W&L Law Discovery - Winter 2019

Discovery Winter 2019 % Volume 5, No. 1

the newsletter from washington and lee university school of law

Career Goals — Aiming for Success Cliff arrett ’91L, assistant dean of Career Strategy, is excited about recent gains in employment numbers.

Q. It’s been almost five years since you started in the Office of Career Strategy at W&L Law, how would you describe your experience so far?

A. It has been personally and professionally challenging and rewarding, but most importantly, it has been fun. Coming from 16 years at a large law firm and then s ven years at a legal recruiting firm, the t ansition to a law school career office wa ’t easy. Two weeks after I started in the spring of 2014, the U.S. News & World Report rankings were released and that was the year W&L Law fell from #26 to #43. Add that to a negative student perception of the career office, tional trends of declining law school enrollment and a stagnant legal-employment market and you could say we had a few headwinds to deal with.

Q. How did you deal with these challenges?

A. Luckily, what I knew already about the community aspect of W&L, both the undergraduate and the law school, proved true in spades. I talk with prospective students about the whole-school approach that we take in helping law students find employment, and th t is a big reason why we have been able to make the progress we have. The team in my office em aced the executive recruiting approach that I brought with me — we made ourselves extremely accessible and available to the students and even moved our office to a cen al location in the Law School. We created student advisory groups, changed the offi ’s name to the Offi of Career Strategy and took other steps to make sure students knew that we had a client-fir t mentality — and that they were our clients. In addition, the support of our faculty, my colleagues in other law school offices and, of course, our alumni were t real catalyst for change. The fir t question I routinely heard from everyone was, “What can I do to help you and your offi ?” It was this whole-school

Cliff Jarrett ’91L, assistant dean of Career Strategy

effo t that led to our law students having successful employment outcomes.

Q. You mentioned the improvement in employment. What are your goals going forward and what excites you about the future of the Law School?

A. My own goal, while probably unrealistic, is for every single student who graduates from W&L Law to be doing what they want — that’s another way of saying I want to reach 100 percent employment or enrollment in a post-J.D. program.

We are making progress — the last couple of years, that figure has been in the 90 percent ange.

One exciting part is that these positions are both traditional legal jobs, such as law firm associ tes, judicial clerks, prosecutors, legal aid attorneys, etc. — or graduates are getting their LL.M., working in business, compliance, legal tech, lobbying, legal management or recruiting. As long as it is a position that is a positive fir t step toward their career goal, that is how I would measure success.

Career Counselor Andrea Hilton ’85L talks with a student during the weekly OCS drop-in at the Brief Stop.

Every year, we seem to be getting closer and closer to reaching this 100 percent goal; however, what excites me most are the stories of how the W&L community has played a part in each individual student’s career success story.

For example, two years ago, an alum in Charlotte called to let me know that his firm was lookin to hire a young associate for its finance group. told him about a bright, yet unemployed, recent graduate who had not yet had any luck breaking directly into the in-house real estate market in Charlotte. The alum asked for a copy of her résumé and whether there were any professors who knew her well and could recommend her. Brian Murchison was one such faculty member, and he wrote a detailed email about his experience with this recent grad that I sent to the alum. The alum invited her to interview with his firm, she received an offer and now a third-year associate on the partnership track there. And that is just one of many examples I could give you of the power of the W&L network. (continued on page 2)

Like many alumni, Katie Blaszak ’09L and Rakesh Gopalan ’06L visit campus to recruit for their firms.

“What excites me most are the stories of how the W&L community has played a part in each individual student’s career success story.”

–Cliff arrett ’91L, assistant dean of Career Strategy

Q. Speaking of W&L alumni, what value can OCS provide to them?

A. For individual alumni, we review résumés and work with alumni on their career plans and strategies. For an alum’s organization or firm, we work wit them to make it as easy as possible to interview strong W&L Law candidates, whether for summer internships or for post-grad positions. We have many alumni who come back to campus to interview for their firms and organiz tions, and, at the risk of making a shameless plug, we would love to have even more come to campus or participate in our regional interview programs so they can hire even more W&L Law students. After all, we haven’t quite reached 100 percent yet!

OCS keeps things fun for students with weekly coffee and donuts and an ugly sweater contest around the holidays.

CLASS OF 2018: EMPLOYMENT HIGHLIGHTS AT GRADUATION

73%

EMPLOYED AT GRADUATION

8/8

ARMY, MARINES, COAST GUARD JAG

30%

AT FIRMS WITH 100+ LAWYERS

26%

TO FEDERAL AND STATE CLERKSHIPS

law.wlu.edu/outcomes

W&L Law Delivers — Then and Now!

FRANK DUEMMLER ’76L: I choose to support W&L Law School because it gave me the opportunity and financi l support to attend, the power to think, the confiden e to explore, and a connection to a community and set of values that has enriched my life and benefi ed me time and time again!

Why do you support W&L Law through the Law Annual Fund?

Accessible, challenging professors, small classes, thriving student organizations, financial aid — Law Annual Fund gifts help every student, every day.

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JESS WINN ’17L: I choose to support the law school because W&L Law gave me the gifts of professors who continue to empower and support me, an enthusiastic alumni network that stretches across the country, and financi l aid that has allowed me to pursue the public interest work about which I am passionate.

Make your gift at law.wlu.edu/give

NEWS BRIEFS

BLACK LUNG CLINIC WINS CASE IN FOURTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS LUISA HERNANDEZ ’18L argued a case in March before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In late May, the Court ruled in favor of her client.

Hernandez appeared before the Court as a student attorney in W&L’s Black Lung Clinic.

In this specific case Hernandez appealed the denial of a survivor’s claim — the claimant was a widow whose husband spent 40 years working in our nation’s coal mines.

As in many of the cases the Black Lung Clinic takes on, this case has a long and complicated history.

W&L Law students have been working on it for roughly a dozen years, and the case has moved back and forth several times between the Administrative Law Judge and the Benefits Review Board.

The case will now return to the Benefits R view Board for a reconsideration of the survivor’s claim.

W&L LAW WELCOMES NEW FACULTY MEMBER CARLISS CHATMAN, who has served as a visiting professor at W&L Law, has joined the permanent faculty, effe tive this semester.

Chatman teaches Contracts and Sales and Leases; Agency and Unincorporated Entities, Corporations, Business Associations, and Securities Regulation; Professional Responsibility; and a Transactional Skills Simulation course with a Mergers and Acquisitions focus that incorporates corporate law and UCC

Article 9. Her research interests are in the field of corporate law, ethics, and civil procedure.

Previously she taught at Northern Illinois University College of Law and Stetson College of Law. Prior to law teaching, Chatman was a commercial litigation attorney in Houston.

Chatman earned her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a member of the Texas Journal of Women and the Law, and her B.A. in English from Duke University.

W&L LAW NAMES ALEX ZHANG TO LEAD LAW LIBRARY ALEX ZHANG joins W&L Law as the assistant dean for Legal Information Services and director of the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library.

Previously, she worked at Stanford Law Library, where she served as head of Public Services, and she was a senior associate librarian and adjunct professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she taught Advanced Legal Research, managed Michigan Law’s library reference and information desk

services, and developed the library’s print and electronic legal materials specializing in non-U.S. jurisdictions.

Zhang’s research interests include public access to legal information, legal research methods and methodology, and Chinese law and research.

Zhang received her J.D. from University of Kansas Law School, an M.S.I. from University of Michigan School of Information and an M.A. in philosophy from Tulane University.

W&L LAW’S SHAPIRO HONORED FOR CLINICAL WORK JONATHAN SHAPIRO, visiting professor of law, was honored by his alma mater American University Washington College of Law (WCL) with the inaugural Elliott Milstein Award for Professional Excellence.

