1980s Class Notes

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1980

David PaxtonDavid Paxton was recognized in 2018 Benchmark Litigation. Paxton practices with Gentry Locke in Roanoke, Va.

Barbara A. Young was named in 2018 Best Lawyers for business organizations (including LLCs and partnerships). Young practices with Verrill Dana in Westport, Conn.

1981

C. Steven Mason, a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C., was recognized in the 2018 Best Lawyers in America.

John Livkin '81John L. Rivkin was named in the 2017 Best Lawyers in America for insurance law. Rivkin practices with Rivkin Radler in Uniondale, N.Y.

Robert Steele served on the faculty of the 52nd annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning at the University of Miami School of Law in January. Steele is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and sits on the governing council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law. He chairs the trusts and estate department of Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas in New York.

1982

William Woodrow '14 and Thatcher Stone '82
William Woodrow '14 and Thatcher Stone '82, of Stone & Woodrow, represented Sharon Lewis in Lewis v. Delta Airlines Inc., before the U.S. District Court for Nevada.
 
The jury awarded their client, a former Delta Airlines employee who has HIV, a nearly $1.3 million verdict after finding the airline failed to accommodate his medical condition and wrongly fired him over it.

Allen Boyer shared his review of UVA Law Professor Ted White’s “Law in American History, Volume II: From Reconstruction Through the 1920s” for the Phi Beta Kappa Key Reporter. For something completely different, Boyer has been penning reviews of contemporary works as book editor on HottyToddy.com, an online magazine in his hometown of Oxford, Miss. Boyer’s book, “Rocky Boyer’s War,” continues to sell steadily; he had a book signing at the Harvard Coop in March. He’s also booked a podcast for WCBS radio. Boyer has started work on his next book, which will take him back to the legal history field. “A friend at Cambridge suggested we write a one-volume history of the law of treason in England — he has the Tudor and Stuart age, while I get the Medieval period, the ‘Game of Thrones’ era,” he writes.

M. Christian King '82M. Christian King was named a litigation star in the 2018 Benchmark Litigation. King is one of the founding partners of Lightfoot, Franklin & White in Birmingham, Ala. King handles high-stakes litigation, often involving derivative or class-action allegations or significant punitive damage claims, at both the trial and appellate levels.

Suzanne Israel Tufts was nominated and confirmed to serve as assistant secretary for administration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tufts is a consultant and attorney with extensive experience in turnaround management and operations in the public and not-for-profit sectors. She founded her own consulting firm, which focuses on providing services for tax-exempt organizations and emerging companies. Tufts is a nationally recognized expert in the field of inner-city social programming in the areas of microenterprise, education and women’s issues, and has been responsible for programs in housing authorities in New York. Tufts previously worked as president and chief executive officer of the American Woman’s Economic Development Corp., the nation’s first women’s entrepreneurship training center. Under her leadership, AWED created emergency small-business crisis services within 72 hours of the 9/11 attacks, work for which she was recognized by President George W. Bush and then-Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

E. Glenn Waldrop '82E. Glenn Waldrop was named a litigation star in 2018 Benchmark Litigation. Waldrop is one of the founding partners of Lightfoot, Franklin & White in Birmingham, Ala. His practice focuses on business and commercial litigation

1983

Mark Davidson was named in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law, securities/capital markets law and tax law. Davidson practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.

Pat Gottschalk is chair-elect of ChamberRVA, the Greater Richmond (Va.) Chamber of Commerce. Gottschalk, a partner at Williams Mullen, assumes the chair on July 1. He is also serving as the chair of FutureRVA, the chamber’s regional funding initiative to enhance the talent pipeline and fund advocacy efforts with respect to infrastructure and placemaking. Gottschalk served as Virginia secretary of commerce and trade under Gov. (now U.S. Sen.) Tim Kaine from 2006-10.

