Dayton Lawyer - Summer 2011

DAYTON Lawyer U N I V E R S I T Y O F D AY T O N S C H O O L O F L AW | S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

Social jurors

murder in the marines

taking the lead

Sampling or

stealing?

C o r p o r at e glass ceilings

At the May 5, 1995, groundbreaking for Joseph E. Keller Hall, Dean Francis Conte (right) and Brother Raymond L. Fitz, S.M., UD president, were joined by Mary Keller, sister of the late Joseph Keller.

In This Issue 2 Dean’s Message Lisa Kloppenberg says Dayton transformed her.

3 conversation pieces A virtual office, an online swoosh, a focused punch and dispute resolution

4 BRIEFS Paul McGreal becomes dean on July 1.

7 expert instruction Social media influencing jurors and the legality of music sampling

8 SETTING

THE PACE IN LEGAL EDUCATION A look at UDSL during the decade while Lisa Kloppenberg was dean shows the school building on a solid foundation to achieve a national reputation as a leader in changing how law students learn to become lawyers.

12 THE

MURDER OF A MARINE A mother, her lawyers and a congressman work to

change the law to protect women in the military.

16 remembering

fran conte

Rooted in faith and family, Fran Conte helped to move the School of Law into a new home and to nurture its development.

20 ROUNDTABLE Class notes plus prosecutors turned judges

24 good works Special advocates

The Dayton Lawyer is published by the University of Dayton School of Law in cooperation with the office of University communications. Send comments, letters to the editor and class notes to: Dayton Lawyer University of Dayton 300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-2963 Fax: 937-229-3063 Email: lawyer@udayton.edu

Editor: Thomas M. Columbus columbus@udayton.edu

Graphic designer: Jeff Ohl

Photographer: Larry Burgess

Graduate assistant: Emanuel Cavallaro

School of Law communications specialist: Bob Mihalek

Cover: Lisa Kloppenberg, photo by Larry Burgess

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

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dEAN’S MESSAGE

Not a typical place Being dean at the University of Dayton School of Law has been a great joy and privilege. I guess every dean says that about her institution as she steps down, but anyone who knows UD and the School knows that this is not a typical educational institution.

It is a community of people that has transformed my life. It has challenged and inspired me. I’ve worked with creative, fascinating people. We’ve overcome obstacles, envisioned big dreams and made tremendous progress in preparing students to be stellar lawyers. We’ve also had some fun and formed many friendships along the way.

Dayton and UD have become home, even for this California transplant. It’s hard to leave the job, but at least I don’t have to leave this community.

I’m not quite sure what is so magnetic about this place. Is it the history of ingenuity? Is it the confluence of four rivers? Is it the Midwestern openness? UD’s Marianist tradition — with its emphasis on leadership, collaboration and service — is one critical bedrock of this amazing community.

It is a space fostering growth and transformation. And that’s what we want — for our students, as you learn to become problem solvers. For our faculty and staff, working with joy and care, learning much as you teach, write and mentor budding lawyers.

For our alumni and friends, as you blend your own wisdom and experience, we want you to take lessons from here and share them with your clients, our justice system and your communities.

I’ve learned a tremendous amount in the past 10 years, and I’m

Eliminating the office virtual firm Stephanie Kimbro ’03 launched in January 2006 what she believes was the first “completely virtual law firm in North Carolina,” Kimbro Legal Services, at http://www.kimbrolaw.com.

Her book, Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online, was published by ABA LPM Publishing in October 2010. She noted that Dayton is one of only a few law schools that offer a course exclusively on setting up a virtual law office.

excited about what we can learn together in the coming years.

Thank you for supporting the School and contributing to our marvelous community in so many ways. God bless you and your families.

Lisa A. Kloppenberg Dean, School of Law

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CONVERSATION PIECES A virtual office, an online swoosh, a focused punch and dispute resolution

CONVERSATION PIECES

Not playing around virtual theft Slapping a Nike logo onto a shoe you made, when you don’t work for Nike, is copyright infringement. But what if you do that in a virtual world, say in the online game Second Life? That’s the sort of question addressed in Kelly Henrici’s intrasession course on video game law, about which there are few textbooks and few court cases. According to Henrici, executive director of the Program in Law and Technology, putting the swoosh on the virtual shoe is copyright infringement. Probably.

Image courtesy of Linden Lab

Mock trial team steps into the ring

How much does a tragedy cost?

sound body, sound mind

compensating victims

For the second year in a row, law students prepared for the regional mock trial competition by working out with a boxing trainer, John Drake of Drake’s Downtown Gym. They learned techniques, sweated through workouts, lifted tires and pummeled punching bags.

Adviser Dennis Turner said, “I think it gives (the law students) a kind of ‘outward bound’ bonding experience and helps them develop the physical stamina it takes to participate in the competition.”

Photo by Tom Greene

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg oversaw the $7 billion September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and the privately raised $8 million for victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. He’s currently managing the $20 billion claims fund for damages from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “Nobody’s happy,” Feinberg admitted during a March 22 talk at the School of Law. “Everybody in the Gulf says I’m too cheap … and BP files a brief saying I’m way too generous … I must be doing something right.”

“If you teach lawyers how to do it right at the beginning of their career, they develop good habits.”

—adjunct professor Ira Mickenberg, who coordinated a workshop helping UDSL students improve their “nuts and bolts” lawyering skills

“He will take our law school to the next level.”

Jack Proud ’04, a University of Dayton trustee, praising Paul McGreal, the next dean of the School of Law

“We have an obligation to give back.”

—Judge Mary Donovan ’77 of the 2nd District Court of Appeals, speaking of the program Lawyers in Transition, which she started to assist under-employed and unemployed attorneys

“Looking like Columbo in perpetually rumpled suits, Brogan was a legend in the prosecutor’s office for his command of cases and his decency.”

—Ellen Belcher, Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor, of adjunct professor James Brogan, who retired after 30 years on the 2nd District Court of Appeals

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briefs News from Keller Hall

Huffman a first as alumni president When Mary Kate Huffman ’90 became president of the UDSL Alumni Association last year, it marked the first time a sitting judge served as alumni president.

Huffman has been a judge on the Montgomery County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas General Division since 2002 and has presided over the Common Pleas Court’s Drug Court

Although women account for more than one half of the U.S. population and control 76 percent of U.S. consumer purchasing power, they hold only 14.4 percent of executive officer positions at Fortune 500 companies.

Such statistics were shared at the Feb. 15 School of Law symposium “Perspectives on Gender and Business Ethics: Women in Corporate Governance.”

“The glass ceiling still exists,” said Douglas M. Branson, W. Edward Sell Professor of Business Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. But there is no shortage of qualified women to fill these positions.

“When we have 40 to 50 percent coming through MBA and law programs, and then 12 percent of directors, and only 2.4 percent of CEOs women, there are multiple leaks in that pipeline.”

The problem isn’t unique to America, but other countries have passed quota laws. In 2005 Norway passed a law mandating that 40 percent of public companies’ directors be women, and it met that goal.

Darren Rosenblum of Pace University School of Law acknowledged that while it might resolve the inequity, a similar quota law would face resistance in the U.S. “One of the reasons I find these European solutions appealing,” Rosenblum said, however, “was they

since 2007.

recognized there was a problem, and they dealt with it, instead of adopting half-measures that fail.”

She won the school’s Distinguished

University of Cincinnati College of Law, addressed the question of whether having women in these

Alumni Award in 2007. An adjunct fac-

positions would improve the performance of companies.

ulty member, she was honored by law students in 2008 with the Commitment to Community Award.

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Heads hit the glass ceiling

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SUMMER 2011

Barbara Black, the Charles Hartsock Professor of Law and director of the Corporate Law Center,

“A robust argument in favor for an improvement at the bottom line has not been demonstrated … to date,” she said.

“But I don’t see why we have to explain why boards would be better with women. It’s an issue of equal opportunity.”

Next dean: Paul McGreal Paul McGreal, director of faculty development and professor of law at Southern Illinois University School of Law, will succeed Lisa Kloppenberg July 1 as dean of the University of Dayton School of Law. McGreal’s areas of expertise include constitutional law, religion and the law, First Amendment rights and business ethics. He has published nearly 40 articles and essays for law review publications at the University of Notre Dame, Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

“He is an outstanding candidate with an excellent scholarship record, leadership traits and enthusiasm for the law,” said Jack Proud, a UD trustee, 1970 UD grad and 2004 UDSL grad. Proud co-chaired the national search with law professor Dennis Greene.

Of McGreal, Greene said, “He’s an outstanding scholar who brings a powerful vision to the law school.”

At Southern Illinois University, where McGreal served as an interim associate dean for a year, the graduating class of the law school voted him the top faculty member the last three years.

Before joining SIU’s faculty in 2006, McGreal established the Corporate Compliance Center at the South Texas College of Law. As the founding director, he spearheaded the center’s fundraising and marketing efforts while developing continuing legal education events and corporate externships for students in the joint law-MBA program with Texas A&M University.

McGreal has taught in Texas A&M University’s executive MBA program since 1999. He also had stints as a visiting professor at George Mason University School of Law and Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. Before teaching, he worked in the Dallas office of Baker Botts LLP. McGreal earned an LL.M. from Yale Law School, a law degree from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Williams College.

In the news The National Law Journal interviewed new School of Law Dean Paul McGreal.

“This is a law school that’s been entrepreneurial in looking at curriculum and the recruitment of students,” he said.

The story noted the accomplishments of outgoing Dean Lisa Kloppenberg.

“Kloppenberg — who spearheaded the Lawyer as Problem Solver program and the two-year J.D. — has been dean for 10 years and is seen as an innovator in legal education circles.”

By the

numbers

4: Number of law schools in Ohio, including UDSL, signing an agreement with Central State University, a historically black Ohio college, to help prepare students for law school

3.25: Minimum GPA for a CSU graduate to gain admittance to UDSL 2009: The year CSU’s pre-law program received funding to create a pre-law resource room and to hire staff. The program began receiving limited funding in 2006.

600: Dollars in scholarships UDSL currently awards to six CSU sophomore pre-law students annually to attend the School of Law’s LSAT prep course 4,000 to 7,000: Dollars of the UDSL-CSU Law Scholar Award that a CSU grad can receive while enrolled at UDSL under the agreement

At least 5 to 10: Number of CSU grads that Janet Hein, assistant dean and director of admissions and financial aid, hopes to enroll each year

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Faculty notes Susan Brenner’s article “Civilians in Cyberwarfare: Conscripts”

Denise Platfoot Lacey gave a

co-wrote the paper with Leo L. Clarke, a former UDSL visiting

issues at the 2010 Ohio Judicial

presentation on gender fairness

was published in the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. Brenner

Conference Annual Meeting

professor. The article is a companion piece to “Civilians in

Sept. 10.

Cyberwarfare: Casualties,” published fall 2010 by the Southern Methodist Science & Technology Law Review.

