W&L Law - Spring/Summer 2009 by Washington and Lee School of Law

The Washington and Lee School of Law Magazine

Spring/Summer 2009

John Huss ’6 5L

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A Challenge Grant to Support the New T h i r d -Ye a r C u r r i c u l u m

Juliette Syn ’08L

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Liberian Law Practicum

Jason Timoll ’04L

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Persuasive Litigation

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W&L Law Announces $2 Million Gift for the Third -Year Program “This extraordinary gift comes at a critical time in the history of the law school. The faculty and administration have designed an exceptional and transformative third-year experience. A full third of the permanent faculty will join with distinguished judges and practitioners from a variety of top firms to provide this inaugural class with a unique and unparalleled selection of real practice experiences and advanced training in professionalism. John and Ruth’s gift will help ensure that this new program will be absolutely first-class in every respect.” – Rodney A. Smolla, Dean

John Huss ’65L and his wife, Ruth, are giving the money for unrestricted use within the third-year program that seeks to provide a bridge from the study of legal theory to the actual practice of law by engaging students in a broad array of real-world and simulated applications of legal knowledge. The gift provides $1.5 million in cash to support the immediate needs of the program in its first years of operation, plus an additional $500,000 to match additional funds raised.

Help us claim the $500,000 Huss match! John and Ruth Huss will match 2:1 donations supporting: • The Third-Year Wing • Professors of Practice • Named term professorships • Student travel for international practicums, externships and clinics outside of Lexington • Technology • Clinics

For more information, visit law.wlu.edu/HussChallenge or contact Elizabeth Branner at brannere@wlu.edu or (540) 458-8191.

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contents 10

Catalyst for Change

Juliette Syn ’08L reflects on her experiences in Liberia and that country’s quest for basic legal rights.

12 W&L’s Third-Year Reform Set to Launch

A $2 million dollar gift from John Huss ’65L gives the Law School a major boost as it gets ready to launch the new third-year curriculum.

Peter

Jetton

Toxic Tort

Jason Timoll ’04L and his associates at Snyder, Weltchek & Snyder win a toxic gas leak case against ExxonMobil. By

Paul

Evans

d e p a r t m e n t s 2 Law Council President’s Message

Q&A with Chip Magee ’79L

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3 O n the Web

Stay connected online

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4 Di s c over y

Graduation, new Law Council members, LRAP update and faculty accomplishments

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16 C l a s s Notes

Reunion Weekend wrap-up and alumni profiles

.......................................................... Cover Photo by Leo Kim

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Q&A with Chip Magee ’79L Volume 9

Number 2

spring/summer

2009

I Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs

Jeff Hanna

Peter Jetton I Director of Communications for the School of Law Louise Uffelman Julie Campbell

I Editor, Law Magazine

I Senior Writer/Editor

Kelli Austin ’03, Emily Anne Taylor ’12

Class Notes Editors

Patrick Hinely ’73, Kevin Remington

University Photographers

Jim Goodwin, Laurie Lipscomb, Denise Watts I Graphic Designers Bart Morris, Morris Design

Art Director

Published by Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. 24450. All communications and POD Forms 3579 should be sent to Washington and Lee Alumni Inc., Lexington, Va. 24450. Periodicals postage paid at Norfolk, Va. Board of Trustees J. Donald Childress ’70, Rector Kenneth P. Ruscio ’76, President Robert M. Balentine Jr. ’79 (Atlanta) Frederick E. Cooper ’64 (Atlanta) Kimberly T. Duchossois (Barrington, Ill.) Mark R. Eaker ’69 (Herndon, Va.) J. Hagood Ellison Jr. ’72 (Columbia, S.C.) Jorge E. Estrada ’69 (Buenos Aires) J. Scott Fechnay ’69 (Potomac, Md.) William H. Fishback Jr. ’56 (Ivy, Va.) J. Douglas Fuge ’77 (Chatham, N.J.) Benjamin S. Gambill Jr. ’67 (Nashville, Tenn.) John Baker Gentry Jr. ’88 (Fort Worth, Texas) Robert J. Grey ’76L (Richmond) Bernard C. Grigsby II ’72 (Lexington, Va.) R. Allen Haight ’84 (Old Greenwich, Conn.) Ray V. Hartwell III ’69, ’75L (McLean, Va.) Peter C. Keefe ’78 (Alexandria, Va.) John D. Klinedinst ’71, ’78L (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) John M. McCardell Jr. ’71 (Middlebury, Vt.) Thomas N. McJunkin ’70, ’74L (Charleston, W.Va.) Jessine A. Monaghan ’79L (Washington) Michael H. Monier ’62 (Wilson, Wyo.) Harry J. Phillips Jr. ’72 (Houston) Bennett L. Ross ’83 (Cabin John, Md.) Robert E. Sadler Jr. ’67 (Buffalo, N.Y.) Martin E. Stein Jr. ’74 (Jacksonville, Fla.) Warren A. Stephens ’79 (Little Rock, Ark.) Sarah Nash Sylvester (New York City) Charlie (C.B.) Tomm ’68, ’75L (Jacksonville, Fla.) John W. Vardaman Jr. ’62 (Washington) Thomas R. Wall IV ’80 (New York City) Alston Parker Watt ’89 (Thomasville, Ga.) William M. Webster IV ’79 (Spartanburg, S.C.) Dallas Hagewood Wilt ’90 (Nashville, Tenn.) John A. Wolf ’69, ’72L (Baltimore)

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Carter “Chip” Magee ’79L spent the past year as president of the Law Council. As he handed the baton off to Brandt Surgner ’87, ’94L over Law Reunion Weekend, we asked him to reflect on the Law School’s third-year curriculum, fund-raising and supporting young alumni.

Q. You recently attended a meeting between Law School officials and the ABA Accreditation Committee. What did they have to say about the new third-year curriculum? A. The committee included several current and former law

school deans, and they were particularly interested in hearing about the level of enthusiasm for and commitment to the new curriculum by our alumni. I was able to answer with great confidence that our alumni are enthusiastic about this bold change and that a significant number of our alumni are committed to helping implement the change. Many prominent alumni and firms from across Virginia have signed on to teach in the new curriculum. The committee was also very favorably impressed with the recent gift from John Huss, which, as you know, is devoted exclusively to development of the new curriculum.

Q. Did the committee raise any other questions or concerns? A. When I mentioned that I and other alumni were teaching in the new curriculum, I was

asked about the level of commitment from the permanent Law School faculty. I was able to assure the Committee member that the commitment from the permanent faculty appears to be very high. Many, if not most, of the new courses are being taught by permanent faculty members. Based on my conversations with the faculty, it’s my sense that the level of commitment to the new curriculum is very high indeed.

Q. Although many universities have seen their endowments plunge in these tough economic times, W&L is better off than most because of its careful stewardship practices. However, we have big plans for the Law School. What are our biggest funding priorities? A. Thanks to John Huss ’65L, we have the initial start-up funds for the Third-Year Program.

In order to capture John’s match, we will need others to step up with their support. And there is the addition to the Law School for the Third-Year Program that will provide firm-like space for the students and professors and will bring the clinics together in one central location. This addition will mirror the transition students will be making from the classroom to the practice. We continue to focus, as always, on student scholarships and faculty support. It just doesn’t seem right that so many of our students graduate with more than $100,000 of law school debt.

Q. Law firms are cutting back on new hires. What is the Law School doing to help our new graduates? How can alumni help? A. The career planning and professional development office has grown in the past years to

address the diverse needs of the student body. They provide an array of services that is astounding to someone like me who graduated 30 years ago. Alumni can help the students and the Law School by joining the Alumni Mentoring Network that entails being available by e-mail or phone to students who are interested in a particular practice area, a geographic region or size of firm. It is easy to do and takes so little time. Visit law.wlu.edu/career and follow the links for alumni.

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Washington And Lee University L a w A lu m n i A s s o c i a t i o n

W. Hildebrandt Surgner Jr. ’87, ’94L, President (Richmond) Stacy Gould Van Goor ’95L, Vice President (San Diego) A. Carter Magee Jr. ’79L, Immediate Past President (Roanoke) Darlene Moore, Executive Secretary (Lexington)

On the Web c te d S ta y C o n n e ing on at the go There’s more an we can posLaw School th the alumni sibly cover in please visit magazine. So at law.wlu.edu the Web site ies, photos, for more stor lights and Reunion high s. the latest new

Law Council Eric A. Anderson ’82L (New York City) Blas Arroyo ’81L (Charlotte, N.C.) T. Hal Clarke, Jr. ’73, ’76L (Charlotte, N.C.) Thomas E. Evans ’91L (Rogers, Ark.) James J. Ferguson Jr. ’88L (Dallas) Thomas J. Gearen ’82L (Chicago) Betsy Callicott Goodell ’80L (Bronxville, N.Y.) Wyndall Ivey ’99L (Birmingham, Ala.) Peebles Harrison ’92L (Nags Head, N.C.) Christie Hassan ’98L (Washington) Nathan V. Hendricks III ’66, ’69L (Atlanta) A. John Huss ’65L (St. Paul, Minn.) Wyndall Ivey ’99L (Birmingham, Ala.) Chong J. Kim ’92L (Atlanta) The Hon. Everett A. Martin, Jr. ’74, ’77L (Norfolk, Va.) The Hon. Mary Miller Johnston ’84L (Wilmington, Del.) Andrew J. Olmem ’96, ’01L (Arlington, Va.) David T. Popwell ’87L (Memphis, Tenn.) Lesley Brown Schless ’80L (Old Greenwich, Conn.) William Toles ’92, ’95L (Dallas) Andrea K. Wahlquist ’95L (New York City) Law Council Emeritus Robby J. Aliff ’91, ’97L (South Charleston, W.Va.) Peter A. Baumgaertner ’83, ’86L (New York City) J. I. Vance Berry Jr. ’79L, (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) Michael P.A. Cohen ’90L (Washington) Thomas B. Henson ’80L (Charlotte, N.C.) Jenelle Mims Marsh ’81L (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) Susan Ballantine Molony ’00L (Charlotte, N.C.) James E. Nicholson ’77L (Edina, Minn.) William H. Oast, III ’71, ’74L (Portsmouth, Va.) Robert W. Ray ’85L (Long Branch, N.J.) Jerrald J. Roehl ’71L (Albuquerque, N.M.) Richard W. Smith ’98L (Washington) Carla J. Urquhart ’96L (Alexandria, Va.) William A. Worthington ’76L (Houston)

Te ll U s W h a t Yo u T h in k Please take a few minutes to fill out a survey at law .wlu.edu/magaz in esur vey so we know what you thin k about your alumni m agazine.