Betty S. W. Graumlich lives in Richmond, Va., with her husband, Chip, and — when on school breaks — their daughter, Lizzie. Lizzie is currently in her third year at the University of Georgia. In Reed Smith’s Richmond and Tysons Corner offices, Graumlich serves as the global practice group leader. She is included in the 24th edition of Best Lawyers in America for labor and employment litigation, and is recognized in Super Lawyers’ Corporate Counsel Edition as one of America’s leading labor and employment attorneys. She’s also been named in Virginia Elite for a decade. Graumlich was recently elected to serve her fourth term on the governing council of the Virginia Bar Association’s Labor Relations and Employment Section.

After 33 years, Steven Hollman left Hogan Lovells to join the Washington, D.C., office of California-based Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, and is enjoying “the congenial culture, supportive atmosphere, transparency, democratic management and standard of excellence of Sheppard, Mullin,” he writes. Hollman continues his work in intellectual property litigation and complex commercial litigation, and his role as co-chair of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Jeff Oleynik was named in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for antitrust law, bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights/insolvency, and reorganization law. Oleynik practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.

Bob Simmons is in his third year as executive director of Council for Children’s Rights in Charlotte, N.C. Since January 2016, Simmons has been the chair of the Mecklenburg County Child Fatality Prevention and Protection Team, and in May 2017 he was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to a four-year term on the North Carolina Social Services Commission. Simmons also serves on the leadership team of Race Matters for Juvenile Justice.

1984

Kurt Krueger '84Kurt Krueger was awarded the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award. Beyond his professional business roles, Krueger has had a long tradition of community and civic involvement since beginning his legal career with McGuireWoods in 1984. He has served on multiple civic boards and chaired a number of those boards. One of Krueger’s most significant acts of community service is as the incorporator and one of the founding board members of the Piedmont Family YMCA Inc., since 1994.

“After exactly 12,000 days on the federal payroll spent mostly with parts of the Departments of State and Defense, on April 30, 2016, I retired early from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,” writes Bernard Seward. “I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to practice national security and international law, teach and mentor law students and young lawyers, and negotiate and advise on numerous international agreements ranging from the Chemical Weapons Convention to mapping co-production programs.” Seward and his wife returned to Charlottesville, where he started his second career — flying charitable medical patient transport flights, assisting the Law School’s St. Thomas More Society and volunteering at the St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish.

1985

Paul H. Davenport was included in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for real estate law. He practices with Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond, Va.

Martha Donovan '85Martha N. Donovan was named the 2018 Best Lawyers’ Environmental Litigation Lawyer of the Year in the Woodbridge, N.J., metro area. Donovan is a member of the Bridgewater, N.J.-based law firm Norris McLaughlin & Marcus. Donovan devotes her practice to environmental law and complex litigation with an emphasis on the defense of environmental property damage claims. She also has considerable experience working on related insurance coverage matters.

Douglas S. Granger '85Douglas S. Granger was named managing partner of the Richmond, Va., office of Hunton & Williams. The office includes business law, litigation and regulatory practices, and has 450 employees, including 225 attorneys. Granger’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions, and he has served as lead counsel on multiple “Deal of the Year” transactions named by M&A Atlas and M&A Advisor.

Kris Nanda lives in Ottawa, Canada, with his family and is currently managing the environmental petitions program for the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. The environment petitions process allows any Canadian resident or organization to bring concerns about or suggestions related to an environmental issue to the attention of the Canadian government and receive a formal response from cabinet ministers.

Melissa Weaver was named in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for employee benefits (ERISA) law. Weaver practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.

Jim Wheaton joins the faculty of Boston University Law School this summer, where he will be a clinical associate professor and director of the Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property Clinic, which serves Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University students with early stage business ventures.

Christopher Winton was the contributing author of the West Virginia Chapter on Domestic Asset Protection Trusts published in the treatise, “Bogert on Trusts,” in December.

1986

Peter A. Caro was listed in Super Lawyers for his real estate practice. Caro practices with Casner & Edwards in Boston.

Cy Smith and Bill Isaacson have been admitted to the American College of Trial Lawyers. Isaacson, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner in Washington, D.C., and Smith, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in Baltimore, were roommates for all three years while attending UVA Law.

