1980s Class Notes

Send Us Your News

To submit a class note, email us or submit mail to UVA Lawyer, University of Virginia School of Law, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Please send your submissions no later than Aug. 1 for inclusion in the next issue.

• 1950s-60s
• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990s
• 2000s
• 2010s

1980

Class of 1980 friends: Rupert Mitsch of Alexandria, Va.; Jim Green of Hartford, Conn.; Bob Wyman of Los Angeles; and Phil Pearlman of Denver. In June the four section-mates held a reunion in Grand Teton National Park. “We had a great time but universally agreed that we could have done the hikes a little faster 38 years ago.”

Valerie Lund Mitchell and Mark Lester ’79 both serve on the board of the ACLU of Alabama. Lester, who lives in Birmingham, is president of the board, and Mitchell, who lives in Mobile, is secretary. They had not seen each other since law school, until Valerie joined the board three years ago.

Richard J. Pocker was elected and sworn in as president of the State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors. He is the administrative partner for the Nevada office of New York-based Boies, Schiller Flexner, and formerly served as U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.

Jonathan J. Rusch re­ceived the Georgetown University Silver Vicen­nial Medal in recogni­tion of his 20 years of service to the university as an adjunct professor of law April 5, at George­town’s Fall Faculty Con­vocation in Washington, D.C. His courses include Global Cybercrime Law, Trial Practice and Questioning Witnesses. Rusch continues his work at Wells Fargo in Washington, as senior vice president and head of anti-bribery and cor­ruption governance.

1981

Evan Bayh is a senior adviser to Cozen O’Connor Public Strat­egies and of counsel to Cozen O’Connor in Washington, D.C. Bayh represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2011, and prior to that was the two-term governor of Indiana. Bayh will provide strate­gic counsel to the firm’s legal and government relations clients.

Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, an affiliate of Cozen O’Connor, is a bipartisan government relations practice representing clients before the federal government and in cities and states throughout the country.

Dennis S. Klein joined Kelley Kronenberg in Miami as a partner. Klein focuses his prac­tice on business litiga­tion, including director and officer liability, real estate and contractual disputes, professional liability, financial insti­tution issues, product liability, pharmaceutical litigation, bankruptcy, insurance coverage, art law and employment matters.

C. Steven Mason was recognized in Cham­bers USA as among the leading attorneys in North Carolina in the areas of real estate and real estate finance. Mason is a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh.

St. Mary’s Univer­sity Professor of Law and Hardy Chair Emeritus David A. Schlueter LL.M. wrote “Military Criminal Justice: Practice and Procedure,” a treatise on military criminal procedure in its ninth edition, which was cited four times in the majority opinion by the Supreme Court in Ortiz v. U.S. In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito cited Schlueter’s “The Court-Martial: An His­torical Survey,” pub­lished in the Military Law Review, which he originally wrote as a paper in 1980 for Pro­fessor Cal Woodard’s legal history class.

Robert B. Webb III joined Miles & Stock­bridge in the firm’s Tysons Corner, Va., office. Webb, who joined as a principal, devotes much of his corporate practice to information technology and gov­ernment contracting businesses.

1982

Michael Hankin de­livered the TEDx talk “Speak Up. Where it Counts. Loudly.” after the divisive events that took place in Char­lottesville in August 2017. About the talk, he writes, “I usually try very hard to avoid what I view as dra­matic performances — they are way out of my comfort zone and I’m not very good at them. But this time I thought that I had to give it a try. The reason? I believe strongly that it is time for business leaders to speak up more often on the important issues of our day. We occupy meaningful platforms in our communities and, if we don’t speak up, people might think we don’t care. We all know that this is far from the truth. We care deeply.” Hankin is a partner at Brown Advisory, where he serves as pres­ident and chief execu­tive officer, in Baltimore. He says, “I tried hard not to take sides and not to advocate any par­ticular view. My hope is that this talk encour­ages more people to feel comfortable saying what’s on their minds. In doing so, I believe that we will help to make our communities stronger.”

Bill Hines, managing partner of the Jones Walker law firm, was named one of the most influential people in the history of the city of New Orleans by The Times-Picayune in the publication’s “300 For 300” feature honoring 300 people who have made a lasting impact on New Orleans since its founding in 1718. Hines’ extensive civic involve­ment and dedication to economic development in New Orleans earned him a place as the only lawyer on the list of phi­lanthropists, business­men, educators, artists, athletes, politicians, and other public figures who have shaped New Orleans over the past three centuries.

Luann Mitchell writes that she gave birth to her first child, Tommaso Frank Mitch­ell, “after nine wonder­ful months,” on July 11, 2016, and she looks forward to receiv­ing “all the advice and tuition checks her class­mates can send!” Late this summer Tommaso started attending a Mon­tessori toddler private school, the Gilmour Academy, and Mitchell is anticipating new ad­ventures as he takes his first steps toward his ed­ucation and can apply to UVA Law in 2038.

