1970s Class Notes
1970
Thomas C. Brown Jr. was listed among Virginia Business magazine’s legal elite for 2015 in health law. He retired as senior partner with McGuireWoods in Tysons Corner.
Ed Finch recently founded Rural Urgent Care to bring affordable health care to rural Alabama. In addition to the previous eight companies in which he was a founder, Finch was a founder and the first president of the Birmingham Venture Club, and a founder of Innovation Depot in Birmingham. Finch is president and CEO of FHL Capital Corp., also in Birmingham.
1971
The Federal Bar Council presented its Emory Buckner Medal, which recognizes outstanding public service, to Eastern District of New York Chief Judge Carol Bagley Amon and Southern District Chief Judge Loretta Preska at its Thanksgiving luncheon.
Amon was honored, in part, for her efforts in meeting with then-Speaker of the House John Boehner to explain the disastrous effects of sequestration on the courts. As a result of these efforts, additional appropriations for the courts were included in a 2014 budget deal, according to the Federal Bar Council Quarterly.
As a district judge, Amon has handled a wide range of cases involving organized crime, financial fraud, class actions and the First Amendment. She has been chair of the Judicial Conference’s Committee on the Codes of Conduct, becoming one of the nation’s leading authorities on judicial ethics. As chief judge, one of her greatest achievements has been working with the General Services Administration and court administration to secure the perimeter of the Brooklyn courthouse.
1972
Lawrence H. Berger retired as general counsel of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in January after 10 years in that position.
Steven M. Edwards has joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as of counsel in New York City, where he focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation. He was previously a partner and head of litigation at Hogan Lovells.
George W. House was listed in Super Lawyers Business Edition 2015 and North Carolina Super Lawyers 2016 in environmental litigation. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro.
William K. Wells retired from New York–based Kenyon and Kenyon, where he was a member of the executive committee and a manager of the Washington, D.C., office, to become a principal in a new company focused on portable lighting technology. Wells is manager of Cormorant Technologies, a startup located in Reston, Va., dedicated to developing organic light-emitting diode lighting for wearable and other off-grid uses. Cormorant has an exclusive license to the patent portfolio that covers the desired applications of the technology. A commercial product is expected to be launched in 2017.
1973
Robert Mueller has been named to oversee the settlement negotiations in class actions filed in Volkswagen A.G.’s emissions scandal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer noted that Mueller’s experience in government and private practice make him uniquely qualified for the job and for earning the trust of all parties involved: consumer and car dealer plaintiffs, U.S. and state governments, and Volkswagen. Mueller is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Washington, D.C., with a focus on crisis management and cybersecurity.
Teri Noel Towe was the subject of a feature story in The Wall Street Journal, “Talking Bach with a Radio Denizen.” Towe has broadcast classical music from Princeton University, his alma mater, since his undergraduate days in the late 1960s, and has participated in Columbia University’s 10-day Bach Festival since 1977. He broadcast while at the Law School and later, in New York, he adopted the on-air persona of the “Laughing Cavalier,” inspired by the subject of a Frans Hals painting. He is of counsel with Ganz & Hollinger in New York City.
Fredrick R. Tulley is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in the litigation categories commercial, banking and finance, and bankruptcy law. He is a partner with Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips in Baton Rouge, La., and focuses his practice on commecial litigation, securities litigation, professional malpractice, construction, antitrust, RICO, commercial bankruptcy and insurance insolvency.
1975
Kathleen M. Burke was appointed chair of the Health Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in September. She is the vice president of board relations, secretary and counsel to New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Judge Christine Byrd, who serves on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, writes that she continues to enjoy being on the bench, even after more than five years. “It is challenging, mentally and emotionally, but I always enjoyed a worthwhile challenge!” Byrd welcomes anyone coming to Los Angeles to stop by her downtown courtroom to say hello.
Frederick K. Lowell writes that he and his wife, Lisa, enjoyed his 40th reunion at the Law School. “Our daughter, Catherine, has authored her first novel, ‘The Madwoman Upstairs,’ which will be published by Simon & Schuster in March,” he said.
Wm. Shaw Mcdermott was elected chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for a one-year term. The Airports Authority operates Reagan National and Washington Dulles International airports, the Dulles Airport access and toll roads, and the construction of the 23-mile extension of the Metrorail line into Loudoun County, Va. McDermott is a partner with K&L Gates in Boston, where he focuses on complex commercial, class actions, internal investigations, and the defense of government enforcement actions litigation.
1976
In 2014 and 2015, Walter W. Bardenwerper participated in collaborative teaching projects through a partnership between Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University and Georgetown University Law Center. The projects took place in Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg and Moscow and were sponsored by the U.S. Russia Foundation.
William P.H. Cary was listed in employment and labor law in Super Lawyers Business Edition 2015 and North Carolina Super Lawyers 2016. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro.
S. Miles Dumville is the managing partner for Reed Smith in Richmond. He has been listed for the past eight years in Virginia Super Lawyers in general litigation and as a top 100 lawyer in litigation in Virginia Business magazine. He served as member of the board of governors of the Virginia Bar Association 2013-15, and currently serves on the board of the UVA Club of Charlottesville.
