W&L Law Discovery - Summer 2015

Discovery

Summer 2015 % Volume 1, No. 2

the newsletter from washington and lee university school of law

Q&A With New Law Dean Brant Hellwig Where are you from?

Did you think you’d ever move from teaching into academic administration?

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ll over the place. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, when I was young, moved with my family to Russellville, Arkansas, for the glorious middle school and junior high years, and in high school moved with my mother to New Braunfels, Texas, near where she grew up. I made my way to the Southeast for college and law school.

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oving into administration was not exactly part of my intended career path, but I am nonetheless excited about leading W&L Law. I believe strongly in the program of legal education we offer. I also have great affection for the faculty, administrators, staff and students at W&L Law, and it will be gratifying to work with them to advance the School in the years ahead.

What drew you to the legal profession?

Why W&L?

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can’t say I was drawn to the legal profession at an early age or was pursuing truly noble goals.

Rather, probably not unlike many others who pursue legal education, I did so because of the subtle influence of family members. My older brother, Robb, was finishing law school at the University of Texas around the time I was considering what to do after college. His time in law school seemed interesting, challenging and fun, and the job opportunities that awaited him seemed far better than what I was looking at coming out of my undergraduate program.

Where did you go to college and law school, and how did you choose those schools?

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attended college at Wake Forest University, where I majored in mathematical economics. I chose the school because of its small size and idyllic setting, and I truly enjoyed being a student in that environment. While a junior at Wake, I received a scholarship of relatively modest amount that is awarded to upperclassmen. Little did I know that the foundation that funded the scholarship had a policy of picking up the cost of any student holding the designation who continued his or her legal education at Wake. Back when scholarship dollars were far more difficult to come by, that felt like a winning lottery ticket. So I stayed at Wake for the next three years, and received a fantastic legal education there.

Many of the qualities of my legal education at Wake — small classes, engaged and accessible professors, collegial student body — are areas in which W&L Law excels.

Fun Facts

How did you become interested in your area of legal expertise?

M “I have great affection for the faculty, administrators, staff and students at W&L Law, and it will be gratifying to work with them to advance the School in the years ahead.”

I

almost did not take a tax class in law school. In fact, I didn’t want to — I enrolled in the basic Federal Income Taxation course as a favor to my dad, who thought I would enjoy it. As it turns out, my dad was spot on. Federal taxation topics offer an interesting combination of finance, economics and political science. After conveying the basic parameters of the tax base and rates, it is fun to step back and analyze what policy choices are embedded in the existing structure and how those choices hold up in terms of distributional equity and economic efficiency. The intricacies and multiple facets of the subject matter drew me to the field.

I played basketball in junior high with Corliss Williamson, who went on to play under for the Arkansas Razorbacks and then for the Sacramento Kings. You may remember him by his nickname, “the Big Nasty.” I never had a nickname like that. But the word “nasty” was likely used to describe my game — unfortunately in a literal manner.

In my junior year in high school, I played in a game against Shaquille O’Neal for about five minutes. I thought I had a clear path to the goal after he bit on a shot fake, but right when I thought my shot was going to drop in, his arm came out of nowhere and crushed the ball. The sound of it alone was frightening. That was met by a roar of laughter from my friends in the stands. But the ball ended up in the hands of our point guard, who then sank a three-pointer. So I counted that as an assist.

y tax colleague Bob Danforth encouraged me to spend a semester as a visiting professor here in the fall of 2011, as W&L had a critical need in tax. The overall environment here was phenomenal. To start, the classes I taught that semester were among the best I have ever had. Remarkably bright students, fully engaged in the material. My class sessions were not so much lectures as conversations with the students. In addition to my classes, I found an intellectual energy among the faculty that was invigorating. As well as being outstanding classroom instructors, the faculty here are fully engaged in their areas of scholarly expertise and make meaningful contributions to their fields. The number of additional events hosted at W&L — formal lectures, law review symposia, student note presentations, moot court competitions and presentations by visiting scholars — make this a place where one feels like a perpetual student. I love that.

What are your plans for the Law School’s future?

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s anyone following the legal environment knows, this has been an unsettled time for the profession and for law schools. My primary goal is to execute the Strategic Transition Plan for the Law School, in part by emphasizing and building upon what makes W&L unique in legal education. We offer rigorous and innovative legal training delivered by a dedicated teaching faculty in a community of trust and respect, with access to an incredibly dedicated alumni network. W&L Law is often called a hidden gem, and as a small school that will probably always be so. But we will continue to tell our story loudly and with pride, to prospective students considering law school in Lexington and to employers looking for law graduates who can add value from day one.

Lastly, as a senior in high school, I played against Ray Jackson, who went on to be part of the Fab 5 at Michigan. There is a great shot in the local newspaper of my going up for a layup and him flying behind me to block it. Which he did — emphatically. The block was completely clean, but nonetheless so violent the referee felt compelled to call a foul. I still remember the look on my brother’s face in the crowd as I walked to the free throw line. He was cringing and laughing at the same time.

I like to brag that I averaged double digits in my senior year in high school. I actually did, with a scoring average of 10.0. That is how it showed up in the local paper at least. Good thing I made that last jump shot.

Commencement 2015 T

he Law School celebrated its 160th commencement on May 9, awarding 174 juris doctor degrees. In contrast to last year’s rainy weather, clear skies and bright sun shone over the commencement ceremony, which began with an official welcome from President Ken Ruscio ’76 and remarks from Dean Nora Demleitner, who recounted the many successes of the Law Class of 2015. She also noted the class size, the largest in the school’s history.

“You changed the standard for the W&L experience, and you made it a better one,” said Demleitner.

Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. senator for West Virginia, delivered the commencement address. Capito recalled the previous W&L Law graduations she has attended, first in 2007 for her son Charles, and then in 2011 for her son Moore and daughter-in-law Katherine. She noted that for those occasions, the commencement addresses were delivered by author John Grisham and reporter Nina Totenberg.

“Mr. Grisham brought the perspective of a writer of fiction; Ms. Totenberg nonfiction,” Capito said.

Third-year class officers Bret Marfut and Rachel Kurzweil presented commencement speaker Sen. Shelley Moore Capito P’07, ’11 with a walking stick.

“I’m here, as a United States senator, with insight from the world of science fiction.”

Jokes about Congress aside, Capito said that her 14 years serving West Virginia have taught her many lessons, including the importance of community and

John Byrne receives his hood from Professor Beth Belmont and Professor Sally Wiant.

John W. Davis Prize for Law

highest cumulative grade point average

TARA L. MACNEILL Academic Progress Award

Awards

most satisfactory scholastic progress

outstanding woman law student

MADELINE TAYLOR MORCELLE Charles V. Laughlin Award

James W. H. Stewart Tax Law Award excellence in tax law

CHRISTIAN A. PRITCHETT Thomas Carl Damewood Evidence Award

outstanding contributions to the moot court program

PAUL M. WILEY Roy L. Steinheimer, Jr. Commercial Law Award

outstanding contributions to diversity in the life of the Law School community

TERRENCE ANTHONY AUSTIN KATHERINE L. MOSS A. H. McLeod-Ross Malone Advocacy Award

excellence in the area of family law

PAUL M. WILEY Student Bar Association President Award

effective trial advocacy

excellence in commercial law

DANIEL R. NAPPIER Calhoun Bond University Service Award

significant contributions to the University community

RYAN CHRISTOPHER REDD Frederic L. Kirgis Jr. International Law Award

GEORGE MACDONALD MACKIE

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National Association of Women Lawyers Award

The third-year pledge presented to Dean Demleitner

by Rachel Kurzweil and Rachel Reis will support the Law Annual Fund.

ERIN LEIGH SHAVER Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Award

excellence in international law

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Alumni parents and grads (l. to r.): Mary Miller Johnston ’84L, Ellen Johnston ’15L, Bill Johnston ’82L, Bo Frith ’15L, Tom Frith ’59L, Davis Frith ’13, Dan ’82L and Linda Davis Frith ’82L.

the importance of lawyers. But her final thoughts were reserved for the subject of happiness. She remarked that the founding fathers set down the pursuit of happiness as one of our inalienable rights, though she cautioned the graduates not to define their happiness as a goal.

