1980s Class Notes
- Maria Smith '83: Justice = Law + Mercy
- Lindsay Robertson '86: First Ever in the Nation
- Bert Brandenburg '88: At the Forefront of Legal Reform
1980
Richard J. Pocker has been elected to a third term on the Nevada State Board of Governors. He is the administrative partner for the Nevada office of the New York-based Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
In January, after 33 years of federal government service, including 31 with the U.S. Department of Justice, Jon Rusch retired from public service to become senior vice president and head of anti-bribery & corruption governance at Wells Fargo. Jon and his wife, Doreen, continue to live in Washington, D.C.
D. French Slaughter has joined Fox Rothschild as a partner in the taxation and wealth planning department in Washington, D.C. He focuses his practice on federal, state, and local taxation matters, including income tax, franchise tax, gross receipts tax, sales and use tax, and property tax. He was previously a partner with McGuireWoods.
Paul B. Terpak was selected as Best Lawyers 2016 eminent domain and condemnation law lawyer of the year for Washington, D.C. He has handled hundreds of condemnation cases in the past 30 years, including more than 50 trials before juries and commissioners in every jurisdiction in Northern Virginia. He is a principal with Blankingship & Keith in Fairfax.
Barbara A. Young is listed in Chambers USA 2015 in corporate/mergers and acquisitions law. She is a partner with Verrill Dana in Westport, Conn.
1981
George C. Howell III has begun a one-year term as chair of the American Bar Association section of taxation. He is head of Hunton & Williams’ tax and employee benefits practice in New York and Richmond, Va. His work focuses on tax aspects of REITs, REMICs, securitizations, master limited partnerships, private investment funds, and other financial products and transactions.
Howell regularly lectures on REITs and REMICs at the Law School. He was recently selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers 2015 and Virginia Super Lawyers 2015 in tax law, and recognized as a leader in the field for national REIT practice in Chambers USA 2015.
1982
Michael D. Hankin received the inaugural Harbor Hero Award from the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore for his commitment to the health of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and the vitality of its waterfront. Hankin is chair of the Waterfront Partnership’s board and president and CEO of Brown Advisory, an independent investment firm.
Charles J. Johnson is associate director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management. He will also be a clinical associate professor at the Isenberg School and will teach classes on entrepreneurial finance and launching start-ups. Johnson was previously a partner in the private equity group at Choate, Hall & Stewart.
James S. Ryan III is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in corporate law and mergers & acquisitions law. He is a partner with Jackson Walker in Dallas, Tex.
1983
In her role as supervising attorney with the housing unit at The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Maria Smith ’83 advocates for people in disputes that involve basic human needs. Her workload, about two dozen active cases and counting, never ends and was part of the cover story of the July issue of American Lawyer magazine, “The Justice Gap: How Big Law is Failing Legal Aid.”
Eviction cases are among her most urgent work. Usually the tenant does not have a lawyer. An eviction judgment can result in a person having just seven days to find a new place to live, setting into motion a downward spiral that’s difficult to escape. An eviction on a tenant’s record reduces her chance of getting safe and affordable housing and could disqualify her for subsidized housing. Smith’s representation can stop such a free fall from happening.
Smith has advocated for people who are marginalized since she graduated from the Law School. She worked for the nonprofit Institute for Child Advocacy and The Legal Aid Society before heading to Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Brazil to work alongside people living in violence and economic oppression. In 1998 she returned to The Legal Aid Society.
Over the years many of Smith’s clients have told her that because of her representation they avoided homelessness, which meant they could graduate on time, keep their children out of the foster care system, or continue their cancer treatments.
“In some ways I wish that all policy makers could be homeless for 24 hours to see how awful it is,” says Smith. “Even things as simple as where to keep birth certificates, tax returns, and receipts for security deposits or utility bills. A person can’t apply for HUD-assisted housing without birth certificates for the entire household. Imagine if someone in the household was born elsewhere.”
“At the Law School I sat in the same classroom with some of the most brilliant legal minds in the country. I was impressed that people so intelligent were also so kind. I knew I could not be brilliant, but I could be kind and compassionate, and ultimately that is what mattered most. I still think of Cal Woodard writing on the blackboard, justice = law + mercy.”
The article in American Lawyer notes that while profits are up for many law firms, the most generous ones contribute little more than one-tenth of one percent of their gross revenue to organizations that provide basic legal service to the poor. Pro bono work plays a crucial role in legal aid, but nothing is as important as increased funding.