Denise Platfoot Lacey,

Monique Lampke and Susan

Eric Chaffee presented

Wawrose participated in the

“Preventing Transnational

Student to Lawyer Symposium,

Financial Corruption: The

sponsored by the Supreme

Need for Harmonization and

Centralization of International Securities Law” at the

Lacey

Law to Resolve What Duties Are Owed to Equity Holder

Employees” at the Washington University School of Law and

Saint Louis University School of

Chaffee

Law Sept. 24.

The Forgotten, was performed

Women of the Military in Israel

and the U.S.” during the conference What Pertains to a Man?

Transcending Gender Boundaries in Jewish and Israeli Law at the

the Top Three Myths of Digital

Performance Space and

Laufer-Ukeles

Sampling: An Endorsement of the

Gallery in Santa Monica,

Bridgeport Music Court’s Attempt

Calif.

to Afford ‘Sound’ Copyright Protection to Sound Recordings” was

recently cited in an appellate brief filed in U.S. Court of Appeals for

Thaddeus Hoffmeister gave

the 11th Circuit. The article, published in 2008 in the Columbia Journal

the keynote address “Jurors

of Law & the Arts, was cited for the proposition that digital sampling is

in the Digital Age” at the

a physical taking and, therefore, a violation of copyright laws.

Social Networking and Litigation: Friend or Unethical

Richard Saphire’s essay

Greene

College of Law Nov. 30.

Lisa Kloppenberg and Judge Mary Donovan ’77, a member of

the Ohio 2nd District Court of Appeals, spoke at Secrets to Success: Finding Balance as a Key to Success, sponsored by the Ohio

Women’s Bar Association and organized by externship supervisor Denise Platfoot Lacey. It took place Sept. 29 at Faruki Ireland and Cox in Dayton.

Lisa Kloppenberg, Eric Chaffee, Dennis Greene and Lori Shaw

all presented at the second conference of Future Ed: New Business Models for U.S. and Global Legal Education, Oct. 15-16, at Harvard

“Bringing Brown to Cleveland” will appear as a chapter in A History of the Northern District of

Ohio, to be published in 2011

by the Ohio University Press.

Saphire’s essay chronicles the history of civil rights litigation in the United States

District Court for the Northern District of Ohio during

the last decades of the 20th century.

Saphire

Law School. Kloppenberg, Chaffee and Shaw presented “A Time of

Blake Watson’s article “The

cation.” Greene presented “The Legal Bridges Project.” Chaffee was

Discovery on Native Land Rights in Australia, Canada, and

Transition: The Need for Capstone Courses in American Legal Educo-presenter for “A Transactional Skills Curriculum for a New Cen-

tury: The Need to Incorporate Practical Business and Transactional Skills Training into the Curricula of America’s Law Schools.” Shaw

presented “Outcomes Assessment Rocks! Shifting from an Input to an Output Approach in Legal Education.”

6

the address “The Cross-Dressing

Tracy Reilly’s article “Debunking

in August at the Highways

can University Washington

Pamela Laufer-Ukeles delivered

Chicago Law School, March 1.

Dennis Greene’s one-act play,

Foe? conference at Ameri-

on Professionalism, Dec. 3, in Columbus, Ohio.

University of Windsor,

Oct. 2, and “Using Contract

Court of Ohio’s Commission

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

Impact of the American Doctrine of

New Zealand” was published in the Seattle University Law Review.

Is the sample a steal?

Sampling is taking a piece of a preexisting sound recording and incorporating it into a new sound recording.

Court rulings on lawsuits against artists like Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys who sample copyrighted material are reshaping the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. Here’s a look at the phenomenon by associate professor Tracy Reilly.

1. Sampling emerged in the late ’70s but wasn’t so visible as to be considered by Congress when it drafted Section Reilly 115 of the Copyright Act, which deals with the protection of sound recordings. Instead, the section’s focus was on piracy, the illegal copying and sale of music.

2. Two copyrights can be infringed when a recording is

Advances in communications technology have created problems for courts. Judges, jurors and lawyers are having to account for the influences of social media and devices like smart phones, which are making the control of important information increasingly difficult. Here’s insight on the issue from assistant professor Thaddeus Hoffmeister.

1.

Attorneys have been known to conduct time-consuming

investigations of jurors that sometimes involve driving by

their houses and speaking with their neighbors; now attorneys

conduct online investigations, checking Facebook and Twitter for

clues as to whether jurors will be favorably disposed to their clients.

They can even do this in the courtroom during voir dire, the juror selection process.

2.

While attorneys are allowed to investigate jurors, they are

prohibited from contacting them, which means “friending”

a juror on Facebook could be illegal. On Twitter, an attorney may be able to read a juror’s tweets

without “following” the juror,

but privacy settings can be set so that the attorney would have to

“follow” that person to read his

or her tweets. “To me that would constitute contact,” Hoffmeister said. “Because then the juror would know who you are.”

3.

Jurors are not allowed to

do their own research, and

sampled: one in the underlying composition — the notes and the lyrics — and one in the sound recording itself; often they have two different owners.

judges often instruct them not

3. Samples are usually not much longer than one to three

jurors to research cases and make

seconds. The de minimis defense argues that infringement has not occurred because a sample is very short.

4. When the Beastie Boys sampled a recording for “Pass the Mic,” they secured the license for the recording but not the composition. The 9th Circuit Court upheld the de minimis defense in their case, agreeing that the use of that combination of notes couldn’t be limited just to the copyright owner.

5. In Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that any unauthorized use of a sample is infringement, regardless of length, establishing a new precedent in that circuit.

6. In the 6th Circuit, the rule on digital sampling is unambiguous: if a sampling artist doesn’t get a license from the owner of the recording copyright, he is breaking the law.

7. But a similar case could be interpreted differently elsewhere. Until Congress drafts a new copyright act or the Supreme Court issues a ruling, sampling and copyright law will continue to go unresolved.

EXPERT INSTRUCTION

Social jurors

to reveal information outside the courtroom. But smart phones have made it much easier for

online disclosures. Last year a

woman was removed from a jury after she posted on her Facebook page, “actually excited for jury duty tomorrow. It’s gonna be

fun to tell the defendant they’re GUILTY. :P.”

4.

Hoffmeister

Courts have been dealing with this phenomenon

in a variety of ways: judges have addressed it in their instructions to juries; devices have been confiscated; and jurors have been

threatened with penalties like fines or jail time. Online disclosures by jurors have served as the bases for appeals.

5.

But confiscating phones can create logistical problems for courts. So some have proposed a measure called “virtual

sequestration,” whereby jurors allow their email and phone to be

monitored during a trial. “That’s kind of what attorneys are already doing,” Hoffmeister said. “They set up search terms on Google or

LexisNexis, so whenever (a juror’s) name pops up online they can track it.”

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

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Changing of the guard As Lisa Kloppenberg’s decade as dean ends, the University of Dayton School of Law has made a name for itself as a pacesetter in legal education.

By Thomas M. Columbus photography by larry burgess and Julie miller Walling

T

he average time a law dean serves in that position is about five years.

In the last 24 years, the University of Dayton

School of Law has had but two deans, Fran Conte

berg is leaving “a great platform for the next dean.”

That platform includes, besides the further develop-

ment of the law and technology program, a two-year

law schools; to attract talented scholars, teachers and stu-

diverse faculty, a clearer vision of the School’s mission and

dents; to create award-winning academic programs; and

to forge an identity as a leader in legal education. A quarter of a century ago, the School was often labeled “fledgling.”

program that is a national model for innovation, a more

identity and the highly praised Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum.

As the institution solidified its gains, it turned increas-

That adjective has been replaced by “innovative.”

ingly outward — in recruiting of students and faculty, in

Dennis Greene, professor of law, a Yale Law School grad

tion with the legal education academy. That “has brought

“Innovation is emblematic of this institution,” said

who has participated in some innovation in his life. A

founding member of the rock group Sha Na Na, Greene also has been a vice president at Columbia Pictures, president

of Lenox/Greene Films and a founding faculty member of

increasing faculty publishing and in sharing its innova-

favorable national attention to the law school,” said Charles J. Faruki, of Faruki Ireland & Cox and chair of the UDSL Advisory Council.

Former council chair Thomas P. Whelley II ’77 of

another law school. As an example of innovation spanning

Dinsmore & Shohl remembers, when the School was

and Technology — one of the first in the country — which

of seeing Kloppenberg’s credentials: “She was so young.”

both deanships, Greene points to Dayton’s Program in Law

was founded during Conte’s deanship and enhanced during Kloppenberg’s.

The visible monument to the Conte years is Keller

Hall, home to the School. As Kloppenberg noted recently

in talking about Conte, in addition to developing a high-

profile program and highly visible building, he also worked with the faculty to diversify the student body and develop the School’s core strengths such as the Legal Profession Program.

Kloppenberg has worked with the faculty to build on

existing strengths and created new areas of success.

Nancy Michaud, vice president, general counsel, and

secretary for Huffy Corp. and member of the UDSL Advisory Council, sees a pattern here. “We’ve had such good deans

DAYTON LAWYER

the success of the prior one,” she said, noting that Kloppen-

and Lisa Kloppenberg. That continuity allowed Dayton to build one of the country’s most technologically advanced

8

from Dean [Richard] Braun on, each of whom has built on

SUMMER 2011

searching for a successor to Conte, his first impression

When he interviewed her, however, his conclusion was unequivocal: “I thought, ‘It’s imperative we get this

W

person.’”

e did, and “Lisa Kloppenberg quickly became known across the country as a class act

among deans,” said Kent Syverud, dean of the Washington University School of Law.

“A frequent teacher at new deans’ schools and at confer-

ences of law professors¸ Dean Kloppenberg made Dayton a nationally known leader in efforts to improve law school curriculum and student experience.”

When Kloppenberg herself was a new dean, Tim

Stonecash wondered what her deanship would hold

for him. He had worked in development and alumni

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

9

relations for Conte; they went through two

That final trait is particularly praisewor-

Dickinson also pointed to Kloppenberg’s

fundraising campaigns together. “We had a

thy to Petty, for it is a trait of the ideal mili-

ability to help the School seize opportunities.

“What was the chance of that happening

will become an Army JAG lawyer.

she arrived meant that not much hiring had

great working relationship,” Stonecash said. again?”

But it did. The first step was mundane.

“She called

me after she

tary officer; from a military family, Petty

Among Kloppenberg’s fans are not just

students and deans and UD colleagues. She

For example, the age of the School when

been done recently and a significant number

of faculty members were nearing retirement.

“Lisa appreciated,”

Dickinson said, “the need to

select and develop good junior

Lisa Kloppenberg with her husband, Mark Zunich, and their children (left to right) Nick, Kellen and Tim Zunich.

faculty. She respected that ju-

nior faculty need time to write and to learn how to teach. She

stressed scholarship to younger — and to older — faculty in a way that was effective.”

