Frank D. McPhillips is recognized in Best Lawyers in America 2006 for his specialty in public finance law at Maynard, Cooper & Gale in Birmingham, Ala.
Sally C. Merrell, a partner with Quarles & Brady in the Milwaukee office, has been recognized as one of the top 25 female lawyers in Wisconsin by Law & Politics. Merrell focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning, probate, and charitable gift planning. She has devoted more than 20 years to assisting individuals and family-owned businesses in preserving, protecting, and enhancing their wealth.
W. David Paxton, partner with Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore in Roanoke, Va. has been named to the 2005 Virginia Legal Elite by Virginia Business Magazine. Paxton was named in the category of Labor & Employment Law. The Virginia Legal Elite are chosen through a survey conducted by Virginia Business and the Virginia Bar Association. More than 5,500 lawyers are polled to nominate lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional levels of expertise in their areas of practice.
F. Blair Wimbush was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.
1981 
Stanley K. Joynes was named co-chair of the Forum on Democracy and Diversity, a signature event of the Richmond Region 2007 celebration. He was also named co-chair of the Advisory Council of the Greater Richmond YWCA, an agency devoted to serving at-risk youth and victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Ronald L. Napier is leading a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) Team to Finland for a four week vocational and cultural exchange this spring. The GSE program offers business and professional leaders the opportunity to witness and experience their respective vocations in the context of another culture. In other news, On March 10, the General Assembly of Virginia elected Napier as a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge for the 26th Judicial District of Virginia. His term will begin on July 1.
Robert F. Turner, General Faculty Professor at the Law School and Associate Director of the Center for National Security Law joined forces with Law School Professor John Norton Moore, and Ross Fisher ’04 to edit a book of essays on the Vietnam War, To Oppose Any Foe: The Legacy of U.S. Intervention in Vietnam. The essays were written by current or former UVA Law students. (See In Print section.)
1982
Previously leading Morgan Stanley’s global technology mergers-and-acquisitions practice, Chuck Cory of Menlo Park, Calif. was recently named Chairman of the Global Technology Investment Banking for the firm.
A veteran real estate attorney with extensive experience in complex commercial transactions, Michael J. Dalton recently joined Greenberg Traurig in Dallas.
C. Allen Gibson, Jr., has been elected to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the Charleston Chapter of ABOTA by the National Board of Directors. ABOTA seeks attorneys who display skill, civility, and integrity, to help younger attorneys achieve a higher level of trial advocacy and to educate the public about the vital importance of jury trials. Gibson is head of Buist Moore Smythe McGee’s construction practice group in Charleston, S.C., and is a former chair of the ABA Forum in the Construction Industry.
Jacqueline M. Gordon joined Buchanan Ingersoll as Special Counsel in Washington, DC.
Keith Hemmerling writes that David Byrne and the Talking Heads released Once in a Lifetime, the CD/DVD set, on which Hemmerling is featured in BLIND (on the DVD).
Jenny Jordan McCall loves living in Hillsborough, Calif. with her husband Jim and four children, Peter, Caroline, Andrew, and Hillary. Each child attends the Menlo School in Atherton. Peter has been accepted to Princeton next year, and Caroline won a bronze medal in the SW Regional Crew Championships. Jenny serves as chair of the individual client services group (trusts and estates) at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and has offices in Palo Alto and New York.
Mark W. Merritt was selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2006 for his work in antitrust law and commercial litigation at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte, N.C.
Christopher J. Powers, MD is a licensed medical doctor on the faculty at the Texas Tech University Heath Sciences Center. He teaches obstetrics and gynecology while using his legal education “to avoid being sued,” he writes.
Thatcher Stone became a shareholder in Akerman Senterfitt where he will be a resident in the newly opened New York City office. After this move, Stone will continue a practice related to all facets of the aviation industry and complex financial transactions and litigation.
1983
Joyce Elden has been elected a Fellow in the American College of Mortgage. She has a real estate financing practice at Akerman Senterfitt in West Palm Beach, Fla.
James D. Griffin was listed in the 2005 Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers. Griffin has also been listed in Best Lawyers in America for the state of Kansas since 1997. Griffin is a partner with Blackwell Sanders in Kansas City, Mo.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine referred to Patrick Gottschalk as a “dealmaker” during his announcement appointing Gottschalk to serve as secretary of commerce and trade. Gottschalk worked as a partner of Cantor Arkema, is general counsel to the Virginia Economic Developers Association, and a member of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s economic development committee.
Thomas N. Griffin, III was selected for Best Lawyers in America 2006 for his focus in environmental law with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein in Charlotte, N.C.
Donna Harris was selected Managing Deputy General Counsel for the Corporate Regulatory & Securities Practice Group for Wachovia in Charlotte, N.C. Harris will join Wachovia’s legal team, using her previous experience to provide leadership and counsel to the company.
