2000s Class Notes
2000
Amy Ashton was recently selected as a Rising Star by the Greater Cincinnati YWCA Academy of Career Women of Achievement. Every year the Academy honors women who exemplify personal career success, dynamic leadership qualities, and the unique ability to serve as role models. Ashton practices as an associate in the business and finance department of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP and is a member of the firm’s professional women’s resource group. She serves on the Better Housing League of Greater Cincinnati board of trustees, on the Habitat for Humanity TriState advisory board, and as a recruitment advisor for the Miami University chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.
Michael Elkon practices employment defense as an associate for Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Atlanta, GA. He married Andrea Levy in Baltimore, MD, on September 1, 2002. John Franchini, Jeff Fox, J.T. Haines, Jan De Beer, Wallis Haynes, Greg Hunter, Tonya Sulia, Anna Riggle Palmer, Bill Palmer ’99, and Bob Trammell ’99 attended the ceremony.
Kevin Kauer has joined the litigation group of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP as an associate in Charlotte, NC.
Edward Miller has been appointed to the position of deputy secretary for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). He serves as the department's chief operating officer, responsible for the work of 300 employees and the agency's nearly $120 million budget. Miller was formerly DBED acting deputy secretary and chief of staff. He previously practiced corporate law with Piper Rudnick LLP in Baltimore, specializing in mergers and acquisitions transactions. Prior to that, Miller practiced with Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York City, representing institutional clients, private equity firms, and nonprofit corporations in mergers and acquisitions, securities, and banking transactions. Miller was a recipient of the Lawyers Alliance for New York's Cornerstone Award for his pro bono work on behalf of a Harlem firehouse that lost several of its firefighters in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In July Phil Neiswender joined Getty Images, Inc., in Seattle, WA, as corporate counsel.
Kristi Bess Panikowski has joined Fish & Richardson PC in San Diego, CA, as an associate. Her practice emphasizes employment, business, and trade secret litigation. She previously practiced as an associate with Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP.
Echoing Green, a non-profit group, has named Daniel Ravicher one of the world’s “Best Emerging Social Entrepreneurs” for his campaign against patents that harm the public health, impinge civil liberties, and impair free markets. Ravicher, a registered patent attorney, founded the Public Patent Foundation (PPF) on the principles that the current patent system is used unfairly for financial gain by wealthy corporations, undercuts the civil liberties of the disadvantaged, and hinders free market mechanics. Rachiver estimates that, as a result of a system that favors the privileged, roughly half of all patents issued are illegitimate, preventing millions from gaining access to life-saving medications and depriving small businesses of real opportunities to compete in the marketplace. Utilizing legal, advocacy, and public education strategies, PPF works to expose invalid patents by initiating reexamination procedures before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ravicher previously practiced patent law with several New York firms, including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Throughout his career, Ravicher has performed hundreds of hours of pro bono legal services for individuals, non-profit organizations, and small businesses. Echoing Green is dedicated to sparking social change by identifying and supporting exceptional emerging leaders and their organizations through a two-year fellowship program.
Brian Wise will marry Nastaran Basiri, a UVA graduate, on July 13. He works as in-house counsel with Coventry HealthCare, Inc.
2001
Katherine Bernard Buchanan proudly announces the birth of Holden Barksdale Buchanan, born August 5, 2002.
Elizabeth Kinsaul and Jason Dugas were married on May 24 on Hilton Head Island, SC. Amy Collins, Erica Bachmann ’00, and Nestor Gounaris were members of the wedding party. Also in attendance were Melissa Keppel, Jonathan Allen ’97, and Julie Jackson Allen ’97.
Beppy Landrum has joined the Orlando office of Baker & Hostetler LLP. She practices with the business law group.
Jason Naunas completed his clerkship with Judge Stephen St. John and moved to Charlotte, NC, where he is now practicing with Kilpatrick Stockton LLP.
Byron Pickard and his wife Cassie (Engineering ’97) welcomed their first child, Sophie Marie, into the world on May 1. Pickard currently practices in Alexandria, VA, with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP as a litigation associate.
Igor Purlantov is still practicing with Linklaters and has moved to New York after two years in London.
Julia Yachmenev Smolyanskiy married Igor Smolyanskiy on October 12 in Brooklyn, NY, where the couple resides. She specializes in bankruptcy and restructuring as an associate with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in Manhattan.
Monica Welt and Babak Djourabchi are happy to announce their engagement in early November. “Although we’ve yet to set a date, we are enjoying our new status,” Welt writes. Both continue to practice law in Washington, D.C.
2002
Neely Fedde and her husband Matt announce the birth of their daughter, Natalie Olivia, on April 3, 2002. Natalie joined big brother Sam, now 3. The family lives in Shawnee, KS. Fedde practices as an associate with Blackwell, Sanders, Peper & Martin LLP in Kansas City, MO.
Elizabeth Bloodworth Mitchell and her husband Jay recently took a trip to Alaska to visit Jay’s brother who was stationed in Anchorage with the U.S. Army, but has since been deployed to Afghanistan. The Mitchells have a new puppy, Ransom.
Shannon Rogers Simpson and Aaron Simpson were married on December 20. They were happy to have many of their friends and fellow Law School graduates in attendance at the New York City ceremony and reception. They live in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and work in Manhattan. Shannon practices litigation as an associate with Davis, Polk & Wardwell, while Aaron specializes in antitrust law as an associate with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Chad Romey recently said goodbye to private practice in Atlanta, GA, and moved back to Fort Wayne, IN, to be closer to his roots, give legal advice to and coach basketball for the Greater Fort Wayne Homeschooling Association, and write op-ed pieces for the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. He encourages any “LawHoos” passing through the areas to contact him at (260) 485-3044.
Jennifer Bowen Wieland and her husband Jeff announce the birth of their first child, Benjamin Bowen, on July 12, 2003. The family lives in Orange, CA. Wieland is an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP in Costa Mesa, CA.
2003
In October Lise Adams was awarded the Frederick B. Abramson Public Service Award at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Washington, D.C. The award was presented to five public service lawyers providing direct legal services to District of Columbia residents.
Jeffrey
Antonson (right) has joined
Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas, TX, as an associate in the litigation
section.
Krista
Hoekstra (left) has
joined Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett LLP in the
Grand Rapids, MI, trial practice group.
Crystal Lovett-Tibbs married Aaron Tibbs on September 20 in Fredericksburg, VA. Larissa Cooper, Jessica Zeller, Mike Speaker, Nathan Campbell, Grace Im, and Emily Fan attended the ceremony. The new bride is currently serving in a clerkship for Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr., in the Eastern District of Virginia. The couple lives in Virginia Beach with their three cats.
Kelley Riddle recently joined Fulbright Jaworksi LLP as an associate in Houston, TX. She focuses on litigation.
Jason Smith and his wife Charlotte welcomed their first child, Charlotte Lynn, on September 4.
Bret T. Winterle recently joined Kilpatrick Stockton LLP in Winston-Salem, NC. A registered patent agent, Winterle focuses his practice on patent prosecution and patent litigation in the areas of mechanical, electrical, and computer technologies.