In the process the faculty

gained a greater racial and gender diversity. Of the 17

faculty hires made since 2001,

five are persons of color and 10 are women.

Another opportunity pre-

accepted the

deanship; we

sented itself early in the decade

responsibilities.

curriculum reform. Concur-

as the faculty was discussing

talked of my

rently, the American Bar

I kept hear-

ing a clunking

was also a hit with Petty’s mother. “I intro-

tion of a full-time program. Dickinson, who

I realized she was a real person. That had a

It was a love fest about Adam,” he said.

enabled us to look at a two-year program.”

her what it was. She was doing the dishes. calming effect.”

duced her to the dean. She’s a proud mother.

Then the dean said, “Brenda, now tell

was associate dean at the time, said, “That

The resulting program has attracted the

me about you.”

attention of other law schools as well as stu-

full of life, full of the Marianist spirit. Work-

flustered — but deeply impressed. Petty is

As a group, they tend to be older and more

better person. And I think the things we all

Kloppenberg, “She stops. She talks. She re-

Today, Stonecash, now assistant dean for

external relations, can say, “Lisa is bright, ing with her for 10 years has made me a

have done together have made the law school a better place.”

Adam Petty ’11, president of the Student

Bar Association this past year, had a similar experience the summer after his first year

at UD. He served as a research assistant for

Kloppenberg on the second edition of a text-

His mother was surprised and a bit

not alone among students when he says of

T

ally cares.”

he ability to stop for others and

dents of a somewhat different demographic. experienced than the student body norm.

They also tend to be highly motivated and focused.

The major result of the curriculum dis-

listen could be a reason that Klop-

cussions was the adoption of the Lawyer as

Lori Shaw, dean of students, called

that curricular discussion also helped clarify

penberg is able to facilitate what

“change without bloodshed.”

Kloppenberg displayed her technique

Problem Solver with the beneficial side effect the mission and identity of the School.

Mary Kate Huffman ’90, a judge on

book — Resolving Disputes: Theory, Practice, and Law

early in her deanship. “There were some

the Montgomery County, Ohio, Common

one year; she’s the dean,” he said. “I’ve just

between students and the School,” recalled

University of Dayton School of Law Alumni

— of which she is a co-author. “I’m here just

seen her to say ‘hello’ and she’s going to have a phone conference with me on a Saturday morning. I’m nervous. I haven’t seen my

grades yet. The phone rings. I answer. I hear, ‘This is Lisa.’

pent-up emotions within the faculty and

Kelvin Dickinson, professor emeritus. The issue was a perennial one in academia,

one that never goes away nor is completely resolved but causes great stress: grades.

“Students believed the old mandatory

Pleas Court, who serves as president of the Association, said she remembers how law

was taught when she was in school. “It was the same everywhere in legal education: Read the books. Know the law.”

What is new, she said, is the emphasis

“There is silence while I think, ‘Who is

grading method depressed their GPA and

on learning how to be a lawyer. As an ad-

“‘Adam, this is Dean Kloppenberg.”

“Students approached the dean; she told

Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiation.

Lisa?’

From then on, Petty says he wasn’t

nervous. “Working on the book was like

hurt their job searches,” Dickinson said. them to do their homework. They did.”

The faculty changed to a new grading

working with one of my classmates. And she

norm.

do herself.”

said, “people felt understood.”

never asked me to do anything she wouldn’t

10

Association changed the defini-

noise. After a while, I got up my nerve to ask

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

“The way it was handled,” Dickinson

junct faculty member, she teaches the course “We don’t talk about the law,” she said. “We

talk about people. A client is not a file, a case or a book, but a person.”

Preceding Dayton’s implementation of

the Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum in

2005 was a lot of analysis of how one learns

the national legal

lawyers found those entering the profes-

The faculty, besides

to be a lawyer. Across the country, practicing sion often lacked practical and interpersonal skills needed in practice. And, as Kloppen-

berg has written about the evolution of the new curriculum, “We were also concerned … about national studies showing many

students are less engaged with legal studies by third year.”

In the first year of law school, students

learn, Kloppenberg said, “to think like lawyers, to learn the doctrine of law.” A report by the Carnegie Foundation indicated law schools were very good at this.

And “we were very good,” Kloppenberg

said. “We left the first year largely unchanged.”

The Carnegie report, however, also

concluded that experiential learning in

education stage.

producing increased scholarship in their fields, are playing a role in the ongoing revamping of legal education. Many

have presented at

major conferences.

Harvard University Law School and New York

can be seen in words of Abraham Lincoln,

Ed: New Business Models for U.S. and Global

neighbors to compromise whenever you can.

three conferences in a project called Future

Legal Education. Contributing, in addition

to Kloppenberg, have been Dayton law pro-

fessors Eric Chaffee, James Durham, Greene and Shaw.

Dayton is also a leader in learning out-

law schools was often lacking; Dayton was

comes assessment with professors Victoria

doing so, Dayton built on existing strengths:

others producing scholarship, serving as

among the few attacking the problem. In • Opportunities for specialization were

added in three concentrations that were

among Dayton’s strengths: advocacy and

VanZandt, Shaw, Vernellia Randall and

consultants to other schools and presenting at major conferences.

To Dickinson, Dayton’s new curriculum

dispute resolution; personal and trans-

and the vitality that comes from ongoing

cyber law and creativity.

tribute of Kloppenberg’s that helped lead to a

actional law; and intellectual property, • An existing emphasis on experiential

learning was enhanced with the requirement of a four-unit externship. Each

student is also required to take a capstone course, which also helps move them from theory to practice.

• One-unit, weeklong intra-session courses hit a variety of topics and skills, adding

breadth to the curriculum and bringing

A

visiting scholars to campus.

nd students now have the oppor-

tunity to graduate in either two or three calendar years, beginning in either summer or fall.

The Lawyer as Problem Solver continues

to be a work in progress with ongoing tinker-

ing. But it also has been a major factor in the

School gaining a national reputation. “I can’t think of a major national conference which

Part of her vision of the role of the lawyer

Law School have hosted over the past year

which she is fond of quoting: “Persuade your … As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.”

As Kloppenberg returns to teaching, she

is involved in a collaborative process that

makes use of her scholarly strengths as well as her ability to facilitate good people working together toward a common goal. She’s coordinating the initial steps to a project

called the “Problem Solving, Conflict Management and Justice Initiative.”

“She sees the law school,” said profes-

tinkering with it owe much to the same at-

sor Richard Saphire, “not as autonomous,

change in grading policy early in her tenure.

of a community committed to Catholic,

She got people — faculty, students, alumni, employers — involved. She reached out at

the local and national level. She facilitated change, Dickinson said, “and that’s a big contribution.”

Her capability at that may have some-

thing to do with her developing early in her legal career a strong competence in alternative dispute resolution, which is not just a

required course in the new curriculum but,

she said, “at the heart of the Catholic, Marianist nature of this institution.”

Lawyers to her have something deeply in

common with doctors and clergy, members of the other two traditional professions.

“They are in professions,” she said, “that are healing and holistic.”

So, for example, Dayton’s capstone cours-

but as part of the larger University, part

Marianist values, to the Catholic intellectual tradition.” Although himself not Catholic,

Saphire is impressed by those values and that tradition and by the University being “con-

T

cerned about community, about the public.” he initiative on which she is

working will involve staff from

the School of Law, the College of

Arts and Sciences (particularly the

political science department, the Fitz Center and the MPA and human rights programs), and possibly other University units. It will

produce academic expertise on conflict resolution skills and processes and help provide community service. It may be particularly

useful, given its breadth and depth, in focusing on large, multi-party disputes.

“This initiative,” said Daniel J. Curran,

Lisa hasn’t spoken at or chaired,” said Shaw.

es mirror real-world experience. “We wanted

president of the University, “brings together

Santa Clara University School of Law, Klop-

arise in practice. A client doesn’t come in

working in Marianist traditions of com-

According to Donald Polden, dean of the

penberg has won “great respect and admiration from other law deans … as someone

whose opinion is important.” Calling atten-

ours,” she said, “to mesh with problems that with a label on her forehead saying, ‘I’m a tort matter.’”

Lawyers, she said, “need to listen, to

tion to her role in Dayton’s development and

diagnose, to help the client come ups with

said, “She is the whole deal, a real pro.” And,

as counselor’ but thought that might sound

her service to legal education nationally, he he added, she is enjoyable to work with.

She is not the only Dayton presence on

options. We considered a name like ‘lawyer too touchy-feely. Harvard now is teaching

academic strengths from the University and, munity and peacemaking, serves the larger community. The extraordinary skills with

which Lisa Kloppenberg enhanced both the

academic strength and national presence of the School of Law are an exceptional fit for this endeavor.”

n

‘problem solving’ to all first-years.”

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

11

The murder of a Marine The killer is apprehended, tried, convicted and sentenced.

But lawyers for the victim’s family are still working — to change the law so the lives of other women may be saved.

By Thomas M. Columbus

T

he Marine recruiting booth at Maria Lauterbach’s

U.S. military reacts to accusations of sexual assault.

hold a chin-up for 60 seconds. Maria held for 70.

is related to the experiences of thousands of other women

high school had a contest to see if anyone could

The recruiter saw in her a future Marine. And, as

Maria’s mother, Mary, later said, “Maria wanted nothing else than to meet the challenge of becoming a Marine.”

So she did. She loved it, even boot camp. She looked

forward to being

Maria’s story, like all human stories, is unique. But it

in the Armed Forces.

Mary Lauterbach at first had not seen the need for

contacting a lawyer. But in the chaos following the

discovery of her daughter’s body on Jan. 11, 2008, friends convinced her to

talk with two law-

deployed to Iraq

yers at the Coolidge

until an ankle

Wall law offices in

injury forced her

Dayton. One is a

into a clerical as-

UDSL grad, Chris

signment. Then

Conard ’87, who as

on Mother’s Day

son of Dayton pro-

2007, she called her

fessor of German

mother with the

Bob Conard, grew

news, “I’ve been

up in the shadow of

raped.”

campus. The other

That Decem-

is a 1975 UD MBA

ber, Maria was

grad and a member

murdered. The

of the UDSL Advi-

man she accused

sory Council, Merle

of sexual assault

Photo by Larry Burgess

was apprehended, tried and on Aug.

23, 2010, convicted and sentenced to

life imprisonment without the pos-

The persistence of Merle Wilberding (left), Chris Conard and Mary Lauterbach has helped change the way victims of sexual assault are treated by the military.

talents to the case.

Conard, a former public defender, in criminal law.

sense, the case may not have been unusual; it raised no

Wilberding, with JAG training, had military experience,

law.

liam Calley in the appeal of his conviction for the My Lai

extraordinarily complex legal issues related to existing But a mother who cares, a congressman and law-

yers who see their profession in the same light as do the

including representing the government against Lt. Wilmassacre.

