Alumni Class Notes
Have you:
Been promoted?
Gotten married?
Had a baby?
Climbed Killamanjaro?
Started your own firm?
Share it with fellow alumni! Send all class notes to the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@wcl.american.edu (subject line: classnotes). We will post it online and in the Advocate alumni magazine.
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