“Do not say I will be happy when I make partner, or I will be happy when I win my first case or when I am appointed as a federal judge,” said Capito. “No doubt those goals can contribute to your happiness, but they should not define it. Define your happiness as a state of mind as you pursue your goals.”

Four students graduated summa cum laude, 22 graduated magna cum laude and 27 graduated cum laude.

Seventeen students were named to Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society that encourages excellence in legal education.

In addition to achievements in the classroom, the Class of 2015 distinguished itself with its pro bono service to the law and the community. In all, the class completed 16,082 hours of service during this academic year, and 59 students were recognized during the previous day’s awards ceremony for completing 100 hours or more of service.

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DONAVAN KEITH EASON Randall P. Bezanson Award

BABATUNDE MOHAMMED CADMUS HERNANDEZ D. STROUD Virginia Bar Family Law Section Award JASMINE DENISE BROOKS American Bankruptcy Institute Medal excellence in the study of bankruptcy law

CODY ALLAN PHILLIPS Barry Sullivan Constitutional Law Award excellence in constitutional law

DAVID LEE JOHNSON

excellence in the area of evidence

distinction in oral advocacy

Recognition for services as the president of the Student Bar Association

RYAN REDD Clinical Legal Education Association Award excellence in clinical work

NOELLE LINDA QUAM

Inside the 3L Year: Law Student Argues Complex Black Lung Case

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BRB’s questions was the issue of what the coal company must prove aul Wiley, a third-year student in the Black Lung Clinic, argued to overcome the rebuttable presumption. one of the most complex and important legal questions in black

Wiley and the advocates for the other parties faced over an lung litigation today. The case involved a new provision put hour of questioning from the judges of the BRB. Wiley reminded in place by the Affordable Care Act known as the 15-year rebuttable the BRB that the changes to the Black Lung Benefits Act under presumption. Based on it, miners who worked for more than 15 years consideration were meant to make the complex and technical in underground coal mining and have a totally disabling lung disease system of black lung benefits more favorable to disabled miners. are presumed disabled, at least in part, due to coal mine dust.

Wiley, quoting Sen. Robert Byrd, reminded the BRB that the For his argument, Wiley represented the interests of James amendments to the act “were meant to stop quibbling with dying Minich, who worked for 30 years as an underground coal miner and men.” is now totally disabled. Minich was awarded black lung benefits by

Professor Tim MacDonnell, who directs the Black Lung the administrative law judge, but as is common in these cases, his Clinic, noted that Wiley’s oral argument was outstanding. former coal company appealed the award to the Benefits Review

While the decision of the BRB for this case is not expected for Board (BRB). The BRB hears appeals of the decisions of administrative several months, Wiley said the experience brought his law school law judges regarding black lung benefits claims and other statutes —Paul Wiley ’15 experience full circle. administered by the Department of Labor.

“The Davis Moot Court Competition helped me realize I Wiley was interested in the case to gain experience arguing wanted to do appellate law,” said Wiley. “This argument and my appeals related to regulatory law, which is an area of focus for the law Black Lung Clinic experience overall have helped me realize that I can do it.” firm in Washington, D.C., that he will join after a clerkship with the Supreme Court of Virginia.

W&L’s Black Lung Clinic, one of the country’s most innovative legal clinics, represents But he also saw Minich’s case as an opportunity to argue an important point of law that would coal miners diagnosed with pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung disease, in pursuit of help many other black lung cases. benefits from coal companies that once employed them. In attempting to collect benefits, “It was an opportunity to get practical experience while also making a positive change in the miners and survivors face formidable teams of lawyers, paralegals and doctors that the law,” said Wiley. “There was no way I was going to pass that up.” coal companies assemble to challenge these claims. The clinic has represented hundreds of After recommending the clinic take the case, Wiley had only 45 days to prepare the appeal disabled coal miners and their surviving spouses since its creation in 1996, and has a success and write the brief before finally making his argument in December. In an unusual move, the rate of approximately 80 percent.

BRB posed three questions it wanted the advocates involved in the case to answer. Central to the

“It was an opportunity to get practical experience while also making a positive change in the law.”

Student Achievements: Setting High Standards in Writing and Public Service ASHLEY WATERBURY ’16L took first place in the 2015 Richmond Bar Association Business Law Section writing competition.

She won for her article exploring new profit-sharing partnerships between hospitals and insurance companies designed to lower costs and improve health care.

Waterbury argued that when such ventures are created, the lawyers involved should be mindful of potential conflicts of interest.

“Traditionally, hospitals seek to provide as much care as possible because they are paid by procedure,” said Waterbury. “Insurance companies, on the other hand, want to limit the amount of procedures done and the costs of those procedures to keep premiums low. In order to ensure these joint ventures are successful, lawyers should create governance structures that mitigate conflicts of interest between the insurance companies and hospitals.”

One such solution, Waterbury wrote, is to include board members who are unaffiliated with the hospital or insurer involved in the joint venture.

Waterbury, from McLean, Virginia, served as a student attorney in the Tax Clinic and as the executive editor of the Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment. She has joined Wharton, Aldhizer & Weaver, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as an associate.

JON CAULDER ’16L won the 2015 ABA Section of Antitrust Law Student Writing Competition.

Caulder received the award for his Note, “Avoiding the Nuclear Option: Balancing Borrower and Lender Rights Under the Truth in Lending Act’s Right of Rescission,” which was published in the Washington and Lee Law Review. The Note examines the recent circuit court split regarding

how borrowers can validly exercise their right of rescission under the Truth in Lending Act. The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled in January 2015 on the very issue analyzed in Caulder’s Note in the case Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc. Caulder attended the oral arguments for the case at the U.S. Supreme Court in November with his Appellate Advocacy Practicum, taught by Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Lemons. Following the oral arguments, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito spoke with the class and, upon learning about Caulder’s Note, asked to read it.

“The fact that Justice Alito wanted to read Jon’s Note is a testament to the importance and timeliness of his topic,” said Professor Victoria Shannon, who served as Caulder’s Note advisor. “It was my absolute privilege and pleasure to advise Jon’s Note.”

Caulder previously wrote about his research and his experience in the Appellate Advocacy Practicum for the W&L Law School blog in a piece titled “Turning Scholarship into Practice.”

“Researching and drafting this Note was a long and tedious process. To write it, have it published, observe oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court, and now to receive this award is a humbling honor,” said Caulder. “I would like to thank Professor Shannon and the Law Review editorial board for their invaluable input in shaping this Note. This has truly been a rewarding experience.”

Caulder served as the managing editor of the W&L Law Review. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010 with a B.A. in philosophy, with high distinction. During his time between undergraduate and law school, Caulder worked as a Teach for America corps member in eastern North Carolina, where he taught sixth grade math. He has joined the energy and environmental litigation practice group at Hunton & Williams L.L.P., in Richmond.

The Virginia State Bar has given KATHERINE MOSS ’15L the Oliver White Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award.

The Virginia State Bar created the award in 2002 to honor extraordinary law student achievement and commitment to uncompensated or minimally compensated pro bono work and public service. Moss is the fourth W&L Law student to win the award.

W&L nominated Moss based on her extensive pro bono work in indigent criminal defense, and specifically

indigent death penalty defense. During her three years at W&L, Moss devoted over 1,200 hours of pro bono service beyond her academic responsibilities and extracurricular activities.

Moss, originally from Normal, Illinois, graduated from the University of Southern California in 2009 with a B.A. in philosophy. From her first year, she sought opportunities to help under-served populations.

As a 1L, she assisted court-appointed attorneys in their representation of an indigent client facing the death penalty and spent her first summer in an unpaid internship with the Office of the Public Defender in Alexandria, Virginia.

During her second year, Moss worked as a law clerk for court-appointed counsel on a murder trial. She also volunteered with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, an organization that represents indigent clients in their death penalty appeals.

That summer she worked for the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, and with Gideon’s Promise,.

During her third year, Moss enrolled in two clinics at W&L, the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse Clinic (VC3) and the Criminal Justice Clinic (CJC), representing clients. In addition, she enrolled in a third-year practicum course that involves teaching street law to local high school students through the MarshallBrennan Constitutional Literacy Program.

Moss also served as lead articles editor for the W&L Law Review, which recently published her Note. She participated in the W&L Mock Trial Competition and was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Group and the Women Law Students Organization.

