Cadima is a member of the Dean’s Diversity Council.
Maggie Kaminer is in private practice in New York City, where she focuses on matrimonial and family law. She can be reached at Maggie@kaminerkouzi.com.
Hyla Kaplan married David Rosenberg in June 2008. Kaplan is employed by Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy in Philadelphia, where they reside.
2002
Jeremy T. Elman and Jill Firestone Elman are the parents of twin boys, Tyler David and Oliver Blake. Jill is on hiatus from practicing insurance coverage law. Jeremy is partner in the Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Practice Group in McDermott Will & Emery’s Miami, Florida office. He focuses on intellectual property disputes and complex commercial litigation, representing clients in major patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright disputes. He has substantial litigation experience in computer software and consumer electronics technology.
Danielle K. Schonback is partner in the Energy & Derivatives Markets Practice Group in McDermott Will & Emery’s New York office. Schonback represents investment banks, hedge funds and energy and commodity companies in a variety of transactional, regulatory and risk management matters.
Anita P. Sharma, of the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project, was named one of 15 members of the Boston Bar Association’s Public Interest Leadership Program. Now in its sixth year, the leadership training program is for lawyers who have practiced law for less than 10 years and fosters the professional relationships that are essential to success.
2003
Cecelia Duran married Ben Closs in December in San Diego, California.
Melanie Orhant is director of Pro Bono Services at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP). Orhant works to expand pro bono projects available to law firms affiliated with NLCHP, especially those members of the Lawyers’ Executive Advisory Partners (LEAP). NLCHP initiated its LEAP program in 2004 to formalize and expand its pro bono network. Prior to joining NLCHP, Orhant served as managing attorney of Break the Chain Campaign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of human rights for migrant workers. Orhant also was an Equal Justice Works Fellow from 2003-2005 and a Frederick B. Abramson Fellow from 2003-2004.
Douglas T. Radigan is an associate in the Business and Finance Practice Area at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, where he concentrates his practice in all aspects of civil litigation. Previously, Radigan was a trial attorney who defended and counseled individuals, corporations and insurance companies.
Jonathan G. Selib is chief of staff for Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.). Previously, he was Baucus’ legislative director and served as tax counsel for the Senate Finance Committee. He began working with Baucus in 2001 when he served as a law clerk for the Senate Finance Committee.
2004
Peter H. Matson lives in Malta and teaches immigration litigation at the University of Malta maintains a private practice in immigration, employment and labor law. In December, he retired from the U.S. Navy after 28 years of service. His wife is the United States Defense and Naval Attache.
Rodney Peele is assistant director of Regulatory Policy and Outreach at the American Optometric Association. Previously, Peele was in the Health Policy and Practice Department of the American Podiatric Medicine Association.
2005
David Carlos Baluarte married Beth Hannah Luft in New York City in August.
Colin Bell practices at the Atlantic City, New Jersey firm of Hankin Sandman & Palladino, where he practices in all areas of civil litigation with an emphasis on construction litigation and criminal law. Previously an assistant Atlantic County prosecutor, Bell clerked during the 2005-2006 term for the Honorable Michael A. Donio in the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, Criminal Part.
Christopher Loutit married Lauren Suzanne Balbach in July 2008. Loutit is an associate at the Wilmington, North Carolina law firm Johnson, Lambeth & Brown.
2006
Araj F. Ahmed is an associate in the Labor & Employment Practice at Hunton & Williams, LLP. Previously, he was with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP.
2007
Michael Bassik is chief digital officer of Air America Media, the nation’s largest progressive radio network.
Theresa Harris is executive director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA, a nonprofit human rights litigation group based in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was the organization’s deputy director and directed the International Justice and Accountability Project. She was a key member of the Human Rights USA’s litigation team in the case Xiaoning v. Yahoo!, the lawsuit the organization brought on behalf of Chinese writers imprisoned for exercising their right to free expression after Yahoo! turned over their e-mails to Chinese authorities.
2008
Joseph Scura married Janine Pantaleo in December. He is a law clerk for the Honorable Ernest M. Caposela, of the New Jersey Superior Court.
Class Notes (to appear in the Fall issue of the Advocate Magazine) compiled between January 5, 2008 and June 20, 2008. Additional class notes will appear in the spring.
1964
Dorothy Toth Beasley graduated from Emory Law School's LLM Program in International Law in May.
1966
Russell O. Vail, a former FBI Agent, was presented with the Official Medal for Excellence and Service to Our Nation Award in May 1 by The Honorable Ronald J. James '66, assistant secretary of the Army, Manpower and Reserve Affairs at the American Federal Contract Investigators Association (AFCIA) National Conference. Russell holds two national offices with AFCIA, including Central Region director and member of the Board of Directors. Vail resides in White Lake, Michigan.
1968
Jack C. Berenzweig was named an "Illinois Super Lawyer" for 2008 in a survey conducted by Law & Politics magazine. Berenzweig practices in the Intellectual Property Area at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the country.
1969
Ralph Ruebner, a professor of law at the John Marshall Law School, was recently promoted to associate dean of Academic Affairs.
Terence E. Smolev, a partner in the law firm of Forchelli, Curto, Schwartz, Mineo, Carlino & Cohn, LLP (FCSMC&C), has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Dowling College, located in Oakdale, New York. Smolev began his career at a New York City accounting firm before establishing a private legal practice on Long Island and eventually merging his firm with FCSMC&C in 2000. As partner-in-charge of the Tax, Trusts and Estates Department, Smolev concentrates his practice in all aspects of tax, corporate, estates, trusts and elder law. He has served as an adjunct professor at Hofstra University Schools of Business and Law, teaching accounting, business law, tax law and estate planning.
1970
Thomas W. Tolpin is proud to announce the formation of a new intellectual property law firm specializing in patents, trademarks and related matters with his partner Brett M. Tolpin. The office, Tolpin & Partners, PC, is located in Chicago.
