Hon. Robert Payne ’63, ’67L Receives Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award

The Honorable Robert E. Payne ’63, ’67L, senior United States district court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), has been awarded the prestigious Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award for 2023 by the Virginia State Bar Section on Criminal Law.

The award, established in 1991, recognizes “an individual (judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, clerk or other citizen) who has made a singular and unique contribution to the improvement of the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Judge Payne received the Carrico Award at the 53rd annual Criminal Law Seminar on Feb. 10 in Williamsburg.

Judge Payne began his legal career in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps before joining McGuireWoods in Richmond, where he worked from 1977 to 1992. Payne was nominated to the bench by President George H.W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 1992, with his nomination reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Jacqueline M. Reiner, chair of the VSB Criminal Law Section, nominated Judge Payne for the Carrico Award, writing, “His hallmark trait is his mentorship of his colleagues on the bench, his clerks, and the attorneys who appear before him. He values common sense, compassion, and

1994

Todd A. Rodriguez has been named Fox Rothschild’s next firmwide managing partner, effective April 1, 2023. Rodriguez has served as co-chair of the firm’s nationwide Health Care Department since 2008 and previously served as the Exton (Pa.) office managing partner. In his legal practice, he has more than two decades of experience representing health care providers.

1999

David Leshner was appointed as a United States magistrate judge in the Southern District of California.

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2000

Andrea Short was named chief litigation counsel at Verizon.

2001

Melissa O’Boyle joined Gentry Locke’s Criminal & Government Investigations practice group in Roanoke as a partner.

2002

Duncan Byers is the owner and principal at Byers Law in Virginia Beach, focusing on intellectual property law and complex civil litigation throughout the United States.

Dave Michnal joined Clifford Chance in Washington, D.C., as an antitrust attorney.

2003

Carrie Freed joined Omni Bridgeway in New York City as investment manager and legal counsel.

Adam Packer joined PrizePicks in Atlanta as senior vice president. He works remotely from Indianapolis.

2006

Tammy Graham joined the United States District Court for the Northern District of California as a death penalty law clerk.

Katie Markeson was promoted to chief operations counsel at The AES Corporation in Los Angeles.

2007

Michael Germano joined Allied World as associate vice president, North American Claims Group.

2008

Lisa Goldman joined Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas in Washington, D.C., as a principal.

Josh Payne formed Campbell Miller Payne with fellow W&L alum Jordan Campbell ’08 whom he met while they both served on the EC. The firm represents individuals in the detransitioner community pursuing claims for health care related injuries.

2009

Ryan Germany, who served as general counsel to the Georgia Secretary of State for the past nine years, joined Gilbert Harrell Sumerford & Martin in Atlanta as a partner. His practice focuses on election law and regulatory and government investigations.

Bradley Henson opened Henson Immigration Law in Washington, D.C.

Nerissa Rouzer joined the University of Virginia as associate university counsel.

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2010 civility both in the courtroom as well as the community.”

Reiner also wrote that Judge Payne has been influential in clarifying the Eastern District’s criminal discovery disclosure obligations as set forth in Beckford and its progeny, and she noted that in her interactions with him, “His intellect and compassion is apparent in each and every proceeding.”

Richard Cullen, counselor to Governor Glenn Youngkin, has known Judge Payne for 45 years since their early days together at McGuireWoods. Cullen expressed his deep admiration for Judge Payne’s court, writing, “First, litigants know that he will be so well prepared that they better leave nothing to chance. Second, he teaches trial combatants to be civil with each other — conduct that is desperately needed in today’s world.” for the new House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Jeff Wieand joined Wilmer Hale in Washington, D.C., as a public policy advisor.

Judge Payne was a litigator at McGuireWoods for many years becoming a judge in 1992. He took senior status in 2007 but continues to hear cases in the Eastern District. During his career, Judge Payne has heard many significant cases, and his decisions often set the parameters of criminal litigation in the district. For example, one of his decisions is cited in the discovery order used in every single case heard in the Eastern District.

2014

2015

Lauren Brown joined Stanley Black & Decker in Nashville as corporate counsel.

Chris Fetzer joined the British-American Business Association as president. This is in addition to his role at Dentons, where he is a partner and leader of the National Security and Foreign Policy Team.

Courtney Gahm-Oldham, an attorney with Frost Brown Todd in Houston, serves as an adjunct professor of the animal law clinic at South Texas College of Law Houston. She credits Beth Belmont for creating the spark.

2012

Jack Headland joined Mills & Cahill in New Haven, Connecticut, as an associate.

2013

Rockwell Bower joined DLA Piper as Of Counsel in the firm’s Dallas office.

Andrew Cronauer joined Longboard Pharmaceuticals in San Diego as assistant general counsel.

Callie Hale joined ACOUSTI in Orlando as vice president, Legal/Corporate Counsel.

Daniel Howell was promoted to partner at McGuireWoods in Richmond.

Anthony D. Raucci was promoted to special counsel by the Delaware law firm Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP. He is an intellectual property litigator, focused on district court patent litigation.

After a decade on Capitol Hill, and nearly six years working

Tyler Black was named partner at Thompson Coburn in Washington, D.C. His practice focuses on comprehensive trade compliance advice.

Greg Crapanzano joined Huth Reynolds in Richmond as counsel.

Randall Miller joined Munsch in Dallas as a shareholder.

Priscilla Williams was named partner with Christian and Small in Birmingham, where she focuses her civil defense litigation practice on construction defect matters, insurance, premises liability, and transportation.

Stephen Hall joined King, Campbell, Poretz & Mitchell in Alexandria, Virginia.

Morgan Kinney joined Littler Mendelson in Washington, D.C., as an associate.

Garrett Rice was promoted to partner with Ross Aronstam & Morit in Wilmington, Delaware. His practice focuses on corporate litigation.

Steven Schrader joined LoTempio P.C. Law Group in Buffalo as an attorney.

R. Chandler Wilson joined Auburn University as a contract administrator III.

Kat Statman ’14L, Linda Klein ’83L, and Buckner Welford ’81L attended a shareholder retreat in Washington, D.C., for their firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Statman, from the firm’s Houston office, was elevated to Shareholder earlier this year. Interesting side note: Welford, from the Memphis office, was Klein’s Burks Scholar when she was a 1L. Klein, a former ABA president, is managing shareholder of the firm’s Atlanta office. In attendance (but not pictured) also was Charles Grant ’91L of the Nashville Office.