Geoffrey D. Lewis is now the Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of RE/MAX International, Inc. headquartered in Denver.
Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced the promotion of Assistant District Attorney Michael Kitsis to Chief of the Frauds Bureau in March. Kitsis had been Deputy Bureau Chief. He joined the Frauds Bureau in September 1990 and was appointed its Deputy Bureau Chief in March 2002. Prior to his work in the Frauds Bureau, Kitsis was assigned to the Special Prosecutions Bureau and the Trial Division. He joined the District Attorney’s Office in August 1983. While in the District Attorney’s Office, Kitsis has worked on a number of significant cases, including the Oxford Capital Securities trial which was the first white collar Enterprise Corruption case to go to verdict and the A.S. Goldmen trial.
Shughart Thomson & Kilroy announces that Greg Musil has again been recognized by his peers and clients for his expertise in business litigation in Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Musil was also recognized in 2005 by KC Magazine as a Missouri/Kansas “Super Lawyer.”
In November 2005, Time recognized Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as one of America’s five best governors, admiring her for “positioning herself as a no-nonsense, pro-business centrist, she has worked outside party lines since winning office in January 2003 to re-energize a state that, under her predecessors, was marked by recession and scandal.” In summer of 2005, she was picked as vice chair of the National Governors Association, the first woman to occupy that position in the group’s 97-year history.
John E. Osborn testified in Washington, DC in November on “Antitrust and the New Economy” before the Antitrust Modernization Commission, which was established by the Congress to evaluate the effectiveness and application of our antitrust laws. In his testimony, Osborn addressed the review of prospective mergers in the life sciences industry by the Federal Trade Commission. Osborn was also recently appointed to the Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property for the U.S. District Court of Delaware. He is senior vice president and general counsel of the biopharmaceutical company Cephalon, Inc. in Frazer, Pa., a member of the board of directors of Incept BioSystems, a member of the board of governors of the East-West Center in Honolulu, and a visiting research collaborator in politics at Princeton University.
Bill Peterson and his wife Konnie welcomed their daughter Alexandra on September 19. She joins older brother Danny. The family resides in Baltimore where Bill is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Zurich North America.
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson announced Brent A. Torstrick’s inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2006, recognizing his work in real estate law in Charlotte, N.C.
Steptoe & Johnson announced that Nicholas J. Wallwork from Beshears Wallwork Bellamy Chartered, one of Phoenix’s best known civil litigation boutiques, is joining the firm. Wallwork will add “top notch talent to the firm’s complex litigation, environmental and international capabilities, among many others.”
Billy Webster’s fourth child, Elizabeth Langhorne (Liza), was born on January 17, 2005. She joins Will (7), Lily (5), and Vinnie (3). The Websters live in Spartanburg, S.C.
David C. Wright III was selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2006. Wright works in labor and employment law at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte, N.C.
1984
Dan Bolen is the Co-Chairman of the Bank of Prairie Village, in Prairie Village, Kan. His son Patrick is a high school junior at Christchurch School in Christchurch, Va.
Peter S. Brunstetter at Kilpatrick Stockton in Winston-Salem, N.C. was listed in Best Lawyers in America 2006 for his work in corporate and health care law. Kilpatrick Stockton is ranked in the nation’s top 25 for the overall number of attorneys listed.
Michele Clause Farquhar is currently serving as President of the Federal Communications Bar Association and continues to practice law as a partner at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, DC.
William Glew joined Alston & Bird as a partner in August. He was one of 14 lawyers who moved from another firm to establish an energy law practice in Alston’s Washington, DC office. Alston often reminds Glew of the Law School “in its collegiality and respect for the individual.”
David R. Quittmeyer of Hand Arendall in Mobile, Ala. was recognized for his focus on intellectual property law in the 2006 edition of Best Lawyers in America.
William Rock has been appointed chairman of the business and real estate departments at Shipman & Goodwin, a firm of 150 attorneys headquartered in Hartford, Conn.
As Senior Vice President for Corporate & Transactions Law at NBC Universal, Scott Seeley’s latest deal involved acquiring women’s destination site: iVillage for about $600 million.
1985
Barbara Giuffre and Richard Raushenbush ’86 recently returned to work in San Francisco after a seven-month sabbatical in Rome, where they lived next door to Gina Gambino.
Thomas B. Griffith was recently appointed a circuit judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Bush first nominated Griffith to the DC Circuit in May 2004 and then again in January 2005. He was confirmed by the Senate in June 2005 and took his seat on the court on July 1.
Moffatt G. McDonald has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only after careful investigation to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility, and collegiality.
Lawrence C. Norford, a partner in and vice chair of the personal wealth, estates and trusts department, and chair of the fiduciary litigation practice group in the Philadelphia office of Saul Ewing, has been elected chair of the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. Norford has been on the board since 2004. Prior to being elected chair, he served as secretary.
