1980s Class Notes
1980
Rich Lovering, a partner with Bricker & Eckler in Columbus, Ohio, and recognized by Best Lawyers from 2006-17, won a jury trial that was the subject of a book, “Disappearing Ink: The Insider, the FBI and the Looting of the Kenyon College Library.”
W. David Paxton was named to Virginia Business 2016 Legal Elite list for labor/employment law. He is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in employment law (individuals), employment law (management), and labor law (management), and was named Roanoke Lawyer of the Year 2017 in labor and employment litigation. Paxton was also recognized as a Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation for his general commercial, insurance, and labor and employment practices. He is a partner with Gentry Locke in Roanoke, where he chairs the labor and employment practice.
1981
Kenneth W. Lehman was named Lawyer of the Year in health care law in Best Lawyers 2017. He is a shareholder in the litigation group and chair of the health care practice group with Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson in Portland, Maine.
1982
Mark W. Merritt became vice chancellor and general counsel of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in September. He also serves as president of the North Carolina State Bar.
Judge Richard Mills LL.M. has presided for a half-century on the bench. He began his law career in Cass County, Va., in the office his grandfather and namesake opened in 1870. He was a country lawyer, public defender and state’s attorney before he was elected circuit judge. On Dec. 5, 1966, Mills was sworn in as circuit judge of the 8th Judicial Circuit of Illinois. The ceremony took place in the courtroom in which Abraham Lincoln argued the famous “Almanac Trial” and won his client an acquittal in a murder case. Mills rode the circuit for 10 years before being elected to the Appellate Court of Illinois. In the nine years he served as appellate judge he was twice presiding justice and participated in several hundred opinions. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed Mills a U.S. district judge for the Central District of Illinois. From 1989 to 2014, he sat on eight of the 13 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. He continues to preside on the bench with senior status and a partial caseload in Springfield. He has described his judicial career as “a marvelous adventure.”
Anne Strassfeld is counsel with Ulmer & Berne in Cleveland. She returned to Ulmer after serving as general counsel at Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, Mo., associate general counsel at Cleveland’s University Hospitals Health System, senior counsel at the Cleveland Clinic, and, most recently, as associate special adviser to the executive vice president for health affairs at UVA. Strassfeld focuses her practice on advising health care industry clients, with emphasis on strategic responses to health care reform initiatives.
1983
Mark A. Bradley was appointed director of the Information Security Oversight Office by President Barack Obama, an appointment that carries on in the current administration. He is responsible to the president for policy and oversight of the federal government’s security classification system and the National Industrial Security Program. The office is housed in the National Archives and receives policy guidance from the National Security Council. Bradley is a career member of the Senior Executive Service.
Mark Davidson is listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2017 in business/corporate law and in Best Lawyers 2017 in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law, securities/capital markets law and tax law. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro, where he plans, negotiates and documents a variety of business transactions.
Michael D. Kitsis was appointed as a judge in the New York Criminal Court in January by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Kitsis served in the New York County District Attorney’s Office for 33 years in various positions, including bureau chief of the frauds bureau and senior investigative counsel of major economic crimes.
Jeffrey E. Oleynik is listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2017 in bankruptcy: business law and in Best Lawyers 2017 in antitrust law and bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law. He was also listed among Business North Carolina’s 2017 Legal Elite in bankruptcy law. Oleynik is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro.
Terence P. Ross joined Katten Muchin Rosenman in Washington, D.C., as a partner in the intellectual property group. He concentrates his practice on litigating disputes involving intellectual property, media, e-commerce and technology, and is co-chair of the trademark and brand protection group. He was previously with Crowell & Moring. In an interview with Law360, Ross noted that he was drawn to Katten’s strength in the IP field. He was also excited about the prospect of working with Roger P. Furey, who was named chairman of Katten last year.
1984
Michael Crehan is associate general counsel for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the attorney for the construction of the Silver Line Metrorail to Dulles International Airport.
1986
Peter A. Caro is listed in Super Lawyers 2016 in real estate. He heads the real estate practice with Casner & Edwards in Boston.
Elizabeth J. Stewart received the 2016 Pro Bono Award for the District of Connecticut for her outstanding service as pro bono counsel. She helped a client prosecute a civil rights case brought under the Eighth Amendment in which they alleged that corrections officers transported the client from a correctional institution to a hospital in a way that showed deliberate indifference to the risk of serious harm to the plaintiff. Stewart is a partner with Murtha Cullina in New Haven, Conn., where she chairs the complex litigation practice group and is a member of the insurance recovery and appellate practice groups.
1987
Timothy S. Goettel is listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2017. He is a partner with Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan in Raleigh, where he handles complex acquisitions and divestitures, advises clients on corporate governance, and represents issuers in public and private offering and financing transactions.
Neil McKittrick, a shareholder in the Boston office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, was elected as a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and was later inducted into the college in November in Chicago.
Ogletree Deakins practices all aspects of labor and employment law and litigation in 49 offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Alfred M. Randolph Jr. looks forward to seeing classmates at the upcoming 30th reunion. He enjoyed a recent visit with Dave Dallas in Charlottesville and caught up with David Keesler last fall. He and his wife, Kristin, stay busy with their three sons (21, 17 and 14). He just celebrated 29 years with Kaufman & Canoles in Norfolk, Va., where he chairs the recruiting committee and is a member of the lender representation and mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances practice groups.
1988
Thomas S. Burack has returned to Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green in Manchester, N.H., as shareholder in the environment and energy and nonprofit groups, after serving for more than a decade as commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Burack led the creation of E-Enterprise for the Environment, a shared governance approach among the Environmental Protection Agency, states and tribal governments to modernize and streamline environmental protection and regulation in the U.S. He now serves as an executive adviser and consultant to the initiative.
David A. Flanigan Jr. was keynote speaker for the fall 2016 commencement exercises at King University, his alma mater. He is a capital partner with Barnes & Thornburg in Atlanta, where he is administrator of the corporate department.
Kevin P. Mullen is a partner in the public contracts group with Morrison Foerster in Washington, D.C.
CLASS OF 1988 GRADUATION FLASHBACK: Law School friends are the best, as a photo of this power trio suggests. Hanging out at the McIntire Amphitheatre are Pat Quinn, now the managing partner of Cadwalader in New York City; Alan Meltzer, deputy chief of mission in the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; and Lu Alvarez, chief executive officer of the Law School Foundation in Charlottesville.