1972
Lennard Loewentritt was appointed deputy general counsel of the U.S. General Services Administration in March. Loewentritt also will continue as acting general counsel. Loewentritt has served in various capacities in the Office of General Counsel for more than 35 years. As acting general counsel, he has been responsible for providing all legal services to components of the agency including the Federal Acquisition Service, Public Buildings Service and the Office of Governmentwide Policy.
1973
Steven I. Platt retired from the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland (7th Circuit) to engage in the private practice of alternative dispute resolution (settlement conferencing/mediation, arbitration, neutral case evaluation and public policy facilitation) as well as consulting on business litigation prevention with The Platt Group, Inc. He also writes a regular bi-weekly op-ed column, "The Pursuit of Justice," which appears in The Daily Record, a business and legal newspaper based in Baltimore.
T. Timothy Ryan Jr. is chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Previously, Ryan was vice chairman of investment banking for financial institutions and governments at JPMorgan. Prior to joining JPMorgan, Ryan was director of the Treasury Department's Office of Thrift Supervision and a director at both the Resolution Trust Corporation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. From 1983 to 1990, he was a partner in the Washington office of the law firm Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay, LLP where he headed its Pension Investment Group. From 1981 to 1983 he was solicitor of labor at the Department of Labor.
1974
In 2007, Arthur N. Chagaris was selected for the second consecutive year as one of New Jersey's top attorneys by New Jersey Super Lawyers Magazine. Chagaris heads the Litigation Department at Beattie Padovano, LLC in Montvale.
Gary L. Lieber, a partner in Saul Ewing's Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Group, was recognized as "Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics magazine. The Super Lawyers list honors the top 5 percent of the lawyers in Washington, D.C. based on surveys with lawyers throughout the D.C. area and independent research by Law & Politics. Lieber has more than 30 years of experience as a labor and employment attorney. He concentrates his practice in labor-management relations and defense of employment discrimination cases on behalf of management. He serves as National Labor Counsel to the National Electrical Contractors Association and is co-counsel to the Council on Industrial Relations for the Electrical Contracting Industry.
Charles A. Poekel Jr. is director of legal services and chief counsel to Local 74 USWU Legal Fund in Long Island City, New York. In addition, he published a second book, Babe & the Kid: The Legendary Story of Babe Ruth and Johnny Sylvester published by the History Press of Charleston, South Carolina.
R. Terrance Rader, of Rader, Fishman & Grauer, PLLC, was named a "Michigan Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics, a national journal of legal and political issues. The names were released recently in a special supplement to the New York Times. Michigan Super Lawyers represent the top 5 percent of practicing attorneys in the state. They are identified in a thorough nine-month search involving peer nominations, queries of law firm managing partners and a review of the past year's major verdicts. Rader, a founding member of the law firm, is considered one of the top intellectual property litigators in America. He has more than three decades of experience in patent, trademark and trade secret litigation appearing before U.S. District Courts across the United States and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Rader is a former primary examiner for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law and Best Lawyers in America.
Reggie Walton is a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
1975
Sue Auerbach retired from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in March.
Michele Goldfarb is associate ombudsman at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, she serves as director of the Penn Women's Center, a role she assumed in 2007. From 2006-2007, she taught in the Penn Law School, primarily in the Civil Practice Clinic, and assisted in the Mediation Clinic, where she has been teaching as an adjunct professor since. Goldfarb was the director of Penn's Office of Student Conduct (OSC), a position she held for 11 years.
Aubrey Sarvis is the executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). Founded in 1993, SLDN is a national, nonprofit policy advocacy, legal services and watchdog organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and related forms of intolerance.
1978
David Landau, a partner in WolfBlock's Litigation and Intellectual Property/Information Technology practice groups spearheaded a significant victory for its client ConsulNet Computing Inc. in a theft of intellectual property case that alleged a local defendant stole ConsulNet's Web site designs and content as well as other intellectual property. ConsulNet, a Toronto-based company, offers business-generating Web services, including Web site design, to real estate agents across North America. M. David Moore of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, participated in a 60-day free trial of ConsulNet and then pirated materials and lead-generation techniques copyrighted by ConsulNet and Craig Proctor, a nationally renowned expert in marketing techniques and tools for real estate agents. Moore then created his own Web site business--WebAgent Solutions, copied ConsulNet's product and began selling to ConsulNet's customers at half the price. After a three-week trial before Judge Louis H. Pollak in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the jury found liability against Moore and his company on all counts, including breach of contract, U.S. and Canadian copyright infringement and interference with contractual relations. The jury also weighed in the tort claim and found that Moore's interference with ConsulNet's customers was willful and "outrageous," thereby making punitive damages available.
1979
Mary Gray, a professor in American University's Math and Statistics Department, was recently named a fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Melissa Langa was elected vice president of the Executive Council of the Boston Estate Planning Council (BEPC). Langa is a partner in the Boston law firm of Bove & Langa, where she guides individuals, families, businesses and charitable organizations in designing and implementing customized tax-efficient structures to meet their particular estate planning, business and charitable needs. Langa also serves as co-chair of the Generation Skipping Transfer Committee of the American Bar Association and a lecturer in law at Boston University School of Law in the Graduate Tax Program. BEPC was established in 1930 to form an inter-professional communication forum and is affiliated with the National Association of Estate Planning Councils.
Rhonda Hill Wilson recently served as a faculty member and speaker for the American Association for Justice's (AAJ) Trial Advocacy College educational program "Litigation Nursing Home Cases." The program was held at the St. Regis Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in June. Wilson is an active member of the AAJ; she is a member of the Executive and Membership Oversight committees and the National Finance, Public Affairs, and Organization Review committees. Wilson has been practicing law for nearly three decades in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, concentrating on nursing home negligence, while also handling medical malpractice, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, motor vehicle accident and premises liability matters. Wilson serves on The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia's Advisory.