Smith’s diverse trial practice includes work on a wide range of high-profile disputes, including his successful representation of retired NFL players with concussions. Isaacson is a three-time winner of the American Lawyer Litigator of the Week and has been named American Lawyer Litigator of the Year. The American College of Trial Lawyers is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada.

1987

S. Brian Farmer was included in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for corporate law, information technology law, leveraged buyouts and private equity law. He practices with Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond, Va.

Timothy S. Goettel, a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C., was recognized in 2018 North Carolina Super Lawyers. Goettel was also named in 2018 Best Lawyers in America.

PETA Foundation General Counsel Jeff Kerr received a 2017 Trending 40 Corporate Counsel Award from DCA Live. The awards recognize in-house lawyers in Washington-area corporations and nonprofits who have made significant contributions to their organizations’ successes.

In the last year alone, the state of California prohibited captive-orca breeding after Kerr’s team persuaded the California Coastal Commission not to approve SeaWorld’s planned orca tank expansion outright and supported making it contingent on ending orca breeding. Ringling Bros. Circus closed down after years of PETA complaints over its abuse of elephants, and Kerr’s team secured the release of 60 bears and eight chimpanzees from backyard collections and roadside zoos. Corporate Counsel magazine named it the Best Legal Team of 2017. Kerr also received the 2017 Shaping Justice Award for Extraordinary Achievement.

Bob Saunders was named in the 2018 Best Lawyers in America for litigation and controversy in tax, nonprofit/charities law and tax law. Saunders practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.

Katie Schwab joined Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies’ New York City office. Schwab dramatically expands the firm’s existing government relations practice, which offers strategic guidance and government relations advocacy before a broad range of New York City agencies, the mayor’s office and city council. Schwab, who joins the group as practice director, brings more than 25 years of experience working with government bodies in both New York City and Long Island.

Randy Tinsley was named in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for environmental law and environmental litigation. Tinsley practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.

James L. Weinberg was included in 2018 Best Lawyers in America for gaming law, mergers and acquisitions law, and securities/capital markets law. He practices with Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond, Va. 

Nancy McFadden '87

In Memoriam: Former Clinton Official and Chief of Staff to California Governor, Nancy McFadden ’87

Nancy McFadden ’87, chief of staff for California Gov. Jerry Brown and a former Clinton administration official, died March 22 in Sacramento after a battle with ovarian cancer.

“Nancy was the best chief of staff a governor could ever ask for,” Brown said in a statement. “She understood government and politics, she could manage, she was a diplomat and she was fearless. She could also write like no other. Nancy loved her job and we loved her doing it.”

After graduating from San Jose State University and the Law School, McFadden began her career at O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. She left practice to join Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in December 1991, then joined his administration as a deputy associate attorney general. McFadden later served as general counsel for the Department of Transportation and then deputy chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore.

In a joint statement, former President Clinton and Hillary Clinton called McFadden a “fine person who deeply believed in the power of politics to make a positive difference in people’s lives, and she did until the very end.” Gore wrote on Twitter that she was an “extraordinary public servant whose wise counsel I relied upon for much of the last 25 years.”

In 2000, McFadden moved back to Sacramento to serve with then-Gov. Gray Davis, later worked at Pacific Gas & Electric Co. as a senior public affairs and government relations executive, then joined Brown’s administration, where she was known for pulling together deals.

Former cabinet secretary Dana Williamson told the Sacramento Bee that McFadden was like a “big sister” and the “epicenter” of the office, lifting spirits by breaking into dance in the hallway.

McFadden, who was featured in UVA Lawyer’s spring 2015 issue, said “shared values” bring people into public service and inspire them to work for leaders such as Brown.

“I love that there’s a purpose bigger than the job, as well as those little moments where you’re able to do something for someone that, but for you, might not have happened,” McFadden said.

Mary Wood

1988

Michael Andresino chairs the corporate and securities practice group at Posternak Blankstein & Lund in Boston. He and his wife, Patty, live south of Boston in Milton, Mass. They have two sons, Jack, 19, and Joe, 15.