“I hope more people will be inspired to support their local legal services program,” Smith says. “Some people buy homes for $10 million. Imagine what a difference a $10 million gift could do for a couple of legal aid programs.” —Rebecca Barns
1983
James P. Cox III was named the Charlottesville lawyer of the year in trusts and estates for 2016 in Best Lawyers. He practices with MichieHamlett.
Mark Davidson has been named Greensboro, N.C., 2016 lawyer of the year by Best Lawyers for mergers & acquisitions law and was recognized as an industry leader in Best Lawyers 2016 and 2015 in corporate law, mergers & acquisitions law, securities/capital markets law, and tax law. He is listed in Chambers USA 2015 in corporate/mergers & acquisitions law and North Carolina Super Lawyers 2015 for business/corporate law. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard.
Don K. Haycraft is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in admiralty and maritime law and personal injury litigation-defendants. He is a shareholder with Liskow & Lewis in New Orleans, La.
Christopher S. Knopik received the Joseph P. Milton Professionalism and Civility award from the Florida Chapters American Board of Trial Advocates convention in Fort Lauderdale. He is chief legal officer and general counsel for Laser Spine Institute in Tampa.
Robert P. Latham is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in commercial litigation, First Amendment law, litigation-First Amendment, litigation-intellectual property, litigation-patent, and sports law. He is a partner with Jackson Walker in Dallas and Houston, Tex.
Geoff Lewis has been named president of RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. in Denver, Colo. He previously served as executive vice president and chief legal officer.
Jeffrey E. Oleynik is listed in Chambers USA 2015 in antitrust and litigation: general commercial law and has been named Greensboro, N.C., 2016 lawyer of the year by Best Lawyers in bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law. He is also listed as an industry leader in Best Lawyers 2016 in antitrust law, bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency, and reorganization law. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard.
John M. Sheftall is listed in Georgia Super Lawyers 2015 in estate planning & probate. He is also listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in litigation-trusts and estates and trusts and estates. He is a partner with Hatcher, Stubbs, Land, Hollis, & Rothschild in Columbus, where he focuses his practice on estate planning and administration and fiduciary litigation.
Steven W. Sloan is listed in Texas Super Lawyers 2015 in employment & labor and Best Lawyers 2016 in employment law-management and labor law-management. He is of counsel with Thompson & Knight in Dallas.
Craig Owen White has been reappointed to the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa. He was first appointed to the committee in 2013. White is a partner with Hahn Loeser in Cleveland, Ohio, where he co-chairs the food and beverage and government practice groups. He is a member of the board of directors of Great Lakes Cheese Co., Inc. and of the International Senior Lawyers Project, a provider of pro bono legal services in support of the rule of law and equitable economic development. He is listed in Ohio Super Lawyers 2015 in business/corporate; closely held business; and government/cities/municipalities.
1984
Catherine Currin Hammond retired from the judiciary after 16 years as a circuit court judge in Henrico, Va. Hammond is now a mediator and arbitrator with Juridical Solutions PLC.
David M. Rosenberg is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in nonprofit/charities law and tax law. He is a partner with Thompson & Knight in Dallas, Tex.
1985
Lawrence J. Bracken II received the Justice Ally of the Year Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Ga., in May. He is a partner with Hunton & Williams in Atlanta and New York City, where he focuses his practice on litigating and investigating class action, technology, insurance, environmental and commercial matters. He is listed in Chambers USA 2015 for litigation and in Georgia Super Lawyers 2015 for insurance coverage and civil litigation: defense, class action/mass torts.
Anthony P. Della Pietra, Jr. assumed the role of president and CEO of Citibank Japan Ltd. in June. In late 2014 Citi announced its agreement to sell Citibank Japan’s retail banking business to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation by the end of the year. Following the sale, Citibank Japan will continue to focus on corporate banking, markets, and transaction services businesses. Della Pietra joined Citi in 2004 and since then has served as COO of Citibank Japan and general counsel of Asia Pacific for Citi before assuming his current post.
Yuji Iwasawa (S.J.D. ’97) was elected as an associate of the Institut de Droit International, a prestigious academic society of international law, at its Tallinn session in August. Iwasawa is on the law faculty at the University of Tokyo.
James T. McDermott was elected chairman of Ball Janik in Portland, Ore., and is head of the litigation practice group. His first novel, Bitter is the Wind, will be published by Cune Press in February.
Jonathan D. Moonves was recognized on The Hollywood Reporter’s 2015 power lawyer list. He is a partner with Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano in Santa Monica, Calif., where he represents entertainers, writers, producers, executives, and production entities.