Find Us Online

Stay in touch with the Law School on your terms. You can be our fan on Facebool, follow us on Twitterrrrr, watch lectures and events on our YouTub channel or make professional connections in our LinkedIn Group. Visit law.wlu.edu/alumni to get started. S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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Write to W&L Law By Mail: Elizabeth Outland Branner Director of Law School Advancement Sydney Lewis Hall Washington and Lee School of Law Lexington, Va. 24450 By E-Mail: brannere@wlu.edu By FAX: 540-458-8488 All letters should be signed and include the author’s name, address and daytime phone number. Letters selected for publication may be edited for length, content and style. Signed articles reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of the University or the Law School.

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Graduation 2009

John W. Davis Prize for Law highest cumulative grade point average Gregory Lawson Schinner

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Academic Progress Award most satisfactory scholastic progress in the final year Matthew Scott Tyree

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Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Award effective trial advocacy Ketan Vinodkumar Patel

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Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Commercial Law Award excellence in commercial law Michael James Lombardino

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Calhoun Bond University Service Award significant contributions to the University community George Calvin Awkward III and Kristen Ann Hutchens

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Frederic L. Kirgis Jr. International

Law Award excellence in international law Crystal Leigh Doyle and Mark Jared Sullivan

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National Association of Women Lawyers Award outstanding woman law student Rebecca D. Stanglein .................................................

Charles V. Laughlin Award outstanding contributions to the Moot Court Program Rachel Marriner Flynn

Lord Nicholas Addison Phillips, president of the newly formed Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, presented the commencement address.

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Randall P. Bezanson Award outstanding contributions to diversity in the life of the Law School community Erica Rae Shamblin Knott

With the weather threatening to break out into thunderstorms, graduation festivities moved indoors, with Douglas Chris Harter, a former pastor and youth minister for the Seventh Day Adventist Church and father of graduating student John Harter, providing the invocation. After the official welcome from President Ken Ruscio, Dean Rod Smolla addressed the graduating class. “As you are leaving, think about why you came to law school,” said Dean Smolla. “You came to grow—not into something—but into someone. And that growth will continue throughout your life.” The candidates then received their degrees. Lord Nicholas Addison Phillips, president of the newly formed Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, presented the commencement address. He addressed the tremendous challenges facing the world, from global terrorism to the economic meltdown, urging the students to fight against reactionary policies that compromise the commitment to the rule of law. “There is a tendency at times of emergency for the executive to think that the safety of society calls for the suspension of some parts of our law,” he told the graduates. “But we cannot hope to preserve our liberty while depriving others of it.” The W&L School of Law celebrated its

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Virginia Bar Family Law Section Award excellence in the area of family law Bridget Marie Tainer-Parkins

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American Bankruptcy Institute Medal excellence in the study of bankruptcy law Garrett Shea Ledgerwood

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Barry Sullivan Constitutional Law Award excellence in constitutional law Oleg V. Nudelman

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

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Thomas Carl Damewood Evidence Award excellence in the area of evidence Joseph Stephen Camden and Megan Leigh Williams

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A. H. McLeod-Ross Malone Advocacy Award distinction in oral advocacy Arif Shamsherali Noorani .................................................

Student Bar Association President Award recognition for services as president of the Student Bar Association Kathryn Ann Hall

154th commencement on May 9, awarding 138 J.D. degrees and five LL.M. degrees.

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New Law Council Members Blas P. Arroyo ’81L is a member of Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group in Charleston, S.C., and his practice has a particular emphasis on contested matters involving patent rights. He has been engaged in the field of intellectual property litigation for 25 years. His experience includes both jury and non-jury trials in various federal courts throughout the United States. Arroyo has been involved in numerous appeals to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and presented the successful argument on behalf of all defendants involving the on-sale bar in Vanmoor v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. M. Peebles Harrison ’92L concen-

trates his practice in residential real estate transactions, asset purchases, business acquisition and sales, corporate law and employment and labor law at Rose Harrison & Gilreath in Nags Head, N.C. He is a trustee of HampdenSydney College and director of the Outer Banks Hospital Development Council and serves on the vestry at St. Andrews Episcopal. Christina E. Hassan ’98L practices commercial real estate and real estate finance at Hogan & Hartson in Washington. She is a member of the firm’s Hospitality and Lodging Group. Prior to

from l. to r.: William Toles ’92, ’95L, Blas Arroyo ’81L, Christina Hassan ’98L and Wyndall Ivey ’99L.

law school, Hassan served as a legislative assistant to former Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), primarily handling health care, social security and budget issues. Wyndall Ivey ’99L is a shareholder

with the Birmingham office of Maynard, Cooper & Gale P.C. He is a labor and employment litigator, and his primary practice area is representing management in all types of employment disputes. Ivey has served on the faculty for various CLE programs and served as a moderator for others. He serves on EMMA MILLON the Board BY of Directors for the Alabama Defense Lawyers’ Association. In 2008, Ivey was named one of Birmingham’s “Top 40 Under 40.”

William M. Toles ’92, ’95L first joined Stradley & Wright in 1998 and returned in July 2005. He is a member of Phi Delta Phi and during law school was a member of the Washington and Lee National Mock Trial Team and secretary of the Executive Committee and student body. He served as an assistant Dallas city attorney from 19971998. In 2008, he was named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star. He has had extensive experience as a litigator and is licensed to practice before the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U. S. Supreme Court.

P u b l i c S e rv i c e Gail Deady ‘11L, Patrick Chamberlain ‘10L and Rachel Mack ‘11L received Virginia Law Foundation (VLF) Public Service Internship awards, which will provide financial support for them while they work at law-related public service jobs during the summer. Two will work for legal aid groups: Deady for Rappahannock Legal Services in Culpeper and Mack for the Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Society in Christiansburg. Chamberlain will work in Roanoke for the Federal Public Defender of the Western District of Virginia.

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Mike Gardner, second from left, and Steve Mammarella, fourth from left, after the competition.

Freedom of Assembly

National Honors for Moot Court Team

Micah Jost ‘11L (left), John Eller ‘11L and Jost’s mother, Ruth Stoltzfus Jost, exercised their First Amendment rights at a rally in Farmville, Va., to oppose the city’s plan to allow a private company to build and operate a 1,000-bed immigrant detention facility there. Jost said, “I felt it was important to attend the rally to let the Farmville city council and the investors who are backing the prison know that building another facility to lock up immigrants is not a good idea for Farmville or Virginia. I think it is shortsighted to try to create jobs with a new private detention center when the profit motive that drives such facilities inherently conflicts with the best interests of taxpayers and the people who are incarcerated in them. Broadly speaking, I believe we need a system that doesn’t criminalize people based on their citizenship status, and that doesn’t tear apart families and take people off their jobs for being undocumented. I think it’s crucial to spend tax money in ways that actually benefit poor people and working families, not the investors who think they can get rich running a new prison. Preventing the construction of a new detention facility in Farmville would be a small but important step toward better criminal justice and immigration policy.”

The W&L team of Mike Gardner ’10L and Steve Mammarella ’10L took fourth place at the American Bar Association’s 2009 National Negotiations Competition, held in Boston from Feb. 14-15. During the four rounds of competition, the W&L team competed against 24 teams from law schools spread across the ABA’s 10 student division regions. Four teams advanced to the final round, and each of those four teams was placed first by different judges at the end of the competition. However, when all scores were tallied, W&L came in fourth behind teams from Northwestern, University of California at Davis and Florida International. “This was a very demanding competition,” explained Gardner. “The fact patterns of the problems changed in the first two rounds, and unlike some teams in the semifinals and finals, we had to prepare representation for both sides of the same dispute. Ultimately, this helped us anticipate the other team’s strategy because we had been on their side.” “There are few legal skills that matter more to clients, and to society, than skills in negotiation,” said Rod Smolla, dean of the School of Law. “The vast majority of legal matters handled day in and day out involve negotiation of one kind or another, and a large percentage of transactional practice and conflict resolution practice turns on the skills of lawyers in negotiating honorably, honestly and effectively on behalf of clients. Congratulations to Mike and Steve for this personal victory, and for representing so well the values of Washington and Lee.”

Scholarship & Civil Rights Kathy Pritts ’11L received the top scholarship from the Greater Richmond Bar Association and the Oliver W. Hill and Samuel W. Tucker Scholarship Committee. Recipients are chosen based on academic achievement and a commitment to civil rights. Pritts will spend this summer working for Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), a legal aid provider based in 6

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Dayton, Ohio. She will perform outreach within Hispanic migrant worker populations, helping resolve legal issues involving immigration, fair wages and housing. The scholarship honors two of the giants of the civil rights era in Virginia and the nation. Oliver Hill, who died at the age of 100 in August 2007, was a lifelong civil rights activist and attorney. He was one of five lawyers who argued W & L

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the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional. In the 1960s, Hill and Samuel Tucker formed a law firm along with current Virginia state senator Henry Marsh. Tucker was the lead attorney in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Green v. New Kent County School Board in 1968, which ended token integration practices. M a g a z i n e