Cecily Banks is a full-time faculty member at the Boston University School of Law. Banks teaches contract drafting as part of the school’s Transactional Law Program and directs the Corporate Counsel Externship Program by placing law students in corporate counsel offices of companies to train for academic credit.

Thomas S. Burack '88Thomas S. Burack stepped down in January 2017 after more than 10 years of service as commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. He returned to Sheehan Phinney in Manchester, where he serves as a consultant and legal adviser on environmental, energy, development, and organizational management and governance matters. In May 2017, Burack’s leadership was recognized with the Ira Leighton In Service to States Annual Award by EPA Region 1 in Boston. In September he received the 2017 Founders Award from the Environmental Council of States, the national, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders.

Both awards cited Burack’s visionary efforts to help create and lead E-Enterprise for the Environment, a shared governance initiative of states, tribes and the EPA. The effort strives to modernize the delivery of environmental protection services across the country.

John Cooper’s son, Matthew, was admitted to UVA Law for the Class of 2021. “We’re so excited for him!” he writes.

William S. "Buddy" Cox '88William S. “Buddy” Cox was named a litigation star in 2018 Benchmark Litigation. Cox is one of the founding partners of Lightfoot, Franklin & White in Birmingham, Ala. Cox focuses his practice on a wide variety of clients facing property damage and personal injury lawsuits brought by neighboring residents, administrative claims brought by state and federal regulatory agencies under various environmental statutes and regulations, disputes among persons responsible for cleanup costs at numerous remediation sites under the Superfund Act, natural resource damages claims and opportunities to redevelop potentially contaminated properties.

J. Benjamin English, a partner at Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond, Va., was named as a lawyer of the year for corporate governance law in 2018 Best Lawyers in America.

Mark Holton joined Duane Morris as special counsel. Holton, who will be resident in New York, has represented investment banks; insurance brokers; insurance and reinsurance firms; accounting, consulting and law firms; the federal government and major news media organizations.

David Killalea co-founded a litigation finance investment firm, TRGP Capital Management, based in New York City, which in just over one year has financed numerous complex intercorporate litigation matters. As much as he enjoyed litigating for over 20 years, Killalea writes, he is “thrilled with being an entrepreneur and working from a new vantage point with law firms and corporate plaintiffs.” He commutes to New York from Arlington, Va., but can often be found visiting his sons at college football and basketball games at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin.

Wesley G. Marshall '88Wesley G. Marshall was the recipient of the 2017 Frances Perkins Award, presented by the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions. Marshall is chairman of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission. This award recognizes his innovative contributions to improving the workers’ compensation system in Virginia by engaging stakeholders and building strong partnerships with workers’ compensation professionals across the commonwealth. The commission, established in 1918, is an independent judicial and administrative state agency, which oversees the workers’ compensation system for employees, employers and insurers.

1989

J. Paul Compton Jr. was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was sworn in after confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Wendy Lang Cox represents the U.S. Trustee Program in appellate litigation with the Department of Justice. John Cox is serving a detail as deputy chief of staff in the office of the general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security. John spent nearly 25 years with the DOJ in varying capacities: assistant U.S. attorney, supervisory special agent, criminal division trial attorney, and capital case advisor to the 9/11 and U.S.S. Cole military commissions. He also investigated and indicted the son of the former president of Liberia, Chuckie Taylor, in the nation’s only federal torture case.

Last year the couple’s eldest daughter, Emily, was honored with UVA’s first Ertegun Scholarship. After she graduated (in just three years), the art history major is continuing her studies at the University of Oxford in England as UVA’s first participant in the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities. She plans to pursue her Ph.D. in art history at Yale after Oxford.\

Susan Olson was named general counsel for the Investment Company Institute. Olson had been chief counsel at ICI Global since 2014. In her new role, she oversees legal and regulatory matters, including investment companies, capital markets, retirement policy, tax and international issues. ICI is a leading global association of regulated funds, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts in the United States and similar funds offered to investors in jurisdictions worldwide.