Thomas L. Higginson Jr. and his wife, Feroline (A&S ’74), are happy to report that their daughter, Theodora (A&S ’10, McIntire ’11), was married to Benjamin O. Hanna (Middlebury ’08, Boston College Law School ’15) at her family’s home, Claybrook, in Rectortown, Va., on Oct. 3, after a “remarkably diluvial week.”
Karl H. Kline joined Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba in Center Valley, Pa., as shareholder in the estate planning and administration of estates and trusts group. He is solicitor for the Green Knight Economic Development Corp.
Michael J. Leech is an AAA mediator and arbitrator of employment and commercial disputes in Philadelphia. He maintains a mediation/arbitration practice in Chicago, where he lived until last year. Leech is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a distinguished fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, and a member of the American Law Institute.
John A. Vering is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 and Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers 2015 in labor and employment law. He is a shareholder with Seigfreid Bingham in Kansas City, Mo.
1977
Julian D. Bobbitt Jr. is listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2016 and Best Lawyers 2016 in health care law. He is a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, where he focuses on providing strategic general counsel and regulatory guidance for health care organizations.
Christopher Day Johnson died on March 11 at the age of 63. Following gradution from Law School, he joined Streich Lang in Phoenix, and for the past two decades practiced at Squire Sanders (now Squire Patton Boggs). Johnson’s corporate practice was broad in scope, including general corporate, securities and governance, as well as high-end U.S. reorganization matters.
L. Poe Leggette was named a 2015 Colorado Lawyer of the Year by Law Week Colorado. Leggette is a managing partner with BakerHostetler in Denver, where he co-leads the national energy industry team and concentrates his practice on litigation and transactional work in the energy industry. He is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in energy and natural resources law.
Thomas Melo died Dec. 7. Melo was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1977 and practiced at Bracewell and Patterson in Houston from 1977-2004, where he was head of its labor and employment law section for several years. He also practiced at the Houston office of Ogletree Deakins from 2004 until his retirement due to illness in 2006.
When they were law students, Melo and Jim Flegle won the William Minor Lile Moot Court competition in their third year. Melo is survived by his wife, Tina Lundy Melo ’81, and two daughters, Virginia and Caroline.
Michael Ross has published “Ross’s Novel Discoveries,” a pocket-sized collection of some of his favorite literary quotes. A Contra Costa Times article last fall featured Ross, a bibliophile: “While a number of Ross’s favorite literary quotes appear in his book, his mission to share quotes from his odyssey of reading more than 1,500 books is far from over.” The article also quoted Ken Oder ’75, who said “he’s uniquely qualified to [write this book]. He’s been gathering quotations from the great works throughout our lifelong friendship.”
David L. Sfara was elected president of the board of directors of the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Conn., in May 2015. His daughter, Amy, who graduated from Temple Beasley School of Law in 2011, is a captain in the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps. Sfara is a partner with Giuliano Richardson & Sfara in Woodbury.
1978
Irvin V. Cantor was selected as Best Lawyers 2016 lawyer of the year for plaintiff’s personal injury in Richmond, Va. He was also featured on the cover of Virginia and West Virginia Super Lawyers 2016. He co-authored with Judge Sam Johnston “The Art and Science of Mastering the Jury Trial,” which was published in 2015 and reviewed in the Virginia State Bar magazine’s December issue. Cantor is the president of Cantor, Stoneburner, Ford, Grana & Buckner, where he focuses his practice on catastrophic personal injury and death cases.
Stephen C. Greenberg was listed among Georgia Trend magazine’s legal elite for 2015 in bankruptcy law. He is a partner with Taylor English Duma in Atlanta, where he is chair of the bankruptcy practice group and member of the creditors’ rights and bankruptcy and litigation and dispute resolution practice groups.
Mary Bland Love ’78 (center) received the 2016 Justice Raymond Ehrlich Trial Advocacy Award at the Jacksonville Bar Association’s annual seminar in February. The honor reflects the qualities of professionalism, highest ethics, discernment, mentorship and volunteering spirit.
Love is the first woman to receive the award. She is of counsel with Marks Gray in Jacksonville, Fla.
John T. Scott III is of counsel with Wilkinson Barker Knauer in Washington, D.C. He has practiced communications law for more than 30 years, representing telecom, wireless and media companies before the FCC and state public utilities commissions, as well as before state and federal courts. Scott was previously with Verizon Wireless and Verizon Communications, where he was vice president and deputy general counsel.
James D. Smeallie was the subject of the cover story in New England Super Lawyers 2015. The interview highlighted his litigation of athletic conference realignment, his term as president of the Boston Bar, and that a paper he wrote as a Yale undergraduate was quoted, to his surprise, by Frank Deford in Sports Illustrated.
Smeallie is a partner with Holland & Knight in Boston, where he focuses his practice on business litigation with an emphasis on education, employment, liability, intellectual property and unfair competition. He is listed in Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2015 in business litigation and in Best Lawyers 2016 in commercial litigation and education law.
1979
Anne L. Kleindienst is listed in Best Lawyers in America 2016 in corporate and franchise law. She is a shareholder with Polsinelli in Phoenix.