The lawyers met with Mary and her brother, Peter

shapers of Dayton’s Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum

Steiner, an Army psychiatrist. It was the day the Marines

those who joined with them, are changing the way the

been stationed, held a news conference. Shortly before

are doing far more than resolving a single case. They, and

12

They each

brought special

had a background

sibility of parole. In a traditional legal

Wilberding.

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where Maria had

it began, the lawyers and the family were informed of the content of the Marines’

opening statement at the conference. They did not have a printed copy; they had to listen to the statement, which runs 10 typewritten pages, over a telephone.

But it was clear to the lawyers what the

Marines were saying: It’s not our fault.

Indeed, it may have looked to some as

though they were saying it was the vic-

tim’s fault. For example, the descriptions

of Maria and her accused rapist, Cpl. Cesar Laurean, ended with parallel sentences: “his record indicates he was a stellar

Marine” and “her record indicates she was a solid Marine.” So, solid accusing stellar.

To Wilberding, it looked like an attempt

to justify inaction, and, as he later wrote,

M

not “a mea culpa but a Maria culpa.”

aria had eight months earli-

er, the day after the Mother’s Day call to her mother, ac-

cused that “stellar” Marine of

sexual assault. Mary later testified before

Congress that Maria did not want to report the rape because, if she did, “there would be hell to pay.”

Mary told her to report it; “it’s your

duty.”

The next day she did. And there was

hell to pay.

Both Conard and Wilberding see

their work after they met Mary as being an example of what is meant by the

philosophy of UDSL’s curriculum, Lawyer as Problem Solver; a lawyer must relate

to a client as a whole person, not just as a case.

Three goals soon emerged in their deal-

ings with Mary, according to Conard. First was to get information from the military and civilian authorities. Second was to correct some misinformation that had

been floating in the mass media. Third

was to get the media to focus on the fact that a murderer was at large.

“Then, when Mary had the opportu-

nity to focus on what she needed to do,”

Conard said, “she concluded, ‘I need to do

SUMMER FALL 2011 2010

DAYTON LAWYER

13

everything I can so that this does not happen to other women.’ Our

focus then was on how we can help our client accomplish her goal.”

the Marines had no resources to look for Maria. The third told her that, if Maria did not return, she was in danger of being court-

authorities did little to find her. To Wilberding and Conard, it was

O

tragedy could have been avoided.

favorable opinion of the detective’s skills and dedication.

The process of getting information revealed at least two unset-

tling facts: After Maria reported two sexual assaults by Laurean, the military did little to treat her as a victim, to provide her

with the aid that is usually available to civilians who file similar

complaints. And after she disappeared, both military and civilian evident that the Marines had not protected Maria and that this

A Military Protective Order did direct Maria and Laurean to stay

martialed.

n Jan. 7, Mary and her brother Peter drove to Onslow

County intending to meet with the sheriff’s officer on the case. He was not available. Instead they met with

Detective T. J. Cavanaugh, himself an ex-Marine. That

was the end of nothing happening. Cavanaugh “has been around the block,” said Wilberding later, having obviously formed a very

Cavanaugh determined quickly that something was wrong. Ma-

away from each other.

ria’s file had no copy of a note she allegedly wrote saying she was

a “bitch” by Laurean’s wife. She was punched by another Marine.

told Maria’s mother and uncle that he was changing the missing

And her car was “keyed” — with a screwdriver. She was called

She discovered she was pregnant. She was not offered a transfer.

Her work suffered and she wanted out.

leaving. And it had no indication that her cell phone was found. He person’s case to a possible homicide.

Cavanaugh wanted to talk to Laurean. The Marines wouldn’t

“The last time I talked with Maria,” Mary said, “was at 2:30

talk to the detective, only to Mary. When Cavanaugh was able to ar-

birthday is Dec. 23, to come to North Carolina to celebrate the birth-

peared, fleeing to Mexico. He left a note for his wife that Maria had

p.m. on Friday, Dec. 14, 2007.” Maria wanted her mother, whose day and Christmas.

Not long after, Mary heard from Maria’s landlord that the

range a possible meeting, Laurean wanted a lawyer. Then he disapcommitted suicide, and he had buried the body in nearby woods.

Cavanaugh didn’t bother even going to the woods; he went to the

Laureans’ backyard, where Maria’s body was uncovered.

Mary, by that time back in her Vandalia,

Ohio, home, learned of the discovery as she watched television.

“In the haze of it all,” Mary said, “I was

not thinking clearly. I was in a complete

fog.” She took her friends’ advice to talk with lawyers.

“When you are in the middle of a crisis,”

Conard said, “your judgment is impaired.

Photo by Need Nameeeeee

Before reporting a sexual assault, Maria Lauterbach loved being a Marine.

The lawyer as a problem solver provides objective and reasoned counsel. Decisions made from an emotional vantage point are often bad.”

As the case progressed, Conard developed

a trusting relationship with the prosecutors.

Wilberding worked with the Marines and,

along with Mary, with Congressman Mike

Turner (R-Dayton). The lawyers’ immediate concerns, however, were to help the family

ters of autopsies (both civilian and military) and burial and, given

could file a missing person’s report. He said he could not but that

the media.

officer responding that there is “nothing I can do.” She asked if he she could. He gave her the number of a local police department.

the massive publicity surrounding the case, help with dealing with Mary had been naïve in one step she took before consulting

She tried again to report that Maria was missing but was told that

lawyers. The Onslow County sheriff’s office had asked her to send

County, N.C., and that she should file a report in her home county,

ences to a young person’s immaturity and occasional distorting of

she could not because she was not a resident of that county, Onslow Montgomery County, Ohio.

The Vandalia, Ohio, police took her information and forwarded

a report to the Onslow County sheriff.

A few days later, the Military Protective Order expired. It was

not renewed, according to a statement from the Camp Lejeune staff judge advocate, “due to the Christmas holiday.” About the same

time, Maria’s cell phone was found along a highway near the base.

Mary talked to three separate military officers. One ignored her

question whether Laurean would be questioned. Another told her

14

through its loss, to help them deal with mat-

young Marine was missing. She called the base and was told by the

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

them anything she could about Maria; so she did, including referthe facts. She assumed the material was confidential. When television personality Nancy Grace started screaming about a mother

calling her daughter a “liar,” it was obvious that was a mistaken assumption.

The media pursued Mary with a passion. They slept in cars in

front of the family’s house in hopes of making contact. Her lawyers helped her with decisions of which media with whom to talk.

Nancy Grace, Dr. Phil, Larry King and Geraldo Rivera weren’t what they wanted. Among the outlets they talked to were CNN and the

Today Show. Today’s Matt Lauer proved exceptionally thoughtful and

be used to protect victims.”

her feel comfortable.

Security and Foreign Affairs on Feb. 24, 2010, Wilberding praised

caring, even spending 15 minutes with her before the show to make

In testifying before the House Subcommittee on National

ing and Lauterbach met with Turner early in the case, looking for

H

ongoing.

fellow soldiers or Marines. The victim became the accused, and the

The purpose of the approach to media was to move the focus

from Mary and Maria to a murderer at large. Eventually, Laurean was extradited from Mexico, stood trial and was convicted.

The impact of the case continues, however, largely because of

the efforts of Mary Lauterbach, her lawyers and Turner. Wilberd-

help in getting information from the Marines. Their relationship is Lauterbach, Wilberding and Conard, at Turner’s invitation,

went to Washington, D.C., in April 2008 to meet with 20 congressmen and congresswomen of both parties concerned with the military’s handling of sexual assault.

“I could tell the story,” said Turner, a 1992 Dayton MBA grad,

“but Mary is an unbelievable spokesperson. She is very knowledgeable and very passionate.”

Wilberding was impressed by Turner’s good relationship with

the Democrats. Turner later pointed out that “the issue is not limited by sides of the aisle or by gender.”

Turner is likewise impressed with Lauterbach and Wilberding,

who, Turner said, “tirelessly looked at the information on what happened to Maria and then at what could be done.”

On July 31, 2008, Lauterbach testified before the House Com-

mittee on Oversight and Government Reform. Mary told the facts

of Maria’s life and death; she spoke of current and former Marines who shared her grief; and she expressed her disappointment with the Marines as an institution. She spoke of their ignoring “the

emotional symptoms shown by rape victims — self-doubt, guilt,

loss of trust, and a diminished capacity to be a productive person in the Marine Corps.”

And she spoke of the number of former women Marines who

shared with her their stories of sexual assault.

“I believe that Maria would be alive today,” her mother said, “if

progress made to that point.

e spoke also of victims and families that had contacted Mary and him. “The stories were familiar,” he said,

“in an eerie way. At the ‘boots on the ground level,’ no

one believed the victim. Instead of being counseled and

protected, they were subjected to threats of disciplinary action

by their superiors; they were harassed and intimidated by their accused became the victim.”

And he raised the issue of the effectiveness of victim advocates.

He referred to numerous assault claims that, he said, described the victim advocate as “a very nice person who expressed her concern

and understanding for the plight of the victim. But they were not proactive and they were not independent.” He urged the military to study the victim advocate programs in civilian life, where the

victim advocates were more proactive, more protective and more independent.

Among the information that Congress received from the

Department of Defense was, Turner said,

“that communication between the victim

and the sexual assault advocate was not

confidential. So, the

accused could force the advocate to testify.”

Essentially, the victim could be offering

testimony against his or her case.

“We are trying to

the Marines had provided a more effective system to protect victims

make that privileged,”

expeditious investigation and prosecution system.

Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.)

of sexual assault, a more effective support program” and a more

“Mary has just been a saint,” Turner said, “in taking up the case

and working to learn how there can be fixes to the system.”

Turner and others in Congress were able, with the passage of

the fiscal year 2009 National Defense Authorization Act, to make

some progress. The act mandated that a Military Protective Order could no longer expire; it now has to be rescinded. And now,

according to the act, if either the accused or the accuser has a resi-

said Turner, who with

Maria Lauterbach’s high school senior portrait

cosponsored a bill in preparation for the

2011 National Defense Authorization Act.

“And we are trying to

make transfers available to victims who request them.”

Both these items were in the House version of the defense bill

I

but not in the final act.

female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier

victims throughout the military faced uncertainty, isolation and

dence off a base, the local authorities must be notified.

n 2010, Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-Calif.) joined forces

Besides continuing to pursue these items, Turner and his col-

with Turner. They spread the word on the seriousness and

leagues are working on changing a current situation that does not

dramatically increasing; the military was far less likely to pros-

her rights and then not pursue a complaint.

pervasiveness of the problem: Reports of sexual assault were

ecute cases than civilian authorities were; and, as Harman said, “a than killed by enemy fire.”