1981
Ellen Kahn is managing partner at Sideman & Bancroft, LLP, the first female to hold the position. Practicing in the Tax and Estate Planning Group, Kahn has been with the firm for 25 of its 30 years in business. She will serve a three-year term. In her legal practice, Kahn focuses on all aspects of estate planning and the estate and trust administration process. She represents key executives and founders of public and privately held companies; spouses and domestic partners; multiple generations of families; and trustees and beneficiaries of trusts. Kahn advises in creating wills, trusts and charitable entities to achieve clients' goals concerning their children, grandchildren and philanthropy. She also represents trustees and executors in their roles as administrators of complex trusts with multiple beneficiaries and multiple assets, including operating businesses. Kahn is a member of the Estate Planning, Probate and Trust section of the San Francisco Bar Association and of the San Francisco Estate Planning Council. She serves on the board of directors of the Breast Cancer Fund and Mount Zion Health Fund.
Carol Melton received the 2008 Vanguard Award for Government and Community Relations from The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). The award recognizes those who have had a significant impact on promoting a positive public image and advocating public policy positions for the cable industry. Melton, Time Warner's executive vice president for global public policy, is its top lobbyist--domestically and internationally--and oversees offices in Washington, D.C., London, Brussels and Hong Kong. Melton began her law career at Hogan & Hartson in 1981. In 1983, she joined the NCTA as an assistant general counsel and spent three years there after which she joined the staff of the Federal Communications Commission's then-Commissioner Mark Fowler as a legal advisor and handled cable, broadcast and mass media issues. A year later, she left for Warner Communications where she helped shepherd the mega merger of Warner and Time Incorporated. Melton moved to Viacom in 1997 and provided counsel in another major merger when it purchased CBS in 1999 for $36 billion. After the deal was approved, her policy responsibilities included CBS, Paramount, MTV Networks, Showtime and Simon & Shuster. Melton rejoined Time Warner in June 2005 to run its lobbying operations. On a daily basis, Melton oversees the policy concerns of Time Warner Cable, its distribution operations, Warner Brothers Studio, America Online and Time Inc.
1982
Mark Long, managing partner of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, received the 2008 Hubbard One Excellence in Legal Marketing Award: Marketing Partner of the Year. The award was formally announced and awarded at the 15th Annual Marketing Partner Forum in Palm Beach, Florida in January. As a shareholder in the firm, Long focuses his practice on merger, acquisition, divestiture and other significant business transactions, corporate finance and corporate counseling. He is a part of the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group, which has represented clients in hundreds of significant transactions in the past five years, many for which Long served as the lead transaction counsel.
Corrine Parver, retired partner of Dickstein Shapiro, LLP, current WCL practitioner-in-residence and executive director of the WCL Health Law Project, is pleased to announce the birth of her two granddaughters: Lia Rose Oremland, born to Deborah Parver Oremland '00 and Ryan Banks Oremland; and Noa Ruby Parver, born to Maya Godofsky Parver and Dr. David Parver.
Bruce Plaxen, founder of Plaxen & Adler, PA, received the 2007 President's Award from the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association. Plaxen was honored for "exemplary leadership, vision and unwavering commitment as chair of MTLA's political action committee, which strengthened our ability to protect our clients, address civil justice and consumer issues in the legislature and prevent the erosion of injured people's rights." Plaxen & Adler is a personal injury law firm in Columbia, Maryland.
Franz R. Rassman joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP, as a partner in the Real Estate Department. Rassman represents private and public commercial real estate investors and developers, investment funds, pension funds, banks and other financial institutions. He focuses his practice on the acquisition and dispositions of office buildings, shopping centers and hotels; office and retail leasing; joint ventures; real estate lending; workouts; and creditors' rights. Rassman has been recognized by various real estate industry organizations for his role as owner's or developer's counsel in several complex transactions, including his representation of Tishman Speyer Properties in connection with the relocation of Volkswagen of America's headquarter from Michigan to Herndon, Virginia, a transaction that won the 2007 NAIOP award for Best Lease Transaction in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
1983
Kathy Bailey, principal of the Bailey Law Group, PC, was recently recognized as one of Washington, D.C.'s top lawyers in the area of civil litigation by Washington DC Super Lawyers. Honorees were chosen using a multi-step evaluation process that incorporated peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 5 percent of the total lawyers in the Washington, D.C. metro area are listed in Super Lawyers. Bailey represents both individuals and businesses in state and federal court proceedings. She has special expertise in environmental, employment and business litigation. Bailey Law Group was chosen by Washingtonian magazine as one of the "Best Places to Work" in 2007.
Kim Guadagno is the first female sheriff of Monmouth County, New Jersey. The sheriff serves as the chief executive and administrative officer of Monmouth County's largest law enforcement agency with 735 employees who serve in the Law Enforcement Division, the 1,328-bed maximum security correctional institution, the Youth Detention Center, the Civil Division and the Public Safety and 911 Emergency Dispatch Center. The Monmouth County Sheriff's Office is the first law enforcement agency in the United States to be simultaneously accredited nationally by the National Sheriffs' Association in five areas: law enforcement, correctional facility, correctional health care, 911 emergency dispatch and youth detention center. Guadagno continues to teach first-year law students in legal research and writing at Rutgers School of Law, Newark.
Sandra E. Langs is human resources and professional development director at Phillips Lytle, a Buffalo, New York law firm.
1984
Clyde E. "Sonny" Ellis Jr. was named general counsel, senior vice president and secretary of Parsons Corporation in July. Previously, Ellis was vice president and associate general counsel. Ellis joined Parsons in 2005, providing legal services to the corporation's transportation group. He came to Parsons from General Electric Company (GE), where he was counsel to GE's Transportation Division with legal responsibility for all of the division's international activities. Prior to his tenure with GE, Ellis was an associate and then partner with the international law firm of Brian Cave LLP, where he specialized in corporate and international business transactions, technology transfers, and regulatory trade matters. During part of that time, he was the managing attorney of the firm's office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Parsons provides technical and management solutions to private industrial customers worldwide, as well as federal, regional, and local government agencies.
