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.
1970
Lynn Groseclose retired from the Florida Bar in August after 50 years. He remains a member of the Colorado Bar but writes that he is contemplating retiring from it as well. Groseclose shared that he enjoyed a long career as a defense lawyer in many types of civil litigation, primarily defending medical professionals in malpractice claims. "I was privileged to be recognized by Martindale-Hubbell with an AV preeminent rating, as a Florida Super Lawyer, and as a top lawyer in Tampa Bay. UVA Law made it all possible."
1971
Hirschel Abbott was recognized as a leading attorney for litigation in trusts and estates in Best Lawyers in America. Abbott practices with Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann in New Orleans.
Mike Fontham was recognized as a leading attorney for appellate practice and energy law in Best Lawyers in America. Fontham practices with Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann in New Orleans.
Eric Peters died in December 2020 after a long illness. His widow, Sarah, sent the following note: "Eric was a graduate of UVA in 1962 with a bachelor of civil engineering and later with a juris doctor in 1971. He was an avid sports fan, attending many games for 60 years. He contributed to the sports program. He had a successful career as a general practice lawyer, commonwealth attorney and commissioner of accounts in Lynchburg, Va."
Mark E. Sullivan continues to practice family law at 76, in Raleigh, N.C. He also taught remote CLE programs on the subject of military divorce in Lake County, Ill., and Clark County, Wash., in November and December.
1972
George House was recognized as a leading lawyer in environmental law, environmental litigation, mining law, natural resources law and water law by Best Lawyers in America. House practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.
1974
Charles A. Gilman shared the news that his daughter, Kate, and one of her Princeton classmates won a six-figure grant from the nonprofit RxHome to design, build and install an exhibition elevating the issue of homelessness in New York City. "The result was an interactive maze that led visitors through navigating the bureaucratic, time-consuming and demoralizing process of moving through the city's homeless shelter system on the way to permanent housing." The Way Home maze was on display for a week outside Brooklyn Borough Hall and for a week in lower Manhattan; a video tour of the maze can be found at: rxhome.nyc/the-way-home.
Professor Jim O’Reilly began his 42nd year of teaching at the University of Cincinnati. His 57th textbook, "Vaccine Risks, Benefits and Compensation" was published in October and his 233rd article appeared in Food and Drug Law Journal.
1975
Gibbons ’75 Receives U.S. Judiciary’s Service Award
Judge Julia Smith Gibbons ’75 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit received the 2021 Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award.
According to an Oct. 7 press release, the Devitt Award honors an Article III judge who has achieved a distinguished career and made significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law and the improvement of society as a whole.
Recipients are chosen by a committee of federal judges, which in 2021 was chaired by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and included Judge Thomas M. Hardiman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Christine M. Arguello of the District of Colorado.
"Judge Julia Gibbons is a trailblazer and role model in the legal profession," Gorsuch said in a statement. "In addition to discharging her judicial duties, for nearly 30 years Judge Gibbons has also played a vital role in the governance and administration of the federal judiciary nationwide."
In 1981, Gibbons became the first female trial judge in Tennessee. Two years later, she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. President George W. Bush nominated Gibbons to the Sixth Circuit in 2001.
"I am honored to receive the 2021 Devitt Award," Gibbons said in a statement. "I am humbled that the selection committee and others believed me worthy of this recognition."
As a federal judge, Gibbons chaired the U.S. Judicial Conference's Budget Committee from 2004-18 and the Judicial Resources Committee from 1994-99. She also was a member of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Gibbons testified 16 times before Congress in her role as Budget Committee chairwoman.
"Serving with federal judicial colleagues and staff for the past 38 years, as we have conducted trials, decided cases and done the work of judiciary governance, has given me great faith in the federal courts as an institution,” she said. “Given this context, being the representative of the third branch to receive the award this year is deeply meaningful."
—Mike Fox
Charles T. Bowyer (Col ’69) of Lake of the Woods, Va., died Nov. 27. A member of the NROTC Unit at UVA, he served three years on USS Ranger (CV-61) during the Vietnam War. His family writes that Bowyer loved his service with the Navy but decided to follow his father in the practice of law. After law school he joined Miles & Stockbridge in Baltimore, where he worked for 38 years in estates and trusts. Bowyer was active in his community and loved golf, playing the piano, and collecting and playing classical guitars. He is survived by his wife, Linda, his brother, William B. Bowyer (Col '72), and his son, James F. Bowyer ’08.
Charles Howard retired as general counsel of Shipman & Goodwin in Connecticut in 2019. One of the areas of his practice had been representing organizational ombuds programs at multinational corporations, universities, government agencies and other organizations. He had written the leading treatise in the field. Soon after that retirement, he had the opportunity to become the inaugural executive director of the International Ombudsman Association, an offer he said he found "impossible to refuse." Before he left that position early this year, he wrote another book, "A Practical Guide to Organizational Ombuds: How They Help People and Organizations," which the American Bar Association published in December.