After graduation, Moss began a two-year postgraduate E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center and will represent indigent clients in the local courts of the District of Columbia while pursuing an LL.M. degree in advocacy at the Law Center’s graduate school. Georgetown awards this prestigious fellowship to only three recent law graduates each year.

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Professor Sally Wiant Receives Highest Law Library Association Honor Sarah K. “Sally” Wiant ’78L, professor of law and former director of the law library, has received the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).

The Gallagher award is the highest honor of the association. The award recognizes extended and sustained service to law librarianship, for exemplary service to the association, or contributions to the professional literature.

“I am humbled and honored to be among those selected as recipients of this distinguished award,” said Wiant.

Wiant first joined the W&L community as an assistant law librarian in 1972. At the same time, she became a member of the first class of women admitted to W&L Law. After finishing her J.D., she became the director of the law library and a member of the law faculty. She served as director of the law library and a professor for over 30 years,

before stepping down from her position as director in 2010. She continues to teach full time.

Wiant’s scholarship focuses on copyright law, intellectual property, trademarks, unfair competition and admiralty maritime law. She has published extensively in copyright law, including two books: “Libraries and Copyright: A Guide to Copyright Law in the 1990s” and “Copyright Handbook.” Throughout her career, she has taught courses in copyright, trademarks and admiralty law, as well as the Intellectual Property Practicum as part of the third-year practice program. More recently, she has taught first-year torts and legal writing, making her one of the first professors with whom new law students meet and work at W&L. She has also been very active in the American Association of Law Libraries throughout her career. In addition to being elected to the board of AALL, Wiant has chaired or served on most committees of the AALL, including chairing the Economic Status Committee, the Annual Program Committee, the Special Committee on the Future of AALL and the Education Committee. Additionally, Wiant has fulfilled roles for the Association of American Law Schools, American Bar Association, Southeastern American Association of Law Libraries, Special Libraries Association, Virginia Association of Law Libraries, Virginia Special Libraries Association and the Virginia State Library.

Wiant will receive her ward from AALL president Holly Riccio at the association’s annual meeting and conference in Philadelphia, in July.

Christopher Bruner Named to New Bain Endowed Professorship Christopher Bruner, professor of law, has been named the inaugural holder of the William Donald Bain Family Professorship of Corporate Law. Bruner joined the W&L Law faculty in 2009, and during that time has cemented his status as one of the leading voices in corporate law and securities regulation, including international and comparative dimensions of these subjects. His articles have appeared in a variety of law and policy journals, and he has twice received the Law School’s Ethan Allen Faculty Fellowship for scholarly excellence. His comparative study of U.S. and U.K. corporate governance, “Power and Purpose in the ’Anglo-American’ Corporation,” won the 2010 Association of American Law Schools Scholarly Papers competition.

Bruner’s book, “Corporate Governance in the Common-Law World: The Political Foundations of Shareholder Power“ (Cambridge University Press, 2013), has been called “a revelation,” and “a work of monumental significance and scholarly craft.” In the book, Bruner develops a new political theory to explain why shareholders in the U.K. and other common-law jurisdictions are both more powerful and more central to the aims of the corporation than are shareholders in the U.S. He argues that relatively robust social welfare protections in countries like the U.K., Australia and Canada have freed up their corporate legal systems to focus more intently on shareholder interests without giving rise to political backlash — because other legal structures accommodate the interests of employees.

The Bain Family Professorship was established by W. Donald Bain Jr. ’49L, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, in honor of his father, William Donald Bain. The professorship supports a distinguished professor who is an accomplished teacher and scholar in the area of corporate law. A native of Rochelle, Illinois, Don Bain came to the W&L

School of Law after earning a B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School. Bain credits his solid grounding in business law at W&L in preparing him for a successful business career including 30-plus years at Moreland Chemical Co., where he rose to the rank of CEO. He merged Moreland with McKesson Corp. in San Francisco, eventually retiring as vice president and general manager of McKesson’s industrial chemical division.

A lifelong supporter of education, Bain has been particularly generous with W&L Law. In addition to this new professorship, Bain has supported the Steinheimer Professorship, the Class of 1949 Law Fellowship, the Law Library and the Law Annual Fund.

He has been a participant or chair of numerous alumni chapter and reunion committees. For his dedicated service, Bain received W&L’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1987 and was inducted as an honorary member of Order of the Coif in 2007.

Bruner has presented his scholarship in Australia, Denmark, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S., and has conducted research as a visitor to the law faculties of the University of Cambridge, the University of Sydney, the University of Toronto and the National University of Singapore. He has twice traveled to the Russian Federation at the invitation of the U.S.-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF) to participate in discussions with commercial court judges regarding Russian corporate law reform and potentially useful models from U.S. corporate and securities law.

“Washington and Lee is widely recognized as a center of innovative teaching and scholarship in the field of corporate law, and Bain’s generous gift will help us build on our traditional strength in this field,” said Bruner. “I am grateful and deeply honored to be the inaugural holder of the Bain Family Professorship.”

At W&L, Bruner is the director of the Frances Lewis Law Center, the Law School’s faculty research and support arm, which funds summer research projects and research assistants for faculty, sponsors and supports conferences and symposia, and hosts visiting scholars. Bruner serves as a member of the Executive Committee for the Association of American Law Schools Section on Business Associations and is a member of the Scholarship Advisory Group to the Younger Comparativists Committee of the American Society of Comparative Law.

Tim Jost Retires Timothy S. Jost, the Robert L. Willet Family Professor of Law, retired from W&L at the end of 2014. Jost is an expert in health care law and an outspoken supporter of the Affordable Care Act. He has been a frequent commentator in the print and broadcast media since the beginning of the health reform debate and has continued to provide in-depth analysis as implementation efforts and legal challenges have progressed.

Jost’s blog posts on the ACA at the Health Affairs website are routinely among the most read each year, and he will continue to blog and publish opinion pieces and short articles. Recent articles include “Anomalies in the Affordable Care Act that Arise from Reading the Phrase ‘Exchange Established by the State’ 4

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Out of Context,” published (with James Engstrand) in the University of Miami Business Law Review, and “Another Perspective on King v. Burwell” in Jurist.

Jost joined W&L Law in 2001, following 20 years at the Ohio State College of Law. In addition to numerous articles, he is a co-author of the casebook “Health Law,” used widely throughout the U.S., and of a treatise and hornbook by the same name. He is also the author of “Health Care Coverage Determinations: An International Comparative Study”; “Disentitlement? The Threats Facing our Public Health Care Programs and a Rights-Based Response”; “Readings in Comparative Health Law and Bioethics”; and “Health Care at Risk: A Critique of the Consumer-Driven Movement” (Duke University Press).

In 2010, Jost received a $300,000 grant from the Commonwealth Fund to research implementation issues involved with the Affordable Care Act. Subsequently, he authored numerous substantive articles and opinion pieces exploring facets of the various aspects of the health care legislation in an attempt to make this complex issue accessible to everyday Americans.

In 2011, Jost was elected to the Institute of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. He was the only lawyer among the new members. Jost has also served as a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

facult y accomp l i s hm e n ts DAVID BALUARTE will publish “Life after Limbo: Stateless Persons in the United States and the Role of International Protection in Achieving a Legal Solution” in the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal. In March, he presented a lyceum lecture at Emory & Henry College titled “A Call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” He also presented on the innovations of W&L’s experiential curriculum at the annual AALS Clinical Conference in May. JOHANNA BOND is conducting research in Tanzania as part of her 2015 Fulbright Scholar award. She participated in an inter-disciplinary workshop at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. The workshop, organized by prominent political theorists Will Kymlicka and Ruth Rubio-Marin, brought together leading academics across multiple disciplines to discuss the potential of quotas to enhance women’s participation in local governance.

CHRISTOPHER BRUNER has been on leave during the spring 2015 semester to conduct research for his new book project on the role of small jurisdictions in cross-border corporate and financial services. In February, he was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Banking & Finance Law, housed by the law faculty of the National University of Singapore, where he continued his comparative research and gave a seminar on the subject. In April, he presented at the University of Washington School of Law as a part of its Faculty Colloquium Series.

BOB DANFORTH published (with Brant Hellwig) “Understanding Estate and Gift Taxation” (Lexis-Nexis 2015). He serves as the principal author of the semi-annual updates to “Federal Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts” (Thomson Reuters 3d ed.