Since his son Hale, a junior at Yale Univer­sity, took his life in 2016, Jack Ross has worked to increase aware­ness and reduce stigma around mental illness, as well as improve access to treatment on college campuses. Ross also struggled with severe bouts of depression during law school and later during his legal career in Washington, D.C. Recently, the Yale Daily News published an account of Ross’ efforts to help his son. The piece also sends a message to college stu­dents about maintaining a healthy perspective on who they are fundamen­tally as people, apart from their academic and career achievements and goals, which create stresses that often ex­acerbate mental illness. The article sparked much dialogue in the Yale community and beyond.

Raymond G. Truitt was selected as the Distin­guished Maryland Real Property Practitioner for 2018 by the Real Property Section of the Maryland State Bar As­sociation. Truitt, Ballard Spahr’s managing partner for finance and operations and former managing partner of the firm’s Baltimore office, has represented promi­nent companies and in­stitutions in major de­velopment projects and financing transactions throughout the state, as well as regionally and nationally. The award recognizes one Mary­land-based real estate attorney each year for outstanding professional accomplishments, con­tributions to the profes­sion and community, in­tegrity and collegiality.

1983

The number of federal criminal jury trials has dwindled at an as­tonishing rate, par­ticularly over the last decade. U.S. Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. of the Western Dis­trict of North Carolina delves into the causes and ramifications of this trend in his article, “The Vanishing Crimi­nal Jury Trial: From Trial Judges To Sen­tencing Judges,” pub­lished in George Wash­ington Law Review, Vol. 86. Conrad argues that historical factors are partly to blame for this sharp decline, including the enactment of man­datory minimum pen­alties, the federal sen­tencing guidelines and the role of cooperation. Additional factors, not previously analyzed, such as the impact of United States v. Booker and its progeny — tech­nological advancements, trial expectations, Justice Department guidelines and the goal of efficiency—have further amplified the trend. As Conrad sees it, it is the combination of all elements together, rather than each factor standing alone, that has created such a dramatic decline in jury trials. In his view, the diminution in federal criminal jury trials adversely affects the bar and bench, stunts case law develop­ment and deprives jury members of a “mean­ingful opportunity to participate in democ­racy.” These are serious consequences, argues Conrad, which must be addressed by those con­cerned with the contin­ued vitality of our jury trial system.

Chris Knopik was honored in Florida Trend’s “Florida Legal Elite.” Knopik is the Laser Spine Insti­tute’s chief legal officer and general counsel in Tampa, Fla.

Janet Napolitano, president of the Uni­versity of California, was inducted into the American Philosophical Society for the Arts at the 2018 fall meeting.

Daniel P. Neelon was one of seven Massachu­setts business lawyers named among the na­tion’s top attorneys in business/corporate law in the Super Lawyers Business Edition Annual Directory 2018. He was named a Massachu­setts or New England Super Lawyer in busi­ness law for the 11th time in 2017. Neelon practices through Boston Interna­tional Law Group, which focuses on domestic and transnational business contracts, transactions and advice; and Neelon & Associates, which focuses on complex busi­ness, securities, commer­cial contract and com­mercial fraud litigation.

1984

Bruce Brumberg, right, has been the high school tennis coach at Maimonides, a private school in Brookline, Mass., for the past nine years. This fall he guided the team to its best season ever, reaching the Division 3 South Sectional finals in the state tournament, the furthest any Mai­monides sports team has reached in school history. In 2016, The Boston Globe selected Brumberg as Division 3 Tennis Coach of the Year. In his regular day job running myStock­Options.com, a publish­ing company focused on stock compensa­tion, he organized its first conference for financial and wealth advisers on financial planning for public company executives.

John B. Lynch Jr. is president-elect of the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, an or­ganization formed by lawyers to answer the call for greater diversity in the legal profession. Lynch, a member of Robinson+Cole’s busi­ness transactions and finance practice groups in Hartford, Conn., will serve as LCD’s president in 2019. The group’s mission is to unite the resources, energy and commitment of Con­necticut’s leading law firms, corporations, public-sector entities, law schools, state and county bar associations, and affinity bar organi­zations in making the state a more attractive place for attorneys of color, minorities and women to practice law and find satisfying pro­fessional opportunities.

John Ragosta recently prepared a massive open online course concern­ing Patrick Henry in cooperation with the UVA Office of Lifetime Learning and the Patrick Henry Memorial Foun­dation. Class Central rated Patrick Henry: Forgotten Founder as among the top 20 MOOCs nationwide in 2017 (of 9,400 MOOCs available).

1985

Elizabeth Corr Smedley writes that all is well with her family. Smedley manages residential apartments as part of a family business and handles related legal work. Her husband, Danny, retired in 2017 after 33 years with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. Their eldest daughter, Emily, is nearing com­pletion of her doctor­ate in criminology law and society from George Mason University, while middle child, Curtis, is married to Jill Ferguson and living in Stafford, Va. Their youngest son, Adam, is headed to Davis & Elkins College to play lacrosse and study sports management.

1986

John R. Cernelich was recognized in Chambers USA as a leader in labor and employment law. Cernelich serves as co-chair of Calfee, Halter & Griswold’s labor, em­ployment and worker’s compensation group in Cleveland.