Sharon Owlett was a panelist at the UVA Alumni Association's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Leveraging the Power of Your Organizational Culture conference in September. The panel of alumni experts spoke to defining success, avoidable mistakes, and practical steps for beginning and sustaining this organizational journey. Owlett serves as an executive partner with William & Mary's Mason School of Business.
1976
Bill Cary was recognized as a leading lawyer for employment law (management), labor law (management), labor litigation and management in Best Lawyers in America. Cary practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.
Peggy O’Neal was appointed chancellor of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's University Council in October. The council is the university's governing authority. RMIT has three campuses and two sites in Australia, two campuses in Vietnam, and a research and industry collaboration center in Spain.
In 2021, O'Neal was named the Melburnian of the Year. As president of the Richmond Football Club, O'Neal was the first woman to occupy the role for an Australian football club. Additionally, she serves on the boards of Women's Housing Ltd., Australia Dementia Network Ltd. and Fulbright Australia. O'Neal is a consultant with Lander and Rogers, and specializes in superannuation and financial services law. She was made an officer of the Order of Australia in 2019.
Having retired as a corporate finance and bond counsel for several municipalities and banks in California in 2010, Christopher Williams is working on several movie/film projects. After serving as the executive producer/producer of "2016: Obamas America with Dinesh D'Souza" (the second-highest grossing political documentary of all time), he is working on several projects with various entities, including Princebury Productions and Prager U. He resides in Nevada and has homes in California and Hawaii, as well as a ranch in Wyoming.
1977
Julian D. Bobbitt Jr. was recognized for his work in health care law in Best Lawyers in America. Bobbitt practices with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C.
1979
With his wife at his side, Neal Brendel "lost his last match against an intractable cancer" on Aug. 5, according to family. Brendel was born on Sept. 12, 1954, in McKeesport, Penn., the son of the late Joseph A. and Olga D. Brendel. Growing up, Brendel attended Serra Catholic High School, graduating in 1972. He took up wrestling in ninth grade and was recruited by Yale University. At Yale, Brendel met his wife, Pamela Rollings ’79, during their senior year. After law school, the couple made their way to Pittsburgh, where Brendel joined Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson & Hutchison (now K&L Gates), while Rollings joined the firm now known as Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Both later became partners of their respective firms and they married in 1988.
Brendel had a decorated career as a collegiate wrestler at Yale, concluding his career as an All-American at the 190-pound weight class. As a senior, Yale awarded him the William Neely Mallory Award as the athlete "who best represents the highest ideals of American Sportsmanship," and he remains the only wrestler to have won that award. After wrestling, Neal took up rugby and he was selected to play for the national team — the United States Eagles — from 1983 to 1987. He competed in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in Australia in 1987, while remaining a full-time partner at K&L. He also led the Pittsburgh Rugby Football Club (now the Pittsburgh Forge) as captain and president during the club's most successful years in the 1980s. He was the first national team player to serve as chairman of the USA Rugby Football Union, and he also served as the North American West Indies representative to the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby).
Brendel was elected to partner at K&L in 1986 and became renowned as a litigator of large and complex disputes in courtrooms in states across the country. In 2009, he transitioned his stateside practice and founded the K&L Gates office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Over the course of a decade in the Middle East, he developed an active practice in international arbitration and simultaneously built the office to critical mass in a strategic and highly competitive legal market.
Brendel retired from K&L Gates in 2019, concluding a 40-year career at the firm. He continued working as a mediator and arbitrator until his illness made it impossible. An avid traveler, naturalist and sportsman, Brendel cultivated native trees and plants at his home in Fox Chapel, north of Pittsburgh, and enjoyed bird hunting trips around the U.S. and abroad. His family noted, "He cherished his colleagues, friends and family, and will be deeply missed." He was the husband of Pamela for 33 years, the father of Ross (Capel) and Kurt, and the grandfather of Clara Brendel.
In 1993, Steven A. Standiford left the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, after nine years as an assistant U.S. attorney, to become a licensed clinical social worker in New York state, specializing in treating professionals suffering from anxiety and depression. He continues with that practice.
Randy Underwood was recognized for financial services regulation law and real estate law in Best Lawyers in America. Underwood practices with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro, N.C.
Barbara W. Wall was awarded the William J. Brennan, Jr. Defense of Freedom Award last fall. The Media Law Resource Center announced Wall received the honor for "her inspirational leadership in defending a free press, her exceptional strategic and practical skills as a First Amendment lawyer, and her steadfast promotion and support of women in the media bar." Wall is the first woman to win the Brennan Award singularly.
Wall currently serves on the board of directors of Gannett Co. Inc. She joined the legal staff of Gannett in 1985, was named chief legal officer in 2015, and served as interim chief operating officer in 2019 before retiring and joining the board in January 2020. Wall has taught communications law at George Washington and American universities. In 2012, she received the First Amendment Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and in 2020 she was awarded the ABA's Champion of Freedom Award by the American Bar Association's Forum on Communications Law.
Wall also serves as chair of the nominating committee of the board of trustees for Helen Keller International, a global health organization started by Helen Keller. The nonprofit delivers the essential building blocks of good health, sound nutrition and clear vision to millions of people, primarily in the United States, Africa and Southeast Asia.
