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1990
In 2016, Suzan Onel Bickel left K&L Gates, where she was chair of the global Food and Drug Administration practice. She writes she is now enjoying life at a boutique law firm that specializes in FDA and Federal Trade Commission law. Her husband, Keith, continues his work in mortgage policy at Bank of America. Their daughter is in the Czech Republic on a Fulbright scholarship and their son is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh.
Kenneth L. Metzner was named executive director of Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, a pro bono legal services organization serving emerging artists and arts organizations. Metzner previously served as the executive director of Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pa., and was the founding executive director of the Kun-Yang Lin Dancers and the CHI Movement Arts Center.
Metzner's experience in the legal field includes working at two major New York law firms before joining the legal team at a luxury department store chain based in New York, where he rose in rank to senior vice president and general counsel during his 10-year tenure.
Randy Saluck’s firm, Libertas Funding, provided more than $1 billion in business funding its first five years. His oldest daughter, Ellery, graduated from Washington University this past year.
1991
Mayer Brown partner and Director of Diversity & Inclusion Jeremiah DeBerry has been named a Distinguished Leader as part of the New York Law Journal's 2021 New York Legal Awards. The award recognizes attorneys in leadership roles who achieved impressive results in the past year. An active proponent of diversity in the legal profession for more than 20 years, DeBerry oversees all aspects of the firm's efforts to recruit, hire, develop and promote diverse and women lawyers. He serves on the firm's global partner promotion committee to ensure that diversity and inclusion principles are incorporated into partner promotion decisions. He is responsible for the development and implementation of diversity and inclusion policies for all the firm's U.S. offices.
DeBerry was named a 2021 Notable Black Leader and Executive by Crain's New York Business and a 2019 Equality Trailblazer by the National Law Journal.
Diane Pulley Flannery was listed on the Influential Women of Law list by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Flannery is the department chair for McGuireWoods' products, environmental and mass tort litigation department in Richmond, Va.
Vernon E. Inge Jr. was recognized for his work in civil litigation by Legal Elite-Virginia's Best Lawyers, as well as for construction law by Benchmark Litigation. Inge was also recognized as a leading lawyer in commercial litigation; and in litigation relating to banking and finance, bankruptcy, construction and municipal matters in Best Lawyers in America. Inge practices with Whiteford, Taylor & Preston in Richmond.
Alumni Assume Federal Executive, Judicial Roles
<p>Confirmed and nominated alumni include Mark Brzezinski ’91, Neil MacBride ’92, Doug Parker ’97, Gary M. Restaino ’96, Patricia Tolliver Giles ’98, Michael S. Nachmanoff ’95</p>
In recent months, President Joe Biden chose several alumni to fill high-profile positions in the executive branch and in the courts, in roles that require Senate confirmations.
Executive Branch
Mark Brzezinski ’91 was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Poland in January. He is founder and former principal of Brzezinski Strategies. Previously, he was managing director at Makena Capital Management, where he focused on responding to the growing demand for environmentally and socially responsible investment portfolios. Prior to Makena, Brzezinski served as the first executive director of the White House's Arctic Executive Steering Committee and before that was the U.S. ambassador to Sweden between 2011-15. Earlier, Brzezinski was a partner at McGuireWoods in Washington, D.C. From 1999-2001, he served on the Clinton administration's National Security Council, first as a director for Russia and Eurasia, and then as a director for the Balkans.
Neil MacBride ’92 was confirmed in February to serve as general counsel for the U.S. Treasury Department. He was formerly a litigation partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he worked as head of its Washington, D.C., office and as co-head of the firm's government investigations practice. Before entering private practice, he served in the Obama administration, first as an associate deputy attorney general for criminal enforcement in the U.S. Department of Justice and then as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. MacBride earlier served as chief counsel to then-Sen. Joe Biden on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Doug Parker ’97 was confirmed in October to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as assistant secretary for occupational safety and health. He previously served as chief of California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health since 2019. Prior to his appointment to Cal/OSHA, Parker was executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland, Calif.-based legal services provider. He also served in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, and was a member of the Biden administration transition team, focusing on worker health and safety issues. He has held positions as a senior policy adviser and special assistant at the Department of Labor.
Gary M. Restaino ’96 took office as U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona in November. Formerly an assistant U.S. attorney, he has held various leadership positions in the office, including chief of the Criminal Division from 2012-16 and chief of the White Collar Crime Section from 2008-09. From 2009-10, Restaino was detailed as a trial attorney to the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice. Restaino was a civil rights lawyer at the Arizona Attorney General's Office from 1999-2003 and previously represented migrant and seasonal farmworkers at Community Legal Services Inc. He also served with the Peace Corps in Paraguay from 1991-93 before law school.