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L ega l

E m e r g e nc ie s

An update on the Law School’s loan assistance program You have 72 hours to leave your apartment before the legal education that produces competent and the sheriff arrives. A writ of fleri facias has been ethical lawyers with the knowledge, understanding, delivered, and you might lose what few belongings skills, abilities and motivation to serve as advocates you own. Social Services has taken custody of your for democracy, open society and the rule of law. Our child, and you don’t know what to do. loan assistance program helps inspire some of our These are a few vivid examples Shawna most talented graduates to enter public interest law Cheney ’05L uses to explain why good public and helps them balance their financial needs with a service lawyers are so desperately needed in many career which they are passionate about.” communities. “Just as people Over the last four years, have health emergencies that these LRAP awards have require first aid, they also gone to alumni who work in a have legal emergencies that wide range of areas, including require legal aid,” she said. capital defense, domestic and As the statistics show, juvenile court, criminal law, public interest law is not an unlawful detention and black easy career path. The cost lung litigation. And in these of student loans is a burden tough economic times, public for most public service lawinterest lawyers are needed Shawna Cheney ’05L, who has spent her career after law yers, and many defect to the more than ever. school with Blue Ridge Legal private sector in order to pay As Melissa Inzerrillo ’01L Services in Lexington, is the those loans off. About 25 pernoted, “More and more peofirst LRAP recipient to have all of her loans forgiven from the cent of those who join public ple are falling below poverty program by the School of Law. interest organizations usually level guidelines, especially in leave within two years, and South Carolina, which has a more than 66 percent, within five years, for financial 10 percent unemployment rate. We are seeing more reasons. Not surprisingly, public interest organizacrime and more people classified as indigent, and tions have tremendous difficulty recruiting and those people need our services.” retaining talented attorneys. Erin Willoughby ’08L added, “The commu As first-year law students, Adam Nunziato, nity that the Southside office of Atlanta Legal Aid Helena Joly and Kelly Behre (all ’05L) decided they serves, Clayton and south Fulton counties, was could improve those numbers. So over the next already economically depressed before 2008 and three years, they spent countless hours researching has been deeply hit by the current housing and and compiling data about loan assistance programs economic crises. Our office is flooded with calls for at other schools, building the case as to why the Law help every day.” School should focus on expanding its program for These LRAP recipients are proud of the work graduates who enter public service law. they do and, despite the difficulty of making ends In 2006, the Law School debuted the Shepherd meet, can’t imagine any other career. “Anyone, no Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) to matter what their income or resources, deserves help financially new graduates who were working competent and zealous representation when charged in the public interest law at salaries far below what with a crime,” said Jonathan Easton ’07L, a public their counterparts in the private sector were earning. defender. “I love my job. Not only do I get to repMoreover, the program offers alumni who work in resent my clients to the best of my ability, but my public interst law for three consecutive years the very existence serves as a bulwark against police and opportunity to have their loans from the program prosecutors abusing their power and authority.” forgiven. The LRAP endowment stands at just over $1 “The Law School, particularly through its clinmillion, thanks in large part to Nancy and Tom ics, has always emphasized the importance of proShepherd ’52A and funds from the Edmund D. viding pro bono legal representation to those who Campbell Public Interest Fund. If you’d like to supdo not otherwise have access to legal services,” said port the program, please contact Elizabeth Outland Dean Rod Smolla. “We provide our students with Branner at brannere@wlu.edu or (540) 458-8191. f Fact: The median debt for the class of 2009 is $100,670. f Fact: Graduates entering private practice enjoy a median starting salary of $95,000. f Fact: Entry-level public interest attorneys make an average of $40,000 or less. S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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In 2009, W&L awarded gifts totaling $118,300 to 15 alumni who work in public interest law. Shawna Cheney ’05L Blue Ridge Legal Services, Lexington, Va. Mary Cromer ’05L Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, Whitesburg, Ky. Dawn Davison ’07L Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, Charlottesville, Va. Ryan Dunlavey ’06L Philadelphia Office of the District Attorney, Philadelphia, Pa. Jonathan Esten ’07L Office of the Public Defender, Fairfax, Va. Laura Frazier ’08L Office of the Public Defender, Martinsville, Va. Anastacia Greene ’04L Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, Charlotte, N.C. Steven Hardgrave ’07L Mecklenburg County District Attorney, Charlotte, N.C. Robert Holborn ’06L State Attorney’s Office, Ninth Judicial Circuit, Kissimmee, Fla. Kira Horstmeyer ’07L Virginia Indigent Defense Committee, Newport News, Va. Melissa Inzerillo ’01L 16th Circuit Public Defender, York, S.C. Michael McPheeters ’07L Office of the Public Defender, Martinsville, Va. Seth Steed ’05L Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, New York, N.Y. Michelle Williams ’05L Orange County District Attorney, Hillsborough, N.C. Erin Willoughby ’08L Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.

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Faculty Accomplishments Johanna Bond was named Teacher of the Year by the Women’s Law Student Association. An expert on international human rights and gender and the law, Bond presented papers on African women’s rights at several conferences this year, including one in Botswana on African customary law. Virginia Capital Clearinghouse Director David Bruck published a chapter in the book Death Penalty Stories (Foundation Press 2009). His discussion of Simmons v. South Carolina (1994) is a compelling narrative, written like a John Grisham page-turner, and is an insightful commentary on the decision and its ramifications. Sam Calhoun published an article on partial-birth abortion in the University of Mississippi Law Review, in which he contends that the Roe v. Wade framework ought not to apply to partial-birth abortions, and bans on such procedures should be upheld under ordinary rational-basis analysis. Bob Danforth made numerous presentations on various estate and gift tax and fiduciary income tax topics, most significantly at the University of Miami’s annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. He was appointed to the Duke Estate Planning Council. The American Society of International Law selected Mark Drumbl’s book Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law as first r u n n e r- u p for its prestigious 2009 Certificate of Merit for Creative Scholarship. Drumbl delivered the Law, 8

Justice and Society honorific lecture at Oxford University. He is an expert commentator on the drafting of an international treaty on crimes against humanity. For the second straight year, the Tax Clinic, directed by Michelle Drumbl, received a matching grant from the Internal Revenue Service’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program. The grant of just over $48,000 will help fund the clinic for the 2009 calendar year. Josh Fairfield has been named director of the Frances Lewis Law Center. Recent publications include “Anti-Social Contracts: The Contractual Governance of Virtual Worlds,” which argues that contracts alone cannot effectively or efficiently provide for all of the multilateral legal needs of multimillion-member online communities. In October 2008, Fairfield organized and hosted a first-of-its-kind symposium at W&L exploring the legal and social challenges of virtual worlds built specifically for children. Susan Franck has published numerous articles and delivered many presentations on international investment treaty arbitration, including a presentation at the United N a t i o n s Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, Switzerland. Her article on this topic, published in the Virginia Journal of International Law, was named the best article of 2008 by OGEMID. Margaret Howard was elected vice president of the American Bankruptcy Institute. A member of the Institute’s Executive Committee, she will serve also as chair of the Research Grants Committee for a three-year term. She has been on the ABI board of directors since 2006. W & L

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A frequent commentator on corporate responsibility and fiduciary duty, Lyman Johnson made several presentations related to restoring the public trust in the private sector, one of which included as a fellow panelist Lizanne Thomas ’82L, managing partner of Jones Day in Atlanta. For the last three years, he has served as an expert witness in Jones v. Harris, a case involving a mutual fund management company and allegations of excessive fees. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear this case in the 2009-10 term. Tim Jost published a variety of articles and commentaries as part of his ongoing efforts to encourage health care reform, including pieces for the New America Foundation and the National Academy of Public Insurance, and an interview in the Columbia Journalism Review. As a citizen reporter for the Huffington Post, he helped parse the 736-page economic stimulus package for its effects on the health care system. Russ Miller was elected chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Comparative Law. He received a Fulbright Senior Research Award to support his research at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and Public International Law in Heidelberg, Germany, next year. Miller will travel to Germany this summer for the 10th anniversary celebration of the German Law Journal, which he co-founded. The German Minister of Justice praised the Journal for promoting worldwide awareness of German law and legal culture. David Millon presented a paper on corporations and fiduciary duty at Notre Dame. He also moderated a panel at W&L on the financial crisis and the response of the Obama administration. Brian Murchison served as editor in chief for volumes 20-21 of the Journal of Civil Litigation, published by the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys. A l u m n i

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Climate change litigation expert Hari Osofsky will co-chair the American Society of International Law’s 2010 Annual Meeting. She was elected to the Executive Committee of the International Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools. Her co-edited book, Adjudicating Climate Change: State, National, and International Approaches (Cambridge Press), is forthcoming. Doug Rendleman published “Restating Restitution: The Restatement Process and Its Critics” in the Washington and Lee Law Review. Sean Seymore’s article “The Enablement Pendulum Swings Back” was named one of the best patent law review articles in 2008. His forthcoming article in the North Carolina Law Review explores serendipity in the context of human invention and patent law and how these accidental

discoveries have spawned new fields of science, achieved which was once thought to be theoretical or practically impossible, and yielded countless products that have altered the course of human history.

Sally Wiant spoke at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in San Diego. The roundtable discussion explored how libraries can help transform legal education.

Rod Smolla was elected to the board of governors of the Virginia Bar Association. His commentary on a variety of First Amendment and mass media issues appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Fox News and the Washington Post.

Robin F. Wilson addressed the National Association of Women about her critique of the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution and her related research on de-facto parenting. She also traveled to the Netherlands and Serbia to discuss her work on same-sex marriage and religious liberty. Wilson’s new edited collection, Health Law and Bioethics: Cases in Context, delves into the human side of the landmark cases in this field, including Wilson’s own exploration of the death of Jesse Gelsinger, the first person to die in a clinical trial for gene therapy. She is chair of the Association of American Law School’s Section on Family and Juvenile Law and has been elected to the American Law Institute.

An expert at civil procedure and federal jurisdiction, Ben Spencer was a panelist at DePaul University College of Law’s 15th Annual Clifford Symposium on Tort Law and Social Policy, Rising Stars: A New Generation of Scholars Looks at Civil Justice. Scott Sundby gave several presentations on death penalty developments and the role of the jury in capital cases, including the keynote address at the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers “Death is Different” Conference.

New Faculty: The School of Law welcomes five new teachers to the permanent faculty for the upcoming academic year. James E. Moliterno is the Vincent Bradford Professor of Law. One of the nation’s leading educators in experiential learning and legal professionalism, Moliterno was the architect of William and Mary law school’s award-winning ethics, skills and professionalism program, which won the 1991 American Bar Association Gambrell Professionalism Award as the best law school or bar association program for the teaching of ethics and professionalism. Among his recent projects, Moliterno has worked with the USAID Rule of Law project in Serbia to establish legal skills training programs. At W&L, Moliterno will teach all sections of Professional Responsibility and a third-year practicum course. He will also have a leadership role in guiding the school through the implementation of its new third-year curriculum. Erik Luna is an expert in the U.S. criminal justice system and comparative criminal justice. His varied experience includes service as a Fulbright Scholar teaching restorative justice in New Zealand, and as a visiting scholar in Germany at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law. Christopher Bruner is a corporate law specialist and will teach securities regulation, business entities and business ethics, S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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among other courses. Prior to entering academic life, he practiced with Ropes & Gray L.L.P. in Boston, where he worked with private and public companies on a range of corporate, transactional and securities matters. Jeffrey Kahn teaches and researches in the area of federal taxation. He has taught personal income tax, corporate tax, partnership tax and international tax courses and has published articles in many law reviews, including pieces on tax policy and horizontal equity, the taxation of gifts, the charitable contribution deduction, and the tax consequences to a reality television candidate. Michelle Drumbl is a familiar face and already a great asset to the Law School and the W&L community. She has served W&L as a visiting professor of law and special assistant to the provost. She joins the permanent faculty as assistant clinical professor of law and director of the Tax Clinic. Her dedication to growing the clinic has already lead to back-to-back annual grants from the IRS to help offset operating costs for this important community service. Previously, Drumbl worked at the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel, where she focused on legal interpretation of bilateral income tax treaties and other cross-border taxation issues. 9

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D i s c o v e r y

Catalyst for Change

W&L’s International Law Practicum Advances Liberia’s Recovery Juliette Syn ’08L (center, with Chief Frances Topka), now an attorney in the San Francisco office of Ropes & Gray, spent the fall 2008 semester in Liberia working with Professor Speedy Rice’s joint class of Liberian and U.S. law students. She also worked with the ABA Rule of Law Initiative Program. Syn said she didn’t quite know what to expect. An adventure, yes, but nothing that would be so life changing. Here is an excerpt about her experience from a letter she sent to the Law School. Read the entire text at law.wlu.edu/syn.