Laurie Martinelli is the executive director of The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts (NAMI-MA). Previously, Martinelli was executive director of Health Law Advocates (HLA), Health Care For All's public interest law firm, which provides legal advocacy to consumers denied access to health care. She was involved in the establishment of HLA's Children's Mental Health Project and oversaw advocacy publications and educational programs. NAMI-MA is a nonprofit, grassroots education and advocacy group dedicated to improving the quality of life for people affected by mental illness.
1985
Paul W. Jones, of Okemos, Michigan, was appointed as a federal administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Gary J. Stein is director and managing principal of the new Washington, D.C. office of CresaPartners, a corporate real estate firm that exclusively represents tenants. Stein, formerly of Studley, Incorporated, will continue his 22-year career representing tenants which has resulted in the completion of more than 200 transactions totaling more than 2,500,000 square feet. At Studley, he specialized in the representation of law firms, trade associations, nonprofit organizations and corporations in the D.C. metropolitan area since 1992. Prior to his tenure at Studley, Stein practiced real estate law for seven years at Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, PA, in Rockville, Maryland.
Brian Weinberger joined Buchalter Nemer as a shareholder in the Litigation Practice Group. Weinberger is a commercial litigator who represents businesses ranging from automotive and real estate to manufacturing in a wide range of commercial disputes.
1986
Judith Harris, a partner at Tallman, Hudders & Sorrentino, joined the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church. The Board of Pensions is the organization responsible for investment and administration of the benefits plan and assistance programs of the denomination, managing nearly $8 billion and serving more than 57,000 plan members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Harris serves on the board's Legal and Assistance committees. In addition, Harris was recently elected board secretary of the Estate Planning Council of the Lehigh Valley. She is currently president of the Fund to Benefit Children & Youth, Incorporated; board operations committee chair of the Allentown Symphony; and a board member of the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. Harris' practice focuses on taxation, wills and trusts, and estate administration. She is a member of the management committee of Tallman, Hudders & Sorrentino.
1987
Jesse M. Caplan was named chief legal counsel of Fallon Community Health Plan. A lawyer with Epstein Becker & Green, PC, Caplan is a member of the firm's national Health Care and Life Sciences practice. He served as chief of the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division for the Massachusetts attorney general's office. He also served as a trial lawyer in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, as a special assistant U.S. attorney in New Mexico, and taught at Suffolk University School of Law.
Reginald Simmons was honored by the Aiken Branch of the NAACP at their Freedom Fund Banquet in April. The event highlighted the contributions of African-American legal professionals in Aiken County, South Carolina. Simmons was the first African-American magistrate in the county. Currently, he is president of The Simmons Law Firm with offices in Augusta and Atlanta and a member of Grant, Edmond & Simmons, a regional medical malpractice and catastrophic injury law firm.
1988
Martin P. Dunn is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of O'Melveny & Myers, LLP. Previously, Dunn was deputy director and former acting director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. O'Melveny & Myers employs more than 1,000 lawyers in 13 offices worldwide.
1990
Justin Brooks was named one of "California's Top 100 Attorneys" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. A professor at California Western School of Law, he also is executive director of the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy; director of the LLM in Trial Advocacy Program; and project director of Innocence Projects. He was only one of four law professors to be named to the list.
Donald R. Rawlins is counsel in the Corporate Transactions and Securities Group at Alston & Bird, LLP. Previously, Rawlins provided consulting services for companies and small law firms regarding securities compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial transactions. Among other work, he assisted a Fortune 500 client with commercial contracts related to opening manufacturing facilities in China and India. Rawlins also was assistant general counsel and chief compliance officer for Thomas & Betts Corporation, a leading designer and global manufacturer of electrical connectors and components used in industrial, commercial communications and utility markets. Prior to Thomas & Betts, he was vice president and assistant general counsel for AutoZone, Inc., the nation's leading retailer of automotive parts and accessories for 14 years.
1991
Marci Alboher left the practice of law several years ago to pursue a career as a freelance journalist. She currently writes the "Shifting Careers" column and blog for The New York Times. Last year, her book, One Person/Multiple Careers was published by Warner Books. The book popularized the term, "slash," to refer to people who pursue multiple vocations concurrently. Marci lives in New York City with her beau Jay and their French bulldog, Sinatra.
Lawrence Dunmore III married Karen E. Dates in October 2007. Dunmore practices law in the District of Columbia.
Matthew Nicely joined the Washington office of Thompson Hine, LLP as a partner in the International Trade & Customs practice group. He focuses his practice on trade remedy and customs laws, WTO dispute settlement and other trade policy disputes. Previously, he worked with the trade group at Vinson & Elkins, where he represented respondents in antidumping, countervailing duty and Section 201 safeguard litigation before U.S. agencies and U.S. courts, including investigations/reviews before the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Commission and U.S. Trade Representative. He is chair of the International Trade Committee Section on International Law for the American Bar Association and an adjunct professor at WCL, where he teaches a class titled The United States Trade Regime.
1992
Scott Chaplin is general counsel at Stanley Incorporated.
Julie C. Ferguson is a sole practitioner in Miami, Florida who devotes her practice to immigration and nationality law. She has written a book titled AILA's Focus on Waivers Under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The book was published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) this year.
Catharine Ellingsen was named vice president, deputy general counsel by Allied Waste Industries, Inc. She joined Allied in 2001 as managing corporate counsel, Labor and Employment, where she developed the company's employment and labor law and labor relations functions, including handling litigation and providing counsel and advice to management. In 2004, she was appointed associate general counsel, director of legal; as such she furthered the company's labor and employment practices and continued to provide counsel to senior management on a wide variety of corporate matters and directed related training for the company. Allied Waste is American's second-largest, non-hazardous solid waste services company.