2001, co-authored with Howard M. Zaritsky and Norman H. Lane).

NORA DEMLEITNER published several articles on criminal law and legal education, including “Human Dignity, Crime Prevention, and Mass Incarceration: A Meaningful, Practical Comparison Across Borders” in the Federal Sentencing Reporter and “Curricular Limitations, Cost Pressures, and Stratification in Legal Education: Are Bold Reforms in Short Supply?” in the Seton Hall Law Review. She was appointed as a fellow of the European Law Institute.

MARK DRUMBL researches, blogs and publishes in the areas of international law and war crimes trials. He presented his work on child soldiers to investigators at the U.S. Department of Justice, to officials involved in the Colombian peace process in Bogotá, and to an academic audience in Germany. He wrote an op-ed about child soldiers in ISIS for CNN. He spoke about his research on post-World War II Polish trials of Nazi officials and on international law in the U.S. federal court system at workshops at Colorado, the University of Virginia, Indiana, Minnesota, The Hague, Ottawa and New Orleans and taught modules in Canada, the U.K. and the Czech Republic.

J.D. KING published “Recognizing the Limits of the Right to Counsel as a Guarantee of Justice” in La Revista de Derechos Fundamentales, a Chilean law journal.

In addition to conducting research as a Fulbright Scholar in Chile, he designed and taught an experiential course in criminal litigation and a discussion seminar titled “Power, Class, and Social Justice in Contemporary Chile.”

RUSSELL MILLER published “Germany v. Europe: The Principle of Democracy in German Constitutional Law and the Troubled Future of European Integration” in the Virginia Journal of International Law and has a book chapter forthcoming in “Comparing Human Dignity” on the German Constitutional Court’s banning of the novel “Esra.” He gave a number of presentations, including at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany, on the German and American responses to the NSA scandal.

JAMES MOLITERNO consults as an international expert in legal ethics and legal system development. He has lectured and presented training in the Republic of Georgia, China, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Turkey. He also writes and presents on legal education reform in such presentations as “Integrating Experiential Education Throughout the Curriculum” at the Future of the Legal Profession and Legal Education conference held at Indiana Tech, and at the Global Skills Legal Conference in Italy.

BRIAN MURCHISON’s sabbatical project was to complete a study on the truth-seeking value of the First Amendment. He also participated in coaching the BLSA moot court team, taught admitted students, guest-lectured in undergraduate classes and with Kish Parella sponsored a reading and discussion of “Inherit the Wind.”

DAVID MILLON’s publications included “Corporate Law After Hobby Lobby” in The Business Lawyer, “Radical Shareholder Primacy” in the University of St Thomas Law Journal and two chapters in “Sustainable Companies: Legal Barriers and Opportunities From a Convergence of Crises to Comparative Company Law.” He gave a lecture on team production theory at the UCLA School of Law and

delivered the keynote address, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability,” at the Journal of Energy, Climate and the Environment’s spring symposium on protecting water resources. He is past president and a member of the board of directors of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools and serves on the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee for the Law School Admissions Council.

CHRIS SEAMAN published “The Case against Federalizing Trade Secrecy” in the Virginia Law Review and “Ongoing Royalties in Patent Cases After eBay: An Empirical Assessment and Proposed Framework” in the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal. He received a Leonardo da Vinci Research Grant from the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property at George Mason University for empirical research on patent injunction appeals. He presented his paper “Property Rules v. Liability Rules in Patent Litigation After eBay: An Empirical Study” at conferences at the University of Kansas Law School and the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. He also spoke at the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal’s symposium, Patent Assertion Entities, at the University of Texas Law School.

VICTORIA SHANNON received the Francis Lewis Law Center Prize for Excellence in Legal Scholarship for her article, “Harmonizing Third-Party Litigation Funding Regulation,” published in the Cardozo Law Review. Her forthcoming article, “Judging Third-Party Funding,” will be published in the UCLA Law Review. She also served as a panelist at the American Society of International Law Annual Meeting in April. She has presented her work at William and Mary Law School, Florida State University College of Law and the ITA Academic Council Works in Progress Workshop, and she will present her work at the University of Washington School of Law, Vanderbilt Law School and New York University School of Law later this year.

SALLY WIANT received the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Law Libraries (read the story on pg. 4).

washington and lee university school of law Resolution of Appreciation nora v. demleitner WHEREAS, NORA V. DEMLEITNER joined the Law School in 2012 as Dean and as the Roy L. Steinheimer, Jr. Professor of Law; and WHEREAS, Dean Demleitner guided the Law School through one of the most turbulent periods in legal education, one that followed a seismic shift in the legal profession resulting from the 2008 market crash; and WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, the Law School has made considerable gains in the employment rates of its graduates; and WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, graduates of the Law School have successfully completed the state bar examination at increasing rates, rates that most recently exceeded prevailing state averages by wide margins; and

SUSAN FRANCK was named to the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. She is also chair-elect of the Academic Council for the Institute for Transnational Arbitration. She published “Conflating Politics and Development in the Outcomes of Investment Treaty Disputes” in the Virginia Journal of International Law and has two articles forthcoming, including one in the Duke Law Journal. Franck’s work on investment-treaty dispute resolution was cited in a Wall Street Journal article on the Pacific trade agreement.

WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, the Law School surpassed its campaign goal of $35 million — the largest amount raised by the Law School in a campaign; and

TIMOTHY JOST retired as of the end of 2014. He will continue to blog at www.healthaffairs.org/blog and to publish opinion pieces and short articles from time to time. Recent articles include “Anomalies in the Affordable Care Act that Arise from Reading the Phrase ‘Exchange Established by the State’ Out of Context,” published (with James Engstrand) in the University of Miami Business Law Review and “Another Perspective on King v. Burwell” in Jurist.

WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, the Law School entered into a partnership with the Future of Privacy Forum in Washington, D.C.;

WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, the Law School recruited the most diverse law school student body in Virginia; and WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, the Law School greatly enhanced the diversity of its Faculty; and WHEREAS, during Dean Demleitner’s tenure, the Law School initiated the Washington, D.C., Semester in Residence, a program that has received enthusiastic reviews from students, externship supervisors, and employers; and

Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED that the Law Committee of the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees salutes and gives thanks to Nora V. Demleitner for her numerous achievements and her tireless dedication to Washington and Lee University School of Law.

RESOLVED, Law Committee, Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees, May 15, 2015

Michael J. Missal ’78 Chair, Law Committee

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National Champs

blsa undefeated through all rounds in mock trial competition

T

he Black Law Students Association mock trial team won the national championship at the 2015 National Black Law Students Association Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition.

Team members Ryan Redd ’15L, Emelia Hall-Tuisawau ’16L, Imani Hutty ’15L and Cristina Sacco ’15L, along with student coach Babtunde Cadmus ’15L, made the trip to Portland, Oregon, for the competition and national convention. They faced off against the top-18 mock trial teams in the nation, drawn from over 100 teams that competed in six regional competitions.

The Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition takes place over two-and-a-half days and includes six rounds of round-robin and single-elimination competition. W&L was the only team to remain

undefeated through all rounds.

The mock trial team is coached by Professor Beth Belmont and Andy Budzinski ’10, in addition to Cadmus.

The W&L BLSA moot court team of Richard Zhang ’15L and Ariel Wossene ’16L was among the 18 teams in the nation to qualify for the national finals of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition, also held in Portland. Unfortunately, the team did not advance from the preliminary rounds. Student coach Hernandez Stroud ’15L was invited to return to the competition next year as a judge.

This is only the fourth year teams from W&L have competed in these two competitions. W&L’s teams have advanced to nationals every year since the program’s inception.

Imani Hutty ’15L, Ryan Redd ’15L, Cristina Sacco ’15L and Emelia Hall-Tuisawau ’16L

W&L Team Wins Inaugural Global Antitrust Invitational Moot Court Competition

A

David Johnson ’15L (left) and Kyle Virtue ’15L

team of third-year law students participated in the inaugural Global Antitrust Invitational Moot Court Competition, held Feb. 20-21, at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington.

David Johnson, Kyle Virtue and Matthew Hale received first place in the competition. The team also won the award for best brief.