I’m aware of all of the advantages that I’ve grown up with, and that there are many others who aren’t so lucky. I’m grateful for those things, and I try to share my good fortune through community service and youth outreach. But as I got to know the Liberians, I realized that I had only a theoretical understanding of hardship and poverty. Liberia gave me faces for what had previously just been words. For most Liberians, daily life was stripped to the essentials: finding a way to keep sheets of tin over a dirt floor enclosed by woven walls, finding food to keep your family alive, and most of all, finding a way to live with an uneasy and innate sense of insecurity born out of surviving violent conflict. And yet many went through the daily fight for survival with a grace that I have not seen very often. If the children could go to school, play or work and not disappear or be conscripted, there was safety. If there was some rice and palm butter (a local stew), they would survive. If they were able to sit and have a Club Beer (the local brew) with their neighbor, they felt peace. Even when they have nothing, many Liberians can still find joy and worth in living. 10

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When I arrived in September and began our joint class meetings, I sensed that the Liberians were unused to open, classroom discussions about problems in the Liberian legal system. Perhaps one of the more challenging parts was maintaining hope and cultivating the belief that this class was not just another project which would live by the whims of foreign aid, but one that was meant to engage Liberian students, reinvigorate the Liberian educational model and help them find their own solutions. We were fortunate to be part of a training session in Pleebo, Maryland County, along the southern coast of Liberia. I was never prouder than when I watched the students I’d worked with as they taught concepts such as the rights of arrestees and detainees and proper criminal procedure. Even more impressive was listening to them explain the difficulties of working for social justice: that it means having to bite your tongue and to suffer insults to your pride. That in this kind of work, an individual must often make a personal sacrifice because the ultimate goal is to benefit the country—that difficult situations require patience. They explained why W & L

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prisoners’ rights groups and prison officials need to work together. Ultimately, our students were able to help open up dialogue between those two groups, whose relationship could be described as antagonistic at best. Most efforts are concentrated in Monrovia, the country’s capital, which only accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s population. Many of the other 70 percent live in smaller villages and towns or in the rural countryside. Many still live in tribal systems and only know their ethnic language—English is a foreign language for them. Most feel forgotten by the central government and international efforts. Yet, they are getting caught up in the nets of a broken police and judicial system. Many young Kru and Kpelle men are scooped off to jail without understanding why they’re being arrested and without any way of letting their families know what has happened to them. I was able to show a glimpse of this population to the W&L students when they came to Monrovia. Chief Frances Topka and Alaric Tokpa helped arrange a visit to New Kru Town, one area that has been particularly hard hit by corruption and the crumbling judicial system. Yet, for all the poverty, injustice and suffering that many Krus know in daily life, they greeted us with song, dance and food and honored us by giving us Kru names and adopting us into their tribe. With the help of a translator, they were able to voice some of their problems. Through the same translator, Professor Rice was able to respond and started what I hope will be a meaningful and ongoing dialogue with another face of Liberia. Perhaps most touching of all was Chief Topka’s statement of thanks to me for helping his people not feel forgotten. The few months in Liberia went by much too quickly, and yet seemed to be the gift of a whole other lifetime. It has changed the way I look at the world and has given me the chance to explore an interest in international development and the complexities of how the rule of law can interface with that development. This Fall Juliette Syn ’08L returns to Liberia to work with The International Law Practicum. S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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Access to Justice It’s a concept Americans take for granted. The fact that we have so many resources, we can change anything we don’t like. We can vote, write a letter to the editor, make changes to our laws or organize a protest. As Professor Thomas “Speedy” Rice pointed out, “There are so many avenues to solve problems that we tend to get them solved. Americans are not passive in that regard. We expect to have choices.” So it came as a bit of an eye Professor Speedy Rice leads opener to some students in his a discussion in Liberia on ways to improve the country’s International Law Practicum criminal justice system. on Liberia that change comes more slowly to some parts of the world. As Rice observed, “Our students quite logically ask why can’t this corrupt judge be arrested or that political official be voted out. Once they step foot inside the country, unless they’re blind, they see how much more complicated it is to bring about change without access to the kinds of resources they are familiar with.” Rice’s practicum is a joint program of the Louis A. Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia. In partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, W&L students, via videoconferences, worked with Liberian law students to develop training programs for paralegals who will be responsible for protecting the due process rights of arrested individuals. Each term, the W&L contingent traveled to Liberia for several weeks to meet with their counterparts, human rights monitors, police officers and prison administrators. Rice, who has worked on similar issues in more than 20 countries, offers a pragmatic approach. “You talk to people,” he said. “One of the most important things we do is provide Liberians with knowledge, explain what different or new approaches mean and how they can apply it to their criminal justice system. Instead of being the arrogant Westerners who swoop in and tell them what to do, we want to help them think about what they can do to solve their problems. It gives them a sense of control. It nudges them to take the next steps forward.” The scope of the International Law Practicum continues to grow. As well as trips to Liberia, Rice has taken students to Cambodia and plans to teach a practicum in a law school partnership in Serbia. He has applied to the U.N. for additional funding to train Liberians as judicial clerks. Moreover, the Law School is partnering with The Carter Center to place American law clerks in the Liberian justice system. Another endeavor, with DLA Piper, will create a commercial law reform program. “It’s so important to get students involved with the world they’re living in,” said Rice. “It’s one of the most powerful ways to show them that law is about social change.”

For more about the International Law Practicum, visit law.wlu.edu/transnational. 2 0 0 9

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W&L’s Third-Year Reform Set to Launch

By Peter Jetton

Since announcing a sweeping reform of the third-year curriculum last year, the Law School has received strong endorsements for the novel approach from many quarters, including practicing attorneys, judges and many alumni. Rising 3L students, eager to join the program, also gave the curriculum reform a vote of confidence, with more than half the class opting in for the program’s first year of partial operation. This winter, the School received a major financial boost with a $2 million gift from Ruth and John Huss ’65L (see inside front cover) to support the transition third-year students undergo as they begin their legal careers.

Early Success This year, while faculty and the administration engaged in intense planning for the official launch of the program in fall 2009, the School offered several new practicum courses that will form the core of the third-year experience. These simulations of actual practice aim to expose students to the realities of life as a lawyer working in a specific setting, while continuing to delve deeply into relevant subject matter. For example, during the fall semester, 12 students took an appellate practice practicum taught by Virginia Supreme 12

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Court Justice Donald Lemons. The students argued in a moot setting cases currently on appeal to Virginia’s highest court and then observed the actual arguments before the court. “It was enlightening to take these cases through the appellate process and then witness the actual oral arguments and great range of appellate skill,” said Anthony Segura ’09L, who participated in two other practicum courses his final academic year. “In some cases, our students did better in their moot arguments than the practicing attorneys, though in most cases, including the case I argued, the appellate attorneys were fantastic. I learned a tremendous amount watching them.” Segura will join the Roanoke office of LeClairRyan in January, focusing on litigation. Another practicum involved a civil litigation simulation, where students formed teams of attorneys representing parties in a toxic tort suit. In addition to producing a tremendous amount of written work, from draft pleadings to discovery requests, this simulation engaged students in mock depositions and a summary judgment argument before an actual federal judge. Todd C. Peppers ’90, a visiting professor who teaches the civil litigation practicum, noted that by the time law students reach their third year, they already know the elements of a negligence action or an affirmative defense. “The simulation asks them to apply that knowledge to a complex thicket of facts and through depositions and document discovery, find those facts that support their case in chief or defenses.” He added, “Of course, around 90 percent of civil cases settle before trial, and I wanted this simulation to accurately portray the challenges of positioning a lawsuit for settlement while simultaneously preparing for the possibility of a trial.” W & L

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Other practice-based courses went beyond simulation. Students in the International Law Practicum in Liberia worked with Liberian lawyers and law students to develop training programs for paralegals who will be responsible for interviewing and protecting the due process rights of arrested individuals across the country. (See pp. 10-11 for an in-depth story on the Liberian Practicum.)

Program Revealed In January, the administration unveiled program components and course offerings for the new third year to students. In addition to the practicum courses, the program will feature a variety of externships throughout the Shenandoah Valley and in Richmond and Washington, as well as expanded clinical offerings, including a misdemeanor criminal defense clinic. Two-week practice intensives focusing on transactional and litigation skills, respectively, will begin each semester. Students will participate in a yearlong professionalism course and also fulfill a law-related service requirement. In the end, 78 students opted in to become the first to go through the program. More than half of the rising 3L class, this number exceeded expected enrollment by roughly 30 students. These students will choose from more than 20 practice-based courses focusing on civil and fiduciary litigation, business planning, corporate counsel and criminal practice. A full third of the permanent faculty will teach in the third year.

SPRING SEMESTER B

In this yearlong program, students receive instruction and guidance in the development of professionalism in all its aspects.

PRACTICE INTENSIVE Transactional I Dispute Resolution I

PROFESSIONALISM PROGRAM

LAW-RELATED SERVICE

FALL SEMESTER TOTAL

1 CREDIT

14 CREDITS

2 CREDITS

FOUR ELECTIVES 2 in fall, 2 in spring

Three Practica plus One Clinic or One Externship 5 CREDITS EACH (20 credits in all)

PRACTICE INTENSIVE Transactional II Dispute Resolution II 2 CREDITS

PROFESSIONALISM PROGRAM

LAW-RELATED SERVICE

SPRING SEMESTER TOTAL

1 CREDIT

14 CREDITS

The largest single component Our five clinics and numerous externship of the third-year curriculum, practicum courses options offer students myriad opportunities to are problems-based, requiring students to engage work under the tutelage of experienced attorneys. with the subject matter: processing information, making decisions and developing strategy in the way they will as practitioners.

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Each semester includes intensive courses, one in transactional practice and the other in dispute resolution practice (emphasizing litigation, mediation, arbitration and negotiation skills).