1986
Lindsay Robertson ’86 was selected as the Chickasaw Nation Endowed Chair in Native American Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. This is the first Native American law chair to be held by a permanent faculty member at any law school in the United States.
Robertson joined the OU law faculty in 1997 and has been instrumental in the school’s becoming a global leader in the field of indigenous law. Located in the heart of Indian Territory, the school has had the highest average enrollment of American Indian students nationwide in the past decade.
“We applaud the choice of Dr. Robertson as the first Chickasaw Nation Native American Law Chair,” said Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation. “He is a highly respected scholar who brings an incredible record of achievement to this position. He has been instrumental in helping make the law school a global leader in the field of indigenous law.”
“Over the past 18 years, Dr. Robertson has worked tirelessly at OU Law to build one of the most comprehensive Indian Law curricula in the nation,” said OU Law Dean Joseph Harroz.
Robertson co-teaches a seminar in international and comparative indigenous peoples law with colleagues in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He also teaches federal Indian law, constitutional law, and legal history and has helped OU Law alumni find jobs throughout the U.S., including policy positions in Washington, D.C. He leads the school’s Center for the Study of American Indian Law and Policy and is the founding director of its International Human Rights Law Clinic.
Robertson, who earned three post-graduate degrees at UVA, has spoken widely on international and comparative indigenous peoples’ law issues in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. In 2014 he received the inaugural David L. Boren Award for Outstanding Global Engagement and served as an advisor on indigenous peoples’ law to the chair of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. He serves as a justice on the Supreme Court of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
Robertson began his teaching career as a lecturer at UVA Law, where from 1991-96 he taught Federal Indian Law with Professor Richard Merrill. “I’ll always be grateful to Professor Merrill for inviting me to co-teach. I wouldn’t be where I am today had it not been for that experience.” —Rebecca Barns
1986
Ann Peldo Cargile was named a power leader in commercial real estate by the Nashville Business Journal and is listed in Chambers USA 2015 and Best Lawyers 2015 in real estate law. She is a partner with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, where she represents parties in all aspects of commercial real estate, including leasing, finance, and joint ventures.
John E. Lichtenstein was elected president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association for 2015-16. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He is a founding member of LichtensteinFishwick, where he represents victims of catastrophic injury in cases involving product liability and medical malpractice, and practices federal criminal defense.
Catherine Ngo was named president and CEO of Central Pacific Financial Corporation and its subsidiary, Central Pacific Bank. Ngo joined the Hawaii-based CPF in late 2010 as executive vice president and chief administrative officer after working as a founding general partner of Startup Capital Ventures in Silicon Valley. She is currently a venture partner of Startup Capital Ventures and is a trustee of the University of Hawaii Foundation and on the board of The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.
1987
Craig Gatarz joined The Honest Company in 2014 as executive vice president and general counsel. The Honest Company is a leading lifestyle brand founded by Jessica Alba that makes safe, effective, and beautifully designed consumer products that are affordable and responsibly made. Gatarz manages the legal, human resources, compliance, facilities and social goodness departments. Honest is based in Santa Monica, Calif., until it relocates to Playa Vista early next year.
Timothy S. Goettel is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions law. He is a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C.
The Hon. David C. Keesler has been elected president of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association for 2015-16. FMJA is an association of more than 750 active and retired federal magistrate judges from across the country. Keesler has served as a magistrate judge in Charlotte, N.C., for 12 years.
Dayna Bowen Matthew is living in Washington, D.C., spending a two-year leave from her faculty position at the University of Colorado Law School to serve in the federal government. During 2015 Dayna worked as a senior advisor to the Office of Civil Rights for the Environmental Protection Agency. As of September she is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Medicine.
Bob Saunders is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 for litigation and controversy-tax, nonprofit/charities law, and tax law. He is with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro, N.C.
Richard R. Spore III is the managing partner of Bass, Berry & Sims in Memphis, Tenn., where he concentrates his practice on commercial real estate and lending and business and transaction planning. He is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in banking and finance law, closely held companies and family business law, project finance law, and real estate law, and in Chambers USA in real estate law. He was profiled in the February 27th edition of the Memphis Business Journal, highlighting his involvement in Memphis redevelopment projects.
V. Randall Tinsley is listed in Chambers USA 2015 in environmental law and Best Lawyers 2015 in environmental law and environmental litigation. He was recognized as Best Lawyers’ Greensboro lawyer of the year in litigation-environmental law for 2015. He is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in environmental law and litigation-environmental. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, where he focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources law and water rights.