Jordan Berson Yeager joined Curtin & Heefner, LLP, in its Employment & Municipal Law Section. Formerly in private practice as the named partner in a public interest law firm, Yeager served successfully as counsel in several recent groundbreaking cases, including in matters involving constitutional rights issues; claims of reasonable accommodation against a municipal defendant; and the right to a jury trial in a whistleblower retaliation case. Named by American Lawyer Media as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" in 2006, Yeager received the Hobson, King, Parks, Douglass, Heutte Award for service to the New Free D.C. Movement in 1993. Yeager has served as solicitor to Nockamixon Township and as labor counsel to Falls Township and is the current solicitor of the Bucks County Democratic Committee. He served on the Advisory Board of the National Voting Rights Institute, as a cooperating attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, and is a former member of the National Executive Committee of the National Lawyers Guild. He is an active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and the National Police Accountability Project. In addition, Yeager currently serves as a referral panel member for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia.
1993
Pamela O'Berry Evans, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, assumed the position of board chair in April. She served as a commonwealth's attorney for Richmond for more than seven years, and earned the rank of deputy commonwealth's attorney. Most recently, she served as general counsel for the Richmond Police Department. Evans has been an at-large board member for the Legal Officer's Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Russell W. Gray has been named by the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, as its Chattanooga Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. He was honored for his long-time, continuing service to the Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Inc., a nonprofit organization that offers treatment, counseling and prevention programs to combat substance abuse in the community. Gray is a shareholder in the firm's Chattanooga office and concentrates his practice in litigation and labor and employment issues.
Richard R. Verma rejoined Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, after serving for five years as a key policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Verma is a partner in the firm's Government Affairs and Public Policy Group and International Regulation and Compliance Group. Verma initially joined Steptoe in 1998 as a member of the firm's International and Technology Practices. Before coming to the firm, he served as a U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate for four years, as well as staff assistant to Congressman Jack Murtha, longtime chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. With more than 400 attorneys, Steptoe & Johnson provides counsel and representation in a wide range of legal fields. In more than 60 years of practice, the firm has gained a national and international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions.
1994
James R. Miner is counsel at Hunton & Williams, LLP. Miner practices in the firm's Litigation and Intellectual Property groups. He joined Hunton & Williams in 2000 and is resident in the McLean office. His practice focuses on intellectual property, including preparation and prosecution of patent applications, patentability and right-to-use opinions, and related counseling. His core focus area is working with financial services-related technologies. Hunton & Williams is a U.S. law firm with a global reach, with more than 1,000 lawyers in 18 offices.
Margaret Witherup Tindall, of Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC, was selected by The Daily Record as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women for 2008. One hundred women from throughout the state of Maryland with a wide variety of occupations and accomplishments have been named to the list. The Maryland's Top 100 Women program recognizes outstanding achievement by female professionals who give back to their professions and their communities by mentoring others and by personal community leadership. Tindall is a member of the firm's Environmental & Energy and Litigation practice groups. She concentrates her practice in all aspects of environmental law and general business litigation. In addition to being involved in the American, Maryland and Baltimore City bar associations, she is a member of the National Brownfields Association, the Urban Land Institute and is a member of the Board of Directors of Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity.
1995
Jonathan E. Goldberg is a partner in the New York City office of Seyfarth Shaw, LLP. Previously, Goldberg was of counsel at Greenberg Traurig. Goldberg's practice focuses primarily on employment litigation, complex commercial litigation, and ERISA litigation, and he has successfully litigated in federal and state courts throughout the country. In addition, Goldberg is a member of the Board of Directors of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Seyfarth Shaw has more than 750 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States and Brussels, Belgium. The firm provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services.
Bradley T. Lennie is a partner at Hunton & Williams, LLP, in the firm's intellectual property practice. Based in Washington, he concentrates on IP protection and enforcement, with an emphasis on patent infringement litigation, and has represented patent holders and accused infringers in patent infringement lawsuits in various U.S. District Courts throughout the country and in subsequent appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs for successful representation of a pro bono client in an Americans with Disabilities Act trial before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Hunton & Williams is a U.S. law firm with a global reach, with more than 1,000 lawyers in 18 offices.
C. Vincent Leon-Guerrero was elected partner at Blank Rome, LLP. He is a member of the Real Estate Group, representing institutional investors, REITS, local and national developers, and corporations in connection with real estate financing, development, acquisition and disposition and leasing transactions. With more than 500 attorneys serving clients across the globe, Blank Rome is an international law firm representing businesses and organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-up entities.
1996
Stephen P. Hanson joined the Corporate and Securities Practice Group at DLA Piper as a partner in its New York office. Prior to joining DLA Piper, Hanson was co-chair of Dorsey & Whitney's private equity practice group. Hanson focuses his practice on representing private equity and venture capital funds as well as their portfolio companies in a wide variety of transactions, both domestic and cross-border, including leveraged buyouts, follow-on acquisitions, sales and divestitures, secondaries, recapitalizations, leveraged dividends, acquisition debt financings, early and later-stage venture capital financings, initial public offerings and majority shareholder representations.
Vanessa Allen Sutherland is senior counsel at Altria Client Services, an affiliate of Philip Morris USA, in Richmond, Virginia. She continues to practice in the areas of technology licensing, outsourcing, privacy, and contracts. Sutherland also accepted two board positions for the Peter Paul Development Center, which provides spiritual, educational and social programs for senior citizens and at-risk youth in Richmond's East End; and the Washington Metropolitan Association of Corporate Counsel, where she co-created the Corporate Scholars Summer Program for law students to clerk in corporate law departments.
Jeffrey Zinn, an associate at Saul Ewing, LLP, was named to the board of directors of Advocates for Children and Youth. At Saul Ewing, Zinn provides a wide range of companies with day-to-day legal counseling. He represents clients in negotiated corporate and commercial transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, software and other licensing arrangements and other core commercial agreements. He also regularly assists clients in protecting and commercializing intellectual property and counsels start-up companies with respect to incorporation and organization matters, as well as buy/sell agreements, and other financing transactions and general corporate matters. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Moveable Feast.
1997
James E. Armstrong IV recently joined Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, LLP, as partner in its new Washington, DC office. Armstrong focuses his practice on patent preparation/prosecution, expert legal opinions, trademarks and litigation in the technical areas of chemical engineering, primarily polymers, biotechnology materials, process machinery and semiconductors, as well as mechanical engineering. Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge has one of the leading patent and trademark practices in the United States with extensive experience in establishing, managing, asserting and defending intellectual property rights for U.S. and foreign clients.