The award goes to a graduate of WCL’s clinical program “whose career refle ts core principles

of the Clinical Program, including client-centeredness, refle tive lawyering, seeking justice, and a commitment to training law students and junior lawyer.”

Shapiro teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, as well as the Criminal Practice Practicum.

He has practiced criminal law in the

federal and state courts for more than 40 years and has been listed for years in the Washington Magazine’s survey of best criminal lawyers. Among his more notable cases, he represented

accused spies Harold Nicholson, a CIA station chief, and NSA employee Brian Regan, as well as John Allen Muhammad, also known as the Beltway Sniper.

MOCK TRIAL COMPETITION

NATEY KINZOUNZA ’20L (above) was the competition winner, with ROBERT WILSON ’19L finishing as runner up. AUSTIN CANO ’20L and KATHY MCLAUGHLIN ’19L also competed in the finals. he judges for the competition

were (l. to r.) the Hon. CHARLES DORSEY ’79L, 23rd Judicial Circuit of Virginia; the Hon. Elizabeth Dillon, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia; and the Hon. ANITA FILSON ’86L, 25th Judicial Circuit of Virginia.

ROBERT J. GREY NEGOTIATIONS COMPETITION The team of BRANDON HOWELL ’20L and KAYA VYAS ’20L (above) won the competition. LEE SANDS ’20L and AUSTIN SCIESZINSKI ’20L were the runners-up. Also competing in the finals were the teams o MAHALIA HALL ’20L and JESSIAH HULLE ’20L and ELIZABETH MCLELLAN ’20L and GRANT COKELEY ’20L. The competition was judged by (l. to r.) Alvin Brown, ROBERT J. GREY JR. ’76L and ANDREA WAHLQUIST ’95L.

JOHN W. DAVIS APPELLATE ADVOCACY COMPETITION JUNIOR NDLOVU ’20L (right) took fir t place in the oral advocacy competition and BONNIE GILL ’20L won for brief writing. ROBERT WILSON ’19L finished second i both the oral and brief writing competition.

Others competing in the finals were JESSIAH HULLE ’20L and JOE DUCHANE ’19L (oral advocacy) and SHELBY BROOKS ’20L (brief writing).

Judges for the competition were the Hon. Rossie Alston Jr. of the Virginia Court of Appeals; the Hon. MARK DAVIS ’88L (below right) of the Eastern District of Virginia; and the Hon. Amit Mehta of the District Court for the District of Columbia.

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Summer Experience Summer break? Never heard of it! Read about some of the great work experiences W&L Law students had over the summer. From law firms to overnment to non-profi s, our students saw a little bit of everything.

KATHY MCLAUGHLIN ’19L: COLORADO STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE

GEORGI PISANO-GOETZ ’20L: NEXTGEN AMERICA, CALIFORNIA

As a certified intern for the Colo ado State Public Defender, I received my own caseload for the summer. I was supervised by other attorneys in the office and wo ed closely with them on the cases, but those cases were my responsibility. Over the summer I either handled, or helped, with around 80 cases. This included being in front of a judge for my client entering in a plea of guilty, to motions hearings and jury trials.

I was in the courtroom at the minimum one day per week. My favorite part was the opportunity to sit second chair on trials with different ttorneys in the office an in different cou trooms in front of different jud es. During the trials, I was able to do anything from conducting cross examinations to presenting an opening statement to a jury. At the beginning of the summer, I was more nervous making arguments in court and being at the podium alone. Toward the end of the summer, I felt very comfortable standing up for my clients and trying to fight for them. orking with clients and meeting their goals for what they wanted to happen with the case was the best part of the job.

Nothing feels more rewarding.

NextGen America is an environmental advocacy nonprofit and politicalaction committee based in San Francisco. It was created in 2013 by Tom Steyer and supports candidates and policies that take action against climate change. I worked as a progressive-policy intern at the Sacramento office, researching an lobbying for progressive policies in California.

My direct supervisor and I developed a long-term project producing a report on improvements California can make with regard to voting rights and electoral reform. As I worked on my longterm project, I also participated in lobbying days and produced memos on the legality of certain California initiatives, including the initiative to split California into three states, a groundbreaking privacy law, and California’s effo ts towards net neutrality.

There’s such a variety of what you can do with your law degree, and it was really interesting to see how legal issues that I had learned about in Virginia were being discussed on the West coast.

KATE MURPHY ’20L: SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA AND U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, NEWPORT NEWS This summer, I split my time between the Supreme Court of Virginia and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in ewport News. I was definitely surprised b how much I had learned in one year of law school and how much it related to the work I did this summer. While my work delved into more complicated material than I had seen in school and classes I had not yet taken, such as constitutional law and criminal procedure, I was able to use the foundations I had learned in school to research these areas and find th answers I needed.

At the supreme court, I was able to present one of my cases orally to Justices Mims and McCullough. It was a great experience to work on my oral advocacy in front of two distinguished justices — especially when they agreed with my analysis of the case. My favorite part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office was etting to spend the majority of my time in court. I got the opportunity to see everything from a guilty plea, misdemeanor docket, arraignment and sentencing. I loved getting to know more about the federal system and see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the cases.

JOHN MILANI ’20L: SUMMER ASSOCIATE, EPSTEIN BECKER & GREEN, NEW YORK Although I was assigned to the labor and employment group, I worked primarily with attorneys in both that group and the health care group. I researched labor and employment case law to assist senior attorneys in pending matters. Some of the issues I researched were health care insurance discrimination policies, the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts and employer drugtesting policies, and updates to local 2018 minimum wage rates. I also researched and co-authored several blog posts and articles for the fir ’s publications.

The firm did a fanta tic job of providing us with varied work and helping us meet attorneys in both practice groups — as such, I learned a lot about health care work, too. I was able to see how my contributions to a project impacted the advice and strategy developed by the other attorneys with whom I worked. My summer culminated in the opportunity to participate in the cross-examination of a key witness in a FINRA arbitration for which the attorneys had been preparing for months.

SPEAKERS CORNER

Former Defense Secretary JAMES MATTIS visited the Law School on Sept.

25 and spoke with students about ethical warfare and reducing combat fatalities.

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On Oct. 11, renowned journalist LINDA GREENHOUSE delivered the annual Tucker Lecture, addressing the topic of the Supreme Court’s challenge to civil society.

Wisconsin law professor SUSANNAH CAMIC TAHK was the keynote speaker on Nov. 2 at this year’s symposium hosted by the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, which focused on taxes, poverty and social policy.

UVA English professor STEPHEN CUSHMAN delivered this year’s Hendricks Lecture in Law and History on Nov. 30, discussing the laws of war before the Lieber Code.

AL OTRO LADO: THE OTHER SIDE Law students provide legal assistance at the border.

The list, La Lista, is kept in a notebook in Tijuana. On it are the names of thousands of people, many from violence-ridden countries in Central America, but also from as far away as Africa and the Middle East. Each day, U.S. authorities release a number, sometimes as low as 10. The numbers indicate how many people from the list will get a chance to apply for asylum in the U.S. that day.

MARISSA BAER ’20L worked with people both high and low on the list and with some who didn’t even know there was list. She was part of a team of W&L law students, led by professors JOHANNA BOND and DAVID BALUARTE, who traveled to Tijuana in December to provide legal and humanitarian assistance with the asylum process as an extension of the work undertaken by the Immigrant Rights Clinic.

“Our work mainly involved meeting with asylum seekers to make sure they were aware of their rights under U.S. law and to prepare them for when they were called for their interview. We wanted to help them understand the asylum process and make sure they made their strongest case,” said Baer. “It was great work, but also frustrating knowing some people with really powerful claims for asylum would be waiting for so long to get their chance.”

Another student on the trip, DANIELLE PHILLIPS ’19L, described it as “by far the most powerful experience I have had while here at W&L.” About 10 days after returning from Tijuana, she heard from one of the migrants she had spoken with in Mexico. The woman, an asylum seeker from El Salvador, happily reported to Phillips that she had successfully completed the fir t stage of the asylum process. Phillips is now assisting her to find an ttorney who can help her pursue her asylum claim.