Turner and Harman were instrumental in the 2010 National

Defense Authorization Act taking additional steps on behalf of

sexual assault victims. The act required the existence of a sexual

assault program as well as notification to Congress of the issuance

of Military Protective Orders. Now, the Department of Defense was required to report data on sexual assaults so, Turner said, “it could

allow a victim to ask a judge advocate general officer about his or

Mary learned that Maria’s story was not unique, but that rape

fear if they reported the crime. “One should not be in terror of

reporting rape,” Mary said. “I’m dedicating the rest of my life to changing that climate.”

In Turner’s words: “Mary and Merle approached this not just for

justice for Maria but for protection of others. They didn’t just ask what is the law, but what it should be.

“And they helped change it.”

n

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

15

Remembering Fran Conte Dean Conte oversaw the creation of Keller Hall and the enhancement of the School’s programs.

By bob mihalek

“He put his whole life and soul into being dean of this law school.”

That’s how Tim Stonecash, assistant dean for external

relations, described the dedication of Francis J. Conte,

who served as dean of the University of Dayton School of

Law for 14 years and who died March 20 at the age of 68.

Stonecash, who

started working for UDSL while Conte was dean, likes to tell an anecdote

that reflects the late

dean’s commitment to Dayton Law: “I

worked for Fran for 14 years, and every day that I came to

work he was already

in the office wearing a suit and tie, and

every day when I left work he was still

there in his suit and tie.”

Conte served the

University of Dayton and its School of

Law for nearly 25 years, first joining the School in 1987

as dean, a position he held until 2001, making him the longest-serving dean in the School’s history.

After he stepped down as dean, he remained at the

School and returned to the classroom as a full-time

professor. He taught through the beginning of the spring 2011 semester.

During his 14 years as dean, the School carefully

planned and raised funds for Joseph E. Keller Hall; devel-

16

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

oped its distinctive Program in Law and Technology; re-

formed the first-year curriculum, including the introduction of the Legal Profession Program; and substantially increased the size and diversity of the faculty and the student body.

Though he was thoroughly dedicated to promoting

and expanding the School of Law, Conte never let his personal ambition get in the “way of what he thought were bigger institutional or societal concerns,” said professor

Richard Perna, who served as associate dean for academic affairs under both Conte and the school’s current dean, Lisa Kloppenberg.

“He was very other-oriented,” Perna said. “He always

tried to keep his ego in check and tried to do things not for himself but for others.”

“Fran was a warm, generous person, extending a

Marianist warmth of welcome to so many in our com-

munity,” said Kloppenberg, who succeeded Conte. “At

his core, Fran was rooted in his faith and his family. In a deep and quiet way, his faith and family inspired his constant energy and great optimism.”

In 1990 he was named an honorary alumnus by the

Dayton Law Alumni Association in recognition of his outstanding service to the School of Law. Later, the Alumni Association also recognized Conte with the creation of

the Francis J. Conte Special Service Award, which honors an individual’s extraordinary community service, as re-

flected in the School’s Catholic and Marianist values, and

O

support for the School of Law.

verseeing the planning, designing and fund-

raising for the School of Law’s new home was a major challenge of Conte’s tenure as dean.

“We had to create a vision of what the School

would look and be like in the future,” Conte recalled in an interview several years ago. “The character of the facility is a reflection of that long-term vision.”

For Conte, the project involved more than just con-

structing a building. It also had to be a “place where community and student life could thrive,” he said.

“He genuinely wanted to provide meaningful guidance and

assistance to the junior faculty,” said Chaffee. His advice included

counsel about “how to approach writing, how to approach the academy,” said Chaffee, adding that Conte encouraged him to think about his place at UDSL and in the academy in general.

“Fran’s selflessness was inspirational,” said Chaffee, who is

also chair of the Project for Law and Business Ethics. “He worked

very hard to do the right thing for the institution even if it wasn’t the most comfortable thing for him.”

Conte was born Aug. 16, 1942, in Salem, Mass. He graduated

from Beverly High School in 1960, obtained his bachelor’s degree

in political science from Pennsylvania State University in 1964 and

received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1969.

Conte came to the University of Dayton with a varied back-

ground in law and legal education. For seven years, he taught Despite the prestige that came with

at the Detroit College of Law, where he also directed the Legal

the state-of-the-art Keller Hall, Conte

Research, Writing and Advocacy Program as well as the Center

he built as dean, what he would call

and administered the Canadian Summer Law Internship Program,

was most proud of the relationships

for Canadian-U.S. Law. While director for the latter, he developed

“friendraising.”

in which U.S. law students interned with members of Parlia-

and strengthen the relationship between

departments. He received two faculty enrichment awards from

he said, “especially with area judges

Comparative Constitutional Law and U.S.-Canadian Immigration

national alumni.”

Tribunal, serving the Wayne County (Mich.) Circuit Courts and the

“I really enjoyed helping to develop

ment, Canadian federal government ministries and corporate law

the law school and legal community,”

the Canadian Embassy for his development of course materials in

and lawyers and with our regional and

Law. He also served as a mediator for the Wayne County Mediation

“He was always thoughtful and car-

ing,” Perna said. “He was generous with his time, always willing to

Federal District Courts in Michigan.

He also taught at the University of Montana School of Law,

spend time with students and others.”

where he directed its Civil Clinical Program.

involved in decisions both large and small, from securing a

Bureau of International

As dean, Stonecash recalled, Conte was detail-oriented and

Conte began his professional career as a trade specialist for the

multimillion gift to making sure the floor was waxed regularly.

Commerce in the Depart-

felt he had a sense of duty and a sense of responsibility to do every-

Washington, D.C. From

“I think he felt honored to be dean of this law school, and he

U

thing he could,” Stonecash said.

ment of Commerce in

Tributes

1968 to 1970, he served as

In celebration of Fran Conte’s life of service, education, law, family and leadership, University of Dayton School of Law alumni and colleagues have proposed two tributes in his memory:

nder Conte’s leadership, the School started one of the

a staff attorney for the

law programs as well as an innovative Legal Profession

Ships System Command

country’s first intellectual property and technology

Office of Council, Naval

Program. He also helped raise funding for the School of

in the Department of the

fessor of Law and Technology and the Samuel A. McCray Chair in

staff attorney for the cen-

program needs.

Services and as executive

and developed an expertise in European Union law. He returned

for Northwestern Penn-

tutional law, European Union law, immigration law process and

Conte is survived

Law’s first endowed faculty positions — the NCR Distinguished Pro-

Navy. He also served as a

Law — and to increase student scholarships and provide for future

tral Massachusetts Legal

After a long career as a dean, he refocused his legal interests

director of Legal Services

to the School of Law faculty in 2001 and taught courses in consti-

sylvania.

policies, and international law. During the 2008-09 school year,

by his mother Eleanor

as a Fulbright scholar.

McShane, and their chil-

in the learning process. “I do enjoy research and writing,” he said,

Ciaran and Fiona; his

Conte taught at the University of Warsaw Faculty of Law in Poland As a professor, Conte especially enjoyed engaging his students

Conte; his wife Kathleen dren, Brendan, Clare,

“but I enjoy the classroom experience most of all.”

brother, Anthony Conte

professor Eric Chaffee, who joined the faculty in the fall of 2006, to

and Cheryl Cropley. He

tions. “Fran was very much interested in my development in teach-

his father, Anthony V.

Conte’s interest in international law influenced associate

Jr., and sisters, Joyce Hill

expand his writing to the area of international financial regula-

was preceded in death by

ing and scholarship,” said Chaffee, who considered Conte to be a

Conte.

^ A garden of respite and reflection near Keller Hall to celebrate his love of the outdoors and his Irish and Italian ancestry. ^ An endowed scholarship bearing Conte’s name to benefit nontraditional students in the School of Law. To contribute, contact the University of Dayton School of Law, 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-2772. Checks should be marked payable to the University of Dayton School of Law, in memory of Francis J. Conte.

n

mentor.

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

17

A Charmed Life

Dean Lisa Kloppenberg offered the March 26 eulogy for Fran Conte, the longest-serving law dean in University of Dayton history.

By Lisa Kloppenberg

W

e are here today with heavy hearts. Francis J. Conte passed too quickly and too soon from

this life. Yet, as Fran recently asked his family:

“Who has had a better life than me?” He maintained that

he had lived a charmed life, with a loving family, a multitude of opportunities and an amazing vocation.

The oldest child of Anthony and Eleanor Conte, Fran

grew up in a little town north of Boston with his brother, Tony, and sisters, Joyce and Cheryl. Fran felt loved surrounded by his large, exuberant family — his father’s

ancestors had emigrated from the hills outside of Naples, Italy, and his mother’s Irish family came from County Meath.

Not surprisingly, Fran was a very bright, industrious

child. Fran played baseball and basketball. He delivered

newspapers. And he had a byline, working as a sports reporter for the local newspaper. In other words, he played

the game, then ran home and wrote about the game, and then delivered the story to his readers!

After Fran graduated from Penn State, he studied law

at the University of Texas. For about seven years, he practiced law, primarily as a legal aid attorney, working for

indigent clients and eventually directing legal services for northwestern Pennsylvania. In 1977, he began teaching law full time at the University of Montana.

One summer, while traveling in Ireland, Fran was

listening to traditional music in a pub in Doolin on the

rugged, gorgeous west coast. There he met a lively young woman who shared his Irish roots and Catholic faith,

Kathleen McShane. At the end of the evening, she casu-

ally suggested that Fran look her up in Windsor, Ontario,

18

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

if he ever visited there. Sure enough, Fran did visit. Indeed, within

lent driver — in any country, at any speed, and on either side of

soon married Kathy and they had four children within three-and-a-

and over lunch at a tiny village pub, Fran regaled us with stories

a year or so, Fran found a job nearby, at Detroit College of Law! He

half years. Fran often said that having children was the most fun, satisfying and important thing he ever did.

The Contes came to Dayton in 1987 when he became dean at the

University of Dayton School of Law. He was our creative and energetic leader for 14 years, making him the longest-serving dean in

Dayton Law history and one of the longest-serving law deans in the United States. Always looking to the future, Fran helped to start

one of the country’s first programs in law and technology, as well as an innovative Legal Profession Program.

During the 1990s, Fran was the visionary behind our beautiful

and functional Keller Hall. He worked tirelessly to secure funds and delved into planning the details. It wasn’t just that he cared about

the road. The next few hours tested that declaration. On our drive about his Irish roots and his children. He said they had grown into wonderful adults and friends, not just kids. When we reached our

destination, the ruins of a centuries-old monastery, Fran led us on a beautiful, but vigorous, “walk.” After an hour, the rain began,

and our car seemed miles away. Still, Fran pointed a few hundred yards up a steep cliff and said, “St. Kevin the Hermit’s cave is just

up there!” Without sharing his enthusiasm, we headed up the trail and arrived out of breath and soaked from the storm, where we

were greeted by the sun coming through the clouds, a spectacular

view of the valley and ruins, and a rainbow over the two lakes that gave the monastery the name Glendalough.

