CLASS NOTES

Items were received or collected prior to July 15, 2021. Submit your news online at law.ku.edu/keep-touch. KU Law Magazine relies on alumni for the accuracy of information reported.

1954 J. Gene Balloun was honored as Volunteer Philanthropist of the Year by Kansas City’s Nonprofit Connect during its annual philanthropy awards luncheon. Balloun is a retired partner of Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

1969 Hon. Paul Monty retired after 14 years in the 12th Judicial District. He was a private practice lawyer for 38 years.

1973 Hon. Mary Beck Briscoe took senior status on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Briscoe received her commission in 1995 and served as chief circuit judge from 2010 to 2015. She will continue hearing cases.

1976 Capt. Dennis Mandsager is serving as a commissioner on the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

1978 Michael Boman retired from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, where he directed the Low Income Tax Clinic.

Wint Winter Jr. is now a member of the Kansas Board of Regents.

1980 Tim Whelan retired from TAMKO Building Products. Whelan started with the company in 1992 as assistant general counsel and became executive vice president in 2002.

Hon. Michael Powers retired as chief judge of the 8th Judicial District of Kansas. Earlier in 2021, he received an award for judicial excellence from the Kansas District Judges Association. 1981 Hon. Julie Robinson was elected as a member of the American Law Institute (ALI). Robinson is a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

1982 Bill Colby retired as general counsel and board secretary at Truman Medical Centers/University Health.

Marc Elkins retired as chief compliance officer, chief privacy officer and associate general counsel after 18 years at Cerner Corporation.

Casey Halsey retired from JE Dunn Construction Group as EVP and chief legal officer after 38 years.

1983 Hon. Jeffrey Elder was named chief judge of the 2nd Judicial District of Kansas.

Myron Frans is senior vice president of finance and operations at the University of Minnesota. He previously served as commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget.

1984 Dan Dutcher retired after 34 years with the NCAA. He had been Division III vice president since January 1996.

Celeste Kling was recognized as a 2021 Notable Woman in Law by BizWest of Northern Colorado. Kling is a partner at Wallace & Kling in Fort Collins.

1986 Holly Zane is associate director of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area for Kansas and Missouri. Zane was previously with the State of Kansas. 1988 Grant Burgoyne was re-elected to the Idaho Senate. He has served in the Senate since 2014 and served in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2008 to 2014.

1989 Sharon Stolte is team lead of Sandberg Phoenix’s Bankruptcy & Creditor’s Rights Team.

1990 J.T. Klaus is managing partner of Triplett Woolf Garretson, LLC. Klaus is chair of the Board of Trustees for Newman University, city attorney for the cities of Andover, Hesston and Mulvane, and general counsel for The Kansas Power Pool.

Madeleine McDonough was re-elected chair of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. McDonough will begin her second, five-year term as chair in January 2022.

Eric Milstead retired in July as legislative services director for the Idaho Legislature. He took on the role in 2014 after serving as a non-partisan staffer for 17 years.

Lisa Robertson is the new city attorney for St. Joseph, Missouri. Robertson previously served as city attorney for Topeka and was city attorney for St. Joseph from 1994-2015.

1992 Braxton Copley is now director of utilities for the city of Topeka.

Capt. Anne Bloomfield Fischer

retired from the U.S. Navy in October as a captain with over 28 years of service. She was stationed in San Diego, Seattle, Naples, Italy, and Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey Wietharn joined Morris Laing in the firm’s Topeka office.

1993 Kimberly Hays received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section. Hays practices family law in Tulsa.

Michelle Sourie Robinson was appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Black Leadership Advisory Council, which develops and recommends policies to address racial inequity in Michigan. Robinson is president and CEO of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.

1994 Kellie Warren was elected to the Kansas Senate. Warren previously was in the Kansas House of Representatives.

1996 Kurt Erskine was named acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in February.

Andrew Halaby joined Greenberg Traurig, LLP as a shareholder in the firm’s Phoenix office. Halaby is a trial lawyer and business advisor.

Lisa Hansen joined Lathrop GPM as a partner in the firm’s Kansas City office. Hansen is a member of the business transactions practice group.

1997 Hon. Jenifer Ashford was elected president of the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association. Ashford serves in Johnson County in the 10th Judicial District.

Chad Tenpenny joined U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s staff, serving as general counsel. Previously, he served over 20 years with retired Sen. Pat Roberts.

1999 Filomena “Mena” Crawford

retired after 29 years of federal government service. She served in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence officer and later was a career CIA intelligence officer.

Brad Finkeldei served as mayor of Lawrence during 2021. He is a partner at Stevens & Brand LLP.

Brian Goodman is chief customer officer of SYSPRO USA.

Col. Mark Hoover is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Hoover serves as staff judge advocate for the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base in California.