With U.S. immigration authorities providing only a number each day, management of the process has largely fallen to the immigrants themselves, who formed a committee to administer the list. Even as asylum grants had slowed to a trickle, the list swelled in late November with the arrival of several migrant caravans, much publicized in the run-up to the U.S. midterm elections.

Baluarte, who directs the Immigrant Rights Clinic, says the process now in place at the border likely violates U.S. legal obligations to protect refugees and definitely puts the lives of some vulne able migrants at risk.

Sarah Brettin ’20L (left) and Morgan Richter ’20L (right) at the refugee camp.

Erick Resek ’20L gives an impromptu know-your-rights talk on the street.

“The U.S. government is preventing people from exercising their statutory right to seek asylum, and there are documented cases of Border Patrol agents forcing people back to the Mexico side of the border to wait on ‘the list’ in clear violation of the law,” said Baluarte.

Baluarte said the Mexican federal government, which has only recently begun to provide aid to refugees at the border, doesn’t want to manage the list either, so it is left to the immigrant committee to contact people when it is time for their asylum interview.

“It is a fir t-come, fir t-served process, with no due process or transparency,” said Baluarte. “We spoke to some people in immediate danger of being killed, and asking them to wait months in that state of insecurity is a moral outrage.”

With no large humanitarian aid groups yet operating, Bond described the scene in Tijuana as a human rights crisis in the making.

“People are living in dire circumstances at the border,” she said. “There is a vast need not only in terms of information about the asylum process, but also for basic material needs like food, shelter, water and clothing.

“Our students were phenomenal,” Bond added.

“They entered an intense and chaotic situation and rose to the occasion, providing both humanitarian aid and much-needed information about the asylum process, often giving impromptu know-your-rights presentations. It is the kind of experience that changes how you think about the power of law.”

Bond says she fir t had the idea to bring students

to conduct pro bono work in Tijuana after seeing media coverage of both the migrant caravans and the family separation occurring at the border. Together, Bond and Baluarte planned the trip, coordinated with a local NGO operating in Tijuana and a group of volunteers from Charlottesville, and selected interested students.

At the same time, Bond and Baluarte organized a local fundraiser, and members of the Lexington community raised about $6,000. Some of that money went to purchase much-needed supplies such as tarps and protein sources for the migrant camp, while some was used to support the partner organization, Al Otro Lada, or “The Other Side.”

Along with Baer and Phillips, students who participated in the trip were KAREN VALLEJOSCORRALES ’20L, SARAH BRETTIN ’20L, ERICK RESEK ’20L and MORGAN RICHTER ’20L. Baer had spent her 1L summer in Washington, D.C., with a nonprofit organ zation working on immigration matters for those already in the U.S. She was eager to see the situation on the other side of the border, and the trip to Tijuana has solidified her plans to pursue immig ation work for her legal career.

In the short term, however, the refugees in Tijuana remain her focus, and she plans to return, potentially as early as March, to continue to provide assistance, legal or otherwise.

“It was an amazing experience, but we were only able to help a small fraction of the people there,” said Baer. “They will need help down there for many months to come.”

Law Firm Giving Competition Alumni (undergraduate and law) continue to support Washington and Lee at impressive rates. Below is the list of firms that reached 75 percent or greater participation in the Annual Fund (undergraduate or law). We thank the law firm liaisons who solicited gifts from their colleagues and thank all alumni for their generous support.

Firm

%

Law Firm Liaison

Firm

%

Crenshaw Ware & Martin

100%

Donald C. Schultz ’89L

Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor L.L.P. 80%

Jackson Walker L.L.P.

100%

Jeffrey M. Sone ’78

Bass, Berry & Sims P.L.C.

75%

McGuireWoods L.L.P.

100%

William Mayberry ’91L

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings L.L.P.

75%

John Klinedinst ’71, ’78L

Butler Snow L.L.P.

75%

Law Firm Liaison

Anne Yuengert ’89L

Klinedinst P.C.

90%

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P.

90%

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A.

75%

Dechert L.L.P.

85%

Jackson Kelly

75%

Littler Mendelson P.C.

85%

Dana S. Connell ’82L

JonesDay

75%

Moore & Van Allen P.L.L.C.

85%

Thomas L. Mitchell ’93L

K & L Gates L.L.P.

75%

Stuart B. Nibley ’74, ’79L

Burr & Forman

80%

LeClair Ryan

75%

Tracy T. Hague ’97L

Cowman Perry P.C.

80%

Nelson Mullin Riley & Scarborough

75%

Timothy A. Hodge ’90L

Lightfoot, Franklin & White L.L.C.

80%

Pepper Hamilton

75%

Maynard, Cooper & Gale P.C.

80%

Richards, Layton & Finger

75%

Sidley Austin L.L.P.

80%

Spilman, Thomas & Battle

75%

Whiteford, Taylor & Preston

80%

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

75%

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In October, PROFESSOR MARK DRUMBL, director of the Transnational Law Institute, hosted fellow scholars for a roundtable discussion on post-conflict justice.

FACULTY ACTIVITIES SAM CALHOUN’s article “Separation of Church and State: Jefferson, Lincoln, and the R verend Martin Luther King Jr., Show It Was Never Intended to Separate Religion From Politics,” is the lead article in a Washington and Lee Law Review Online Roundtable. Three responses were published in October: Wayne R. Barnes, “The Paradox of Christian-Based Political Advocacy: A Reply to Professor Calhoun”; Ian Huyett, “Church History, Liberty, and Political Morality: A Response to Professor Calhoun”; and David M. Smolin, “America’s Creed: The Inevitable, Sometimes Dangerous, Mixing of Religion and Politics.” Professor Calhoun’s response, “If Separation of Church and State Doesn’t Demand Separating Religion From Politics, Does Christian Doctrine Require It,” is forthcoming.

ROBERT DANFORTH published new editions of two textbooks: a student study guide and a practitioner’s treatise. The textbooks are “Estate and Gift Taxation” (3d ed., 2019, with Brant J. Hellwig) and “Federal Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates” (4th ed., 2019, with Mark L. Ascher). The student study guide is “Understanding Estate and Gift Taxation” (2d ed., 2019, with Brant J. Hellwig), and the practitioner’s treatise is “Revocable Inter Vivos Trusts,” Tax Management Portfolio No. 860 (2d ed., 2018, with Howard M. Zaritsky).

NORA DEMLEITNER published a number of articles. Among them are “Challenges for the Enforcement and Effe tiveness of Criminal Law: The Prohibition on Illegal Drugs,” which appears in “Ius Comparatum: Enforcement of Laws” (Springer: 2018), and “Immigration and Terrorism,” which is part of the “Routledge Handbook on Immigration and Crime.” Two of her articles in the Federal Sentencing Reporter, “Revisiting the Role of Federal Prosecutors in Times of Mass Imprisonment” and “Structuring Relief for Sex Offenders from Regi tration and Notific tion Requirements: Learning from Foreign Jurisdictions and from the Model Penal Code: Sentencing,” have garnered much interest on SSRN, the scholarly publication network. She has been cited extensively in recent media reports. Among them are the Public Radio International’s “The World” on felon disenfranchisement, Babe.net’s discussion of Michelle Carter’s appeal, and The Martinsville Bulletin on involuntary commitment after a finding of (criminal) insanity.

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MARK DRUMBL taught an intensive course at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) on Victims, Law and Mass Atrocity. He presented his research on destruction of cultural property, to be published in the Journal of International Criminal Justice, at public lectures at Cambridge University and Griffith niversity (Brisbane). He began a new project on the legacy of the dissenting opinion of Judge Pal (from India) at the 1946 Tokyo Tribunal, presenting this work in the Netherlands and traveling to Japan. In October he organized a roundtable on Post-Confli t Justice at W&L, as well as a panel discussion in New York at the American Branch of the International Law Association.