Eight teams in all participated in the invitationonly competition, including teams from the University of Michigan Law School, Notre Dame Law School, George Washington University Law School and the University of Florida Levin College of Law. The problem for the competition involved a dispute between two cell phone service providers. Johnson, Virtue and Hale wrote a brief on behalf of appellant Dominion Telecommunications Inc. arguing that the company did not violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The district court found that Dominion had illegally monopolized the cell services market by using its dominant size to force an upstart cell company out of the market.

The smaller upstart cried foul, but the ultimate question

was whether consumers were actually harmed by the loss of one, small company from the market.

During the competition, the team went through five rounds of arguments before four different panels of judges. The final round was judged by the two top antitrust enforcement officials in the U.S. — the assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ Antitrust Division, William Baer, and the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Edith Ramirez — as well as a highly respected federal court of appeals judge and antitrust expert, Douglas Ginsburg.

The Global Antitrust Institute Invitational is the only moot court competition devoted exclusively to antitrust law. Competing teams have the chance not only to compete in a federal circuit court, but also to attend a private reception and network with an extensive list of litigation and antitrust professionals from the Washington, D.C., area.

W&L Law professors Jeff Miles ’73L and David Eggert, both of whom have extensive antitrust practice experience, helped prepare the team for this first-ever competition.

U.N. Economic and Social Council Grants W&L Special Consultative Status The United Nations Economic and Social Council has granted W&L special consultative status, a prestigious designation granted to qualifying non-governmental organizations and only a select few academic institutions.

The recommendation for this status was officially adopted April 8. Only three other U.S. educational institutions, and less than 10 percent of non-governmental organizations, possess this special status.

Henok Gabisa, visiting doctoral fellow at W&L’s Law School, oversaw the rigorous two-year application process and was on hand when the recommendation was made at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accreditation committee session earlier this year.

“The status allows W&L to participate and comment on the U.N.’s ECOSOC law and policy-making process through research, position papers, reports and issue briefs,” said Gabisa. “In special cases, the University can even use its status for interventions made on the floor during ECOSOC proceedings.”

The ECOSOC’s accreditation committee recommended the University based primarily on the Law School’s work on rule-of-law and access-to-justice issues in developing countries. The School’s international law curriculum features a number of classes focused on legal aid and human rights, including on-the-ground work in Tanzania, Liberia, Palestine and with the UNODC’s Anti-corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD).

The recommendation was also influenced by the impact of W&L’s Transnational Law Institute for its role 6

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Professor Speedy Rice (left) and Henok Gabisa at a UN ECOSOC meeting.

in fostering academic discussion and collaboration of key issues in international law through lectures by renowned scholars, academic exchanges and other events.

Speedy Rice, visiting professor of law who teaches many of the School’s practice-based international law classes, explained what the special status means for the University.

“Our past international human rights work and academics have been reviewed by the ECOSOC Committee and found to be supportive and in harmony with the U.N.’s Human Rights and Civil Society goals,” said Rice. “This special consultative status accreditation will permit greater faculty and student involvement in the works of the many ECOSOC programs and in the ability to use important human rights works as valuable teaching tools with international recognition.”

Examples of projects the status allows include the presentation of shadow reports during the U.N.’s Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of countries where victims and local NGOs often lack any voice to advocate for U.N. intervention. The status also allows the faculty to participate in expert working groups and to supervise students of W&L at U.N. ECOSOC conferences and other U.N. ECOSOC international events.

“Receiving this recognition is a significant accomplishment for our Law School and a reflection of the high caliber of faculty, students and programs at W&L,” said Provost Daniel Wubah. “It also provides an opportunity for our institution to participate actively in transformative developmental programs that will contribute toward eradication of poverty and improved social justice.”

Career Paths Anjelica Hendricks ’15L was a student attorney in W&L’s Criminal Justice Clinic. Following graduation, she will work for the Defender Association of Philadelphia DAP. It’s not hard to see that the criminal justice system is the most oppressive hand of society. Many of the obstacles impoverished individuals face are due to the effects of consistent over-policing and inherent flaws in the systems that surround them. Many say that the system is broken, but it’s not.

The system was designed this way; it was designed to dehumanize poor people. I don’t expect to save anyone by doing public defense; I want to be a public defender because the system destroys communities. I cannot think of another career to have other than to try to prevent this injustice.

I first interviewed for DAP at the Southeastern Minority Job Fair. At this fair, only students of participating law schools could attend, and W&L was a member.

I received a call back for a second interview, and the Career Office introduced me to an alumna in Philadelphia who went above and beyond to help me, including offering her home when I came to interview and calling friends that she knew in the office on my behalf. My third and final interview focused on my participation in the Criminal Justice Clinic, and they loved hearing of a program that gave me an opportunity to get my feet wet.

Austin Lomax ’15L served as a lead articles editor for the W&L Law Review and as a student attorney in the Criminal Justice Clinic. After graduation, he will join Alston & Bird, in Atlanta, in its litigation and trial practice group.

Working as a summer associate at A&B made me confident in my decision to accept an offer with the firm. I decided that it was the right place for me because of all the different people I met that summer, rather than just the legal work. If I hadn’t meshed well with the partners and associates who worked there, I would have explored different options.

If you know you want to be in a big law firm, I would recommend trying to find a firm based on where you want to live geographically and firm culture. Most large law firms have practice groups that cover virtually everything, and the practice group you end up in usually depends more on who you get along with the best than your preconceived notions about that area of law. No matter how much you may like a particular type of law a particular firm practices, you won’t be happy unless you also like the people. I can’t emphasize this enough.

If I were to do the process over again, I would have made sure to spend my 1L summer in Atlanta (or wherever I decided I wanted to be geographically) so that I could network with alumni. Your chances at getting a BigLaw job greatly improve if you can somehow manage to get an interview in July before your 2L year, because the law firms have not yet started their countrywide tour for on-campus interviews. The best way to do this is to have an alum give their recruiting team your resume and vouch for you.

visit law.wlu.edu/career to learn more about recruiting law students for jobs and internships Jenna Callahan ’15L worked for W&L’s Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse Clinic defending inmates on death row, interned with the Air Force in the Legal Aid Office and has been accepted into the JAG Corps for both the Army Active Duty and Reserves and Air Force Active Duty.

I first saw the JAG application on W&L Law’s Symplicity website. Once I began researching this opportunity, I could not believe I had not thought about JAG before. Becoming a judge advocate general would allow me to serve my country, protect those I love and practice law. I would be able to travel and help many different people throughout the world. It is also a field where an athletic background is appreciated, which is what initially attracted me to sports law. Most importantly, joining the military would allow me to build a community for myself that I could call my family.

I don’t have a clue where I will be a year from now. I am hoping to go somewhere warm in the U.S. or else live in Japan. The wonderful thing about the military is there are plenty of opportunities to travel.

As with with any field of law, the best preparation you can do for a legal career is to attend a great school. W&L Law has provided me with a wonderful education. My professors have worked with me on an individualized basis and truly want to see me succeed. I am very appreciative for my time here and plan to get the most out of my last semester.

Hernandez Stroud ’15L completed a stint with Teach For America before starting law school. He externed for the Hon. Robert S. Ballou of the Western District of Virginia. After graduation, he will clerk for U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala of the Northern District of Alabama.

I am interested in clerking because of its profound benefits.

There is no comparable opportunity, as I understand, where an attorney, new or experienced, is able to spend an entire year or more perfecting writing, observing good lawyering (as well as poor advocacy), and being under the wing of a judge.

Although I credit several experiences, I primarily attribute two for my successfully securing a federal clerkship. First, in taking three classes with Professor Ann Massie, she helped me significantly strengthen my legal writing. Second, my participation in various school-wide, regional and national moot court competitions — where a student bears the task of taking an appellate case from start to finish — improved my written and oral advocacy. Arguing before U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in W&L’s moot court competition this past year certainly makes for a wonderful clerkship interview story.

During my clerkship, I am looking forward to spending a year improving my writing, which I imagine will nonetheless be a lifelong endeavor. In addition, my judge is a terrific person, not to mention an incredible legal thinker; as a result, I welcome engaging in a strong, supportive mentoring relationship with her.

W&L Law Releases New Employment Report W&L’s School of Law is reporting a significant increase in employment rates for its Class of 2014. Data from the Office of Career Strategy show a one-year increase of 11 percent and an increase of 18 percent over two years ago.

