1980s Class Notes

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1980

Patricia R. Hatler joined Squire Patton Boggs as of counsel in the financial services practice in Columbus, Ohio, where she concentrates her work on transactional, litigation, regulatory compliance and corporate governance matters. She was previously with Nationwide Mutual Insurance.

Richard J. Pocker has been elected vice president of the State Bar of Nevada’s Board of Governors. Pocker is the administrative partner for Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Las Vegas, where he concentrates his practice on civil and criminal litigation, as well as employment law.

Paul B. Terpak is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in eminent domain and condemnation law. He is a principal with Blankingship & Keith in Fairfax, Va.

Steven W. Usdin is listed in Chambers USA 2016 in commercial litigation and is Best Lawyers 2016 Lawyer of the Year in New Orleans for insurance litigation. He is a founding member of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, and concentrates his practice on commercial litigation.

Barbara A. Young is listed in Chambers USA 2016 in corporate law, and mergers and acquisitions. She is a partner with Verrill Dana in Westport, Conn. 

1981

Stanley K. Joynes III serves as chief executive officer of Valley Road Vineyards, a farm winery in Albemarle County that celebrated its grand opening in August. The ownership group includes Robert L. Edwards ’83.

C. Steven Mason is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in real estate law. He is a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C., where he focuses his practice on matters involving commercial real estate, lending transactions and corporate law.

John L. Rivkin is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in insurance law. He is a partner at Rivkin Radler in Uniondale, N.Y.

1982

William B. Baker was elected vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Science and Technology Law at the August ABA meeting. He is a partner with the Potomac Law Group in Washington, D.C., where he focuses his practice on postal, privacy and data security, consumer marketing and communications law.

George C. Freeman III is listed in Chambers USA 2016 in securities litigation and is New Orleans Lawyer of the Year for 2016 in Best Lawyers. He is a founding member and managing partner with Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, focusing mainly on securities litigation and enforcement.

Mark Hileman joined the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as general counsel in June. He and his family moved to Williamsburg from Boston, where he previously served as general counsel of the Boston Globe.

Terence J. Thum is counsel with Bryan Cave in Kansas City, Mo., where he focuses his practice on complex business litigation. He writes that his son, Teddy, is a classmate at Yale with Eliot Levmore, son of the former Law School professor Saul Levmore. 

1983

John W. Auchincloss has been named vice president, general counsel of the Financial Accounting Foundation based in Norwalk, Conn. He will lead FAF’s legal and compliance functions and will give legal advice and guidance to the foundation, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. Auchincloss previously served as general counsel and secretary for Commonfund, a nonprofit asset management firm.

Wade Ballou was appointed the ninth legislative counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives on July 1. He has practiced in many areas of federal law during his 33 years with the Office of the Legislative Counsel, including the past 12 years as the senior tax attorney. He lives in Falls Church, Va., with his wife, Teri.

Jeff Blount still lives in Hong Kong. After an enjoyable 30-year law career with Fulbright & Jaworski (now Norton Rose Fulbright), including 20 years as head of the firm’s practice in Asia, Blount left the firm in early 2015 to become chief executive officer of Asian real estate developer and former client, H&Co Real Estate Holdings. The company’s main geographic focus is currently Myanmar, where it is developing shopping centers, hotels, resorts and industrial projects. Blount and his wife, Debbie, maintain UVA connections through their two daughters, both of whom are now UVA undergraduates.

Mark Davidson presented a workshop titled “Advising Clients Regarding U.S. Market Entry: Overview of Legal, Tax and Dispute Resolution Issues” at Geneva Group International’s European Regional Conference in Warsaw, Poland, in April.

Davidson is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro, N.C., where he plans, negotiates and documents a variety of business transactions. He is listed in Chambers USA 2016 in corporate/ mergers and acquisitions, in North Carolina Super Lawyers 2016 in business/ corporate law, and Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite Hall of Fame for business law. He is listed in Best Lawyers 2016 in corporate law, securities/ capital markets law and tax law and was named Greensboro Lawyer of the Year 2016 in mergers and acquisitions law.

William S. Fish was named Lawyer of the Year in bankruptcy litigation in Best Lawyers 2017—for the fourth time. Fish is also listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in bet-the-company, First Amendment law and bankruptcy litigation. He is a partner with Hinckley Allen in Hartford, Conn.  

Roger P. FureyRoger P. Furey has been named chairman of Katten Muchin Rosenman. He joined Katten in 2001, most recently serving as managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office and member of the executive committee, the compensation committee and the board of directors. In addition to Furey’s leadership roles, his practice focuses on intellectual property law. He will remain in the D.C. office.

