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 Feb. 1 for inclusion in the next issue.
1990
In February, Oklahoma legislators requested Reed Smith investigate the 1998 capital murder conviction of Richard Glossip. Partner Stan Perry led the firm's team of more than 30 attorneys. In June, after spending more than 3,000 pro bono hours on the case, Perry announced their findings: "No reasonable jury hearing the complete record and the uncovered facts ... would have convicted Richard Glossip of capital murder."
The team unearthed missing and destroyed evidence, an allegedly false confession and a lack of physical proof. Oklahoma halted executions in 2015 after Glossip was almost put to death with the wrong chemical — one used to de-ice airplane wings. Recently, new protocols were enlisted and Glossip was among the first rescheduled to be put to death. His most recent execution was stayed three hours before he was to be executed. Glossip's defense team will file a request for a hearing with the Oklahoma Court of Appeals so Reed Smith's new evidence can be examined in court. Perry, based in Houston, is global director of pro bono and community service for the firm. He was widely quoted in national media about the investigation and its findings.
Christine Samsel, a shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's Denver office, was appointed to a three-year term on the board of trustees of Colorado Children's Chorale, an organization that presents professional choral concerts and educational programs to entertain, inspire, and bring joy to audiences and communities.
She got involved with Colorado Children's Chorale through her young son's participation with the organization.
Henry Su will serve as chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and as a member of the Virginia State Bar Standing Committee on Access to Legal Services in the 2022-23 bar year. Su is a partner with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Washington, D.C.
1991
Charles Durant retired as assistant general counsel for Science Applications International in 2020. Durant now serves as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina Law School and was recently appointed to a four-year term on the Richland County Planning Commission. He lives near Columbia, S.C.
Vernon F. Inge Jr. was recognized in Chambers USA for general commercial litigation. Inge practices with Whiteford, Taylor & Preston in Richmond, Va.
1992
David S. Denious joined Davis Graham & Stubbs in Denver. His practice continues to have an emphasis on leveraged acquisitions and dispositions, and corporate finance transactions. Denious is admitted to practice in New York, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
Prior to joining DGS, Denious was a partner in the Philadelphia offices of two international law firms. He has been ranked by Chambers USA in the areas of corporate mergers and acquisitions and private equity since 2004.
Scott Kerman was named an Executive of the Year by Portland Business Journal. Through his roles as executive director of Blanchet House, Kerman works with other social services leaders to bring life-saving aid to people experiencing homelessness, addiction and food and housing insecurity. Kerman is partnering with local government to build an innovative peer support team to address the mental and physical health needs of people experiencing homelessness in Portland, Ore.
Michael C. Wu organized a panel, "'Empathy is Very Important': How Top Legal Chiefs Weathered Cascade of Crises," for the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association in May. The panel was made up of chief legal officers of Bath & Body Works, Amazon, Uber and other top companies, and received coverage from Corporate Counsel magazine.
1993
Gregory Salathé joined PAG as a partner and group general counsel and has relocated to Hong Kong. PAG is one of the leading alternative fund managers focused on the Asia-Pacific region, with approximately $50 billion of assets under management in its private equity, credit and markets, and real asset strategies. Salathé has practiced law for nearly 20 years in Asia, including as a partner in Jones Day's Tokyo office and Sidley Austin's Singapore office. He has worked closely with PAG for over 12 years as outside counsel on a variety of investments, transactions and related matters.
Chad M. Oldfather's book, "A Man Walks Into a Barn," was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal in March. "Books about fathers and sons are fairly common, books about fathers and their daughters somewhat less so. A book about a father, three daughters, several horses, social demographics, and the teaching and practice of both law and riding must surely belong to a genre of one.
"Oldfather is a professor at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee and the father of three horse-crazy girls (now grown). 'A Man Walks Into a Barn' is his witty, often wistful take on parenting, pedagogy, and life lessons learned while navigating the insular and expensive world of horses and 'horse people.'"
1994
Zebulon D. Anderson was recognized in Chambers USA for his labor and employment law practice with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C.
Jordan Kroop, who practices with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones in New York, was named to Lawdragon's "500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers" guide for 2022. This year's guide describes those selected as lawyers who "dazzle in financial restructurings, whether in court or out" and are "the best at what they do." Kroop represents debtors, official committees, acquirers and significant creditors in Chapter 11 matters involving publicly traded and privately held companies throughout the nation.
1995
The Daily Report named Leah Ward Sears LL.M. best individual mediator/arbitrator, and the firm she is affiliated with, Alterity ADR, was named the best alternative dispute resolution firm. The firm launched last year in Atlanta.
1997
Laura Deddish Burton was named a 2022 Outstanding Women in Business honoree by Triad Business Journal. This annual award features businesswomen in the (North Carolina) Triad for accomplishments within their industries and the wider business community.
An immigration law partner in Fox Rothschild's Greensboro office and a certified immigration law specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, Burton helps some of the state's most prominent employers in the health care, science and engineering sectors bring talented doctors, teachers and scientists to the United States. She works with clients to navigate the rigorous processes of securing visas and coordinates directly with federal agencies and senators' offices to work out the wrinkles that can arise.
Burton is active in the North Carolina Bar Association. She serves on the International Law & Practice Section Council as the law school liaison, a post that entails creating international law programs for all the state's five law schools, and as chair of the nominating committee for the NCBA's Women in the Profession Committee. She also previously chaired the N.C. State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization, which certifies attorneys as specialists in designated areas of law. In addition, Burton is a member of the Women's Professional Forum, an organization devoted to empowering women and girls in the community, and is involved with Backpack Beginnings, which works to provide relief to elementary school students who struggle with food insecurity.
Colby Walton, chairman and CEO of Cooksey Communications, a North Texas-based public relations firm, was named to The 400, Fort Worth Inc. magazine's list of the most influential figures in the Greater Fort Worth area. The fifth annual class of The 400 was recognized during an awards ceremony in May.
During his 24-year tenure at Cooksey, Walton has helped establish and grow the agency's proficiency in professional services marketing and municipal communications for clients facing an array of complex, high-stakes public relations issues.
Walton has also been involved in numerous professional and community service organizations outside the agency, including volunteer work on behalf of Leadership Fort Worth, the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, the City of Colleyville, the Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, the Duke University Alumni Club of North Texas and the Virginia Morris Kincaid Foundation.
After three years at the Silicon Valley Bank, Jena Bridges Watson joined Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank as senior vice president, assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary. Bridges Watson and her husband, Eric Watson, live in Belvedere, Calif., with two children, two Labradors, two cats and many bicycles.
1998
Neale T. Johnson was named co-chair of Fox Rothschild's litigation department. Johnson is a partner in the Charlotte, N.C., office. Johnson focuses his practice on construction law (transactional and dispute resolution), title insurance claims and coverage, real estate litigation, financial services litigation and general commercial litigation.
1999
Michael Tad Carithers retired after more than 20 years as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Carithers served in New York City and the Washington, D.C., area, working primarily on national security matters. His final assignment was with the FBI's Office of the General Counsel as a legal instructor for new agent trainees at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.