He served as external examiner on doctoral dissertations at the London School of Economics and the University of British Columbia. He lectured in Kenya, the Czech Republic and Denmark and served on the selection committee for the American Society of International Law’s Research Forum held in November at UCLA.

Endowed Chair Lectures

JOHANNA BOND DELIVERS FRANCES AND SYDNEY LEWIS PROFESSORSHIP LECTURE The title of Bond’s talk was Global Intersectionality and Women’s Human Rights. Intersectionality theory posits that aspects of identity, such as race and gender, are mutually constitutive and may intersect to create unique experiences of discrimination and subordination. Bond argued that the United Nations, the central intergovernmental organization charged with the protection of human rights, has been slow to embrace the insights gained from intersectionality theory. She addressed how the U.N. and other human rights organizations must more actively embrace intersectionality as an analytical framework in order to address fully the real complexity of human rights violations around the world.

MICHELLE DRUMBL presented her scholarly works in progress at a Regulation and Markets workshop at Boston College Law School, a symposium on taxpayer rights hosted by the Temple Law Review and the National Tax Association’s 111th annual conference. She also helped organize, and spoke on a panel at, the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice fall symposium.

BRANT HELLWIG published a textbook, “Estate and Gift Taxation” (3d ed., 2019, with Robert Danforth), and a student study guide, “Understanding Estate and Gift Taxation” (2d ed., 2019, with Robert Danforth).

BRIAN MURCHISON, serving as director of the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics, implemented this year’s speaker series, whose theme is The Ethics of Identity, featuring lectures by philosopher Anthony Appiah, playwright Paula Vogel and socio-medical scientist Rebecca Jordan-Young. He also participated in planning the annual Law and Literature Alumni College, whose focus was Ernest Gaines’s novel, “A Lesson Before Dying.” He was a presenter in the Law School’s Supreme Court Preview and discussed United States v. Gundy.

CHRIS SEAMAN presented a new paper, “NonCompete Agreements and Other Post-Employment Restraints on Competition: Empirical Evidence from Trade Secret Litigation” at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools’ annual meeting in August. He presented an empirical review of trade secret litigation to the Philadelphia IP Law Association in September.

RUSSELL MILLER DELIVERS J.B. STOMBOCK PROFESSORSHIP LECTURE The title of Miller’s talk was Comparative Law’s Taxonomy Problem. According to Miller, a major aim of comparative law has been to reduce the world’s rich diversity of dynamic legal systems to a manageable number of generalized legal families or legal traditions. Comparative law’s urge to classify seeks to locate comparative law among the natural sciences, with their long history of taxonomy.

By doing so, comparatists have reinforced their self-image as neutral and objective observers of foreign legal phenomena and bolstered their effo ts to make grand, global claims at the expense of variety and diversity. In his talk, Miller argued that comparative law’s taxonomy should be abandoned for an approach that engages with legal systems on their own pluralistic terms — as unique centers for evolving discourse among a variety of legal traditions.

CLASS UPDATES AND SUCCESS STORIES

CHANNING J. MARTIN ’75, ’79L AND MARIE WASHINGTON ’03L

Law Alumni Named 2018 Leaders in the Law CHANNING J. MARTIN ’75, ’79L and MARIE WASHINGTON ’03L have been named to the 2018 class of Leaders in the Law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly.

Martin is a partner in the Richmond office Williams Mullen and chair of the environment and natural resources group. He counsels clients on a wide variety of environmental issues and represents them before regulatory agencies and courts on such matters as the Clean Air and Water Acts, CERCLA, RCRA, Brownfields red velopment and wetlands.

He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2007-present) and was named the Best Lawyers 2013 Richmond Environmental Lawyer of the Year. He has been recognized by Chambers USA as a leading environmental attorney in the U.S. since 2004. Active in community affairs, artin is a former chair of the board of United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg and was the campaign chair of the 2004 United Way campaign.

Channing J. Martin ’75, ’79L

Marie Washington ’03L

At her Warrenton, Virginia, law practice, Washington represents clients in a wide array of matters, including contracts, business, criminal violations, domestic relations and estate planning. She is an active member of the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Women Attorneys Association, Virginia Association

of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Northern Virginia Black Attorneys Association, and the Fauquier & Prince William County Bar Associations. Washington served on the Virginia State Bar Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board from 2011 to 2014. She currently serves on the board of governors for the Litigation Section of the Virginia State Bar.

Washington is an active community volunteer and has served on the board for Fauquier Faith Partners Inc., Salvation Army, Warrenton United Methodist Church, and Boys and Girls Club of Fauquier County. She currently serves on the board for Fauquier Health Senior Living and on the advisory board for the Mental Health Association of Fauquier County. She also received a distinguished service award in 2010 at the Young Lawyers Conference of the Virginia State Bar for developing a CLE and for her charitable work of organizing the No Bills Night and Wills for Heroes program.

PETER STRASSER ’79L

A World of Knowledge

BY LINDA EVANS

As the new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, based in New Orleans, PETER STRASSER ’79L brings his extensive knowledge of military and international law to the job, which he describes as “half managing the office and half doing public re tions with federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as the community.”

He said it is important to relate positively to the local community “so citizens will know we are listening and will come to us.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office pros utes violent crime, financial crimes and political corruption Strasser served 17 years in the same office as assistant U.S. attorney, and now oversees 60 attorneys who handle criminal and civil litigation.

Strasser’s varied legal career includes active and reserve duty with the U.S. Navy. More recently, he served for 12 years as a DOJ resident legal advisor with embassies in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa through a program that matches Department of Justice lawyers with State Department needs throughout the world.

Strasser served as an election monitor in the “fl wed/rigged elections” that led to the 2003 Rose Revolution in the Republic of Georgia. At the time, he was advising local prosecutors, judges and law enforcement in the development of new procedures to replace Soviet-era systems. He later served as an OECD anti-corruption monitor for Georgia.

He also advised law enforcement in Malawi, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Balkan countries under the U.S. European Command’s mission in Germany.

“They all wanted a criminal justice system modeled on the United States,” said Strasser.

In his position as an assistant U.S. attorney (AUSA) for Louisiana’s Eastern District, he headed the organized crime and economic crime divisions.

Among his trial accomplishments were the convic-

tions of former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards and associates on racketeering charges.

During a six-month reserve assignment in Puerto Rico for the Navy in 2001, Strasser prosecuted the trials and argued the appeals of a group of 180 protestors who had objected to the Navy using the island of Vieques, just off the coa t of Puerto Rico, for bombing target practice. The protests had gained international attention, and people from all over the world, including political and Hollywood celebrities, were heavily involved in the protests. They all received jail periods.

For the past five years, b fore his current appointment, Strasser was a partner with Chaffe cCall L.LP., New Orleans’ oldest law firm, where he was criminal defense attorney, gaining “a perspective I didn’t have before.”

After the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, Strasser’s friends suggested that he allow himself to be considered for the U.S. attorney position. The yearlong process involved numerous meetings with people in the government, business and legal communities. The Senate proposed his name in October 2017, he was nominated by President Trump in June 2018, and confirmed by the Senate in August 2018.

Working in law is something he has loved “from day one.” He says each day is “fascinating and rewarding. You are making a difference and working on behalf of victims.” Even in his management position, he feels exactly the same, and he strives to make sure the assistant attorneys under him are happy. “I was always happy as an AUSA because management recognized that happiness equals productive employees.”

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CHARLES GRANT ’91L

Board President of Tennessee Legal Aid Society Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, the state’s largest nonprofit l w firm has appointed CHARLES K. GRANT ’91L as its new board president. Grant is a member of the Law Council.