According to the report, almost 75 percent of the Class of 2014 has secured a full-time, long-term job that either requires a J.D. degree or for which a J.D. degree is preferred. The report measures employment 10 months after graduation.

For comparison, the employment rates in these categories for the classes of 2013 and 2012 were 63.6 percent and 56.9 percent, respectively.

The overall employment rate for the class, including all employment types, is almost 83 percent. When students getting LL.M. degrees and one student with a deferred start date are included, more than 88 percent of the class is working or in graduate school.

Cliff Jarrett ’91L, assistant dean for career strategy, believes a number of factors explain the significant improvement in employment outcomes in recent years. “First, I credit our students with hard work and commitment to their job searches,” said Jarrett.

“Students entering law school in recent years are well aware of the challenges in the legal market, and our students have risen to that challenge by following through on the things, big and small, that lead to great employment opportunities.”

Jarrett, who joined W&L from the legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, has moved toward an ex-

ecutive search model to help law students find jobs, and that strategy has been well received by both our students and the legal employment market.

Jarrett added, “The investment that our office, our faculty and our alumni have made in counseling and matching students with employment opportunities is making a real difference. This individualized approach for both employers and students is consistent with the history and mission of W&L Law and is one of the many advantages of our size.”

The employment report, available online at law2. wlu.edu/admissions/nalp/ABAEmploymentSummary2015.pdf, was prepared in accordance with requirements of the American Bar Association and includes summary data about the employment status of the 127 graduates in the Class of 2014.

The report shows graduates working in a diverse and balanced range of jobs. Approximately 12 percent are in large law firms of over 500 lawyers, 11 percent are in firms with 26 to 500 lawyers, and roughly 13 percent are in small firms of 2 to 25 lawyers. About 12 percent are working in government, 8 percent in business or industry and 5 percent in public interest jobs such as legal aid offices.

One particular area of strength for W&L Law has

always been placement in federal and state clerkships, and this remains the case for the Class of 2014. More than 13 percent of the class is in a clerkship, including placements in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, seven federal district courts and the Michigan Supreme Court.

The top four geographic areas for employment are Virginia, New York, the District of Columbia and California. The law school funded only one long-term, full-time position for the class, and that student is the law clerk for the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court.

Jarrett says the employment outlook for the Class of 2015, the current third-year class, is equally strong. Over 57 percent have already secured long-term, full-time J.D.-required or J.D.-advantage jobs, a month before graduation. These are the job types that the ABA has identified as the most desirable employment outcomes for students, though many students seek jobs beyond these criteria based on their career objectives.

“Our students continue to excel in finding the work they want, where they want to be,” said Jarrett. “With the continued involvement of our faculty, alumni and administration, we are optimistic that this upward trend in employment will continue.”

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Reunion classes presented a collective gift of $3.5 million to Dean Nora Demleitner. This included gifts to establish the Class of 1980L Law Scholarship and the Brian W. Robinson 1990L Law Scholarship, as well as gifts to the Law Annual Fund and the renovation of Lewis Hall.

Dean Nora Demleitner with Angelica Light ’75L, William Toles ’92, ’95L and Darlene Moore.

Law Alumni Weeken

Alexander Boone ’95L accepts the gavel from outgoing Law Council President William Toles ’92, ’95L

ANGELICA DIDIER LIGHT ’75L, a member of the first class of women graduates at W&L Law, received the 2015 Outstanding Alumna Award for exceptional achievements in her career and unselfish service to her community and her alma mater.

Now retired, Light was the president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, a position she held with the foundation's predecessor, The Norfolk Foundation. Under her leadership, the foundation assets and annual grants and scholarship distribution more than doubled to $244 million. In 2010, the foundation awarded more than $12.3 million

Law Class of 1995

Class Notes 1969L

J.D. Humphries III (’66) is of counsel in the construction

law practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, L.L.P. in its Atlanta office. He represents general contractors, architects, designers, subcontractors and owners on projects in Atlanta and throughout the country. He assists with contract drafting and interpretation, employment, entity governance, transactional work involving acquisitions, and dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration and litigation if necessary.

1977L

William R. Hansen joined Fox Rothschild L.L.P. in the firm’s

intellectual property department, in its New York office. He serves as lead counsel in intellectual property matters for both national and international companies on cases under the U.S. Lanham Act, including trademark infringement, false advertising, patent and copyright infringement.

Neal Barkus has retired from Steptoe and Johnson in Mar-

tinsville, West Virginia. Previously, he worked for Hunton & Williams L.L.P., in Washington, D.C., before opening his own practice, A. Neal Barkus P.L.L.C. He lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

John R. Broadway Jr. joined Organization Management

1975L

Christopher J. Habenicht joined MeyerGoergen P.C. in the firm’s litigation section, in Richmond.

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The Law Class of 1995 dinner at Rocca

1979L

J.I. Vance Berry Jr. opened his own law firm, Stoneburner Berry Purcell & Campbell P.A., in Jacksonville, Florida.

Philip L. Hineman received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

1983L

William A. Powell III, after 16 years as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, has accepted a full-time position with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio as canon to the ordinary. A canon is a member of the bishop’s staff who serves the diocesan bishop, or the ordinary. He is responsible for operations, in addition to handling legal issues (real estate and priest disciplinary matters), global and domestic missions, diocesan convention and other diocesan committees. Since 2011, he has served as the volunteer chancellor in the diocese (legal advisor to the bishop), which he will continue in this expanded role.

1974L

Group of Chesapeake, Virginia, as general counsel and as legislative advisor for its clients, including the Hampton Roads Realtors Association. Most recently, he served as commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission from 2010 to 2014.

in grants and scholarships.

During Light's tenure, the community foundation has incubated Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads; established the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence in 2004; created ArtsMatch in 2003 and Charters Basic Needs Relief Program in 2008 in response to economic downturns; and merged The Norfolk Foundation and the Virginia Beach Foundation in 2010 to form the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Before joining the foundation, Light was vice president, general counsel and secretary of Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., in Roanoke, and a general

The Hon. David B. Krogmann ’74L, justice of the supreme court, state of New York, and Kate Hogan ’88L,

Warren County district attorney share a moment together after court on March 31. Krogmann has been a justice for the Fourth Judicial District of New York since January 2004. His chambers are located in Warren County, New York. Hogan was first elected district attorney in 2001 and is now serving her fourth consecutive term in office.

1984L

James W.C. Canup joined the firm of Hirschler Fleischer as a partner and chair of the firm’s tax practice in its Richmond office. He was also named, for the fifth year, to Virginia Business’ Legal Elite.

1985L

Charles F. Martel is director of the Disaster Resilience and

Recovery Lab at the St. Bernard Project. The project is a national disaster resilience and recovery nonprofit that has rebuilt the houses of hundreds of low- to moderate-income homeowners

Legal legacies from the Law Class of 1965.

nd 2015 • April 17 & 18 attorney for Norfolk Southern Corp. She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College.

WILLIAM TOLES ’92, ’95L received the 2015 Volunteer of the Year Award, which recognizes those individuals who go above and beyond assisting the Law School.

He has served W&L as president of the Law Council, chair of the Law Annual Fund, Law class agent, member of the W&L Alumni Board, member of the W&L Dallas alumni chapter, and on numerous reunion committees, including his 20th reunion committee. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of W&L and the Law School helping to recruit students and advise them in their career

Remembering Dean Roy Steinheimer

who were forced from their homes by disaster and did not have the means to rebuild. He resides in Washington, D.C.

1988L

Mark S. Yacano joined Major, Lindsey & Africa, legal search consultants, as global practice leader, managed legal solutions, in Washington, D.C.

1990L

Steven J. Boyne joined Gunster as a shareholder in the

Jacksonville, Florida, office, in its corporate and health care practices. He will focus on corporate law, including technology licensing and acquisition, insurance, data centers, disaster and recovery, and cybercrime planning and transportation procurement.

1991L

Charles K. Grant, a shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Nashville, Tenneessee, office, has been elected to a three-year term on the firm’s board of directors.

Otto W. Konrad joined Williams Mullen as a partner in its

Richmond office. He focuses on finance, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and commercial real estate.

1992L

Cassandra Kirk was appointed chief magistrate of the Fulton

County Magistrate court by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and was sworn in on Jan. 6.

search, and for that we are grateful.