2000 Hon. John Bryant was appointed as a district court judge in the 1st Judicial District in Kansas, covering Atchison and Leavenworth counties.

Hon. Amy Fellows Cline was appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals. Cline was previously with Triplett Woolf Garretson in Wichita.

Hon. Toby Crouse was appointed as a federal judge for the district of Kansas by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. Crouse previously served as solicitor general for Kansas.

Jason Lacey was elected managing partner of Foulston Siefkin LLP. Lacey has served on the firm’s executive committee since 2013. He also serves on the adjunct faculty at KU Law.

2001 Steven Novak joined RGT Wealth Advisors as a managing director. Novak has spent 20 years advising on estate, gift, and income tax planning matters.

2002 Misty Brown is chief counsel for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas.

2003 Dan Cranshaw was appointed to the Missouri Development Finance Board. He is a shareholder at Polsinelli.

Natalie Miller joined the employee benefits practice group as an of counsel attorney in Spencer Fane LLP’s Overland Park office.

2004 Owen Newman, a litigation attorney, was promoted to partner with Duane Morris LLP in Chicago.

Peter Riggs is a partner at Spencer Fane LLP in the firm’s Kansas City office.

Christopher Studebaker joined Tokyo International Law Office as a partner overseeing the dispute resolution and arbitration practice.

Annette White was appointed chief legal officer and senior vice president for Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania. White oversees the health network’s legal, compliance and risk management teams.

2005 Leah Dawson is executive vice president and general counsel at YRC Worldwide Inc. Dawson had served as assistant general counsel for the company since 2012.

2006 Katie Anderson was recognized by Billboard Magazine as one of the top Women in Music Executives for 2020. Anderson is part of the music leadership team at Creative Artists Agency. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband Matthew Dykstra, L’05.

Jesse Betts joined Akin Gump as a partner in the firm’s Dallas office. Betts’ focus is on corporate and securities transactions, particularly in energy-related work.

Selena S. Besirevic is a senior attorney at Rutherford Law Center in the Denver area, practicing family law. She is a member of the Board of Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals.

Elizabeth Evers Guerra is a partner at Sanders Warren Russell & Scheer in Overland Park. She has helped organize The For Elysa Foundation, bringing awareness to viral myocarditis.

Leita Walker was named one of Minnesota Lawyer magazine’s Attorneys of the Year for 2020. Walker is a partner in the Minneapolis office of Ballard Spahr, and a litigator in its media and entertainment law group.

Britta Warren was named the managing partner of Black Helterline, LLP in Portland, Oregon. Warren joined the firm in 2012 and became a partner in 2018. She is the third generation in her family to graduate from KU Law.

2007 Brett Ackerman was promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in Washington, D.C.

Mayra Aguirre was appointed president of the Hall Family Foundation. Aguirre served as the foundation’s vice president and secretary for four years, and previously worked with the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Greater Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund and the Mid-America Regional Council.

Oscar Espinoza joined Smith Mohlman Injury Law, LLC as a senior litigation associate.

Hon. Jacy J. Hurst was appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals. Hurst was previously a partner at Kutak Rock LLP in Kansas City.

Shannon Cohorst Johnson won a Law Firm Leader Award from the Missouri Lawyers Awards 2021. Johnson is a shareholder at Seigfreid Bingham.

Lindsey Poling was promoted to principal in the Overland Park office of Jackson Lewis, where she focuses her practice on employment litigation.

John Smolen was named partner at the law firm of Ballard Spahr in its Baltimore office. Smolen co-leads the firm’s publicprivate partnership and infrastructure practice group.

2008 John Foote joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP as a partner in the firm’s international trade practice group in its Washington, D.C. office.

Tyler Hibler is a partner in Husch Blackwell’s Kansas City office, practicing labor and employment law.

Kevin Selzer was elected as a partner with Holland & Hart LLP in the firm’s Denver office. Selzer counsels clients on employee benefit matters.

Devin Sikes was reappointed to the U.S. roster for U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Chapter 10 disputes. Sikes works as international trade counsel at Akin Gump. He previously served in the U.S. government for nearly a decade in various roles in the judicial and executive branches.

2009 Beau Jackson joined the 2021 class of Leadership Kansas. Jackson is a partner at Husch Blackwell LLP.

Brian Nye became a partner at Armstrong Teasdale LLP. Nye defends corporations in product liability and complex mass tort litigation matters.

Benjamin Sharp joined Fredrikson & Byron as an associate in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions group.

Jesse Tanksley is now a partner at Mann, Wyatt & Tanksley Injury Attorneys in Hutchinson. He joined the firm in 2015.

2010 Hon. Joan Lowdon was appointed as a 1st Judicial District judge in Kansas. Lowdon was previously deputy county attorney for Leavenworth County.