He previously served as vice president of the board, and his term as president will last through 2020.

Grant is a shareholder at Baker, Donelson and a member of its board of directors. He focuses on complex employment litigation, including FLSA collective actions, general business litigation and representation of licensed professionals before licensing boards. A prominent lawyer and veteran litigator, Grant has tried more than 50 jury trials to verdict in federal and state courts and represented clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings.

60s 1968L Bruce Jackson (’65) has finally decided to retire fully from the practice of law after 46 years at the firm. He lives in San Francisco.

Joseph W. Brown received the Anti-Defamation League Jurisprudence Award. He lives in Las Vegas and is of counsel at Kolesar & Leatham.

Northrop Grumman in 2014 and earned a master’s in European History from George Mason University. He is now researching issues in Irish and German history, as well as teaching at Pellissippi State Community College.

David D. Redmond (’66) was nominated by St. Joseph Villa for the Association of Fundraising Professionals Central Virginia Chapter Volunteer Impact Award.

70s

1970L The Hon. William F. Stone Jr. (’68) and his wife, Cathy, have moved to Davidson, North Carolina.

1974L R. David Carlton (’71) and his wife, Donna, have relocated to east Tennessee on the banks of Lake Tellico. He retired from

1985L Bradford F. Englander was named Lawyer of the Year by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2019.

He is a partner at Whiteford Taylor & Preston in Falls Church, Virginia.

1975L Steve LaCroix retired from The Dwyer Group Inc. in September 2018. He lives in Waco, Texas.

1977L 1969L

Grant is a past president of the Nashville Bar Association and has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Napier-Looby Bar Foundation’s Trailblazer and A.A. Birch Outstanding Public Service awards, the Nashville Bar Association’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award, the Tennessee Bar Association’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Award and the ACLU of Tennessee’s Bruce Kramer Cooperating Attorney Award.

Grant has been listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers every year since 2006 in the area of Employment Litigation Defense, in The Best Lawyers In America in the areas of Employment Law — Litigation and Employment Law — Management every year since 2014, and in the Nashville Business Journal’s Best of the Bar six times, most recently in 2018.

Charles M. Lollar was named president-elect of the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association.

George R. Moore, of Devine Millimet, became executive director of the New Hampshire Bar.

1979L Barry J. Plunkett III became assistant general counsel, acquisition integrity, for the U.S. Navy. He lives in Ellicott City, Maryland.

80s 1980L

Kenneth M. Lyons has retired from Blank Rome.

Members of ’73L at their annual weekend in Easton, Maryland.

From l. to r.: Sam Heck; the Hon. John P. Miller, the Hon. Jesse Crumbley, Larry W. Fifer, Pete Wimbrow, Ted Ritter and the Hon. Robert Giamattorio.

Christopher Wolf received the Barbara Balser Lifetime Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League at its National Leadership Summit in May in recognition of 30 years of volunteer service to ADL. He served as the Washington, D.C., regional board chair; national chair of Civil Rights, Strategic Planning and Technology; founder and chair of the ADL Task Force on Internet Hate; originator of ADL: In Concert Against Hate, an annual event in its 24th year at the Kennedy Center featuring the National Symphony Orchestra; and co-author with then-national director Abraham Foxman of the book “Viral Hate: Containing its Spread on the Internet” (Macmillan, 2013).

Wolf also has served on the national boards of the ADL and the ADL Foundation.

1981L G. Scott Barhight was named Lawyer of the Year by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2019. He is associate director of advocacy for the Charleston, South Carolina, Metro Chamber of Commerce.

1983L W. Eric Cunningham, city attorney for Cape Girardeau, Missouri, was elected president of the Missouri Municipal Attorneys Association for the 2018-2019 term.

The Hon. Michael L. Krancer is founder and principal of a new energy-focused communications, permitting strategy and regulatory strategy firm called Silent Majority Strategies. He lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

DEBBIE TANG ’03L

Washington Business Journal 40 Under 40 DEBBIE TANG ‘03L has been named to Washington Business Journal’s list of 40 Under 40 industry leaders.

Tang is a partner in the minority-owned executive search firm Brid e Partners. She works to increase the number of women and people of color in executive positions and on company boards. Fluent in Mandarin, Tang also helps clients in the U.S. hire overseas.

In her Washington Business Journal profile, Tang says the one thing she would like to see more of in her industry is greater fl xibility from employers so that relocation to a company headquarters 8

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does not derail a job search. She also wishes teleportation was real so she wouldn’t waste so much time in airports and commutes in the D.C. area.

Before joining Bridge Partners, Tang spent over six years as a managing director in Major, Lindsey & Africa’s in-house practice group. She gained corporate experience as in-house counsel for Marriott International and also served as general counsel of an international restaurant chain. She began her career at Troutman Sanders and Reed Smith.

Tang is actively involved in the National Asian Pacific American Bar ssociation and the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia.

1987L Powell M. Leitch III (’84) is a partner in Gentry Locke’s medical malpractice practice group in Roanoke.

Thomas J. Woodford joined Phelps Dunbar L.L.P. as a labor and employment attorney. He lives and works in Mobile, Alabama.

1992L Jefferson E. Howeth was promoted to executive vice president and general counsel at North American Title Group L.L.C. He lives in Coppell, Texas.

1993L Michael E. Hastings was selected Lawyer of the Year by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2019.

He works for Whiteford, Taylor & Preston in Roanoke.

AMY CONANT HOANG ’13L AND KRYSTAL SWENDSBOE ’15L

Honored for Pro Bono Work

Amy Conant Hoang ’13L

Krystal Swendsboe ’15L

1994L Rajeev K. Aggarwal earned the number-one spot on this year’s Top 50 SaaS CEOs list published

by The SaaS Report. He is chair and CEO of Cvent, based in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

AMY CONANT HOANG ’13L, an associate at K&L Gates in Washington, D.C., was one of four attorneys nationwide to be honored by the non-profit ahirih Justice Center. The center provides legal services to immigrant women and children, and Hoang worked to get her client a grant of asylum in the U.S.

Hoang is member of her fir ’s government contracts and procurement policy group. She advises clients in the aerospace, defense and government services industries on a variety of procurement issues and concentrates on bid protests at the Government Accountability Offi and Court of Federal Claims, corporate ethics and compliance and internal investigations.

Virginia” (2018), published by Virginia CLE. He is a managing partner at Dunlap, Bennett & Ludwig in Leesburg, Virginia.

00s 2000L

1995L Col. Toby D. McCoy (’92) retired from the Army Reserve in September 2018 after nearly 30 years of military service, including four years of ROTC at W&L and 26 years of commissioned service. He earned the Legion of Merit Award and the Humanitarian Service Medal for service as the Staff Judge Advocate for the 1st Mission Support Command during relief efforts following hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico. He lives in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Ashley B. Rowe was promoted to vice president and associate general counsel with MetLife.

She lives in New York City.

Ali K. Wilson, founder of Wilson Associates L.L.C., celebrated the company’s one-year anniversary in November. He lives in Trenton, New Jersey.

David D. Brown is managing editor and anchor of the daily statewide public radio news hour “Texas Standard,” based at Austin NPR-affiliate KUT-FM. He is also the host of the hit podcast “Business Wars” from Wondery. He earned his doctorate in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. His dissertation was entitled “The Culture Wars and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”

J. Duncan Pitchford joined Hydro Aluminum Metals USA, in Baltimore, Maryland, as a commercial business analyst.

2001L D. Pearson Beardsley has been named as one of Georgia Trend’s 2018 Legal Elite in the areas of business law and corporate law. He lives in Atlanta.

1998L Christina E. Hassan joined Morris, Manning & Martin’s hospitality practice group as partner in Washington, D.C. The Hon. Cortland C. Putbrese was appointed to serve as a substitute judge for the City of Richmond General District Court, 13th Judicial District of Virginia.