John J. Jenkins was recognized in Cham­bers USA as a leader in corporate/mergers and acquisitions law. Jenkins is a partner with Calfee, Halter & Griswold in Cleveland and advises publicly and closely held corporate clients on securities and capital market issues; mergers, acquisitions and divesti­tures; and general cor­porate law.

Stephen J. Mcewen Jr. LL.M. died April 26. He was 85 and resided in Newtown Square, Pa. McEwen began his law practice with his father in Delaware County, Pa. He was then twice elected as the county’s district attorney. Later he worked as a litiga­tion partner in the Phil­adelphia firm Liebert, Short, Fitzpatrick and Lavin. He was then ap­pointed to the Pennsyl­vania Superior Court for 30 years — five years as president judge, 10 more as president judge emer­itus. Following his retire­ment, McEwen handled hundreds of cases as a court conciliator for the Civil Division of the Del­aware County Court of Common Pleas, until his full retirement in 2018.

Bill Ragland has been named to Intellectual Asset Management mag­azine’s IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists. Ragland also is ranked in the IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Profes­sionals. In addition, he is recommended and listed by Chambers USA for intellectual property, Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year in nu­merous fields (intellec­tual property, technology and litigation) and Super Lawyers for litigation.

Ragland practices with Womble Bond Dickinson in Atlanta and serves on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia. As a long-standing member of the National Board of the Smithsonian Institution, Ragland serves as the co-chair of the Smithsonian National Board’s alumni.

1987

Stephanie Bray was recognized for her life­time of work on behalf of those in need in New Hampshire in the 2017 “Annual Report of the NH Campaign for Legal Services.” Tom Burack ’88 said that Bray, “For over 30 years, has with quiet and dili­gent dedication served a population that other­wise would be invisible to our legal system and would not know the true blessings of our laws.”

S. Brian Farmer was recognized in Cham­bers USA as a leader in the field of corporate/ mergers and acquisi­tions law. Farmer is the business section chair and leads Hirschler Fleisher’s investment management and private funds practice group in Richmond, Va.

Stephen E. Fox is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s labor and em­ployment and busi­ness trials practice groups and co-manag­ing partner of the firm’s new Dallas office. A Texas Lawbook article claims Fox was coaxed to start the office by good friend and class­mate Alan Martin, who is with Sheppard Mullin in Orange County, Calif.

Timothy S. Goettel was recognized in Chambers USA among the leading attorneys in North Carolina in cor­porate/mergers and acquisitions law. Goettel is a partner with Smith Anderson in Raleigh.

Linda Rhodes received Partner of the Year dis­tinction in Washing­ton, D.C., as part of Mayer Brown’s 2018 Pro Bono Awards. This was the firm’s 12th annual awards celebration. Rhodes said, “The job of a guardian ad litem is less about having strong litigation skills and more about under­standing and telling the stories of the children you represent.”

1988

Cynthia L. Hostetler was appointed to the board of directors of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Hostetler has exten­sive public company and advisory board experi­ence in the United States and currently serves on the boards of Vulcan Materials, Invesco Funds and the TriLinc Global Impact Fund. Hostetler was head of investment funds of Overseas Private Invest­ment Corp. from 2001 to 2009 and served in various capacities, in­cluding as a member of the board, president and general counsel of First Manhattan Bancorpo­ration, formerly First Savings Bank, between 1991 and 2006. Genesee & Wyoming owns or leases 122 freight rail­roads organized in nine locally managed operat­ing regions with 8,000 employees serving 3,000 customers.

In January, Wesley G. Marshall was reap­pointed as commis­sioner of the Virginia Workers’ Compensa­tion Commission by Virginia’s General As­sembly. Marshall is one of three commission­ers who serve as appel­late-level judges at the agency. They direct its operations and staff of 290. The commission, established in 1918, is an independent judicial and administrative state agency that oversees the workers’ compensation system for employees, employers and insurers. It interprets and applies the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act and resolves claims through hearings and mediation.

1989

Friends of Karl Racine ’89, the District of Columbia’s first elected attorney general, hosted a fundraiser for his re-election at the home of Serena Wiltshire ’88 and Bill Wiltshire ’88. Maria Leonard Olsen ’88, Cecily Schulz Banks ’88 and Cynthia Hostetler ’88 co-hosted the event.

Bruce R. Braun was elected a member of Sidley’s Executive Committee. Braun is a partner in the firm’s Chicago office and co-leader of the firmwide commercial litigation and disputes practice group. Braun has been recognized as one of the top litigators in Chicago and in the nation.

Bradley Weinsheimer was named associate deputy attorney general by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. According to Courthouse News Service, Weinsheimer has been at the Justice Department since 1991, and served for 20 years as an assistant U.S. at­torney in the District of Columbia. During those years, he tried dozens of criminal cases, includ­ing homicides, drug and violent crime conspira­cies, and public corrup­tion and bank fraud. Since March of 2016, he has worked in the agency’s National Secu­rity Division, where he has served as the chief of staff, director of risk management and senior counsel, his current position.

• 1950s-60s
• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990s
• 2000s
• 2010s