Toles is a trial lawyer with extensive experience handling high-exposure litigation. After trying more than 75 jury trials as an assistant Dallas city attorney, he joined a Dallas-area law firm in 1998 as a senior litigator and partner prior to coming to Fee Smith Sharp & Vitullo in 2012. He has handled more than 40 civil trials to a successful conclusion and jury verdict. Toles has trial experience throughout the state of Texas in tort litigation ranging from simple negligence cases to more complex premises of liability, DTPA, commercial and contractual dispute matters.

Law Class of 1990

Law Affinity reception (l. to r.): Tunde Cadmus ’15L, Jasmine Brooks ’15L, Ryan Redd ’15L and Sarah Hughes, senior director of Law School Advancement.

1994L

Ronda Brown Esaw joined Greenberg Traurig L.L.P. as a

shareholder in its McLean, Virginia, office. She is a counselor and trial attorney.

Mary Williams Euler, an attorney at McGuire, Wood &

Bissette P.A., is included in the 2015 Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite list.

Kevin D. Pomfret joined Williams Mullen in its Richmond

office. He is counsel to businesses and governments around the world that provide geospatial products/services or use geo-information or other data for operations/business intelligence.

1999L

Rob Baker manages country music artist Brett Eldredge,

signed to Atlantic Records. Eldredge won the award for New Artist of the Year at the 48th Annual Country Music Awards in November.

Classmates Thomas M. Dunlap and Ellis L. Bennett, along with Cortland C. Putbrese ’98L, are partners in a new firm, Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig P.L.L.C., in McLean, Virginia.

Michael L. Resch is the executive vice president of administration and general counsel at Amy’s Kitchen, in Los Angeles.

2000L

Clayton T. Hufft is associate general counsel and vice

president at Aig Investments in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

His specialties include finance, bankruptcy and restructuring/ reorganization.

Craig W. Richards was appointed by Gov. Bill Walker as attorney general for the state of Alaska. He is the youngest attorney general in state history. He has an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Duke University.

Marie E. Washington ’03L was named the 2014 Citizen of the Year by The

Fauquier Times. She has served on the mental health board and on the board of directors for the Fauquier Health Senior Living and Association. She is a volunteer for the Warrenton United Methodist Church, has worked as legal counsel for the church on a pro-bono basis, has helped with fundraisers for mission trips and assisted with the church’s effort to send care packages to the troops for Valentine’s Day. She’s also volunteered on the board for Fauquier Faith Partners and for the Boys and Girls Club of Fauquier. She helps out at various food drives and participates at law camp and career-shadowing days with local high schools.

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2001L

Jeffrey L. Wieand is senior counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives for Rep. Tom Marino, in Washington, D.C.

2014L

Christopher C. Luttrell is managing member at CatrowLuttrell P.L.L.C. He is a real estate attorney focused on residential and commercial transactions, commercial litigation and real estate litigation in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.

Gregory A. Crapanzano joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom L.L.P. and Affiliates as an associate, in its New York City office.

2003L

Ilya Danilkevich is a tax resolution attorney at US Tax Shield in Woodland Hills, California. He resolves IRS and state tax issues for clients, both personal and business taxes.

Ryan J. Preston joined Perkins Coie’s Dallas office as a partner in the firm’s technology transactions and privacy practice.

Previously, he was a partner with K&L Gates, in Dallas.

2005L

Susan Richter Bilbro has returned to Bass, Berry & Sims as

an attorney practicing ERISA, employee benefits and executive compensation law. She lives in Nashville.

James D. Coleman III joined Zachry Construction Corp. as senior business counsel in San Antonio, Texas.

2006L

Hans P. Dyke joined Arnold & Porter L.L.P. as a partner in

its Washington, D.C. office. He advises clients on sophisticated corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, financings, divestitures, joint ventures and commercial arrangements.

Michael J. Meacher has been named partner at Husch

Blackwell. He is a member of the firm’s real estate, development and construction industry team in the Denver office.

2007L

Clint A. Carpenter is an appellate attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, tax division, in Washington, D.C.

B. Walker Entwistle was promoted to membership at Stites & Harbison P.L.L.C., in its Atlanta office. He is in the creditors’ rights and bankruptcy service group.

Adam C. Hull, of Dallas, has been named partner at Gardere

Wynne Sewell L.L.P. He represents clients in connection with mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, private equity and venture capital fund formation and investments, securities offerings and general contractual matters.

Christopher K. Jones joined Sands Anderson P.C., in its Richmond office.

Yousri H. Omar has joined Amazon as corporate counsel for Pan EU compliance in Washington, D.C. Wilson D. Sweitzer joined the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as assistant general counsel, in Washington, D.C.

2008L

Michael P. Decktor joined Philadelphia Gas Works, the

Philadelphia Facilities Management Corp. and the PGW OPEB Trust as senior associate general counsel.

on Dec. 20, 2014, in Wilmington, Delaware. The wedding party included best man Anthony “Roddy” Flynn ’12L. Front row: Whitney Lomax ’11L, Rachel Vargo ’11L, Katherine Lester ’06, ’11L , Stephanie Del Duco, William Larson, Jessica Cobb ’08 and Matthew Dowling ’08. Second row: Neil Millhiser ’11L, Robert Vrana ’11L, Professor Beth Belmont, Andy Budzinski ’10. Third row: Anthony Glover ’11L, The Hon. John Parkins ’72L, Alexander Merritt ’11L, Lilly Merritt, Sarah Catherine Welch ’11, Anthony Flynn ’12L and Professor Matthew Tuchler. Back row: the Hon. Joseph Slights ’88L, Ellen Slights ’89L, Scott Centorino ’11L, Michael Allen ’86, Jaclyn Smith ’11, the Hon. Mary Johnston ’84L, Matthew Smith ’08 and William Johnston ’82L. Not pictured: Andrew Ackell ’08, Dennison Marzocco ’08 and Edward Stack ’08.

2010L

Dana Kyu-Eun Lee joined Hardison & Cochran P.L.L.C. in its Raleigh, North Carolina, office. She is a social security disability attorney.

Nicholas J. Neidzwski joined Douglas R. Williams ’00 at Anderson Carey & Williams, in Bellingham, Washington. The firm practices maritime law.

Kara R. Webster is the deputy attorney general for the New Jersey state office of victim witness advocacy and grants/program development unit. She primarily helps with compliance with federal grant programs within the Department of Justice and other federal agencies.

2011L

relocated to Washington, D.C. Travis joined Kelley Drye, where he focuses on energy litigation and regulation. Brittani has joined National Tobacco Company L.P., of Louisville, Kentucky, where she serves as director of external affairs.

Katherine Houren Geder (’05) is assistant general counsel

at the overseas private investment corporation Export-Import Bank of the United States, in Washington, D.C.

Erica R. Messimer joined K&L Gates L.L.P. as an associate in its Charlotte, North Carolina, office.

Allen C. Myers is assistant general counsel and vice president,

mortgage banking, at JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., in Lewisville, Texas.

Vimi H. Shad joined Evolve Discovery as an associate discovery consultant in its Los Angeles office.

Kathryn Hall Shurin joined Cadwalader, Wickersham &

Taft L.L.P. as an associate in its Houston office.

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Law

Discovery

Mary V. Cromer ’06L and her husband, JJ, a son, Julian Chant, on Nov. 18, 2014.

Dawn M. Davison ’07L, a daughter, Hazel Marilla, on Feb. 6. The family live in Charlottesville.

Michael P. Gaetani ’08L and his wife, Liz, a daughter, Madison Elizabeth, on Sept. 30, 2014. Michael, Liz and Madison live in Pittsburgh.

Robert E. Dean II ’10L and Jennifer Smyrnos Dean ’12L, a daughter, Elena Patricia, born Nov. 15, 2014, in Roanoke. Jennifer opened a law firm, Virginia Immigration Law Center, in Roanoke.

Obituaries

Benjamin P. Brown Jr. ’44L, of Lewisburg, West Virginia, died Nov. 13, 2014. He practiced law for almost 30 years in Summersville, West Virginia, and was chairman of the board and chief trust officer of Union Trust National Bank, in Parkersburg. Later, he was a trust officer in Lewisburg. He served on the board of governors of the West Virginia State Bar and was president of several Rotary Clubs.