FALL SEMESTER

Law firms will also participate. The Roanoke firm of Gentry Locke, which helped pioneer such collaborations between law firms and the school, just completed the third iteration of its innovative externship program and will continue offering that to several W&L students each semester. Attorneys from Woods Rogers also will continue to teach a corporate counsel practicum, where students represent a major corporation in the sale of a division, among other matters. New firms coming on board include Hunton & Williams, offering a corporate mergers and acquisitions practicum, and LeClairRyan, offering a fiduciary litigation practicum. Similarly, attorneys from the well-established higher education practice at McGuire Woods will take over the related practicum course taught previously by Dean Rod Smolla. “We have been fortunate in the last 18 months to witness a wonderful coming together of the energies of our faculty, alumni and student body in support of our bold transition to an innovative and progressive new curriculum,” said Smolla. “The Huss gift now starts us down the road of the final crucial element to success, the garnering of the necessary financial resources to ensure that this new program will be absolutely first-class in every respect.” The new third-year program will remain voluntary through the 2010-11 academic year for those students already enrolled at W&L. It will be mandatory for students matriculating this fall who will be third-year law students in 2011-12.

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28 CREDITS

D All students take part in extracurricular service to

the public or the profession. Examples include external projects addressing issues of access to justice or economic injustice; internal programs such as law reviews and journals, moot court competitions or student organizations.

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Jason Timoll ’04L, a business litigator for Snyder, Weltchek & Snyder, is celebrating his firm’s victory against the w o r l d ’s b i g g e s t o i l c o m p a n y, E x x o n M o b i l. O n March 12, a jur y awarded $150 million t o 88 fa mi l i e s s ui n g E x x o n M o bi l ov e r B y

P a u l

The numbers tell the story, which sounds as complex as the never-ending trial, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, chronicled in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. The trial took two years of prepping and five months of testimony. After two weeks of deliberations, the jury foreman spent two hours reading out the verdict. Twentysix thousand gallons of gas—four tankers’ worth—leaked for 37 days into the groundwater of the plaintiffs’ suburb, and 62 of Jacksonville’s residential wells tested positive for methyl tertiary butyl ethyl (MTBE), a chemical additive. Expert witnesses estimated that contaminated homes, which average around $700,000, dropped 60 percent in value because of the spill. In the end, the jury decided to award full compensation on homes. The verdict also required the company to pay for screenings for four kinds of cancer, as well as lifetime medical monitoring. Each adult plaintiff, too, received $500,000 for noneconomic damages, including emotional distress. Charged by his firm’s principals, Steven L. Snyder and Robert J. Weltchek, with readying approximately 35 of those residents for the stand, Timoll sought to convey his clients’ heartache. “They all have a story,” he said. “And it’s gut-wrenching and sad, but eye-opening to hear the cathartic way they told their stories. They described bathing week-old 14

w e l l s r e n d e r e d t oxic from a 2006 g a s s t a t i o n leak in Jacksonville, just north of Baltimore. “It was something that never should have happened,” Timoll said. “It’s something that could have and should have been prevented.” E v a n s babies in this water, of their homes being devalued, of putting off retirement. One of them said, ‘If my kid calls me in 15 years and says, “I’ve got leukemia,” I’ll never forgive myself.’ ” The plaintiffs came from many walks of life—a former minor-league baseball player, a mechanical engineer, housewives, artists, organic food fans and even cancer survivors. “All came to us,” Timoll said, “as people who needed to be made whole again. They needed legal help and emotional help.” It’s that human side of lawyering that hooked him from the beginning. “Even as a kid, I wanted to be a trial lawyer,” he said. Timoll was headed that way after attending Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, until the national debacle of the O.J. Simpson trial derailed those plans. “It was such a miscarriage of justice,” he explained. “I thought, ‘These are the best lawyers we have?’ ” So he pursued the music business instead, fronting his own band on acoustic guitar and working briefly in radio. But when he turned 28, he found himself drawn toward law once again, landing at Washington and Lee. He found the School of Law impressive, the campus warm and welcoming. “And I got to live on a seven-acre farm,” he recalled fondly. “Perhaps my best memory is goose hunting one morning with legendary law professor Roger Groot.” W & L

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Jason Timoll ’04L and his associates at Snyder, Weltchek & Snyder — including Tomeka Church ’96L— won a toxic gas leak case against ExxonMobil. He said, “It has been an incredible learning experience to say the least, but being in trial for five months was almost inhumane.”

After graduation, Timoll clerked for “Probably the most significant result of the trial was that the jury deterboth the Hon. Paul A. Smith at the I t ’s g u t -w r e nc hi n g mined once and for all that MTBE is Baltimore City Circuit Court and for the and s ad, but eye-opening dangerous to humans,” he said. The Hon. Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of to hear the cathar tic way additive was once regarded as a carthe Court of Appeals of the State of cinogen only for lab animals. But that Maryland. After that he was an associate t h ey t o l d t h ei r s t o r ie s . assumption, Timoll believes, is highly for the prestigious firm of Whiteford, T h ey d e s c r i b e d b a t hi n g questionable. “MTBE is made by the Taylor & Preston before joining Snyder, w e ek- o l d b a bie s i n t hi s oil industry,” he asserted. “They conWeltchek & Snyder. Along the way, he trol the science. They do the testing. evolved a forthright, accessible courtwa t e r, o f t h ei r h o me s If you look at review boards, such as room style. “I’m not a screamer,” he b ei n g d e va l ue d , o f the European Center for Ecotoxicology explained. “I’m a storyteller. I try to putting off retirement. and Toxicology, you see that every extract from my clients that which most one of its board members is an oil truly reflects the human condition.” O n e o f t h e m s a id , company representative.” Although the And when it comes to strategy, even in a “ I f my kid c a l l s me i n industry has never conceded its harm case as complex as the ExxonMobil trial, 15 y e a r s a n d s a y s , to humans, almost half the states have his approach is to “make it simple.” He ‘ I ’v e g o t l e u k e mia , ’ banned MTBE, and, in fact, Exxon is elaborated, “You can go to a great law no longer adding it to gasoline. school, you can try to show the jury how I’ll never forgive smart you are, but no one’s really inter Before he prepares for the next my s el f. ” ested in that. You make your best case case on the docket, Timoll is taking a — J a s o n T i m o l l ’04 L by telling it like you’re telling a story.” little time to relax on his rooftop over The Snyder, Weltchek & Snyder looking the Baltimore harbor. There, narrative obviously convinced the jury gathered in the Towson most evenings, he strums his six-string, grooves to reggae or courthouse that March morning, even if they didn’t quite singer-songwriter music or chills out with a John Irving or Ken go for the multi-billion-dollar verdict the plaintiffs’ lawyers Follett novel. And he pauses to ruminate. “The Exxon case sought. For that, the attorneys would have had to prove fraud teaches us a few things,” he said. “It’s not that there’s some on the corporation’s part, deliberate intention that’s hard to evil man down in Texas saying ‘Let’s poison people’s water.’ assert. Exxon is appealing the ruling, claiming in a statement, It’s just that in that type of environment, everybody’s job is to “We find the amount awarded inconsistent with the verdict in maximize profit at almost any cost. It’s built into the culture of which the jury rejected the punitive damages claims.” corporations such as this. It’s all about the bottom line. And it’s While the victory brought some relief to the plaintiffs, when you lose the personal, the human connection, and when Timoll noted that the case settled another important issue. you prioritize money over safety, serious damage can occur.” Q S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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Reunion Weekend April 17 & 18 Gentle spring sunshine, bluegrass & BBQ, class dinners. These are just a backdrop to Reunion Weekend—it’s the old friends we see that make this event so special. This year, more than 150 alumni returned to exchange memories and enjoy a relaxing weekend. As always, Reunion Weekend is a time for the Law School to thank all who have supported the many programs that make it one of the finest schools in the nation. At the Benefactors’ Luncheon, Sara McManus ’10L, from Cambridge, Mass., eloquently expressed her gratitude. She said, “I have found W&L to live up to the collegial atmosphere touted by the admissions office. My peers are friendly and engaging, my professors are respectful and intelligent, often bordering on genius, and everyone here Top Alumni who graduated more than 50 years ago or more were recognized during the weekend’s events. From l. to r.: Ernest Gates ’50L, Bill Greer ’49L, Sandy MacNabb ’59L, Bill Lemon ’55, ’59L, Hardin Marion ’56, ’58L, George Gray ’50L, Bob Kaufman ’59L, Tom Frith ’59L.

Left Jody Kline ’68, ’74L and Stuart Houston ’71, ’74L find a quiet corner to talk.

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from staff to administrators seems to actually enjoy their work. W&L is a different kind of law school, one that simultaneously values legal scholarship and the people who engage in that scholarship. “This is what you have made happen with your generosity. Here at W&L I have been taught by leading legal scholars, worked on a journal, served low-income clients in the Tax Clinic, and made personal and professional connections I am sure will last the rest of my life. And I am only one of the many students here to have received your generous support. Thanks to you, my peers and I not only receive a fantastic legal education, we also get to graduate with less debt, which will enable us to contribute to the larger legal world through careers in public service that would otherwise be impossible. “While I am not surprised at your generosity, because I can certainly understand the impulse to give back to Washington and Lee, I am struck by how many alumni give so much. I thank you on behalf of all the students here at Washington and Lee School of Law; you have enriched our lives by making it possible to come here and be a part of this community.” Over the weekend, alumni pooled their class gifts and presented the Law School with a check for more than $850,000 to support scholarships, clinical programs and student organizations. S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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Top Left Reunion class chairs presented Dean Rod Smolla (far right) with the combined class gift. From l. to r.: Wyndall Ivey ’99L, Rex Lamb ’74L, Pete Straub ’61, ’64L and Sam Smith ’64L.

Top Right Representing the Class of ’64L, from l. to r.: Charlie Reed, Stan Fink, Richard Tavss and Lionel Handcock.

Bottom Right Sam Smith ’64L (right), a former administrative law appellate and trial judge, received the outstanding alumnus award from Dean Rod Smolla for his exceptional contributions to the legal profession.

Bottom Left The Class of ’89L reminisces over old photos. From l. to r.: Kim and Don Scultz, Kevin Henderson, Becky Combs, Scott Stimpson, Hunter Rost and Robin McCabe.

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1951 Frank Love Jr. (’50) is fea-

tured in the new book and companion DVD, Raising the Bar: Legendary Rainmakers Share Their Business Development Secrets, by Robin Hensley, president of Atlanta executive coaching firm www. RaisingtheBar.com. The book recaps what Love has to say about business development, practicing law and building a lifetime of client goodwill. A majority of the profits from the sale of the book and DVD will be donated to the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. He lives in Atlanta.

1956 William H. Hodges was

named an honorary state trooper by the division commander of the Virginia State Police. At the ceremony, with family and friends present, he received a certificate and a state trooper’s hat and was then asked to report to duty that following weekend. The captain said, “We have others who can run, we just need you to drive.” He lives in downtown Norfolk with his wife, Betty.