Ayesha Mehdi was named to Real Vegas magazine’s Women Who Wow of Las Vegas 2021, which recognizes influential women business leaders. Mehdi is a partner with Spencer Fane LLP in Las Vegas.

Anna Schall joined Polsinelli as an attorney in the firm’s tech transactions and data privacy practice, where she handles technology related transactions for clients across a variety of industries. 2012 Andrew Bergman became a partner at Husch Blackwell in the firm’s Kansas City office.

Christian Corrigan joined the Office of Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen as assistant solicitor general.

CJ Grover is communications director for the Kansas Republican Party. Grover was previously a public information officer for Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

R. Evan Jarrold was promoted to partner at Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP. His practice is focused on employment law.

Jill Moenius joined Fox Rothschild as counsel in the firm’s Denver office. Moenius focuses her practice on labor and employment disputes in state and federal court.

Erik Rome joined Sage Law, LLP in Overland Park as a partner. He specializes in estate planning, estate and trust administration, and business and tax planning.

Jonathan Ruhlen was selected to serve as a research attorney for Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert. Previously, he was a research attorney for Justice Lee Johnson from 2016 to 2019.

Jeff Spahr started a position as assistant general counsel and senior vice president with Citi, based in O’Fallon, Missouri.

2013 Trent Byquist is a partner at Foulston Siefkin LLP in the firm’s Wichita office. Byquist is a Young Lawyers Delegate for the Kansas Bar Association.

Michael Cappo was elected partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City. Cappo focuses on general liability litigation for the automotive industry.

Ebonie Davis was elected president of the Jackson County Bar Association (JCBA), a bar association comprising primarily African-American attorneys in Kansas City. Davis is an associate at Armstrong Teasdale LLP.

Ashley Dillon is a partner in the Kansas City office of Stinson LLP. Dillon represents companies in employment and complex business disputes.

Eric Sader was elected vice chair of teaching and pedagogy for the Academy of Legal Studies of Business. Sader is a lecturer at the Kelley Business Law & Ethics Department at Indiana University. Sader received the university’s Dr. James E. Mumford Excellence in Extraordinary Teaching Award and the Community Partner Award from IU’s School of Social Work.

Jennifer Schroeder was elected partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Schroeder focuses on intellectual property litigation for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Henry Thomas was selected as one of Kansas City Business Journal’s 2020 NextGen Leaders. Thomas is assistant general counsel at American Century Investments.

2014 Mücahit Aydin is the deputy secretary general of the Constitutional Court of Turkey. Aydin, SJD with distinction, was a featured speaker on a webinar sponsored by the International Institute for Justice Excellence.

Rachel Lamm was selected for active-duty service as a U.S. Air Force judge advocate.

2015 Amanda Angell serves as assistant general counsel at The University of Vermont Health Network.

Ashlyn Lindskog is a partner at the Wichita office of Martin Pringle. Her practice focuses on employment, real estate, business and litigation law.

Jake McMillian joined Dickinson Wright PLLC’s Chicago office as the firmwide director of diversity and inclusion. McMillian was the assistant director of recruitment and outreach at UIC John Marshall Law School.

2016 Stephen Duerst is a partner at Federico // Duerst Consulting Group, based in Topeka.

Kimberlyn Gilchrist joined Triplett Woolf Garretson, LLC as an attorney in the firm’s transactional, real estate and business law practice areas. Gilchrist was also hired as city attorney for the City of Hillsboro.

Grecia Perez is a deputy district attorney for Solano County California. Perez previously worked in a tenants’ rights law firm in San Francisco.

2017 Skyler Davenport joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP in Kansas City as an associate in the firm’s litigation practice group.

Robert Reynolds is an associate attorney at Simpson Logback Lynch Norris, P.A. in Overland Park. His practice is focused on litigation.

Vivek Sehrawat published his first book, Drones and the Law: International Responses to Rapid Drone Proliferation. Sehrawat, an SJD graduate, is an associate professor at BML Munjal University in India.

Cody Wood was promoted to managing associate at Dentons US LLP. He is a member of the firm’s federal regulatory and compliance practice.

Shelley Woodard is county counselor for Miami County, Kansas. She was previously an attorney for the Kansas Department of Revenue.

Hannah Zimmerman joined ZoomInfo’s privacy team as privacy counsel. Zimmerman is responsible for overseeing the company’s compliance with global privacy laws.

2018 Haley Claxton is an associate attorney with EdCounsel, LLC.

Alex Driskell joined the Saline County Attorney’s Office in Salina.

Laurel Michel Driskell joined Kennedy Berkley Yarnevich & Williamson, Chartered in Salina.

Jordan Haas is an associate with Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.