Jimmy A. Bell is the founding attorney of the Law Office of Jimmy A. Bell, PC, located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, where he engages in a national civil rights and entertainment law practice. He has received awards from the U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland State Senate, governor of California, District of Columbia City Council and City Council of Baltimore for his legal work. He recently directed his first film, "Don't Hate: Strippers Fight the Government," a documentary about a federal lawsuit against Prince George's County on behalf of a local nightclub, which he represented.
Neil R. Lapinski is of counsel to the Wilmington, Delaware office of Elliott Greenleaf. He focuses his practice on the areas of tax, business, commercial, and contract litigation. He recently authored "Delaware and Foreign Banks Can Capitalize on Quasi-Thin Capitalization," 41 State Tax Notes 293 (July 31, 2006); 43 Tax Notes Int'l 9 (August 28, 2006), examining the recent trend in U.S. tax treaties allowing multinational banks operating branches in the United States to use the risk-weighted assets approach to allocate capital. He is a member of the Delaware Bar Association Section of Taxation and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Additionally, Lapinski provides pro bono services for the Immigrant Counsel of Delaware.
Neil McCarthy is a partner in the new Washington, DC office of Townsend and Townsend and Crew, LLP. An intellectual property law firm of more than 200 attorneys and patent professionals, the Washington, DC office is the firm's first office on the East Coast. The office focuses on patents-advising clients on a wide range of patent procurement; patent validity and infringement opinions; patent portfolio counseling; and patent litigation in federal courts and before the ITC. McCarthy, who joined as a member of the Biotechnology & Chemistry Practice Group, brings a particular focus on opinion work and related patent counseling for generic pharmaceutical companies.
Dara Panahy is partner in the Global Project Finance Department at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, LLP. Formerly a senior associate, Panahy represents clients in the aerospace, communications and banking industries involved in space and communications ventures. He also counsels clients on domestic and international regulatory matters, including licensing of satellite, wireless and wireline communications systems, compliance with economic sanctions, national security and export control laws and regulations, risk management and legislative and policy monitoring. Panahy is a member of the Society for International Affairs and the Society of Satellite Professional International.
Magda Theodate was profiled on the International Committee Web page of the National Black Law Students Association. The article focused on her experience in international law.
Michael A. Troy joined Davis, Malm & D'Agostine, PC, as an associate in the Business Law Practice Group. Troy advises businesses in corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, corporate governance, and regulatory matters. Troy was formerly an associate with Patton Boggs, LLP.
1998
Marion Ely announces the birth of a son, Andrew, in March.
1999
Sanya Sukduang was elected partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP.
James Wilson was elected partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP.
2000
Alice Haase joined the northern Virginia office of Holland & Knight, LLP as an associate in the firm's Land Use Practice Group. She focuses her practice on land use and zoning, eminent domain, tax appeals, real estate transactions and affordable housing. Previously affiliated with Sack Harris & Martin, PC and Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, Emrich and Walsh, she also has worked as a broker and a commercial appraiser.
Rachel Howell is assistant general counsel at the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C.
Deborah Parver Oremland and her husband Ryan Banks Oremland announce the birth of Lia Rose Oremland.
Todd P. Taylor is an associate in the Intellectual Property Group at Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz, LLP. He represents clients in a variety of areas, including patent litigation, patent prosecution, licensing and transactions and due diligence in the electrical and mechanical fields. Prior to joining the firm, Taylor worked as an international product manager at America Online and as an aerospace engineer at Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc.
2001
Shelia Bedi was featured in the January 2008 ABA Journal.
Antonia Fasanelli is executive director of the Homeless Persons Representation Project in Baltimore.
Jim Ferg-Cadima was selected as a Wasserstein Fellow for 2008-2009 by Harvard Law School. According to Harvard, "[t]he Wasserstein Public Interest Fellows program brings outstanding public interest attorneys from across the country to the Harvard Law School campus for one or two days during the year to advise law students about public service careers. Wasserstein Fellows are selected based on the depth and diversity of their public interest experiences, the areas of expertise which interest students, and the personal qualities that will make them excellent advisers."
Cynthia B. Lovinger joined Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, LLP, as an associate in the Land Use Department, where she practices litigation and eminent domain.
Karyn Dobroskey Rienzi is an associate in the Appellate Department at Post & Schell, PC.
Mitch Tuchman, of Womble Carlyle, was appointed chair of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, which has more than 600 members who practice principally in the areas of patent, trademark and copyright law. Tuchman is an intellectual property lawyer resident in the firm's Research Triangle Park office. He has assisted clients with matters concerning the registration, licensing and enforcement of copyrights in subject matters as diverse as architecture, audio rerecording devices, books, computer software, distance learning courses, fabric and furniture designs, Internet screen displays, maps, motion pictures, murals, music composition, recording and performance, photography and picture postcards.
2002
N. Nathan Dimock is a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Fraud Section. Prior to joining Department of Justice, Nathan was an associate at Skadden Arps in the Washington, DC litigation group.
Ana Maria Kleymeyer, head of the international section under Romina Picolotti (LLM) '99, Argentina's minister of environment, received a 2008 Climate Protection and Ozone Layer Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award program was established in 1998 to recognize exceptional leadership, outstanding innovation, personal dedication, and technical achievements in protecting the climate. The awards were presented at a special ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Courtney Manzel and her husband Kevin, announce the birth of their second child, a daughter.
Beau Pichon is engaged to be married to Kristin T. Sicole Foley. He is a real estate attorney in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Gilles A. E. Stucker Jr. is housing provider ombudsman with the Department of Housing and Community Development in Washington, D.C.
2003
John S. Hilten is a partner at McGuireWoods, LLP. Hilten is head of McGuireWoods' patent prosecution group. He is a registered patent attorney who focuses on patent prosecution and related counseling. He has extensive experience with counseling and analysis in every facet of utility and design patent prosecution including initial invention disclosure, patent application drafting, responses, filing reissues and reexaminations, patent appeals and foreign filing. McGuireWoods, LLP is a full-service law firm with approximately 750 lawyers in 15 offices in the United States, Europe and Central Asia.