Don K. Haycraft is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in admiralty and maritime law, environmental law, and environmental litigation. He is a shareholder with Liskow & Lewis in New Orleans.

Jeffrey E. Oleynik is listed in Chambers USA 2016 for antitrust and litigation: general commercial law. He is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro, N.C.

John Osborn joined Hogan Lovells as a senior adviser in Washington, D.C. His practice focuses on working with life sciences and health care clients. Osborn has reconnected at Hogan with classmate Steve Hollman, and co- teaches a short course at the Law School (with five other Hogan Lovells attorneys/ UVA Law alumni) on the legal and business aspects of representing emerging-growth companies. He also lectures at the Universities of Michigan and Washington, is a board member of several public and private health care companies, and writes occasionally for Forbes.com.

Steven W. Sloan is listed in Texas Super Lawyers 2016 in employment and labor and Best Lawyers 2017 in employment law/ management and labor law/management. He is of counsel with Thompson & Knight in Dallas and focuses his practice on representing management in litigation regarding equal employment opportunity statutes, employee benefits, ERISA, and other labor and employment laws. 

1984

Thomas Byrne is general counsel of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of small molecule therapeutics for cancer. He previously served on the board of directors. He will continue to oversee the company’s intellectual property strategy, which he has directed since Diffusion was founded in Charlottesville in 2001.

John B. Lynch Jr.John B. Lynch Jr. received a mentor of the year award for his guidance, support and encouragement of fellow lawyers from Robinson + Cole in Hartford, Conn., where he is a partner and financial adviser to the managing committee and a practicing member of the business transactions and finance practice groups.

John Ragosta’s third book, “Patrick Henry: Proclaiming a Revolution,” was published by Routledge Press in August. While not researching and writing as a fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, he is a visiting assistant professor of history at Randolph College in Lynchburg for the 2016-17 academic year.

David M. Rosenberg is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in nonprofit/charities law and tax law. He is a partner with Thompson & Knight in Dallas and focuses his practice on federal, state and local taxation of corporations, partnerships, individuals and nonprofit organizations.  

In Memoriam: Novelist, Lawyer, Military Expert James Huston ’84

James W. Huston ’84, who died in April at the age of 62, was the author of nine best-selling thrillers. His accomplished writing career was informed by his wide-ranging interests and education. In addition to practicing law, he was a scholar of World War II and flew F-14 fighter jets with the U.S. Navy, where he graduated from the “Top Gun” training program. He left active duty to attend the Law School, but continued to serve in the Navy Reserve.

He began his law career with Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye as a civil trial lawyer in San Diego. When his firm merged with Ware & Freidenrich in 1994, he was named national chair of the tort and product liability practice. In 2004 he joined Morrison & Foerster, where he was chair of the trial practice group. He enjoyed being a mentor to young lawyers and frequently published and spoke about aviation, pharmaceutical product litigation and trial practice.

When Huston first tried his hand at fiction, he received hundreds of rejection letters, but kept writing, almost every night, until “Balance of Power” was published. That novel delivered a combination of political, legal and military intrigue that set the path for the successful books that would follow. His second book, “The Price of Power,” was a New York Times best-seller. Despite the fact that he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma while writing his third novel, he powered on, writing five more titles in five years. His final novel was published last year. 

Huston had a budding career in television as well. He appeared as a commentator for 36 episodes of shows on the Military Channel and the Science Channel, and CBS bought his idea for a series on crash investigations.

Rebecca Barns

1985

Paul A. LombardoPaul A. Lombardo was chosen by the Georgia Board of Regents as a Regents Professor—the highest academic appointment in the state’s university system. Lombardo holds the Bobby Lee Cook Chair in the College of Law at Georgia State University in Atlanta.  

Fighting for Veterans’ Rights

Steve Raber ’85, left, and Liam Montgomery ’08 of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., are working on a pro bono lawsuit with John Chandler and Beth Tanis of King & Spalding in Atlanta to compel the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to speed up decisions on appeals of disability claims. The case is part of an initiative of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

“A veteran whose disability benefits are denied by the VA waits, on average, 1,448 days for the Board of Veterans’ Appeals to rule,” co-lead counsel Raber said. “In the meantime, 20 veterans commit suicide in the United States every day. Thousands die before their appeals are decided.”

The legal team filed a mandamus petition to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to hold that the delay in processing appeals violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment and the secretary’s statutory duties.

“We filed the mandamus petition because the political branches of our government have failed their mission,” Raber said. “Two federal appellate courts have held that the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has jurisdiction to review the constitutional question of whether a four-year delay in processing appeals is a violation of due process.” 