1958 J. Hardin Marion (’55)

is happily retired in Lexington, but is busier than ever. In June 2008, he was elected chairman of the board of directors of Kendal at Lexington, the local, continuing care, retirement community; he is serving his second, three-year term as an elder on the Session of the Lexington Presbyterian Church and has been named chairman of the church’s capital campaign task force; he serves on the board of trustees of the Stonewall Jackson Foundation; and he chairs the board of directors of W&L’s Friends of the Library. He plays racquetball occasionally, audits three classes a semester at W&L, reads a great deal and continues as counsel to his Baltimore law firm. He does not golf. 18

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1972

1979

Joseph W. Brown was

1968

John A. Wolf (’69) was listed

Philip L. Hinerman received

appointed to the Nevada Gaming Commission by Gov. Jim Gibbons. He is president of the Las Vegas law firm Jones Vargas and has been practicing law in Nevada for more than 40 years.

in the 2009 issue of Maryland Super Lawyers. He focuses his practice at Ober/Kaler on construction litigation.

the distinguished Leaders in Law ranking in the 2009 Chambers USA Guide. He works in the environmental law practice of Fox Rothschild L.L.P. and was elected chair of the environmental, mineral and natural resources law section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He lives in Wayne, Pa.

1969 John B. Adams was elected

chairman of the board at the George C. Marshall Foundation. He is president and chief executive officer of the Bowman Companies in Fredericksburg, Va., and has been a member of the Marshall Foundation board since 1988. Until his election as chairman, he had served as vice chairman and chairman of the Development Committee.

1971 Albert M. Orgain was

listed in the 2009 issue of Best Lawyers in America. He works for Sands, Anderson, Marks & Miller and specializes in insurance and transportation law. He lives in ManakinSabot, Va.

1974 R. David Carlton (’71) was

named vice president and associate general counsel of Northrop Grumman Corp., where he serves as sector counsel to the technical services sector in Herndon, Va. He lives in Oakton, Va., with his wife, Donna, and daughters, Rachel, 10, and Caitlin, 9. Charles F. Festo moved

to Emeryville, Calif., from New Jersey to work for MedAmerica as a partner and corporate general counsel.

1975 M. Pierce Rucker was

listed in the 2009 issue of Best Lawyers in America. He works for Sands, Anderson, Marks & Miller and specializes in medical malpractice law. He was re-elected president of the firm. He has spent his entire legal career at Sands Anderson, where he has served a number of terms on the board of directors and in a variety of other leadership roles. He lives in Richmond.

Super Lawyer William Hill ’74, ’77L , graces the cover of the latest edition of Georgia Super Lawyers and is the subject of a feature story titled “The Man Who Wouldn’t Wait.” Hill, who retired from Washington and Lee’s Board of Trustees earlier this year, is a partner in the Atlanta firm of Ashe, Rafuse & Hill. The story has a wonderful section about Hill’s experience as a Washington and Lee undergraduate, where he sat in a classroom with a white student and for the first time learned the valuable lesson, as he explains, that you don’t judge people based on appearance. W & L

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Samuel A. Nolen was

listed in the 2009 issue of International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers. He advises corporate and individual clients on corporate governance, transactional and control dispute issues and represents them in derivative and class actions, fiduciary responsibility actions and other complex cases. He is a director in the corporate department of Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, Del.

1980 Gretchen C. Shappert

resigned her position as a U.S. attorney in the North Carolina western district to accept a position in the executive office for U.S. attorneys in Washington. Christopher Wolf became a partner in the Washington office of Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. in the firm’s privacy and antitrust, competition and consumer protection practice group. He will focus on Internet and privacy law issues, with a particular emphasis on international, federal and state regulations relating to privacy and data security law.

1981 Gene A. Marsh has com-

pleted nine years of service as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I committee on infractions. He recently joined the Birmingham, Ala., office of Lightfoot, Franklin and White, of counsel, in sports law. He will continue as the James M. M a g a z i n e

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L a w Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama. His firm has 11 lawyers who have undergraduate or law degrees from Washington and Lee. His wife, Jenelle Mims Marsh ’81L , is associate dean for students/academic services at the University of Alabama Law School.

1983 Guy M. Harbert was named

to Virginia’s Legal Elite for criminal law by Virginia Business magazine. He is a lawyer in the Roanoke-based firm Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore L.L.P. Kevin A. Nelson coaches the

girls’ soccer team at Charleston Catholic High School and was named 2008 mid-east sectional coach of the year by the National Federation of High School Coaches Association. He is a managing partner with Huddleston Bolen and has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America in employment law the past two years.

its business reorganizations and bankruptcy practice. He lives in Great Falls, Va.

1990 Mary Fran Bradley is still

practicing law, but is now only working one day a week in order to take care of her two wonderful children, Will, 4½, and Finnigan, 2½. She said, “Working part time really can work if you have a good support system behind you.” She and her husband live in Annapolis, Md., and see classmates frequently. Nanette C. Heide joined Duane Morris in its New York office. She is a corporate finance attorney with extensive transactional experience

Michael E. Nogay coached his son, Maximillian, to the 160 lb. West Virginia state wrestling championship. He was listed in the 2009 edition of West Virginia Super Lawyers. Steven J. Tranelli presented

“Hot Topics in Real Property Law and Practice” at a New York State Bar Association CLE seminar. He is a partner at Hiscock & Barclay and is a member of the firm’s real estate, municipal and land use and telecommunications practice areas. He lives in Syracuse, N.Y.

1984 G. Michael Pace was named

to Virginia’s Legal Elite in real estate and land use by Virginia Business magazine. He is a lawyer at the Roanoke-based firm Gentry, Locke Rakes & Moore L.L.P.

1985 Bradford F. Englander

joined Whiteford, Taylor & Preston L.L.P. as a partner in S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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1991 Philip J. Infantino was

appointed a judge in the general district court of Chesapeake, Va.

1992 Julie A. Wiley and her fam-

ily relocated to Carbondale, Colo., and will continue her role as assistant director of admissions at University of North Carolina’s KenanFlagler Business School from Colorado. In May, she was featured on CBS’s “The Early Show” in a segment titled “S.W.A.T. Moms: Smart Women With Available Time,” highlighting

Law and Literature Weekend Oct. 16-17, 2009 In its 17th year, the Law & Literature Seminar will turn to another American classic, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. Published in 1939 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1940, The Grapes of Wrath is set during the Great Depression and traces the migration of an Oklahoma Dust Bowl family to California and their subsequent hardships as migrant farm workers. While Steinbeck’s novel did much at the time to publicize the injustices of migrant labor, it remains a classic treatise on economic and political injustice in America, posing fundamental questions about the ownership and stewardship of the land, the role of government, law and the inherent inequities of a society governed by unfettered capitalism. The program, will again, be led by professors Dave Caudill (Villanova School of Law) and Marc Conner (W&L), with two guest faculty from the W&L Law School. As a bonus to practicing attorneys, the program will again seek approval for two hours of Continuing Legal Education ethics credit. The program is open to anyone interested in law and literature. For more information, contact The Office of Special Programs at spclprog@wlu.edu or call (540) 458-8723.

Kenan-Flagler’s employment of stay-at-home mothers on a part-time basis in the Leadership Initiative and M.B.A. Program. This show was a follow-up to a Wall Street Journal article on the same topic.

1993 Nancy E. Hannah joined

W&L’s Law School group for the Supreme Court admission back in 2000, and she hatched a plan. She said, “I had such a wonderful time on the trip and thought it was such a great experience that I suggested to the leaders of our local bar (Wake County, N.C.) that we should take a group up there. In December 2003, the newly elevated Wake County/Tenth Judicial District Bar president called and offered to make me chair of the Swearing-in Ceremony Committee of the combined bars, not only to handle the growing local ceremonies for new attorneys, but also to add a Washington trip to our itinerary. We made our first trip to D.C. in January 2006, and had a second trip in November 2007. In the interim, I was elected to a two-year stint on the board of governors for the two bars (Wake is voluntary; 10th Judicial District is mandatory), and then was elected to serve as president-elect of the two bars.”

1997 Maria A. Feeley was named to the 40 Under 40 list by Philadelphia Business Journal. She is a partner with Pepper Hamilton L.L.P. Geoffrey J. Greeves joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman L.L.P. as a partner in the litigation group. He lives in Vienna, Va.

1998 David G. Tewksbury joined

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Amy R. King ’02L , a corporate and finance lawyer and newly elected member with Spilman, Thomas & Battle P.L.L.C., has been named the official spokesperson for the state of West Virginia after winning that state’s “Come Home to West Virginia” model contest. Sponsored by West Virginia’s Department of Commerce, the contest drew more than 150 entries to find the best person to take the “Come Home” message nationwide and become the official campaign spokesperson in print ads and Web promotions. King will also serve as a goodwill ambassador for the state. When asked about her selection. King said, “I grew up in West Virginia, but I thought the best opportunities for me were outside the state. I’ve lived in several different cities since I left almost 15 years prior to my return. It took me a long time to realize, from the outside looking in,

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that I didn’t have what my mother or my sister (Ashley K. Burton ’04L) had here in West Virginia. They had thriving careers, were leaders in their community and still managed to find time for friends and family.” King, whose image will appear in marketing materials for the Mountain State, left West Virginia in 1992 to attend the University of Richmond. She then worked as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Richmond, attended W&L and was an attorney with a Charlotte, N.C., law firm before taking the country roads back to West Virginia. She said, “In West Virginia, choosing a high quality of life does not mean that you have to compromise the quality of your business or your profession. I’m excited for people to hear my story, to hear the stories of other finalists and to learn what great opportunities West Virginia offers to a wide variety of people, including professionals, entrepreneurs, creative class members, young families and empty-nesters.”

Take Me Home

Country Roads,

Amy King ’02L discusses her experiences as a West Virginian at a press conference at the Division of Tourism Office.

Photo by Chip Ellis/ The Charleston Gazette .

marketers, natural gas and oil pipelines and other companies in connection with a wide range of transactional and regulatory matters. The Washington component of King & Spalding’s energy practice, which stretches from offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Houston, is recognized as one of the top practices in North America, Latin America and the Middle East by Chambers Global 2008.

1999 Wyndall A. Ivy will chair the

ABA’s Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section’s Business Litigation Committee for 2009-2010. His term begins in August, following the ABA’s Annual Meeting in Chicago. He was also appointed by the president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham to serve on an Academic Realignment Commission, which is 20

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charged with presenting possible realignment options for six of the university’s academic schools. Ivy is a shareholder in the Birmingham office of Maynard, Cooper & Gale P.C.

Section. She also has two years’ experience representing disabled individuals seeking Social Security disability benefits.