Scott D. Schneider joined Husch Blackwell as an attorney.

He lives in New Orleans.

1999L The Hon. Brian S. Clarke is an administrative judge with the U.S. EEOC. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Thomas M. Dunlap successfully argued a Fourth Federal Circuit case in the last 12 months, beating a 9 percent reversal rate of Patent Trial and Appeals Board decisions.

He and David Ludwig ’70L also published a new book, “Intellectual Property Law in

2002L Joseph L. Cohen joined Fox Rothschild L.L.P. in Chicago as a partner.

Caryn Rivett West is president of the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association.

2003L Nicholas A. Bonarrigo joined the Belgian company Carmeuse Lime & Stone in its U.S. headquarters in Pittsburgh.

Jacob E. Comer joined Altpoint Cipher Partners in Greenwich Connecticut, as head of regulatory and compliance.

Andrew G. Phillips joined Alston and Bird in Atlanta as counsel.

KRYSTAL SWENDSBOE ‘15L was recognized by her firm, Wil y Rein, at its sixth-annual pro bono celebration. Swendsboe contributed to a host of appellate pro bono matters, including amicus briefs and two merits matters before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits.

Swendsboe represents corporate clients and individuals in a variety of litigation and appellate matters in state and federal courts. She has served in legal capacities in both public and private entities, including the U.S. Department of Justice and federal trial and appellate courts.

2004L Whitney Goodwin Bouknight is an attorney with McGuire Woods in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kevin A. White joined Butler Snow’s public finance, tax incentives and credit markets group in Richmond.

2005L Lauren Paxton Roberts (’02), an attorney with Stites & Harbison, was listed in the 2018 edition of Mid-South SuperLawyers. She lives in Franklin, Tennessee.

Brian A. Berkley has been named to Benchmark Litigation’s Under 40 Hot List.

He works for Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia.

T. Todd Egland joined Chmelik Sitkin & Davis, in Bellingham, Washington. He spent the last 13 years practicing bankruptcy and litigation in Bakersfield, California, as a partner with Klein, DeNatale, Goldner, Cooper, Rosenlieb & Kimball, and then Belden, Blaine, Raytis.

Mitchell K. Morris joined Butler Snow’s litigation department and practices within the product liability, toxic tort and environmental group. He lives in Midlothian, Virginia.

Luis E. Rivera II joined GrayRobinson in Fort Myers, Florida as a shareholder.

The Hon. Shayla McGee Sipp is an administrative judge at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Atlanta.

October 2018 was a big month for Alan Carillo ’18L (center). He became a father, passed the bar and started a new job in the Dallas office of Foley & Lardner. He was sworn into the State Bar of Texas by the Hon. Josh Burgess ’97L (left), 353nd District Court, Tarrant County, Texas.

Jameson A. Tweedie is deputy attorney general with the Delaware Department of Justice.

2007L B. Walker Entwistle has been selected to participate in Leadership Franklin’s class of 2018-19. He is a partner at Stites & Harbitson in Franklin, Tennessee.

Lindsey Doran Sberna (’03) joined Steward Health Care as deputy general counsel. She lives in Dallas.

Michelle Botek Trumbo was appointed executive director of Legal Information Preservation Alliance. She lives in Owings, Maryland.

Lisa Manning joined Schertler & Onorato in Washington, D.C., as a partner.

Colin V. M. Ram joined the McLeod Law Group in Charleston, South Carolina, as an associate.

Mini Kaur is senior legal counsel, original programming at HBO Nordic in Stockholm, Sweden.

Robert V. Spake Jr. (’03) has been named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2018 Under 40 Hot List. He works for Polsineli P.C. in Kansas City.

2008L Patrick R. Bittner joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority as the senior manager of the resolution office. He lives in Hong Kong.

The Hon. N. Hunter Davis was appointed circuit judge for the 17th Judicial Circuit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in August 2018 by Gov. Rick Scott.

Michael P. Gaetani joined Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky in Pittsburgh as an associate attorney.

2009L Travis G. Cushman joined the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C., as senior counsel for public policy.

Berit L. Everhart joined Arnold Gallagher in Eugene, Oregon, as a shareholder.

2006L Robert V. Ricca joined Scopely as vice president, corporate development. He lives in San Carlos, California.

Maria Trimble Holvick (’05) was promoted to labor and employment chair for Gordon & Rees’ national retail and hospitality practice group. She lives in San Francisco.

Leigh Anne Faugust is an attorney with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C. Alexis S. Hawley joined Grant Thornton in Chicago as an associate counsel.

Christopher A. Lauderman (’06) is the career clerk for The Hon. Joel M. Carson III, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He lives in Roswell, New Mexico.

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Jonathan P. Rosamond and wife, Jane Du ’09L, are setting out on a big adventure with their two boys, Finnegan and Remington. They will begin their trip in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, where they will live for two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half months. After that, they will decide between heading further south to Costa Rica, Columbia, and/or Argentina, or east to Thailand.

At some point, they will take the long flight to Thailand and spend a few months there before exploring Vietnam, Bali, Indonesia, and perhaps other south Asian countries. They will almost certainly spend a few weeks to a month visiting Jane’s family in China, as well.

Sometime next summer they will begin the slow voyage back west. Depending on the budget, they may stop over in Europe to visit his host family in Switzerland. They also plan a stop in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria before returning to the American continent. If anyone is interested in following along, Jonathan has set up a travel blog at www.offtheybr.com. (ybr = Yellow Brick Road) You can also follow Jane and her art business @finnandremy on Instagram. You can visit Jane’s website to find her new designs and books at www.finnandremy.com. Currently they have two books out — a Christmas book and a Dallas book — but they hope to complete many more while they are traveling.

10s

2010L James E. Collins Jr. will be teaching computer science and developing a new curriculum around game and virtual reality design at Hathaway Brown School. He will continue to do partnerships at FableVision. He lives in Gate Mills, Ohio.

Evan M. Feinman has two new titles for the Commonwealth of Virginia: executive director of the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and Governor’s chief broadband advisor. He lives in Richmond.

Marti J. McCaleb is an attorney with Garvey, Schubert & Barer in Seattle, Washington.

Pak Phinyowattanachip is an attorney and founding member at Haney Phinyowattanachip in Richmond.

Andrew A. Spievack joined Taft Stettinius & Hollister in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a law clerk.

2011L

2014L

2016L

Katie Abplanalp Brown (’05), an employment lawyer with Maddin Hauser Roth & Heller P.C. has been named the recipient of the 2018 Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section.

Bret M. Reed was promoted to general counsel at Anchor Health Properties in Charlottesville, Virginia.

C. Quinn Adams joined O’Hagan Meyer in Richmond as an associate.

Kasey M. Oliver joined Cohen Media Group as senior counsel. She lives in Manhattan Beach, California.

Kristen Gustavson Zalenski is now the assistant commonwealth’s attorney for Frederick County, Virginia.

2012L

Ryan J. Starks joined O’Hagan Meyer in Richmond as an associate.

Priscilla K. Williams joined Ferguson Frost More & Young in Vestavia, Alabama, as associate attorney.

2015L Ashley N. Adams is an associate attorney at Saxe Doernberger & Vita in Naples, Florida.

Eric C. Charette joined the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office as an assistant trial attorney. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Alexandra V. Eichenbaum (’10) joined the Georgia Legal Services Program as a family violence staff attorney. She lives in Atlanta.

Raissa L. Grant joined Ernst & Young in Los Angeles as senior associate.

Eric Santos joined Rivkin Radler as an associate attorney. He lives in Newburgh, New York.

Nicholas S. Brooks joined EMJ Corp. as counsel in Dallas.

Stephen D. Hall joined EAB in Washington, D.C., as a senior research analyst.

Jill Morris Bustamante (’09) joined Holland & Knight in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an associate.