We never would have experienced this mystical moment with-

a striking edifice — Fran wanted to create a fantastic learning space

out Fran’s sense of adventure and persistence. Our day also ended

the country, and he sought to create a space manifesting Marian-

and getting so carried away in our conversation that we missed our

so the School could continue to attract stellar students from across ist principles of community to all. When visitors from other law

schools tour our building, they still express admiration and envy.

Fran just loved that!

As important as outstanding academic programs and facilities

are, people were always at the heart of Fran’s mission. He cared

in typical Fran fashion: driving back as cars whizzed by too closely exit and spent an extra hour with Fran driving on the busy streets of Dublin.

A

t his core, Fran was rooted in faith and family. Both

inspired his constant energy and great optimism. Fran

knew that life was about more than accomplishments on

about justice for all, equality and greater access to the legal profes-

a résumé. He knew how important it was to stop a moment and

develop an excellent and diverse group of faculty members, and

on Percy Lake in Ontario. He knew how important it was to stop in

sion. As dean, and then as a senior faculty leader, Fran helped to

he mentored a new dean. He prized diversity in our student body.

Fran not only served on committees; he also rolled up his sleeves,

met with students, made calls to lawyers and judges, and created

opportunities for students. His phenomenal fundraising helped the school build scholarship funds and provide opportunity for many students.

F

ran was a warm, generous person; he saw the best in people and gave people the benefit of the doubt, winning over

alumni and students with his sincere, personal touch. He

remembered names, wrote personalized notes on admissions let-

ters, and reached out to alumni years after graduation (and not just to ask for donations!). In the classroom, Fran was an enthusiastic teacher; so enthusiastic, in fact, that he often held his students

over the allotted time. When Fran headed off to teach, he clutched

savor nature’s beauty, relishing summers with family and friends

Keller Hall, to look a student in the eye, and ask how he or she was

really doing. He knew how to relax and enjoy a glass of wine or coffee and dessert with an old colleague or a new friend.

Fran felt truly fortunate to share his life with Kathy, the kids

and his extended family. He was elated to show UD students the

exact spot where he had met his beloved “Kath.” His pride in Brendan, Clare, Cieran and Fiona was so evident. He delighted in the

strong individuals they have become, oriented toward others, each so different and each so talented. Fran believed that his children

are his living legacy. We can see that Kathy and Fran taught them

they were given life to love and help others, to be inquisitive about the world around them and abroad, and to treat all people they meet with respect and kindness.

Fran lived a rich, full, happy life, contributing so much to

a large pile of papers flying in every direction. Every line of his text-

others. Even as he suffered in the final days with cancer, Fran felt

notes. He found incredible joy in his vocation, in class and beyond.

with Kathy and all of the children. Fran was very much at peace,

book was underlined and the margins were filled with preparatory Fran was an inquisitive scholar, passionate about human

rights. After his long service as dean, I admired how Fran mastered

God was near. He found special grace in being secure at home, close savoring his charmed life.

Beyond our sorrow, we might feel a measure of gratitude today

and published in a whole new area of law, international law, par-

— gratitude that we shared a bit of this life with Fran Conte. May

or on his Fulbright visit in Poland, Fran’s keen, open mind focused

to appreciate the time God gives us, to live deeply and love fully.

ticularly, European Union. Whether he was teaching in Keller Hall on justice for all. Fran was a great storyteller; he described his travels and gently bragged about his kids. He loved to talk, sometimes

carrying on a bit in the very best of Irish tradition. His adventurous spirit led Fran and his family around the world and he brightened our lives with tales of the people he met and places he visited. At

home, he was always on the go, off to Flyers games or running or hiking.

Last summer my husband and I spent a quintessential “Fran

Conte day.” Fran picked us up for a day trip in Dublin, Ireland, and assured us that despite his kids’ opinions, he really was an excel-

his memory continue to inspire us to use our talents for others and In conclusion, let’s offer an Irish prayer for Fran and his loved

ones, as we all wish them deep peace:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

W

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

19

roundtable IN MEMORIAM James F. Cannon ’78, retired Dayton Municipal Court judge,

died Nov. 5, 2010, from complications from cancer. He was 79. He served on the bench for 19 years and retired at age 74 in 2005. Prior to becoming a judge in 1987, James worked for the Montgomery County, Ohio, Prosecutor’s Office. Before earning his law degree, he served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, earning a bronze star and a commendation medal with one oak leaf cluster for service in Vietnam.

FRANCIS J. CONTE, the longest-serving dean in the history

of the University of Dayton School of Law, died March 20. He was 68. He served as dean from 1987 until 2001; he continued teaching until this year. During Fran’s years as dean the School planned and built Keller Hall, developed its distinctive Program in Law and Technology, reformed the first-year curriculum (including the Legal Profession Program) and increased the size the diversity of both the faculty and the student body.

Joe Currin ’99 died of a heart attack July 18, 2010. He was 38.

Joe was corporate counsel for Caterpillar Asia and had moved with his family to Singapore a few months before his death.

After earning his J.D., he had clerked for Judge Thomas Waldron of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and later worked for Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur in Columbus, Ohio, before taking a position with Caterpillar in Peoria, Ill., in 2005. While at UD, Joe had been a walk-on basketball player who worked his way into the starting lineup and played 55 games from 1992 to 1994.

Dennis Greaney ’78, a judge with the Dayton Municipal

Court, died at age 64 on Sept. 28, 2010, after battling cancer.

Dennis was elected to the court in 2004 after serving as its senior magistrate for 18 years. Dennis also taught at the Ohio Judicial College and was a former member of St. Joseph’s Treatment Center’s board of trustees. He previously was in private practice from 1978 to 1987. In 2005, he told the Dayton Daily News, “I simply love the law, and I love dealing with people.”

Kisha Pruitt ’97 died Oct. 28, 2010, at age 38 after battling triple-negative breast cancer for more than a year. Kisha was employed most recently as an escrow officer and assistant general counsel for Gibraltar Title Services in Jacksonville, Fla., and volunteered for the Legal Services of North Florida Telephone Legal Advice Hotline and the Jacksonville Humane Society.

JANE SCHARRER, a supporter and benefactor to the University

of Dayton School of Law, died March 22. She was 88. Jane was the daughter of Albert H. Scharrer, a prominent lawyer who taught at the School of Law in the 1920s and served as prosecuting attorney for Montgomery County, Ohio. In 1999, Jane was named an honorary alumna in recognition of her support and commitment to the School in memory of her parents.

Emory Scott Searcy, the son of professor Dale Searcy and

his wife, Pat, died Oct. 22, 2010. He was 41. He graduated from Oakwood High School and the University of Dayton with a degree in mechanical engineering.

20

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

1977 MARY E. DONOVAN has been elected to the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Ohio. She spoke Sept. 29, 2010, at Secrets to Success: Finding Balance as a Key to Success, held at Faruki Ireland & Cox in Dayton and sponsored by the Ohio Women’s Bar Association.

JUDITH KING has stepped down as a

judge on the Montgomery County, Ohio, Domestic Relations Court. Judith has also served as chief magistrate of the Montgomery County Domestic Relations Court, assistant prosecuting attorney in the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, Criminal Division, and chief prosecutor in the Prosecutor’s Juvenile Division.

DANA STAMPS and Colette Moorman ’91

were inducted into the Northridge High School Hall of Fame in Dayton. Dana graduated from Northridge in 1967 and now practices with one of his three sons, Eric. Dana and Colette were featured in an article in the Dayton Daily News.

A.J. WAGNER retired from the Montgomery County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas. A.J. was first elected judge in 2000. From 1991 to 2000, he served as Montgomery County auditor.

1978 RON BROWN has been named to U.S.

Bank Cincinnati’s advisory board. He is the managing director of Taft Business Consulting LLC in Cincinnati and a member of the Dayton Law Advisory Council.

MARK FEUR DANA, a partner in Dinsmore & Shohl’s Dayton office, was elected president of the executive board of the Miami Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America. As board president, Mark will oversee the council, which serves Darke, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby counties, and oversee the delivery of the scouting program to more than 9,000 boys and girls with almost 3,000 adult volunteers.

WILLIAM HENDERSON was joined by his son, Kyle Henderson ’10, in his Hocking County, Ohio, law practice. Kyle was one of 250 new attorneys sworn in May 10

during a public session of the Supreme Court of Ohio. The Hendersons’ general practice law firm focuses on domestic relations and criminal defense cases.

With the addition of Kyle, William hopes to expand the practice to begin handling bankruptcy cases.

CRAIG MATTHEWS operates Craig T.

Matthews & Associates, where J. Conrad Dillon ’08, who received a Master of Laws degree in health law from the Seton Hall School of Law, is now an associate attorney.

1979 TONY CAPIZZI has been re-elected to the Montgomery County, Ohio, Juvenile Court.

MIKE HALL has been elected to the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Ohio.

DANIEL J. HERLING organized a reception in September at Keller and Heckman LLP at which Dean Lisa Kloppenberg met with Washington, D.C.-area alumni.

Daniel is a partner in the firm, which was founded by Joseph E. Keller ’29, whose generosity helped construct the law school’s building.

BILL MANN writes, “I have been recog-

nized by Martindale-Hubbell for being AV rated for 15 consecutive years. An AV rating is the highest possible peer review rating in legal ability and ethical standards. I’m board certified as a civil trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and again have been selected as an Ohio Super Lawyer by Cincinnati Magazine. I practice in the areas of legal ethics and professional license defense, plaintiffs’ personal injury and general civil litigation in my never-ending quest for truth and justice.” Bill lives in Columbus, Ohio.

VINCENT J. RIZZO was nominated by

former New York Gov. David Paterson to fill an interim vacancy on the Monroe County, N.Y., Court bench. Vincent is currently an investigator for the Rochester City, N.Y., School District. Previously, he worked in the Monroe County District Attorney’s office, where he served as special assistant, chief of Local Courts Bureau.

1980

From prosecuting to judging

MICHAEL COLEMAN has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. He will also run for his fourth-consecutive term as mayor of Columbus, Ohio. He received the UDSL Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.

After decades of hard work and thousands of cases, two School of Law grads have made the jump from county prosecutor to judge this year, joining another alumnus, Judge Stephen Powell ’81, on the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals.

Neither Rachel Hutzel ’91 nor Robin Piper ’82, who replaced two judges who retired from the court, started out wanting to be a judge. It was a path of social service that led them there.

“There have been a lot of people who have wanted that for me, but honestly I had been very focused on my duties as prosecutor,” Hutzel said.

Years ago, Hutzel had been pursuing a career in social work, but while working in Massachusetts for a court monitor under a consent decree that deinstitutionalized developmentally disabled adults and sent them into the community, she became interested in law. She changed careers at age 35.

“My goal was to protect children and the handicapped, and I came to the conclusion that getting a law degree was a good way to accomplish that,” she said.