2004
Cecelia Chen is a transactional associate at Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP, where she practices business and real estate law, focusing on commercial real estate, including financing, leasing and purchases and sales. Previously, she was with the northern Virginia firm of Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, PC.
Elizabeth Roma and Payam Siadatpour were married in December 2007. She is an attorney with the law firm of Guerrieri, Edmond, Clayman and Bartos, PC. He is an attorney with the law firm of Sutherland, Asbil and Brennan, LLP. They reside in Bethesda, Maryland.
2005
Alain Bonavida married Michelle Drucker, a special education teacher, in November 2007. They live in Los Angeles, where he started a practice handling civil matters with an emphasis on business law/litigation.
Eric Huang is an assistant attorney general in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
John K. Kim joined Howard & Howard Attorneys, PC, in the firm's Peoria, Illinois office. Kim represents employers in all facets of labor and employment counseling and litigation, litigating business interests in commercial claims and enforcing creditors' rights. His prior experience includes counseling employers on employee discipline and discrimination claims, unfair labor practices and civil rights claims. He has successfully litigated breach of contract claims for businesses and individuals. Most recently, Kim assisted in resolving multi-venue litigation on behalf of a group of minority shareholders against an agricultural cooperative. The action involved allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties and issues of first impression under the Illinois Agricultural Cooperative Act.
Debra Sudo married Joseph Marra and has changed her name to Debra S. Sudo-Marra.
Sarah E. Suszczyk is assistant regional counsel at the National Association of Government Employee's Washington, D.C. metro office.
Laura Zeilinger is the deputy director for Program Operations of the Department of Human Services (DHS). Zeilinger, an attorney with a longstanding commitment to underserved populations, will act as an advisor to the agency director on all aspects of program operations and be responsible for directing the department's Income Maintenance Administration and the Family Services Administration. Zeilinger joined DHS after working as a part of the Health and Human Services cluster in the Office of the City Administrator where she served as liaison between the mayor and city administrator and the Department of Human Services and Office of Disability Rights. In that capacity, she was a key facilitator of the District's policies and achievements in the delivery of homeless services. She developed a strategy for the implementation of the District's Homeless No More Plan by identifying 2,500 units of permanent supportive housing and coordinating and directing the activities of the Interagency Council on Homelessness. Prior to that, Zeilinger spent much of her early career working on international economic development, managing a technical assistance project to reform the pension system in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2006
Adam J. Cohen joined Stein, Sperling, Bennett, De Jong, Driscoll & Greenfeig, PC, as an associate. He provides both legal and legislative counsel to local governments and associations as part of the firm's Municipal Law Section and practices in the firm's Business Law Section. Prior to joining Stein Sperling, Cohen served as a law clerk with the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and the Federal Trade Commission. He also worked as an assistant finance director for the City of Philadelphia.
Katherine Downs and Peter Oppenheim were married in September 2007. She is a legislative aide to Senator Mike Crapo. He is an associate specializing in international business at the Carmen Group, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the board of the Mayflower Foundation, which he founded with fellow undergraduates from Colby College. The Boston-based foundation raises money for disadvantaged children.
2007
Aaron L. Enatsky is an associate in the Patent Group at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, LLP.
Alyan Z. Hyder joined Dykema as an associate in the firm's Chicago office. Her practice focuses on general corporate matters. While in law school, she was a law clerk at the Office of General Counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs. She also interned as a law clerk at the Department of Justice-Office of General Counsel and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Jeannette Mendy is executive assistant to the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service in Washington, D.C. She also is enrolled in an Elder Law LLM program at the Stetson University College of Law, in Gulfport, Florida.
Joshua Puvak was admitted to the Virginia bar and is an associate at Connolly, Bove, Lodge & Hutz, LLP. As a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Group, he represents clients in a variety of areas including patent prosecution, patent litigation, counseling and trademarks in the mechanical, electrical and medical device fields. Puvak has experience in procuring both domestic and foreign patents in the fields of image processing, computer graphics, electro-optics, integrated circuits, signal processing, computer hardware and software, bio-medical devices, networking and communication systems. Prior to entering the practice of law, Puvak was a planning engineer at Allegheny Power.
Raquel E. Ronisky joined Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC, in its mechanical practice group. Prior to joining Sterne Kessler, Ronisky was a trademark legal clerk for Lutzker & Lutzker, LLP. Founded in 1978 and based in Washington, D.C., Sterne Kessler employs more than 100 patent attorneys, agents and technical specialists representing a broad range of clients, including emerging and established companies, venture capital firms, universities and select individuals.
Alyssa Sandrowitz joined Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC in its mechanical practice group. Previously, Sandrowitz was a legal clerk for the Environmental Integrity Project. Founded in 1978 and based in Washington, D.C., Sterne Kessler employs more than 100 patent attorneys, agents and technical specialists representing a broad range of clients, including emerging and established companies, venture capital firms, universities and select individuals.
ILSP LLM Class Notes
LLM Class Notes
1990
In January, Alejandro Ramos Gil (LLM) became the president of the Association of Professional Customs Agents of the Americas, which consists of more than 25,000 professional customs agents from 19 countries.
Alberto Tujman (LLM) became the proud father of Sofia in March 2008.
1992
In December 2007, the Royal Bank of Scotland appointed Kengo Okamoto (LLM) as legal head of its Tokyo branch and its RBS Securities Japan office. Okamoto joins Royal Bank from JPMorgan Securities Japan where he was executive director and assistant general counsel.
1994
Dr. Israel Doron (LLM) recently edited a book with Professor Kate Mewhinney titled The Rights of Older Persons. He was recently promoted to senior lecturer with tenure at the University of Haifa.