2000 Ralph M Clements III

Karen Kiefer Wilson joined the Chattanooga, Tenn., law firm of McKoon, Williams & Haun. She was a law clerk and senior staff attorney to The Hon. William M. Barker, former chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. She was admitted to practice law in Tennessee in 1999, to the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee in 2002, and to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002. After graduation, she clerked for two years with The Hon. Herschel P. Franks, presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Eastern

opened The Law Office of Ralph M. Clements III L.L.C. in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2003 Kelly Jones Leventis works

for Thurmond Kirchner & Timbes P.A., and her husband, Henry Leventis ’03L , prosecutes violent crimes for the state of South Carolina with the Ninth Circuit solicitor’s office. They live in Charleston, S.C.

2007 Rebecca A. Beers was

Robert D. Mason joined the law firm Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice P.L.L.C. He concentrates on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret litigation, but over the course of his career, he has represented clients in employment discrimination, medical malpractice, professional liability, public official and governmental liability, and wrongful death claims. He splits his practice between the firm’s Greensboro and WinstonSalem, N.C., offices. W & L

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named to the board of directors of Catalyst for Birmingham for 2009 and will serve as the organization’s secretary. This group of progressive young professionals is dedicated to making Birmingham a better place to live, work and play. She is an attorney with Haskell, Slaughter, Young & Rediker L.L.C. Erika M. Walker-Cash left Williams Mullen in Virginia Beach to work as the district director for Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA). M a g a z i n e

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N o t e s Elizabeth M. Yusi ’02L to Steven L. Brinker ’02L on Sept. 20, 2008, in Newport, R.I. The wedding party included Pamela Brinker ’07L. In attendance (l. to r.) were classmates R. Tyler Stone, Amy King, Lindsay Peed, Ross Eisenberg, Dave Morse, Beth, Steve, Ryan Becker, Amanda Burks, Tina Pignatelli, Peter Broadbent III, Suzanne Cuba Ulmer and Frank Ulmer. Not pictured, but also at the wedding were Susan Baldwin Hendrix ’96 and classmates Daniel Solander and Wes Hammit. M. Todd Carroll ’05L to Erin Akin May 3, 2008, at

Furman University in Greenville, S.C. While the couple made their way to the reception, alumni and friends gathered for a group shot. From l. to r.: John Hagan ’05L, Meghan Morgan ’05L, Lara Jacobs ’05L, Mike Todd, Andrea Chase Glasgow ’05L, Ryan Glasgow ’05L, Susie Richter ’05L, Mitchell Bilbro, April and Donnie Winningham ’06L, Erin and Mitchell Greggs ’05L, Meredith and Will Lampton ’05L, Matthew ’05L and Jennifer Ridings, Ben Thomas ’05L and Matt Gatewood ’05L. Joshua Yahwak ’00L to Kristen Rubino on Oct. 4,

2008, in East Haven, Conn. Joining the couple are, first row, l. to r., Alice Pitchford, Tim Molino ’00L, Matt Jarrell ’00L and Chiara Orsini. Second row: Duncan Pitchford ’00L, Kristen Yahwak, Joshua Yahwak ’00L, Mike Dematt ’00L and Amy Dematt ’96, ’00L.

2008 Christen C. Church

joined the Roanoke office of Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore L.L.P. as an associate. She will practice with the firm’s general commercial section, where she will focus on general corporate and real estate matters. Richard W. Hartman III

joined the Rack Law Firm P.C. as an associate, where he will concentrate on probate and trust administration, fiduciary accountings, estate planning, elder law and the formation of business entities. Katherine M. Herbenick

joined the law firm of Gunster Yoakley as an associate in the Jacksonville, Fla., office. She concentrates on commercial and business litigation. Prior to joining the firm, she served for one year as a student judicial clerk for United States District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in Charleston, W.Va. S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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MarriageS MARRIAGES R. Benjamin Collum Jr. ’88L to Michael Robert

Mallonee on Nov. 1, 2008, in La Jolla, Calif. The nondenominational ceremony took place atop the Grande Colonial Hotel, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. They live in Tucson, Ariz., where Ben, author of the play “Alexander Hamilton,” has a new work in process. Meghan Allen Beardsley ’07L to Erik C. Dull on Nov.

Callie joins sister Carson. They live in Columbia, S.C. Oriana Repic Senatore ’01L

and her husband, Stephen, a son, Ethan Jacob, on July 16, 2008. He joins 3-year-old brother Antonio. They live in Fairfax Station, Va.

Jaime King Tyler ’01L and Nathaniel Tyler ’01L , a

daughter, Elle Leah, on Oct. 17, 2008. Elle joins brother Price. They live in Norfolk, Va. Anne Musgrove Rife ’02L

and her husband, Brian, a son, Bryant Barnes, on Jan. 30. They live in Bristol, Tenn. Sondra Binotto Jankowski ’03L and her husband, Michael,

a daughter, Emma Elysabeth, on Feb. 26. She is an attorney for Burns, White & Hickton L.L.C. and was listed as a Rising Star in a Pennsylvania

3, 2008, in Chevy Chase, Md.

b i r t h s BIRTHS Virginia Leggett Stevenson ’96L and her hus-

band, John Anton Maguire, a daughter, Antonia Leggett Maguire, on Oct. 30, 2008. They live in Charlotte, N.C. Mr. and Mrs. Adam J. Neil ’01L , a daughter, Caroline

Leigh, on July 18, 2007. 2 0 0 9

Louis P. McFadden Jr. ’76, ’79L , sailing off Newport,

R.I., in October 2008, holding his youngest son, Rhys McFadden, born April 25, 2008. Rhys joins a family of Generals, including grandfather Louis P. McFadden Sr. ’79L and uncles Kevin ’79 and Michael ’82. Louis’ two oldest children, Louis P. “Trey” McFadden III and sister Jaime A. McFadden, were born in Lexington while he attended law school. “No sweat,” he said. They live in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. 21

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L a w Super Lawyers for her work in worker’s compensation-Medicare compliance. They live in McMurray, Pa. Heyward H. Bouknight ’04L and Whitney Goodwin Bouknight ’04L , a daughter,

Virginia Blair, on Feb. 22. Whitney was laid off from K&L Gates, and Heyward works for Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson. They live in Charlotte, N.C.

OBITS o b i t u a r i e s Joe A. McVay ’32L , of Huntington, W. Va., died on Nov. 20, 2008. When he died, McVay was the oldest living alumnus of Washington and Lee Law School. He practiced law in Huntington and then became a special agent for the FBI. He was a charter member of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI. He also served as a judge in Huntington. McVay belonged to Alpha Tau Omega. William H. Seaton Jr. ’36L ,

of Gainesville, Ga., died on

N o t e s Dec. 21, 2008. He served as a gunnery officer in the Navy and received a letter of commendation for his actions during the invasions of Sicily and Italy. He was president of Commercial Development Co., where he developed and sold real estate. He then served as executive vice president of the Seaton Distribution Co. and as assistant insurance commissioner for the state of West Virginia. He was elected district governor of Lions International in 1970. Seaton belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma.

Leonard Leight ’38L (’36) , of New York City, died on March 15, 2008. He served in the Army during World War II in the judge advocate department, where he received a battle star for the Burma Campaign. He worked as an attorney for the firm of Leight and Neckritz. The Hon. William H. Oast Jr. ’50L (’44) , of Portsmouth,

Va., died on Oct. 27, 2008. He served on W&L’s Law Council from 1982 to 1987. He served in the Marine Corps during World War II. Oast was a second-generation

Lawyer Turned Novelist. Melissa Warner Scoggins ’81L has

published her first novel, Journeys of Choice: Joanna’s Crossroads (FirstWorks Publishing Co. Inc., 2009). The book is “the culmination of a lifelong dream,” she said. “I fell in love with writing when I learned to make letters, and I’ve been earning my living as a writer, one way or another, since I grew up.” Scoggins began putting words to paper first as journalism major with the Indiana University student paper and then for a district-wide newspaper in Aiken, S.C. After law school, Scoggins joined Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore in Roanoke and for a year was the only woman lawyer in the firm. “That experience is fodder for another book,” she noted. “As a lawyer in Virginia and now in Minnesota, I’ve spent much of the past 27 years earning my keep as an appellate lawyer. This means I write lots of briefs (a misnomer if I ever heard one) and argue cases.” She often lectures on ethics in appellate law and edited the 1998 revision to the Appellate Handbook published by the Virginia State Bar. She co-authored The Commercial Mediator’s Handbook (CMT Press, 2001). Scoggins spent seven years working on Joanna’s Crossroads, which is set in a fictional town near Madison, Ind. Its protagonist, Joanna Garrett, a schoolteacher who becomes involved in the woman’s suffrage movement, encounters betrayal, justice, hope, forgiveness, despair and finally grace. “The main characters came to me, quite literally, in a dream. I stepped off a train at a 19th-century depot and saw a man sitting on a bench. He walked up to me, tipped his cap and said, 22

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‘I’m Edgar McGill. We’ve been waiting for you.’ The ‘we’ turned out to be his sister and his son.” When Scoggins told her husband about the dream, he told her, “Those are your characters and they’ve been waiting a long time for you.” She said, “The process of writing the book was exciting and sometimes frustrating and totally different from writing legal briefs. For one thing, when I write a brief, I know where I’m heading. I had no idea what Joanna’s Crossroads was going to be about when I sat down at the computer and started writing. I never have been able to do outlines, and when the main characters showed up in a dream, I simply started writing from getting off the train. I knew the story would have a strong female main character, and I wanted it to be a story that gave people hope, but beyond that I had no clue about the plot. The story line came as I wrote. There were times when the words simply poured forth. My daughter said, ‘Mama, it’s as if the story would write itself if you could just get out of the way!’ Creativity is fascinating. Because I am a person of faith, every time I sat down to write, I prayed and committed what I was doing to God, thanking God for giving me the gift of being able to write. I was often totally surprised by something one of my characters said or did.” Scoggins is working on two other books. One is a sequel to Joanna’s Crossroads that will answer some questions she deliberately left unanswered. She hopes to have it out in two years or less. The second is a modern-day novel about a lawyer married to a preacher. W & L

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Around the World They Go Prepare to be envious. Late last month Kara McDonald ’02L and Damien DeLaney ’03L embarked on a yearlong, around-the-world journey, and they’re sharing their travels via a blog titled Running Towards (runningtowards.wordpress.com). The couple were living in Santa Monica and working as attorneys in Los Angeles when they decided to leave their jobs and head out on their adventure. Their preliminary itinerary, posted in January, listed 31 countries, and their plans were to spend two weeks to a month in each one. One particularly poignant post is “Ode to a Good Bug,” the story of the sale of their lime green VW convertible bug, called Russell Sprout. They wound up selling it to CarMax, which Damien and Kara describe as “roughly the equivalent of taking your car to the pound.” One of the first stops Kara McDonald ’02L and Damien DeLaney ’03L made on their worldwide trip was northern Ireland.