Since then, she has prosecuted child abusers and abusers of the elderly and the disabled. As Warren County, Ohio, prosecutor, Hutzel Hutzel headed an office that handled a caseload close to 22,000 a year. The position offered a lot of variety in terms of cases: about 12,000 were child support, 1,000 were felonies, and the rest were civil, juvenile and adult misdemeanors. But it was good preparation for a judgeship, too.

“I spoke to my family and they were very enthusiastic about it,” she said.

Her new judgeship, she said, should put her in the position to address these same issues at the state level, working with legislators.

Piper, too, started his law career later than most. He was in his late 20s, preparing to get his master’s in public administration, when he took the LSAT on a lark and UD accepted him.

“I think they looked at my background and took a chance on me,” Piper Piper said.

He had been pursuing a career in public administration, working his way through college, doing factory work and construction, grabbing college credits when he had the money and time to do so.

Piper then began working with a Cincinnati program that employed and mentored inner-city youth, keeping them off the streets and out of the justice system while they worked toward getting their GEDs. He later found work as a juvenile probation officer.

After graduating from UD and running a successful private law practice, he joined the Butler County, Ohio, Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecutor. Ten years later he was elected county prosecutor.

Both Hutzel and Piper say that getting away from the go-go-go casework of the prosecutor’s office has allowed them the opportunity to return to the roots of their legal educations and to spend more time and go into greater depth on legal and constitutional issues.

Piper said he is still getting accustomed to people calling him “Judge.”

“It takes a little bit of getting used to,” he said. “People say ‘Judge’ to me and I’m still looking over my shoulder for the judge.”

D. JEFFREY IRELAND was included in the Super Lawyers’ list of the 2011 edition of Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. A founding partner of Faruki Ireland & Cox, Ireland’s practice includes antitrust, advertising and trademarks, products liability, employment and class actions. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010.

SUE REISINGER won the 2010 American Business Media-Jessie H. Neal Award for “Best Integrated Package” for her article that examined the firing of Bank of America General Counsel Timothy Mayopoulos during the bank’s merger with Merrill Lynch. Sue is senior reporter for Corporate Counsel/American Lawyer magazines in New York. Sue previously won the national award in 2008 for best single article, for an in-depth story exploring the role of thenGeneral Counsel Ann Baskins in the Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandal.

1981 PETER M. FORMAN has been elected

to the Dutchess County Court in New York.

1982 ROBIN PIPER has been elected to the 12th District Court of Appeals in Ohio.

PATRICK WELSH was promoted from the rank of lieutenant to major with the Dayton Police Department and assumed responsibility of the new West Patrol Operations Division. The 24-year veteran was previously commander of the city’s Central Investigations Bureau. He also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Police Executive Leadership College.

1983 CHUCK BALDWIN has been elected

to the board of directors of the labor and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins at its annual shareholders meeting in Atlanta Jan. 29. Chuck

—Emanuel Cavallaro

joined the firm in 2000 and is the managing shareholder of its Indianapolis office.

MARY PAT ZITTER was sworn in as

president of the Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges at the association’s annual meeting June 9. Mary, a Mercer County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court Probate/Juvenile judge who was first elected to the bench in

2002, also has been appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Superintendence and is a member of the Ohio State Bar Foundation.

1984 MIKE BUCKWALTER has been elected

Greene County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court judge.

HELEN JONES-KELLEY was named

executive director of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Montgomery County, Ohio, effective July 1. Helen previously served as chair of the board. She is currently a special assistant to the president for external

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

21

relations at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

JEFF TAYLOR is the assistant director of law enforcement training at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville, N.C., where he facilitates continuing education courses for law enforcement officers.

He also serves as the college’s director for detention officer certification training and is an adjunct instructor in the criminal justice and paralegal programs. Jeff is presently researching the connection between human behavioral norms and hearsay exceptions and working on a journal article on improving teaching methods for this material. He also serves as a volunteer judge for the Onslow County, N.C., Youth Court Diversion Program, a “teen court,” which serves youth 11-17. He is a member of the facilitation team for Leadership In Police Organizations, a cooperative partnership between the Jacksonville Police Department, Coastal Carolina Community College and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He previously served as a magistrate in the Montgomery County, Ohio, Domestic Relations Court, a position he held for eight years before retiring in 2003.

1985 BERNARD “BERNIE” COATES JR. writes, “I was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County, Pa., in November 2009.

I took the bench Jan. 4, 2010.” He lives in Harrisburg, Pa., with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Caleigh and Trey.

1986 KATHRYN M. coates BUONO of

Quarles & Brady in Milwaukee was named for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2011.

MIKE GREENWELL has been elected associate judge on the 41st Circuit Court in Shelby County, Mo.

RICH ANGLIN was appointed the director of business services at Dayton Christian School system. Prior to accepting his new position, Rich practiced corporate/tax law for 10 years as partner with Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur before joining Angell Manufacturing Co. in 1996.

1987 TIMOTHY M. LYNCH was named

a vice president of the Eastman Kodak Co. Timothy is also managing director of intellectual property

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DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER 2011

transactions, a position he has held since 2008. He joined Kodak in 1997 as a member of the corporate and regulatory legal staff.

1988 JAMES CASEY lives in San Antonio.

He writes, “I recently served as cochair of a workshop at the National Academies titled, Examining Core Elements of International Research Collaboration.” He was also recently appointed to the State Bar of Wisconsin Communications Committee.

JOHN GIORGI graduated in May 2010 from Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., with an MBA in finance. He writes, “I continue the private practice of law in Union, N.J., where I live. I have started a real estate investment/hedge fund, Lunar Investments LLC.”

1989 DEBORAH FOGEL VERDERAME lives

in Cary, N.C., with her husband and two sons, where she is a partner with the law firm Inglesino, Pearlman, Wyciskala and Taylor.

1990 OLLIE WINSTON COGGIN was named president of Baker College of Muskegon, in Muskegon, Mich., at the end of August 2010. Ollie previously served as the college’s vice president for academics and dean of general education. He also has served as a criminal prosecuting attorney in Ohio’s Athens and Erie counties.

WALT ADDISON LINSCOTT has been named general counsel and corporate secretary of Carestream Health, a Rochester, N.Y.-based company that provides dental and medical imaging systems and healthcare IT solutions. In this role, he will lead the company’s worldwide legal organization and will be a member of the company’s senior leadership team.

He previously served as managing partner of Thompson Hine’s Atlanta office.

CONNIE PRICE has been re-elected to the Montgomery County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas.

Binns Family Law Association in Fort Myers, Fla.

JEFFREY T. COX has been selected

to the Super Lawyers’ list in the 2011 edition of Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. Jeff is partner in charge of Faruki Ireland & Cox’s Cincinnati office, splitting his time between Cincinnati and Dayton offices.

RACHEL HUTZEL has been elected to the 12th District Court of Appeals in Ohio.

COLETTE MOORMAN and Dana Stamps ’77 were inducted into the Northridge High School Hall of Fame in Dayton. Colette is the senior magistrate of the Dayton Municipal Court and a former Dayton prosecutor. Dana and Colette were featured in an article in the Dayton Daily News.

1992 JOHN W. GILBERT is managing a

new office in Washington, D.C., for Stewart Title, a real estate, title insurance and transaction management company. John joined Stewart Title in April 2010 and previously was a partner in the law firm Modell and Gilbert LLC in Bethesda, Md.

VALORIA HOOVER gave a presenta-

tion on gender fairness issues at the 2010 Ohio Judicial Conference Annual Meeting Sept. 10. Valoria is the president of the Ohio Women’s Bar Association.

1993 CLIFFORD “CLAY” ATHEY JR. was quoted in an article in the Midlothian Exchange examining where state legislators in Virginia attended college.

Clifford is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

KATHLEEN DUFFY BRUDER is serv-

ing as deputy chief of staff for new Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. She previously was a partner at the law firm of Rhoads & Sinon in Harrisburg, Pa., as associate counsel for Highmark Inc., and as an in-house labor attorney and human resources director for the city of Harrisburg and deputy city solicitor for the city of Harrisburg.

1994

McDaid ’97 was a presenter at the ceremony. The couple spent their honeymoon in Whistler, Victoria, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

They live in Cincinnati.

1996 JOHN YETTER has launched a blog

about Illinois law. John is a partner with Brucar and Yetter, which has offices in Wheaton, Rolling Meadows and St. Charles, Ill.

RONALD J. RAETHER has been selected to the Super Lawyers’ list in the 2011 edition of Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. He is a partner at Faruki Ireland & Cox.

1998 B. SCOTT JONES relocated his legal practice Reminger Co., L.P.A. from Cincinnati to the company’s new office in Louisville, Ky. Scott focuses his practice in construction law, architect and engineer professional liability, premises liability, and occupational safety and health law.

MIKE PEDLEY returned to the University of Dayton as director of corporate and foundation relations.

In this role, he is responsible for building strategic relationships with local and national companies and foundations to raise funding for University initiatives. Previously, Mike was the executive director of stewardship and institutional advancement for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, N.C., and as the director of corporate relations for the College of Agriculture and the staff counsel/associate director of planned giving at Purdue University.

JOHN H. SNYDER was featured in an

article in the Utica, N.Y., ObserverDispatch celebrating the 50th anniversary of Notre Dame Junior-Senior High School, which he attended.

John is partner in the law firm Gitto & Niefer of Binghamton, N.Y.

THEoDORE A. WOOD co-authored,

with UDSL professor Susan Brenner and attorney Leo L. Clarke, Cyber Security, Intellectual Property, and New Cyberspace Threats, published by Aspatore Books. Ted is a director in the Electronics Group at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC, in Washington, D.C.

1991

JOHN GALLAGHER has been elected to a 10-year term on the Monroe County Family Court in New York.

2000

RENEE RANERE BINNS is now a

MARK DENNEY married Susan Berchelmann Oct. 15, 2010, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis in St. Louis. Father Patrick McDaid, S.M. ’95, presided, and Kathleen

PETER DRAUGELIS has been named partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP in Cincinnati where he lives. His practice covers business and corporate matters, including mergers

Florida Supreme Court certified family law mediator and is serving as co-chair of the Lee County, Fla., Mock Trial Committee. She owns

and acquisitions, finance, supply and distribution agreements, and international business transactions.

Peter also is the president of the Oakley Community Council and a member of the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers and recently served as vice chair of the board of directors for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati. He has been named a Rising Star by Law & Politics Media in both 2010 and 2011.

GREGORY KASKEY has been named partner at Dinsmore & Shohl in Cincinnati. Greg’s practice is focused on commercial real estate, and he represents clients in commercial foreclosure, receivership, eminent domain and zoning proceedings. He lives in Springboro, Ohio.