The harm done by the delay is compounded by the fact that the VA’s error rate is very high, he said. More than 75 percent of its initial decisions that are appealed are reversed or remanded. 

Montgomery is the lead associate working on the case. “He deserves great credit for his tenacity and creativity in this effort,” Raber said. 

Montgomery is a veteran of the Navy who has friends and clients “stuck in the morass” of the VA system, he said. 

“It means a lot to me to be part of this case,” Montgomery said. “It is among our country’s most solemn obligations to ensure we take care of veterans, in part by deciding their claims for disability benefits efficiently, accurately and expeditiously.” 

Rebecca Barns 

1986

Randolph A. Beales has served on the Court of Appeals of Virginia for 10 years, and writes that he really enjoys being an appellate judge. “My wife, Julie, a physician, and I have five children—two sons and three daughters. One is in high school, two are in middle school and the twins are in the third grade.”

Bill Eigner has been listed in Best of the Bar 2016 in the San Diego Business Journal for corporate transactional law and mergers and acquisitions. This is the ninth consecutive year he has been so honored. Eigner is a partner with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch.

Richard P. RobertsRichard P. Roberts has been elected to the Eastern States Exposition Board of Corporators, which is comprised of civic, business and agricultural leaders from six New England states. The Eastern States Exposition is a nonprofit educational institution focused on the development and promotion of industry, agriculture and family entertainment. Roberts is a partner with Halloran & Sage in Hartford, Conn., concentrating on transactional matters relating to real estate, land use and business law.

Elizabeth J. Stewart received the 2016 Professional Excellence Award from the Connecticut Law Tribune. Stewart is a partner with Murtha Cullina in New Haven, where she is chair of the complex litigation practice group and a member of the insurance recovery and appellate practice groups.  

1987

Matthew Brennan has co-founded Virginia Lawyer Formed Businesses, a law firm that forms and documents corporations and limited liability companies over the internet.

John Coburn, vice president, corporate secretary and global governance counsel for Nike Inc. announced he will retire at the end of 2016 after 25 years with the company. His wife, Carol, who is also a long-time executive at Nike, is retiring as well. When not traveling, they plan to continue living in the Portland, Ore., area.

Calvin W. “Woody” Fowler Jr. is listed in Chambers USA 2016 in litigation: general commercial, in Virginia Super Lawyers 2016 in business litigation, and in Best Lawyers 2016 in commercial litigation, banking and finance litigation, and mergers and acquisitions litigation. Fowler is chairman of the board, president and CEO, and partner with Williams Mullen in Richmond.

John Gibson was named vice president, content and strategic communications at Fannie Mae, where he has worked for 13 years. Gibson lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Karen Olick, and family.

Timothy S. Goettel is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions law. He is a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C., where he handles complex acquisitions and divestitures, advises clients on corporate governance, and represents issuers in public and private offering and financing transactions.

David A. Skeel Jr. has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. The board was established by the bipartisan Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act signed into law in June to address Puerto Rico’s economic crisis. Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Randy Tinsley is listed in Chambers USA 2016 for environmental law. He is a partner with Brooks Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Greensboro, N.C.

James L. WeinbergJames L. Weinberg has been named among the 2016 “Leaders in the Law” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. He is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers 2016 in mergers and acquisitions and in Best Lawyers 2017 in gaming law, securities/capital markets law and mergers and acquisitions law. He is president of Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond and concentrates his practice on security matters, merger and acquisition transactions, capital funding for middle- market businesses and legal advice for closely held entities.

UVA Law Legacy at the American Academy of Pediatrics

In July, William M. McDonnell ’87, left, stepped down as chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Medical Liability and Risk Management, handing leadership over to incoming chair Jonathan M. Fanaroff ’94

McDonnell is chief of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is also clinical service chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and medical director of the Emergency Department at the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. 

He started his law career as a litigator with Steptoe & Johnson, but years later, through volunteer work in a hospital, became fascinated with medicine and entered medical school. 

“As I joined the medical world, I discovered that physicians generally have very little understanding of health law and the legal system, and associated with that lack of knowledge is a great deal of fear,” he said. That discovery prompted him to work with the American Academy of Pediatrics, where he could educate physicians about the law and advocate for laws and policies that better serve patients and support the practice of medicine.

Fanaroff is a neonatologist and associate professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, director of the Rainbow Center for Pediatric Ethics, and co-director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. 

“The committee’s most important mission is to educate and advocate for children and the dedicated pediatricians who care for those children,” Fanaroff said. “The health care system is in a period of rapid and tremendous change, and it’s important to monitor and advocate for laws at both the state and federal level that will benefit children.”

Beyond their shared advocacy and the fact that they have law degrees from the same school, the two alums have something else in common.

