2000s Class Notes
2000
Amy Becker and Marc Strauss were married on January 11 in Newport Beach, CA. Classmates Kate Connelly, Kate Garland, David Schumacher, and Will Doyle were members of the wedding party, and several other classmates were also in attendance. The Strausses live in New York, where Amy is a labor and employment associate at Hogan & Hartson, LLP, and Marc is attending Columbia Business School.
Ryan Clinton left Vinson & Elkins to join the Office of the Solicitor General for the State of Texas.
Adrienne Johnson and Ryan Davis were married on June 7 in St. Louis, MO. Judy Stocks, Francesca Ugolini, Ryan Clinton, Rich Gardner and Andy Harris were members of the wedding party, and several other classmates also attended. The couple lives in St. Louis, where Adrienne practices as an estate planning associate at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. and Ryan practices as a corporate associate at Bryan Cave LLP.
Kandice J. Kerwin married Jason C. Giurintano on May 30. Jason is an attorney with the Pennsylvania office of Attorney General. The couple resides in Annville, PA.
Gregory A. Werkheiser, an associate in Piper Rudnick’s Litigation group, was selected as one of 108 Regional Finalists nationwide for a position as a White House Fellow. The bipartisan White House Fellowship Program is the nation’s most prestigious program for leadership and public service. Werkheiser is a commercial litigator with a diverse clientele. He is also recognized as a leader in the field of civic education. He founded and as a volunteer directed for six years the Virginia Citizenship Institute, a statewide bipartisan alliance of educators, students, businesspeople, and political leaders dedicated to increasing civic education and engagement among young Virginians. Werkheiser now chairs the Virginia Commission on National and Community Service, which administers the federal AmeriCorps program and is charged by the Governor with coordinating statewide efforts to increase the quantity and quality of volunteerism, community service, and civic engagement by citizens of all ages. Werkheiser’s commitment to public service is the fulfillment of a promise elicited from the virtual stranger who stepped forward to fund his college education. Prior to attending law school, Werkheiser served in dual roles as Aide to the United States Ambassador to France in Paris and member of the United States Information Agency team organizing U.S participation in the G-7 meetings in Lyon.
At the Law School, Werkheiser founded the Virginia Citizenship Institute to remedy the crisis of disengagement from public affairs among Virginia youth. Werkheiser continues his commitment to public service through his pro bono practice focusing on civil rights and as a member of the Native American and Women's Bar Associations of the District of Columbia. He represents the 1500 families of Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey in their quest to save from imminent destruction an ancient archaeological site evidencing 10,000 years of their history. As a result of his advocacy, Werkheiser was the first attorney awarded the New Jersey Historic Preservation Award, and Piper Rudnick honored him with its 2002 Pro Bono Award. Andrew McCanse Wright is leaving Skadden, Arps, Slate in Washington, D.C., to become a litigation associate at Jackson Kelly PLLC in “Wild, Wonderful” Morgantown, WV. Andrew and Caprice Roberts, a WVU Law Professor, live in Morgantown with their dog, Trixie, and cat, Bubba.
2001
Andy Bell married Betsy Jordan on September 2, 2001, in the North Carolina mountain-town of Lake Junaluska. Bell completed Air Force Intelligence School in June 2002, visited his younger brother in the Peace Corps in South Africa for a month, and arrived in northern Japan in September 2002. He is an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force, 25th Fighter Wing, Misawa Air Base, Japan.
David E. Bell is doing litigation work at Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C. He is engaged and will marry Elizabeth Douglas in September 2003.
Noble Black is living in New York and working at McKee Nelson LLP in the area of structured finance.
Gunes F. Ozcan Hopson is working at Williams Mullen where her practice focuses on corporate law with a sub-specialty of representing investment advisors. She and her husband Kevin reside in Richmond, VA.
Howard D.McFadden is specializing in corporate tax (in-house counsel) at Norfolk Southern Corporation in Norfolk, VA. He and his wife Jennifer have two children: Zoe, 5, and Shane, 4.
Catherine Morgen and her husband David welcomed the birth of their second child, Chloe Margaret, on December 22, 2002. The Morgens live in Atlanta, GA.
Michael J. Schwartz married Lauren Winters (Curry School of Education 2001) on March 29, 2003 in New York.
2002
Matt Ballenger was named The Labor Lawyer’s 2002 Student Writing Competition winner for his paper, “The Price of Justice: The Role of Cost Allocation in the Employment Arbitration Fairness Analysis.” A first-year associate at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C., Ballenger wrote his paper during his second and third years at the Law School, under the direction of Law Professor Rip Verkerke. Ballenger said the paper examined the developing field of the law surrounding the enforceability of employment arbitration agreements.
Jason R. Barclay has joined Barnes & Thornburg, Indiana’s
largest law firm, as a new associate in the Indianapolis office.
He practices in litigation and white-collar criminal defense.
An Indiana native, Barclay served as an advisor to former Indianapolis
Mayor Steve Goldsmith and as a research assistant for David Gergen,
former White House Communications Director for Presidents Ford
and Reagan. Amy Kobelski married Andrew Trueblood in August 2002.
Amy is finishing her clerkship with Chief Justice Frank Drowota
of the Tennessee Supreme Court this summer and will start working
at Jenner & Block, LLC in Chicago in September.
Kristina J. Kopf will marry Edward Bryan Thomas on September 14, 2003. The couple will live in Atlanta.