CHRISTIAN VALENTINO was elected

a partner at Woods Oviatt Gilman of Rochester, N.Y. Christian is a member of the firm’s litigation department, where he focuses his practice on representation of individuals seriously injured or killed as a result of the negligence of others. He also has an extensive practice in the area of estate and trust litigation.

2001 RYAN WILLIS co-authored the article

“Life Sciences Patents Dealt a Significant Blow” that was published on The National Law Review’s website.

An associate with Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Ryan works in Taft’s Cincinnati office in the business and finance department and is a member of the intellectual property and technology commercialization practice area.

KATHERINE merkel LOWRY spoke at the Law Library Association of Wisconsin Educational Institute’s The Strength of Change program at Marquette University Law School Oct. 8. Katherine is the director of information resources at Baker Hostetler.

2002 JENNIFER stivers MAFFETT was

elected a partner at Thompson Hine.

A member of the firm’s business restructuring, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy group in its Dayton office, Jennifer focuses her practice on the restructuring and workout of nonperforming loans, creditors’ rights and remedies under the Bankruptcy Code, Uniform Commercial Code and other state law; and representing corporate debtors and other parties in bankruptcy reorganizations.

SHANDA SPURLOCK joined the Cin-

cinnati office of the firm Dinsmore & Shohl. She will practice in the litigation department and focus on complex commercial litigation and transactions. Prior to joining the firm, she practiced in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky office of Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald PLLC.

2003 STEPHEN E. COBLE was recognized

by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly as an Emerging Legal Leader during an event in November. Ten attorneys were recognized for their outstanding leadership in their profession, community and personal lives.

Stephen is a solo practitioner in Wilmington, N.C.

ROXANNE INGLES has joined the

Cincinnati law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl as an associate in the litigation department. Roxanne’s practice focuses on general commercial litigation matters. Prior to joining the firm, she served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for the Clermont County, Ohio, Prosecutor’s Office.

She lives in Batavia, Ohio.

2005 SARITA PATTERSON and Ben Githieya ’07 were married May 22, 2010, in Atlanta. Sarita is handling a mixture of civil and criminal cases and is seeking an additional position with a firm. Ben works for the DeKalb County Ga. Public Defender’s Office.

2006 SHA HINDS-GLICK was appointed

the director of academic support and bar success at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. She previously was a solo practitioner in Dayton and served as an instructor in the Road to Bar Passage and Academic Success programs.

ANDREW M. JAMIESON has joined

Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, where she focused on issues of Social Security and children’s law.

CORI funk STIRLING has joined Dinsmore & Shohl, where she will be an associate in the Labor and Employment Department of the firm’s Cincinnati office. Cori had previously practiced in Faruki, Ireland & Cox’s Dayton office. Her experience includes handling employment litigation/counseling, representing clients in cases arising under the ADEA, Title VII, and Section 1981.

She also has experience counseling corporations against age and race discrimination claims in reduction in force cases.

SEAN YOUNG has joined Huck Bouma PC in Wheaton, Ill. Sean is practicing in the firm’s estate planning group.

NICK BOURFF has been elected county prosecutor in Starke County, Ind.

MEGAN THOMAS and PARRISH NICHOLLS were married Aug. 6 in

BEN GITHIEYA and Sarita Patterson

’05 were married May 22 in Atlanta.

Sarita is handling both civil and criminal cases and is seeking an additional position with a firm. Ben works for the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office.

JASON HILLIARD has joined Din-

smore & Shohl as an associate in the Cincinnati office of the firm’s labor and employment department.

Jason’s practice focuses on representing employers in workplace-related issues. He lives in Wilmington, Ohio.

DEBORAH L. MCPARTLIN was featured in a Cincinnati Enquirer article about catching up with high school valedictorians from the Class of 2000. Deborah is an associate attorney with Wagner & Bloch in Cincinnati.

2008 DANIEL CRAINE has joined the

SARAH A. SMITH participated in

J. CONRAD DILLON received a Master of Laws degree in health law from the Seton Hall School of Law. He is an associate attorney with Craig T. Matthews & Associates, which is operated by Craig Matthews ’78.

Cincinnati Scholarship Foundation’s career night for high school students interested in the law profession.

Sarah is a staff attorney at the Legal

Marci Morgan Cox has joined Dinsmore & Shohl as an associate in the corporate department and a member of the commercial finance/ real estate practice group. She will practice in the firm’s Cincinnati office.Prior to joining the firm, Marci served as a staff attorney to Judge Michael T. Hall for the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in Dayton.

J. OTTO SCHALK has been elected

JON D. MADISON has passed the necessary requirements to be a certified mediator in Indiana. Jon is a lawyer with DeFur Voran of Muncie, Ind., where he represents clients in estate planning and administration, business, real estate and tax matters.

2009

2007

Department of Justice U.S. Trustees Office in Columbus, Ohio, as a trial attorney as part of the attorney general’s Honors Program. Previously, he clerked for Judge Burton Perlman, a member of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Ohio.

Foley & Lardner LLP in Washington, D.C., where he continues to focus on energy regulatory work.

appointed by former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to the standby draft board for Warren and Clinton counties.

Michael writes, “My article on the Hague Service Convention was published in the fall 2010 issue of the Oregon Review of International Law.” Michael lives in Kings Mills, Ohio.

MICHAEL ESHLEMAN has been

prosecuting attorney in Harrison County, Ind.

Las Vegas. Megan is a patent intern at CoreLogic Information Solutions in Santa Ana, Calif.

2010 TORY DOWD BERNSON is an as-

sociate attorney at Frank, Juengel & Radefield Attorneys at Law practicing criminal defense on the state and federal levels. She lives in St. Louis.

KYLE HENDERSON has joined his father, William Henderson ’78, in his Hocking County, Ohio, law practice.

Kyle was one of 250 new attorneys sworn in May 10 during a public session of the Supreme Court of Ohio.

The Hendersons’ general practice law firm focuses on domestic relations and criminal defense cases.

With the addition of Kyle, William hopes to expand the practice to begin handling bankruptcy cases.

PATRICK J. PALASCAK recently joined

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, an intellectual property law firm in Washington, D.C., as an associate in the firm’s electronics practice group.

Patrick, who also earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from UD, previously worked as a telecommunications network engineer for a national local exchange carrier and as a systems engineer for a large defense contractor.

FELICIA I. PHIPPS co-wrote a commentary, “Opening a Business Requires Taking Some Legal Steps,” in the State Journal in Charleston, W.Va. Felicia is an associate in the business department of the Charleston law firm of Jackson Kelly.

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DAYTON LAWYER

23

GOOD WORKS

Pro-child, pro-bono

S

erah Siemann remembers a lot about ASAC (Area

The School’s Alumni Weekend auction underwrites

Substance Abuse Council), Heart of Iowa, the court-

the award, which is generally between $1,500 and $3,000.

worked before attending the School of Law.

years later she is still a CASA volunteer.

ordered drug treatment center for mothers where she

Much of it she wouldn’t mind forgetting: Mothers

Siemann’s stipend has long since run out, but almost two

Her job is to form a relationship with an at-risk child —

unable to parent, either because they were on drugs or

a child who has been removed from a home or adjudicated

children; mothers selling food-stamps or prostituting

home and family, then makes a recommendation to the

recovering from addiction; mothers forgetting to feed their themselves for drug

a child in need of assistance. She investigates the child’s

money. For many of these women, the

treatment center was a revolving door.

Siemann felt

powerless to make

a difference in their lives or the lives of

their children. “You were never getting

anywhere,” she said.

Sometimes

women who failed to

complete the program would have their chil-

dren taken from them and put in foster care.

Many mothers were

Photo by Larry Burgess

indifferent, but oth-

ers had to be forcibly

separated from them, which often entailed a lot of crying and screaming.

For someone who

cares about children

— and Siemann does, she is the guardian of two adopted

court about where the child should be placed.

parent for a number of years before becoming a law student

easy to get a child to understand what’s in his or her best

children, a 19-year-old and a 12-year-old, and was a foster

S

— it was heart-breaking.

he worked at ASAC only six months, but she worked

interest.

“It can be pretty emotional,” she said. “You get kids that

as a contract social worker for almost six years at

say, ‘Make me stay with my mom,’ but you know that at

youth. There she saw many of the same unpleasant

because it’s just not safe.”

Tanager Place, an Iowa nonprofit serving at-risk

things but also developed an interest in the legal side of

the next court hearing you’re going to have them removed But being a child advocate is a chance to deal with the

youth outreach.

same types of problems she saw at ASAC and Tanager Place,

can either maintain or reunite families,” she said, “or help

children, she believes, the better the chance you have of

“I needed to go to law school to reach a position where I

children find ‘forever’ homes when they’re unable to stay in their current one.”

In the summer of 2009, Siemann began volunteering as

an advocate for abused and neglected children in the Ohio CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program. She

relied on a Dayton Law Public Interest Award stipend for her summer living expenses.

24

The work is not without its difficulties. It’s not always

DAYTON LAWYER

SUMMER SUMMER 2011 2011

but from the child’s perspective. The earlier you reach these making a difference.

A May 2011 graduate, Siemann intends to pursue a

career in juvenile law and continue her work with at-risk youth as a guardian ad litem.

—Emanuel Cavallaro

He works with fire trucks and felons, teddy bears and meth addicts.

“The job is interesting,” Brian Dovi ’82 says.

“It’s never the same thing.”

Chemung County, N.Y., has three judges. One handles family court fulltime; the judge for whom Dovi works also does family court — and criminal court and drug court and surrogate court. If it’s Monday afternoon in Dovi’s version of routine, that must be drug court with its ups and downs including a meth addict losing his twin brother to meth and the judge leading a treatment group in singing “Happy Birthday,” a song some of them never heard from their families. Surrogate court is usually on Friday; a recent case involved an estate of a man who left illegally purchased gold bars in a Swiss safe deposit box and neglected to mention them in his will. The teddy bears are for family court, which alternates months with criminal court.

For added variety, Dovi serves as a volunteer firefighter and fire commissioner.

It’s a varied routine that Dovi has practiced for years. He also has a routine of giving to the University of Dayton School of Law, a routine that can help future lawyers prepare for their own varied, interesting and productive careers.

The University of Dayton School of Law educates lawyers well prepared to practice law and to serve their profession and their communities.

Call 888-253-2383 or log on to http://supportud.udayton.edu.

Or send a check to: Dean’s Fund for Excellence University of Dayton School of Law 300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-2961

Dean’s Fund Excellence for

SUMMER 2011

DAYTON LAWYER

25

then and now

University of Dayton 300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-2961

A LEGACY OF LEARNING A major legacy of the deanship of Francis J. Conte, who died March 20, was the planning and construction of Keller Hall, the home of the University of Dayton School of Law. Zimmerman Law Library (opposite), like the rest of Keller Hall, provides large, bright areas for study and interaction — in contrast to the school’s previous home, Albert Emanuel Hall (below).

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTON, OH PERMIT NO. 71