Oren Griffin ’96L Named Dean of Tulsa College of Law

OREN GRIFFIN ’96L has been named dean of the University of Tulsa College of Law and began his new role Jan. 1, 2022. Griffin was the associate dean for strategic initiatives and a professor of law at Mercer University.

Griffin began his academic career as an assistant professor of law at Mercer in 2006. Before that, he served as a labor and employment attorney with law firms based in Atlanta and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Prior to attending W&L Law, Griffin earned a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southern University at New Orleans and his master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa.

Griffin’s scholarship and teaching focuses on civil procedure, education law, employment law and alternative dispute resolution. He has authored numerous articles and manuscripts regarding employment law, risk management, disability and higher education policy. He wrote “Investigating College Student Misconduct” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018).

Jeffery T. Mauzy joined Berkeley County Council in Oak Hill, West Virginia, as deputy legal director.

2009L

Alexis S. Hawley was promoted to senior counsel at Grant Thornton L.L.P. in Chicago.

Nainesh Ramjee joined HouseCanary in San Francisco as assistant general counsel.

Jessica Piltch Taylor joined Greenfire Law in Novato, California, as a senior associate.

2015L

Lauren A. Brown joined Bass Berry & Sims in Nashville as an associate.

Joshua M. Deal joined Greenspoon Marder L.L.P. in New York as an associate.

2011L

Ryan R. Au joined Coinbase in Washington, D.C., as senior tax counsel.

2012L

Jonathan R. Little was promoted to partner at Lightfoot in Birmingham. He maintains a varied litigation practice, which includes representing media and communications companies, journalists and broadcasters in defamation and First Amendment matters.

Ashley Bowen MacNamara joined Clark Hill Law in Dallas as a senior attorney.

Rae D. Mueller joined Turner Construction Co. in Reston, Virginia, as senior corporate counsel.

2013L

Ernest B. Hammond III joined Facebook in San Francisco as lead counsel, product.

2014L

Darby E. Gooding was promoted to senior counsel at Shaw Industries in Atlanta.

Karissa Thomas Kaseorg joined Sands Anderson in Richmond as counsel, where she focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis in products liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, suretyship litigation, trucking defense and civil appellate matters.

Randall W. Miller joined Kirkland & Ellis in Dallas.

Rachel G. Schwartz joined Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago as a real estate associate.

Anjelica N. Hendricks joined the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School as a Quattrone Center Research Fellow. Her research and writing focuses on the fields of policing, criminal law, and criminal procedure.

Laura A. Iheanachor joined Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C, as staff counsel.

Brittany Kanter Love joined Farmers Insurance in Jacksonville, Florida, as an associate trial attorney.

Zara A. Wallace joined Mayer Brown in Charlotte as an associate attorney in the banking and finance practice group.

2017L

Maressa Momoye Cuenca joined the Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as assistant solicitor.

Atanasio “Tacho” Fernandez joined Henneman Rau Kirklin & Smith in Houston as an associate. He focuses on complex, high-profile commercial litigation across multiple industries.

Jessica A. Winn joined the Anchorage office of the Alaska Public Defender Agency as assistant public defender.

2018L

Meredith Toole Brenton joined Simpson Thacher and Bartlett in Washington, D.C., as an associate.

Taylor W. Davison joined Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle as an associate.

Colt W. Justice joined Apple in Denver as a global supply manager.

Taylor D. Rafaly joined the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, as a brigade trial counsel.

Erica L. Sieg left the public sector and works for a boutique corporate law firm, Midtown GC, in Richmond specializing in M&A.

Starleigh Smith joined Jeffers Danielson Sonn Alward in Wenatchee, Washington, as an attorney.

Jacob E. Thayer was promoted to senior intelligence counsel for the Coast Guard and is working at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Devin C. White joined Thomas Moore Lawson P.C. in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as an associate.

Danielle A. Wise joined Moore & Van Allen in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an associate.

Mark X. Zhuang joined Mayer Brown in New York as an associate.

2019L

Cole Bollman (’16) joined King & Spalding in Atlanta as an associate.

Frank N. Bozzi joined Cooley in New York as an associate.

Pierce E. Rigney joined King & Spalding in Atlanta as an associate.

20sWEDDINGS

2020L

Whitney A. Davis is clerking for The Hon. Mary Grace O’Brien ’83L with the Virginia Court of Appeals in Manassas, Virginia.

Georgianna Pisano Goetz joined the chambers of The Hon. George Cannon with the U.S. District Court in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, as a law clerk.

Karen D. Vallejos joined The Dream Project in Washington, D.C., as executive director. The organization empowers students whose immigration status creates barriers to higher education by creating a strong network of mentoring, scholarships and family engagement and encouraging the students to use education as a vehicle to pursue their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. She lives in Arlington.

2021L

Erin R. Hayes joined the Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender in Waco, Texas, as a law clerk.

Robert H. Buchanan ’98L to Pam Milford Rozelsky on June 5, 2021. The couple reside in Greenville, South Carolina.

Jessica Girvan ’15L and Bret Marfut ’15L were married on Jan. 9, 2021, in front of Lee Chapel.

Births

John M. Power ’02, ’08L and his wife, Molly, a son, Luke Grant, on July 19, 2021. He joins sister Claire. The family are all doing well.

Lauren Meehan Keefe ’12L and Stuart A. Keefe ’12L , a son, Connor Stuart on March 9, 2021.

Jonathan R. Little ’12L and his wife Katie, a son, Shepherd “Shep,” on July 8, 2021. He joins brothers Jack, 9, Sam, 7, and George, 5.