“Dr. McDonnell and I both had wonderful experiences at UVA Law,” Fanaroff said. “The chair passing from one UVA Law alum to another reflects not only the high quality of the legal education we received, but also the collegial atmosphere in which we received it.”

Rebecca Barns 

1988

Benjamin G. ChewBenjamin G. Chew was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in September. He is a partner in the litigation practice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Washington, D.C., where he handles commercial disputes, including class actions, and counsels businesses, trade associations and foreign governments on a wide range of issues.

John M. CooperJohn M. Cooper is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers 2016 in personal injury law, a recognition he has received every year since 2010. He is a founding partner with Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers in Norfolk.

David Gerber writes about the life of his father, Joseph Gerber, an influential American inventor and businessman, in “The Inventor’s Dilemma: The Remarkable Life of H. Joseph Gerber.” A survivor of the Holocaust, Gerber immigrated to the U.S. in 1940. He founded the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company, which produced a number of groundbreaking inventions, including the first automated drafting machines, known today as CAD, and the first computer- automated systems for printing/prepress. David Gerber handles legal, technical and business responsibilities for Gerber Scientific, which is headquartered in Tolland, Conn.

David J. Gogal is listed in Best Lawyers 2017 in commercial litigation and professional malpractice law (defendants). He is a principal with Blankingship & Keith in Fairfax, Va., where he focuses his practice on commercial litigation, employment law, real estate law, legal malpractice defense and appellate representation.

Michael Kun and Susan Stevens Mullen have co-authored the novel “We Are Still Tornadoes,” which tells through letters the story of best friends who took different paths after high school. Their collaborative work was published this fall by St. Martin’s Press.

Maria Leonard Olsen co-hosts the “Inside Out” radio show on FM station WPFW. On Aug. 23, her guest was Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine ’89, who discussed the D.C. statehood initiative. This show and her others are archived at www.wpfwfm.org. Olsen also has written several books on diversity issues and practices law as a contract attorney for two firms in Bethesda, Md. She lives in Fairhaven on the Chesapeake Bay.

Colleen M. Quinn is the 2016-17 president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and of the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Attorneys. She received the 2015 Virginia State Bar Family Law Service Award, primarily for her novel advancements in the areas of assisted reproductive technology, adoption and family formation law on behalf of LGBTQ families and single parents. Her Richmond firm, Locke & Quinn, was honored with the 2015 Litigator Awards by the Trial Lawyers Board of Regents, and featured on CNN for their personal injury results, including a $3 million rape case settlement and a $1.3 million wrongful death medical malpractice settlement. 

Quinn received the Richmond National Association of Women Business Owners 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in recognition of her formation of the Women’s Injury Law Center, the Adoption & Surrogacy Law Center, and the Quinn internship program, and for her overall support of women in the law and in business.

Steven A. Snyder was named a South Carolina Super Lawyer for 2015 and 2016. He has repeatedly been named by Greenville Business Magazine to its annual list of Legal Elite of the Upstate: Greenville’s Top Attorneys, which is determined by peer recognition. He also has been named, again for 2016, to Columbia Living Magazine’s annual list of top attorneys in South Carolina, which is selected by peer recognition and professional achievement. Snyder is a partner with Davis, Snyder, Williford & Lehn and specializes in representing physicians, hospitals and other medical providers in medical malpractice litigation and risk management. He and his wife, Patty, live on a small farm (i.e., no crops or livestock) just outside of Greenville with their two sons and near their daughter and son-in-law.

Ross D. TaylorRoss D. Taylor joined Keating Muething & Klekamp as of counsel with the commercial finance and reorganization group in Cincinnati. He focuses his practice on commercial lending, equipment leasing and structured finance transactions. Taylor was previously with Krieg DeVault in Chicago. 

Joe Weikel retired from his practice in 2014 and last year became a fundraiser for Carroll Hospital Foundation, part of LifeBridge Health, in Westminster, Md. His areas of responsibility include major gifts and planned giving. 

1989

Preston Burton joined BuckleySandler as partner in the firm’s white-collar defense practice in Washington, D.C. Burton has an extensive criminal law background as both a defense attorney and federal prosecutor, representing corporate and individual clients in complex federal white-collar criminal cases, government and civil proceedings, and internal investigations. He was previously with Poe & Burton.

Arthur V. LambertArthur V. Lambert is listed in Texas Super Lawyers 2016 for the 11th consecutive year. He is a partner with Fisher Phillips in Dallas and focuses his practice on labor and employment litigation.

Scott Tilley, general counsel of STIHL Inc., was elected to serve a two-year term (2016-17) as chairman of the Virginia Manufacturers Association.