Steve M. Pharr, an attorney with Pharr & Boynton of Winston-Salem, N.C. presented a paper at a workshop “Building Vulnerability and Protection Against Chemical and Biological Agents.” The workshop was jointly produced by the Center for Energy Research and Technology, North Carolina A&T State University, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pharr’s paper focused on potential liability of design professionals in the event of terrorist attacks. Pharr continues to enjoy work in construction litigation practice. After a year as chair of the construction law section of the North Carolina Bar Association, he was chosen to be in the Legal Elite, again, by Business Carolina Magazine.
Patricia A. Screen, a partner with the litigation practice group at Brouse McDowell in Cleveland, was elected to serve a three-year term on the American Red Cross Northern Ohio Blood Services Region board of directors. A board member since 1998, she was also elected to serve a one-year term on the board’s executive committee. David Plate, CEO of this branch of the Red Cross, attributes her election to her ‘strong legal background’ and ‘personal and professional commitment to our life-saving mission.’
1986
Laura Barzilai has joined Sidley Austin in New York as counsel in the tax department where she works on a flex-time basis.
William M. Evans and his wife Sally welcomed their fifth child, red-haired Zoë Odessa, on New Year’s Eve 2004. Coincidentally, Evans is a benefits tax attorney in Washington, DC.
William V. O’Reilly is the new head of staff for the House ethics panel. A seasoned attorney with two decades of experience in private practice, O’Reilly was selected in November to head the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. O’Reilly has been an attorney in the litigation practice at Jones Day since 1986, and a partner since 1996. He resides in Falls Church, Va. with his wife and children.
Cameron Quinn recently joined the U.S. Department of Justice as Special Counsel for Voting Matters in the Civil Rights Division. Quinn was formerly the U.S. Elections Advisor for the International Foundation for Election Systems where, among other things, she spent over 12 weeks in Puerto Rico working on improving elections.
Richard Raushenbush and Barbara Giuffre ’85, recently returned to work in San Francisco after a seven-month sabbatical in Rome, where they lived next door to Gina Gambino ’85.
1987
Julie Zydron Griggs has been listed in Best Lawyers in America 2006 for her work in trusts and estates at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte, N.C. Griggs has been recognized in this publication over ten times in her career.
In addition to working as a litigation attorney with the Coca-Cola Company, Elizabeth Finn Johnson has been named chair of the Study Hall’s Development Committee. This program gives over 80 students from Atlanta Public Schools a place to complete their homework, receive tutorial assistance, and participate in after-school activities.
Stuart C. Johnson joined Powell Goldstein’s Atlanta business and finance practice bringing extensive experience in middle-market transactions, private equity, and venture capital markets.
Gwendolyn (Wendy) Lyford’s youngest son, born a month after her Law School graduation, moved to Charlottesville from Alaska to become a first-year Wahoo this fall.
Cleveland State University has selected local attorney Geoffrey S. Mearns as Dean of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Mearns was most recently a partner in the Cleveland offices of Baker & Hostetler. He was head of Baker & Hostetler’s national business crimes and corporate investigations team, focusing on white-collar and corporate criminal defense and law enforcement agencies. Prior to that, Mearns was partner at Thompson Hine, also in Cleveland. “Geoffrey Mearns has enjoyed a distinguished legal career in both the public and private sectors and is now bringing his considerable talents to a key academic leadership position at our Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. The experience, accomplishments and skills that he will share with our students, faculty and the legal community will make him an invaluable member of our University team,” said University President Michael Schwartz.
Col. Charles Pede currently serves as the Legislative Counsel in the office of the U.S. Army’s Chief Legislature Liaison.
John R. Siena now works as Assistant General Counsel and Director of European Legal Operations for Brown Brothers Harriman in London.
Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner appointed Dan K. Steen to the Board of Visitors of the University of Mary Washington in July. Steen is serving a four-year term on the board.
Beth Wilkinson is executive vice president and general counsel for Fannie Mae, a mortgage financing company. In this position she will serve as the board’s main legal counsel, managing the company’s legal issues and planning the legal agenda. She remains in Washington, DC.
1989
John T. Mannato has been named vice president, associate general counsel, and chief litigation counsel for Harleysville Insurance in Harleysville, Pa. In this position, he oversees all company litigation, with primary emphasis on claims litigation.
The Franklin College Board of Trustees appointed Joseph M. Perkins, Jr. a new member in February. Board chairman Stephen L. Huddleston notes, “We’re honored to have Mr. Perkins join the board. His professional experience, proven leadership skills and civic interests make him an asset to Franklin College and the student body.”
Daniel S. Savrin is included in 2006 Best Lawyers in America as well as Chamber’s USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2004 and 2005 editions. Savrin is a partner with Bingham McCutchen in Boston.
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