Sept. 28, 2014. He belonged to Sigma Nu.

Emily R.H. Sowell is a judicial law clerk for the state of Florida, in Daytona Beach.

John B. Russell ’49L, of Henrico, Virginia, died Jan. 14. He practiced law for 60 years, specializing in medical malpractice defense. He belonged to Phi Delta Theta and was father to John B. Russell Jr. ’74.

Sarah J. Choi joined New York Life Insurance Co. as associate

George H. Gray ’50L, of Chesapeake, Virginia, died Dec. 8, 2014. He was a veteran of World War II and received the Bronze Star Medal for exemplary conduct in ground combat and the Combat Infantry Badge. He served in the Virginia Army National Guard, retiring as brigadier general. He was a partner at Outland, Gray, O’Keefe and Hubbard. He was father to Susan Gray Winstead ’79L and Ellen Gray Owen ’85L.

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counsel in New York City.

Christopher R. Ford is an attorney advisor at the U.S. De-

Travis G. Cushman and Brittani Nichols Cushman ’10L

Birth and Adoptions

Robert P. Haley ’44, ’48L, of Alpharetta, Georgia, died

Ryan B. Gardner has opened the law firm Gardner & Preston P.L.C. in Norwich, Vermont, focusing on corporate law, particularly the representation of entities primarily having an Internet presence.

associate in its Dallas office.

Virginia D. Lane ’14L to Brandt H. Stitzer’13L, on Oct. 25, 2014, in Charleston, South Carolina. Virginia joined Troutman Sanders L.L.P. as an associate. Brandt is an associate at Hirschler Fleischer. They live in Richmond.

William C. Peacock, in Long Beach, California.

Jennifer Dean opened the Virginia Immigration Law Center,

Michael J. Chiusano joined Andrews Kurth L.L.P. as an

Wedding

William C. Peacock opened his own practice, Law Office of

Kristen L. Depowski joined a real estate tech startup called View the Space, in New York City. She is in strategic account management and also acts as the firm’s counsel.

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10

William B. Larson ’08, ’11L to Stephanie Del Duco

a private firm in Roanoke. Previously, she served as interim director of the W&L Law Immigration Rights Clinic. partment of Health and Human Services.

Michael J. Hartley is an assistant public defender in the

Office of the Public Defender for Roanoke City.

Parker D. Kasmer joined Goodwin Procter L.L.P. as an associate in its Washington, D.C., office.

Todd A. Levy joined Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian P.C. as associate counsel. His specialties include commercial real estate and corporate transactions. He lives in Manassas, Virginia.

Carla Urghart ‘96L, of Washington, D.C., died March

29. She was an attorney in the Office of General Counsel (OGC) at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Previously, she was in private practice with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and later worked in OGC-Energy Markets for more than nine years.

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Joseph D. Antel is an associate in the antitrust practice group of Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider L.L.P., in New York City. He focuses on both litigation and mergers.

D. Rockwell Bower, of Thompson Coe Cousins & Irons

L.L.P., has earned the Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States credential from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Rockwell’s practice has developed to include identifying, evaluating and managing risks associated with his clients’ privacy and cybersecurity issues.

Neal E. McNeill Jr. ’50L, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, died Dec. 2, 2014. He was a World War II veteran. He was a Tulsa city attorney and belonged to Beta Theta Pi. The Hon. J. English Ford ’51L, of Martinsville, Virginia, died Dec. 24, 2014. He was the area’s juvenile and domestic relations courts judge and started the Anchor Home for first-time offenders and a summer work force for troubled youth. He served as a Marine during World War II.

John T. Sutton Jr. ’51L, of Stevensville, Virginia, died

Dec. 24, 2014. He was a World War II veteran. He worked at John T. Sutton Chrysler Plymouth and had a career in real estate.

Isham M. Sheffield III ’53, ’55L, of San Miguel de

Allende, Mexico, died Nov. 2, 2014. He worked in the insurance industry and on various civic endeavors for 45 years. He was uncle to David S. Martin’76 and belonged to Phi Delta Theta.

Thomas W. Turner ’56L, of Penhook, Virginia, died Jan. 17. He was a Navy veteran. He practiced law and was vice president and trust officer with Piedmont Trust Bank. He belonged to Beta Theta Pi.

H. Bennett Meador Jr. ’56, ’60L, of Bassett, Virginia,

died Oct. 29, 2014. He was a veteran of the Army. He worked in the banking industry, retiring from BB&T Trust Services. He was the executive director of the Virginia and

Whitby B. Sale Foundation and also did pro bono work, specifically as a guardian ad litem for the Henry County court system. He belonged to Kappa Sigma.

Jeffrey L. Ward ’67L, of Rockville, Maryland, died

March 12. He worked for the Maryland Judiciary for 40 years, mostly as administrative clerk of the district court for Montgomery County.

Benjamin A. Williams III ’71L, of Hampton, Virginia,

died Nov. 15, 2014. He was an advocate for the city and served as a member and chairman of the Hampton Industrial Development Authority. He was named the state’s 2000 Economic Development Volunteer of the Year by the Virginia Economic Developers Association. He served on many other boards for educational and charitable organizations. He practiced law at Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein and was CEO of Basic Inc.

William P. Sears ’94L, of Washington, D.C., died on

Nov. 28, 2014. He was a congressional staff assistant, first in the offices of Robert Walker, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and later Rick Santorum, from Pittsburgh. After law school he rejoined Sen. Santorum’s staff, where he worked on transportation law, election reform and Senate procedure. In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as chief counsel to the Federal Transit Administration. He opened The Peterson Group, where he guided public and private sector clients on statutory and regulatory matters related to transportation.

Wyndall A. Ivey ’99L, of

Birmingham, Alabama, died March 18. He received his undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

At W&L Law, he was editor in chief of the Race and Ethnic Ancestry Journal, a member of the Moot Court board, a member of the Black Law Students Association and recipient of the Dean Randall P. Bezanson award. After graduation, Ivey joined Capell Howard and later Maynard, Cooper & Gale, attaining the rank of partner. He served on the Montgomery County Bar’s Association’s board of directors and was chosen as one of Montgomery’s Leading 20 Under 40 by the Montgomery Advertiser. In 2010, he established his own law practice, Ivey Law Group L.L.C. He served as an administrative law judge and as a temporary

Michael A. Tolliver ’96L, of Raleigh, North Carolina, died on Dec. 24, 2014.

Carla J. Urquhart ’96L, of Alexandria, Virginia, died

March 29. She was an assistant editor of W&L’s Journal

probate judge and was active in the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association. He was a member of the 2006 Leadership Forum Class of the Alabama State Bar Association. Additionally, Ivey was an inaugural member of the ABA’s Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section’s Leadership Academy and chaired the Business Litigation Committee.

He was named UAB’s Most Outstanding Alum, included in Birmingham’s Top 40 Under 40 and listed in the inaugural 2011 edition of Who’s Who in Black Alabama. He was a dedicated W&L alumnus, serving as Birmingham chapter president for two years, as Law class agent for eight years and as member of the Law Council from 2009 until 2013, when he took emeritus status. His infectious smile and warm personality will be missed by his W&L Law family.

of Civil Rights and Social Justice. She practiced corporate law in the energy field with Millbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCoy, served as chair of the Energy Division of the Virginia Bar Association and was currently working at the U.S. Federal Energy Commission in Washington, D.C.

This is how your investment pays off.

25 federal and state clerkships ♦ 24 public interest, government & corporate jobs ♦ over 60 law firm jobs ♦ winners of the inaugural global antitrust moot court competition ♦ 2015 national blsa moot court champions ♦ recipient of the oliver white hill pro bono award ♦ winner of the 2015 richmond bar association business law section writing competition ♦ winner of the aba section of antitrust law student writing competition

Another great class of dedicated law alumni.

support the law annual fund—law.wlu.edu/give

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Introducing the new dean, pg. 1

New header to come, pg. 2 Law Commencement 2015, pg. 2

Moot Court success, pg. 6

Discovery Washington and Lee University School of Law 204 W. Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450-2116

Law Alumni Weekend, pg. 8

the newsletter from washington and lee university school of law law.wlu.edu Non Profit Org U. S.

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P e r m i t No. 78 R o a n o k e , Va

The annual PILSA run raised money to support students working in public-interest law internships.