Risa S. Katz-Albert is a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley.

2017L

Todd A. Levy is general counsel and chief compliance officer at Terra Capital Industries in Troy, Michigan.

Jordan Cherry Lope joined Christian & Small in Birmingham, Alabama, as an associate.

Christian B. Addison is an assistant staff judge advocate for the U.S. Air Force. He is stationed in Abilene, Texas.

Sarah Ratzel Hartsfield (’09) joined Holland & Knight in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an associate.

Oscar R. Molina joined Jenkins Fenstermaker in Huntington, West Virginia, as an associate attorney.

Brett A. Castellat joined Greenberg Traurig in McLean, Virginia, as an associate.

Lillian L. Reynolds is the assistant attorney general at the Maryland Office of the attorney general.

Madeline T. Morcelle joined the Mississippi Center for Justice as a staff attorney.

Mikail O. Clark joined Johnston, Allison & Hord in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an attorney.

Elizabeth Petty Summers joined UBS Wealth Management as an associate wealth strategist. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Meg Sawyer is a judicial law clerk at U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina.

Maressa M. Cuenca joined Nexsen Pruet in Columbia, South Carolina, as an associate.

Andrew T. Squires joined Rockbridge County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office as assistant commonwealth’s attorney.

Caley A. DeGroote has joined Gentry Locke in the firm’s Roanoke office as an associate on the personal injury and medical malpractice teams, where she will assist with complex litigation matters.

2013L Christina Becker Ellis joined ACLU of North Carolina as staff attorney.

Ernest B. Hammond III is associate counsel at Uber. He lives in Redwood City, California.

Jennifer Hendricks joined Ogletree Deakins in San Diego as an associate attorney.

Kyle R. Hosmer joined Faegre Baker Daniels in Denver as a legal clerk.

Monica K. Tulchinsky joined Lutheran Social Services of New York as a staff attorney.

Hernandez Stroud is a law clerk at U.S. Courts of Appeals in the greater Boston area. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Stephanie L. Tanzi joined Harris Beach in Uniondale, New York, as an associate attorney.

Katherine A. Waibler has a two-year clerkship at the U.S. Tax Court. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Zara A. Wallace joined Hunton Andrews Kurth in Richmond as an associate.

Brooke A. Weeden joined McGuireWoods in Richmond as an associate.

Kiersty M. DeGroote joined Bochetto and Lentz in Philadelphia as an associate.

Jack Gainey joined Kennedys CMK in Basking Ridge, New Jersey as an associate.

C. Will Knapp joined Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young in Charleston, West Virginia, as an associate.

Amanda K. Lyons-Archambault joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in Washington, D.C., as a senior associate.

Andrea I. Marshall joined the USDA Office of the General Counsel’s

KEVIN CLUNIS ’93L, ASHLEY TAYLOR ’93L AND JAMES WILLIAMS ’98L

Most Influential Black awyers credit reporting agencies, and auto KEVIN CLUNIS ’93L, ASHLEY TAYLOR ’93L finance companies on regul tory and and JAMES WILLIAMS ’98L were named compliance issues. to Savoy Magazine’s list of Most

Williams is a partner at CheInfluential Black awyers of 2018. hardy Sherman Williams, where he

Clunis is group vice president leads a trial team that implants with of legal and compliance at Ross existing legal counsel to give clients Stores Inc., where he leads a team undeniable firepower in ju y trials. of attorneys and compliance Having litigated cases in 15 differen professionals and oversees a broad Kevin Clunis ’93L Ashley Taylor ’93L James Williams ’98L states and Milan, Italy, Williams has mandate of legal matters. Prior to consistently won significant ju y trials Ross, Clunis served in senior legal for defendants in America’s most roles at the Colgate-Palmolive Co. and liberal venues and for plaintiffs in America s most conservative venues. Williams American Airlines. He also served as a trial attorney with the city of Chicago’s Law represented Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson against the state Department and started his legal career a criminal prosecutor. of Louisiana, which attempted to block her ascension to chief justice. He argued

Taylor is a partner in the consumer financial se vices practice at Troutman and won her case in United States District Court, making her Louisiana’s fir t Sanders. His primary focus is on federal and state government regulatory and African-American chief justice. enforcement matters involving state attorneys general, the Consumer Financial

The publication states that the recognition “drives positive dialogue on and Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. Drawing upon his experiabout black culture,” showcasing African-American men and women who have ence as a deputy attorney general for the state of Virginia, Taylor has developed been recognized for their legal leadership and expertise in national and globalan extensive consumer practice with regard to the consumer financial se vices leading corporations. industry, including advising debt buyers, debt collectors, payment processors, 10

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International Affairs, Food Assistance, and Farm and Rural Programs Division as an attorney advisor. She lives and works in Washington, D.C. Daniel J. Martin joined Fishwick & Associates in Roanoke as an associate attorney.

2018L

Hannah Shtein ’15L. In attendance were many W&L alumni, including Claire Leonard ’16L, Richard Doelling ’15L, Matt Winer ’15L, Stevi Frost ’15L, Adam Wendel ’15L, Zach Agee ’15L, Cristina Macioch Agee ’15L, Scott Burton ’16L, Joey Connor ’15L, Julian Harf ’16L, Meghan Flinn ’14L, Austin Lomax ’15L, Wes Smith ’15L, Davis Frith ’13, Will Hoing ’15L John Ditore ’10, Linda Davis Frith 82L and Dan Frith 82L.

Christopher C. Brewer joined Hunton Andrews Kurth in Washington, D.C., as a law clerk.

W. Watts Burks IV joined Frith, Anderson & Peake in Roanoke as an associate attorney.

Dowin Coffy joined Land of Lincoln Legal Aid as a staff attorney. He lives in Springfield, Illinois.

John C. Fluharty joined Allen and Overy in London, United Kingdom, as a law clerk.

Roland O. Hartung joined White & Case in Washington, D.C., as a law clerk.

Risa S. Katz ’15L to Steven Albert on Dec. 30, 2017. Judge David Carson ’88L performed the ceremony. Alumni in attendance included Katherine Waibler ’15L, Trista Bishop Watt ’15L, Tom Bortnyk ’15L, Mitchell Davis ’14L and Ethan Bishop-Watt.

Benjamin S. Nye is an associate attorney at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Elsa-Maria B. Ohman is the assistant public defender at the Office of the Public Defender for Arlington County and the city of Falls Church.

Nicholas A. Ramos joined Hunton Andrews Kurth in Richmond as an associate.

Maria V. Rossi joined Indiana County Court of Common Pleas as judicial law clerk.

Jonathon C. Stanley joined Robinson & McElwee in Charleston, West Virginia, as an associate attorney.

Jacob E. Thayer is a judge advocate in the U.S. Coast Guard. He lives in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mark X. Zhuang joined Pryor Cashman in New York City as an associate.

WEDDINGS Daniel E. Howell ’13L to Victoria Anne Linney on Sept. 29, 2018, at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. Alumni in attendance included James Bailey ’13L, Caroline Lamberti Bailey ’11, Brandt Stitzer ’13L, Virginia Lane Stitzer ’14L, Robert Hamlett ’13L, Nickel Pylant ’13L, Sarah Rust Pylant ’13L, Gibson Wright ’12L, Tyler Williamson ’14L and Christopher Wornom ’08.

Daniel R. Nappier ’15L to Shivani Deshmukh on April 21, 2018, at the Dallas Country Club. Classmates in attendance included Brendan McHugh, David Johnson, Garrett Rice, Nigel Wheeler, Craig Haring, Chad Cormier, Steve Halpin and Kevin Coghill.

BIRTHS AND ADOPTIONS Timothy R. Lankau ’04L and his wife, Sarah, a son, Joshua Timothy, on Nov. 22, 2018. He joins brother Benjamin, and sisters Esther and Elisabeth.