jurist in a family that has a long tradition of providing judges and lawyers to the city. He retired in 1991 after 16 years on the Portsmouth Circuit Court and continued to serve as a substitute judge. He was the father of William H. Oast III ’71, ’74L. Andrew T. Wilson ’50L , of

Lewisburg, Pa., died on Feb. 22. He served in the Navy during World War II, where he earned a Bronze Star. Following the war, he established the Wilson Law Firm with his son. He also served as solicitor for the Lewisburg Area School District, East Buffalo Township and Union Township. He was also United District Attorney for Union County and taught law at Bucknell University. He was president judge of the 17th Judicial District for Snyder and Union Counties. Wilson belonged to Lambda Chi Alpha. Charles H. Crawford III ’51L , of Manchester, N.H., died

on Jan. 21. He served in the Air Force Reserves as judge advocate, lieutenant colonel, during World War II. He practiced law in the U.S. District Court in Vermont and the U.S. Supreme Court. Crawford belonged to Phi Delta Theta. George S. Wilson III ’56L (’54) , of Owensboro, Ky., died

on Nov. 25, 2008. He served S p r i n g / S u m m e r

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in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He practiced law at Wilson & Wilson. He was the national president of the American Radio Relay League and a member of the Owensboro Ham Radio Club. He was a board member of the Boy Scouts and Junior Achievement, as well as president of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. Wilson belonged to Kappa Alpha. William C. King Jr. ’57L , of Roanoke, died on Dec. 14, 2008. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He practiced law in Roanoke for 40 years at King, Fulghum, Renick, Bounds and Smith. He was an active member of the advisory board of the City of Roanoke Salvation Army. King belonged to Kappa Sigma. Carl D. Swanson ’57L (’54) , of Grottoes, Va., died on Oct. 24, 2008. He earned a doctorate from Western Michigan University and had a long career working in counselor education and psychology at James Madison University, which named the outstanding psychology graduate student leadership award for him. Swanson belonged to Sigma Nu. Charles W. Gunn Jr. ’58L , of Lexington, died on Jan. 13. He worked as an extra in Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan

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Dad Grad Jim McElroy ’70 and his son, Thad ’09L, celebrate a milestone.

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L a w films and served in the Navy during World War II. He worked as a judge in Buena Vista Municipal Court and was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served for 15 years. He was involved in many civic leadership positions in Rockbridge County. Walter S. Allen III ’60L , of

Madisonville, La., died on Sept. 26, 2007. He served as a commander in the Navy for 20 years and was deputy commissioner of insurance for the State of Louisiana. Harold M. Bates ’61L , of

Roanoke, died Nov. 2, 2008. He served with the Airborne Army and was involved in several veterans’ organizations. He served on the board of directors of the William & Mary Alumni Association. Bates worked as a special agent with the FBI in Newark and New York City and was an investigator with the U.S. Defense Department. He was an attorney in the Roanoke area. Bates belonged to Sigma Nu. Robert E. Shepherd Jr. ’61L (’59) , of Richmond, died on

Dec. 11, 2008. He taught at the University of Richmond Law School for more than 30 years. Shepherd served on the Board of Fellows of the National Juvenile Justice Center and on the Executive Committee of the Virginia Bar Association. He received numerous awards for his advocacy work in juvenile law. He was a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. Shepherd belonged to Lambda Chi Alpha and was father to Stephanie Shepherd ’95. Allan Getson ’62L , of Bryn

Mawr, Pa., died on Jan. 6. He was a chaplain’s assistant in the Army at Fort Knox. He was a founding partner of Getson & Schatz, and practiced law for 45 years.

Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Nashville, Tenn., attorney Charles K. Grant ’91L , a shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C., received the state’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award for his tireless work on issues of disenfranchisement and restoration of voter rights. In 1996, Grant took a case from the Nashville Pro Bono program to help a convicted felon who had served his time win back the right to vote. Inspired by that experience, Grant worked with a coalition of bar groups, radio stations and the Davidson County Election Commission to raise public awareness of voting rights restoration and identify those who might be eligible for reinstatement. Through that process, Grant became one of the state’s foremost experts on the topic. He also discovered that state laws governing restoration of rights were out-of-date and inconsistent. Grant then worked with the Tennessee Bar Association to introduce and pass legislation to improve and streamline the process for restoring voting rights. He also was instrumental in planning town hall meetings around the state to explain the new law and help others pursue their rights. The award is given annually to a private sector attorney who has demonstrated dedication to the development and delivery of legal services to the poor, and has performed significant pro bono work. ber of the Florida House of Representatives. He later served on Florida’s First Judicial Circuit, where he was the longest-tenured judge in history. He also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Northwest Florida Daily News. Tolton belonged to Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Leonard W. Townsend ’65L , of Richmond, died on Aug. 12, 2008. He worked as an attorney in the Richmond area. Boyd V. Switzer ’67L , of

W. Jere Tolton Jr. ’64L (’60) , of Destin, Fla., died

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Richmond, died on Dec. 13, 2008.

Richard M. Swope ’68L , of Virginia Beach, Va., died on Dec. 20, 2008. He practiced law in Norfolk for 30 years with the firm of Williams, Kelly and Greer. He served on the board of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Associations, as well as on The Second District Ethics committee. Swope belonged to Phi Kappa Psi. William E. Winter Jr. ’69L , of Gaffney, S.C., died on July 18, 2008. He was a retired colonel with the Army Reserve. He was a partner with the law firm Winter & Rhoden. Winter belonged to Alpha Tau Omega. W & L

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H. Bailey Lynn ’71L , of

Delaplane, Va., died Sept. 13, 2008. He served in the Army Reserve and later worked as a senior attorney with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission in Washington. Edward T. Cox ’75L , of

Tallahassee, Fla., died on June 8, 2008. He served in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart. He began his law career in New Haven, Conn., and later moved to Orlando, where he started his own law firm specializing in family law. He later practiced law with the State of Florida. Lucy Durham Strickland ’76L , of Murfreesboro, Tenn.,

died on Dec. 18, 2008. She was the first president of the Murfreesboro League of Women Voters and was instrumental in the instigation of a lawsuit for reapportionment of the Rutherford County School Board, requiring equal representation and educational opportunities for all citizens. She earned her law degree at the age of 50 and was honored with the United States Law Week Award. She served as trustee and member of the executive committee of the Middle Tennessee State University Foundation and practiced law at Kidwell, South & Beasley until her retirement in 2004. Edward E. Fischer Jr. ’77L ,

of New Castle, Del., died on Jan. 1. He was an attorney at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell. Harry S. Gold ’85L , of New York City, died on Oct. 10, 2008. He served as executive director of business and legal affairs for Disney Theatrical Productions and handled “The Little Mermaid,” “Mary Poppins” and “The Lion King.” Prior to joining Disney, Gold was a management associate at Niko Associates/ Marvin A. Krauss Associates. M a g a z i n e

V o l

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WaysTo ToGive Give Ways As

a successful bank executive,

A. J oh n H u s s ’65L,

a m e m b e r of t h e

L aw C o u n c i l ,

h a s s p e n t h i s l i f e c a r e f u l ly c o n s i d e r i n g t h e k i n d s o f p r o f e s s i o n a l a n d p e r s o n a l p roj e ct s h e wa n t s to i n v e s t i n .

And

h e d oe s n ’ t l i k e to s e e mon e y was t e d , e i t h e r .

b y L e o K i m

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P h o t o

He closely followed the battle for the senate Ruth and A. John Huss ’65L. seat of his home state, Minnesota, and bemoaned the amount Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman spent during (and after) their campaigns. “That money could have been better spent on health care,” he said. Over the years he has supported the fine arts, public television, local hospitals and education, an area he considers especially worthy of his resources. This year, he and his wife, Ruth, created a challenge grant for the Law School’s third-year curriculum, something they both enthusiastically back. They have provided $1.5 million to the program and will match up to an additional $500,000 He fondly remembers the close friendships he forged (see inside front cover for challenge grant details). with classmates. “I’m still in touch with many of them,” “The third year makes all the sense in the world,” he he said. And he attributes his skill in “orderly thinking” said. “Knowing the law only gets you so far. You have to to his legal education. Most of all, Huss commends what know how to deal with clients, keep time sheets and so hasn’t changed over the years: “W&L’s honor system and on. When I describe the third year to friends who have commitment to ethics, both of which are sorely lacking in practiced law for years, they are floored by the possibilities today’s world. I feel these are extraordinarily important.” and the program’s practicality. Without exception, they Of course, the law school Huss attended was a much said what a terribly good thing it would have been for different place. He noted that W&L now is more reflecthem to have had that kind of grounding. As new associtive of the nation’s population. “When I was there, we ates, they felt they didn’t know which end was up.” were all white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Now there are Huss never wanted to practice law. He earned his J.D. women and students of color. All of that is good.” instead of an M.B.A. on the advice of his father’s friends The change he approves of the most is the third-year who said a legal education would be more useful in the curriculum, and he encourages alumni to support the new business career he intended to pursue. He looked at a numprogram. “You had to learn how to be a lawyer the hard ber of schools, including the University of Michigan, where way—on the job—but now there’s a plan in place to prohe met the legendary Roy Steinheimer. “He told me that I vide students what they need to know. It’s such a realistic might want to take a look at a little place in Lexington that and practical approach to teaching the law and will give would give me a solid education without the kinds of comour students a leg up. I’m so impressed with Rod Smolla petitive stresses I would encounter at a place like Harvard and what this program will do for future generations.” or Yale. So I flew down, and it was love at first sight.”

6/10/09 3:47:44 AM

The Washington and Lee University S c h o o l O f L a w L e x i n g t o n ,

V i r g i n i a

24450

w w w. l a w. w l u . e d u

N o n P r o f i t O r g. U. S . P o s t a g e

P e r m i t N o. 508 N o r f o l k, Va

Reflections p h o t o

b y

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas visited W&L on March 16 and gave a talk in Lee Chapel. He recently published My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir.

P a t r i c k H i n e l y ’ 7 3

Addressing a capacity crowd, Justice Thomas said there is too little emphasis on responsibility, sacrifice and self-denial on the part of Americans. Recalling President John F. Kennedy’s call to service in 1960, he said that today the message seems to be: “Ask not what you can do for yourselves or your country, but what your country must do for you.” You can listen to his talk at wlu.edu/x31414.xml.

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