1995
Ludmila Petrova (LLM) was nominated by the U.S. Embassy in Russia and the U.S. Department of State for participation in the World Forum on the Future of Democracy, which was held in Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia. She was among 10 delegates from the Russian Federation. She also won a Russian-American Forum of Experts contest and is coming to Washington D.C. to work at the Hudson Institute for two months this March. (Is this March 2008 or March 2009? Do we know?)
Chen-Huan Wu (LLM) is the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice in Taiwan.
1996
Military judge Colonel Muhannad Hijazi (LLM) was promoted to brigadier general in the Jordanian Armed Forces. He is now the deputy to the military attorney general in Jordan. He is also a member of the national committee for implementing IHL on a national level in Jordan and a member of the ad hoc committee on the drafting of the criminal code according to the ICC statute.
1997
In January, Karla Acedo (LLM) married Eric Jaramillo Sanabria. Alumni attending the event included classmates Sonia Verdu (LLM), Carlos Prosperi (LLM) and Maria Gabriela Ucar (LLM). They live in Panama, where they operate their law firm, A & J Abogados.
1998
Axel Bree (LLM), whose term with the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. expired in November 2007, returned to Berlin to work for the Ministry of Economics. He recently became a father to Emil.
1999
Carlos Molina (LLM) and his wife Ceci announce the birth of Ana Sofia in November 2007.
Romina Picolotti (LLM), Argentina’s minister of environment, received a 2008 Climate Protection and Ozone Layer Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award program was established in 1998 to recognize exceptional leadership, outstanding innovation, personal dedication, and technical achievements in protecting the climate. Also honored were Ana Maria Kleymeyer ’02, who heads the international section under Picolotti, and Durwood Zaelke, found of WCL’s program on International and Comparative Environmental Law. The awards were presented at a special ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
2000
Jude Jose Luis Cardero (LLM) was granted a scholarship by Partners of America to pursue an internship with the district attorney of the city of Boston. Cardero will work on issues of cybercrime, public corruption, investigation of complex economic crimes, identity theft and misuse of credit cards for three months. He also will share his views on how to manage cases in Argentina and the distinctions between the two systems.
Manuel Nabais da Furriela (LLM) participated in a debate with the mayor of Sao Paolo and the secretary of International Affairs for Sao Paolo. The presentation and debate included a discussion on the international aspects of the city of Sao Paulo for foreigners from the United States, Ecuador, Poland and Lithuania.
Mario E. Pujols Ortiz (LLM) and his wife announce the birth of their first child, Diego Arturo. Mario was appointed as a judicial interpreter, sworn in as an arbiter in the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and also appointed by Decree of the President as a member of the Unfair Trade Practices Commission, which oversees the application of antidumping duties, countervailing duties and safeguard measures in the Dominican Republic.
2001
Tayra Ivonne Barsallo (LLM) is deputy director of immigration for the Republic of Panama. She was appointed to the position by the president of Panama.
Aléjandra Goyenechea (LLM) is international counsel at Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C.
2003
Marisa Ferreira (LLM) is a partner at DTB Associates, LLP, in Washington, D.C.
After her two-year assignment in Bolivia leading the legal security component of a judicial reform project funded by USAID, Nora Claudia Luzi (LLM) returned to Argentina in April 2007. She is a governance analyst at the UNDP’s office in Buenos Aires.
2004
Emilie Chapuis (LLM) works for the Project Procurement Office of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C.
Julio J. Rojas-Báez (LLM) works as a specialized attorney for Pellerano & Herrera, one of the top law firms in the Dominican Republic along with other ILSP alumni--Marielle Garrigo ’01, partner; Urania Paulino ’01, senior associate and Ariadna Abreu ’02, associate. Rojas-Báez’s article earned second place in the 2007 Human Rights Award sponsored by the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. The article is published in the current issue of the International Law Review, 23 Am. U. Int’l L. Rev. 91.
2006
Christian Turégano Roldan (LLM) has finished his travels and is now back in Mexico City working for a corporate law firm called Kuri Breña, Sánchez Ugarte, Corcuera y Aznar, SC, in the financial and international arbitration areas.
2007
Aizhan Albanova (LLM) returned to Kyrgyzstan in fall 2007, where she is a lawyer at Kumtor Operating Company in Bishkek, a Kyrgyz-Canadian project and one of the biggest projects in the field of gold mining. Her job is connected with national and international issues.
Vincent Chandran (LLM) is currently doing a fellowship with the Center for International Environmental Law and recently took the bar exam.
Clémentine de Brosses (LLM) is currently studying in Bruges, Belgium at the College of Europe. She plans to take the bar exam in February 2009.
Samar Mazloum (LLM) returned to Damascus in December 2007 where he works with UNHCR.
Agasha Mugasha (LLM) recently had his book, The Law of Multi-Bank Financing: Syndicated Loans and the Secondary Loan Market, published by Oxford University Press.
In December 2007, Ababu Namwamba (LLM) realized his long-term ambition of being elected as a member of Kenya's National Assembly. He is now the Honorable Member of Parliament (MP) for Budalang'i Constituency.
José Reyes (LLM) recently had his paper, “The Missing Point in CAFTA,” published by the Inter-American Development Bank. He will be spending the next six months completing an internship in the Netherlands before returning to Costa Rica.
Ana Paula Ribero (LLM) works for the Development Economics Research Group of the World Bank as a consultant.
In December 2007, Martha Ruiz (LLM) was admitted to the New York Bar. She is currently pursuing employment as a corporate attorney in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
Addy Paola Velazquez (LLM) was recently a speaker at the Second Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration: A Debate and Discussion at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.
Alex Weil (LLM) recently passed the New York Bar examination and will soon be a New York attorney.
Yusmadi Yusoff (LLM) won a Parliamentary seat in Pulau Pinang (Balik Pulau) in the Malaysian General Election in March 2008 as a member of the People’s Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat in Malay). Keadilan generally promotes an agenda with a strong social justice and anti-corruption emphasis. Recently the party adopted a platform that seeks to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a policy that emphasizes a non-ethnic approach in poverty eradication and correcting economic imbalances