The Hon. Shayla McGee Sipp ’05L, two sons, Christian Sipp, on July 1, 2014, and Jaemin Sipp, on Dec. 1, 2016.

Christopher S. Colby ’05, ’08L and his wife, Holly, a son, Christopher Stuart Colby Jr., in September 2017. The family live in Beaverdam, Virginia.

Col. Michael J. Barrett Jr. ’49, ’51L, of Alexandria, Virginia, died on Jan. 28, 2018. He was father to Cheryl Barrett Hutchinson ’89.

Robert E. Glenn ’51, ’53L, of Roanoke, died on Oct. 18, 2018. He served in the Air Force and practiced law in Roanoke with Glenn, Feldmann, Darby and Goodlatte until retiring in 2016. He was father to Bob Glenn Jr. ’86 and grandfather to Robert O’Brien ’16. He belonged to Pi Kappa Phi. Herman W. Lutz ’53L, of Winchester, Virginia, died on July 31, 2018. He served in the Navy and was an attorney for over 60 years.

Kent Rigg ’52, ’55L of Saint Augustine, Florida, died on July 27, 2018. He was president of the family business Piggly Wiggly. He also founded Mid Mountain Foods, Southwest Data and Save U. He belonged to Sigma Nu.

Capt. Thomas E. Lohrey Jr. ’55, ’57L, of Port Ludlow, Washington, died on Feb. 11, 2018. He belonged to Delta Tau Delta.

Overton P. Pollard ’54, ’57L, of Richmond, died on June 20, 2018. He served in the Navy. He was the first executive director of Virginia’s Public Defender Commission. He received the DAA award in 2014. He was father to Price Pollard ’86 and grandfather to Jack Pollard ’22. He belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma.

Joseph A. Amato Jr. ’57, ’59L, of Highland Mills, New York, died on Nov. 13, 2016. He served in the Army. He was both an attorney and a real estate developer. He belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma.

Peter P. Griffin ’59L, of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, died on Nov. 16, 2018. He served in the Army. He worked in corporate law before setting up his private practice in Lock Haven.

The Hon. Patrick Henry ’59L, of Bay Shore, New York, died on July 22, 2018.

He served in the Navy during the Korean War. He was a retired New York State Supreme Court justice.

Benjamin H. Hansel II ’63L, of Salem, Virginia, died on May 20, 2018. He served in the Army. He was retired from the legal department of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after 45 years of service.

Joseph D. Logan III ’67L, of Roanoke, died on May 30, 2018. He was a partner in the Roanoke law firm Plunkett and Logan. He was uncle to Ab Hammond III ’80; cousin to Clay Jackson ’76 and Anderson Stone ’65; and brother-in-law to Rose Emery ’90L. A. Thomas Brisendine Jr. ’68L, of Woodbridge, Virginia, died on March 7, 2015. He worked for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps; the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service; and Deloitte & Touche. He was father to Scott Brisendine ’90.

Thornton M. Henry ’66, ’69L, of West Palm Beach, Florida, died on July 7, 2018. He worked at Jones, Foster, Johnston and Stubbs as a trust and estate attorney. He was father to Ruth Henry Keyes ’97, brother to Gordon Henry ’70, ’73L, and cousin to The Hon. Harry Foltz ’62, ’65L. He belonged to Beta Theta Pi. Douglas V. McNeel ’74, ’78L, of Helotes, Texas, died on Oct 5, 2018. He was a partner in Barton, East, and Caldwell law firm. He retired in 2017.

Gary E. Oviatt ’79, of Wheaton, Illinois, died on July 1, 2018. He had his own law practice until 1985 when he transitioned to the insurance industry.

Thomas C. Havens ’85L, of Port Washington, New York, died on Aug. 27, 2018. He was a partner in the law firm of Loeb & Loeb. He was brother to Karen Havens Leone ’90L.

GILES PERKINS ’92L

Katherine Brings Capito ’11L and Moore Capito ’11L, a son, Arch Alfred Moore Capito Jr. on Jan. 30, 2018. She joined Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie in Charleston, West Virginia, as an attorney.

Christina Harrison Murphy ’11L and her husband, Patrick, a girl, Maura Elizabeth Murphy, on June 21, 2018.

Anthony Watson Jr. ’12L and his wife, Samantha, a girl, Corrine, on June 26, 2018. She joins big brothers, Elliott and Gabriel.

Krista Consiglio ’15L to Thomas Frith ’10, ’15L on Oct. 20, 2018, in Vinton, Virginia. The wedding party included Meg Sawyer ’15L, Julie Mayer ’15L and

The Hon. Ernest P. Gates ’50L, of Henrico, Virginia, died on June 18, 2018.

He served in the Navy during World War II. He served more than 60 years as a public official in Chesterfield County, including 44 years as a circuit judge. He belonged to Kappa Sigma.

Beverly G. Stephenson ’53, ’56L, of Woodbridge, Virginia, died on Oct. 29, 2017. He belonged to Pi Kappa Phi.

Charles R. Yates III ’06, ’10L and his wife, Lane, a boy, Charlie Yates IV, on Oct. 16, 2018. The three Charlies: Charlie Yates IV, Charlie Yates Jr. ’70 and Charlie Yates III ’06, ’10L.

Amy Conant ’10, ’13L to Bach Hoang on June 30, 2018 in St. Michaels, Maryland.

The bridal party included Chelsea Church ’10, Diana Love ’10, Chloe McDougal ’13L and Tracy Richardson ’11.

OBITS

Aria Vainstein Allan ’12, ’16L and Robert Allan ’12, a son, Gavin Francis Clarke Allan, born on April 13, 2018. The family live in Montgomery, Alabama, where Aria practices law at Balch & Bingham, and Robert works in finance and investment management.

Giles Perkins ’92L, of Birmingham, Alabama, died Dec. 2, 2018.

He was 51.

Perkins had a long, distinguished legal career and most recently practiced at Adams and Reese. A fourth-generation lawyer, he described himself in the following way: “I went to my fir t deposition at age 7, and I grew up watching my dad try cases in small-town courts.

So the law and advocacy are in my blood.

Later I got involved in political campaigns, which deepened my knowledge of government and the ways government and business work together. Today, I use that knowledge to solve problems for clients.”

He served as executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party from 1997 to 1999 and was a former candidate for the attorney general’s office in Alabama. e advised scores of elected officials in Alabama including two governors and much of the current leadership of the Alabama Legislature. Most recently he chaired Doug Jones’ successful Senate race to replace the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. ones called Perkins “an accomplished attorney, community activist and brilliant political adviser and strategist.”

Perkins was an active member of the Birmingham community.

Two of his most significant proje ts included rebuilding Birmingham’s Railroad Park and founding the Birmingham Zoo. While a student at W&L, he served as student body president, and, as an alumnus, he was a board member of the Birmingham Alumni Chapter and served on the area campaign committee.

He is survived by his wife, Hillery ’92L, and their children, Barton, Hugh and Beverly.

Winter

2019

law.wlu.edu

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Cliff arrett ’91L, pg. 1

Natey Kinzounza ’20L, pg. 3

Linda Greenhouse, pg. 4

Sarah Brettin ’20L, p. 5

Discovery

Peter Strasser ’79, p. 7

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ALUMNI WEEKEND ap r il 12–14 • #wll a w2019

Coming Home Whether I am talking to current students returning from a school break or to the many alumni I have met traveling this year, they all share this feeling of what it means to come to Lexington. Even our newest students, when reflecting on their law school search, will share that one of the big reasons they chose Washington and Lee Law is that it feels like a home to them. I hope you will join us.

—dean br an t hel l wig

Registration is now open

Visit go.wlu.edu/lawalumni19 for the full schedule. Questions?

Please contact Suzanne Wade at swade@wlu.edu or 540-458-8996.