1988
At the Forefront of Legal Reform
From the time he first thought about a career, Bert Brandenburg ’88 remembers focusing on public service. “At Law School I realized that I loved the intersection of law, politics, and policy,” he says, “and I’ve never looked back.”
His first-year summer at a legal aid office showed him how law could be a bridge for people seeking opportunities to improve their lives. He has built on that early experience ever since.
This summer Brandenburg became president of Appleseed, a nonprofit network of pro bono resources across the country that works to pass reforms and litigate cases to remove barriers to opportunity.
Appleseed sponsors research and advocacy to improve education, decrease poverty, support vulnerable youth, and promote health and safety. Its 17 public interest justice centers in the United States and Mexico are led by experienced advocates who are well respected in local policy and legal matters. They know how to get things done.
Brandenburg has traveled an interesting path to his current position. In the 1990s, not long after graduating from law school, he ran the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs and served as chief spokesman for Attorney General Janet Reno. “Any job where you translate the law makes you think about how well it actually serves justice,” he says. “Speaking for the Justice Department makes you acutely aware of just how powerful the law can be, as well as the challenges of doing justice in a large, sprawling society."
Following his years at Justice, Brandenburg served for a decade as executive director of Justice at Stake, a non-partisan campaign of more than 50 organizations working to keep courts fair and impartial. Justice at Stake strives to educate the public and supports reforms that keep politics and special interests out of courtrooms.
Looking back, Brandenburg credits the Law School’s openness to course selection with helping him find his niche. “The Law School let me broaden my course choices, including classes outside the program, to better explore policy issues. One favorite was a seminar called Government, Politics, and the Law taught by D.C. super lawyers Weldon Latham and Jim Dyke. It used current case studies to explore how law and politics really work, and I was hooked.” —Rebecca Barns
1988
William E. Berlin joined Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman in Washington, D.C., as a shareholder. He focuses his practice on counseling and defending hospitals, health systems, physicians, and other health care providers in federal and state antitrust enforcement agency investigations, as well as litigation involving mergers and acquisitions. He is listed in Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers 2015 in antitrust litigation and health care law. Since 2013 he has served as a monitoring trustee in a multi-billion dollar divestiture for the Department of Justice. He was previously in private practice and served as a senior trial attorney for the Department of Justice antitrust division.
John Cooper has been appointed as a governor-at-large to the board of governors of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. This summer, at the American Association for Justice convention in Montreal, he was re-elected chair of a working group that assists injured railroad workers. Cooper is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers 2015 in personal injury law and is a founding partner with Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers in Norfolk.
R. Craig Jones reports that he enjoys helping independent schools recruit and hire teachers and school leaders in his position with Southern Teachers Agency in Charlottesville. The agency, founded in 1902, is the oldest independent school placement service in the U.S., and the only one that focuses on private and independent school placements in the South.
The Hon. Eric C. Taylor of the Los Angeles County Superior Court has been elected president of the California Judges Association by the organization’s executive board. He will serve a one-year term. This will be his second term as president, having been elected the first time in 2003.
1989
Pat Brooks celebrated her 20th anniversary as in-house counsel with Towers Watson in Philadelphia, Pa., in April. She currently handles insurance regulation for TW’s multiple entities worldwide and writes that she has frequent early morning calls—as early as 5 a.m.—with businesses in Asia Pacific. “My son, Steve, his wife, Kim, and two granddogs are doing great.”
Steven Fogg has been inducted as a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and is listed among the top 100 lawyers for 2015 in Washington Super Lawyers. Fogg is a partner with Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner Fogg & Moore in Seattle.
Douglas F. Gansler, former attorney general of Maryland and president of the National Association of Attorneys General, is now a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of BuckleySandler. His practice focuses on advising businesses and individuals on federal and state investigations and enforcement actions and litigation matters involving state attorneys general, the Department of Justice, and other state and federal enforcement and regulatory agencies.
Arthur V. Lambert joined Fisher & Phillips as partner in Dallas, where he focuses his practice on employment law. He was previously a partner with Constangy, Brooks & Smith. Lambert is listed in Texas Super Lawyers 2015 and Chambers USA 2015 in labor and employment law.
Stephen H. Price, a partner in Burr & Forman’s labor and employment practice, has been named managing partner in the Nashville, Tenn., office, where he will oversee plans for continued expansion.