Mohsin Raza Syed ’08 (Col ’02) serves as assistant secretary of government affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation. He previously worked as principal deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at DOT. Before that, Syed served for six years on Capitol Hill, including as majority chief counsel for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, minority staff director for the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security within the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and legislative counsel for Sen. Bill Nelson ’68.
Federal Courts
Patricia Tolliver Giles ’98 was confirmed in October to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She had served in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia since 2003 and as managing assistant U.S. attorney. She previously was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Major Crimes Unit from 2003-19. She also served on the attorney general's Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, MS-13 Subcommittee. From 2000-03, Giles was an associate at Cooley Godward.
Toby Heytens ’00 was confirmed in November to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Michael S. Nachmanoff ’95 received his commission to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in November. He had served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Virginia since 2015. Before his appointment to the bench, Nachmanoff served for 13 years in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, serving as chief federal public defender from 2007-15, acting federal public defender from 2005-07 and first assistant public defender from 2002-05.
Pending Confirmations
Several more alumni have pending nominations as of press time. Updates will be posted in the next issue.
Mary Boyle ’91 was nominated to serve as commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
M. Tia Johnson LL.M. ’02 was nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
—Mike Fox
1992
Brian Culnan was named a leading lawyer for labor litigation and employment in Best Lawyers in America. Culnan's practice covers health care and health care controversies, labor and employment law, and commercial litigation. He is a partner with Barclay Damon in Albany, N.Y.
Jon Deuser recently bought the Smith-Free Group, a boutique lobbying consultancy in Washington, D.C. He continues as president and CEO of the firm.
Mark Malveaux was named managing partner of McCall Parkhurst & Horton, a Texas-based public finance law firm. Malveaux's Dallas practice includes work as bond counsel, underwriters' counsel and disclosure counsel. The 103-year-old firm also has offices in Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
Troutman Pepper partner John S. West was recognized as a leading lawyer in Best Lawyers in America. West handles all phases of government and internal investigations, and advises clients on regulatory compliance matters in Richmond, Va.
1993
Last summer, Bill Kincaid served as acting chancellor for the University of Arkansas during a period of transition. Kincaid has since returned to his role as managing associate general counsel. He writes that his son is graduating from Arkansas this spring and will begin law school at the University of Georgia in the fall. His daughter is a sophomore at Arkansas.
Paul T. O’Neill was named co-chair of Barton Gilman's education law practice. He oversees the growth and development of the practice, which serves clients from New England to the mid-Atlantic. O'Neill's experience spans the education sector - from general counsel of the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, one of the nation's leading charter school authorizing offices, to serving as senior vice president, chief regulatory officer, head education lawyer and senior fellow for EdisonLearning, the national school management and services organization.
O'Neill led Edison's efforts to engage in the post-Hurricane Katrina revitalization of public schooling in New Orleans. In addition to his school law practice, O'Neill serves on the adjunct faculty of Columbia University's Teachers College, where he teaches courses on education law and policy, such as Private School Law, Designing Charter Schools, and Special Education Law and Policy. This summer he will teach Legal Issues for Private and Independent Schools.
Christina Braisted Rogers joined Troutman Pepper's national real estate practice group in Atlanta. Rogers' practice focuses on acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, leasing and financing in connection with multifamily residential, office, retail and industrial properties. She represents institutional real estate investors, including investment trusts, pension fund advisers, and construction and permanent lenders and borrowers.
Jeffrey Sachs was appointed chief legal and compliance officer of Balt, an innovative neurovascular company focused on developing, designing and manufacturing solutions for treating complex, life-threatening conditions, including stroke, aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations. Sachs is based in Boston. He most recently served as chief legal and compliance officer at Scipher Medicine, a venture-backed precision immunology company.
1994
Zebulon D. Anderson was listed as a leading attorney in the areas of employment law (management), labor litigation and employment in Best Lawyers in America. Anderson practices with Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C.
Patrick J. Johnson was recognized as a leading lawyer for corporate law and mergers and acquisitions law in Best Lawyers in America. Johnson practices with Brooks Pierce in Raleigh, N.C.
Benjamin Plaut published "18 Holes with Belichick and Brady," a book describing the day he spent watching Tom Brady and Bill Belichick play in the PGA Tour's Pebble Beach Pro-Am as he walked the round with Brady's parents and Belichick's girlfriend. Plaut played golf and football at Brown - where he also wrote about sports - before coming to law school at Virginia.
Award winning children's book author Wendy Wan-Long Shang wrote two books to accompany the American Girl 2022 Girl of the Year, Corinne Tan.
Among others, Shang's books include "The Great Wall of Lucy Wu," "The Way Home Looks Now" and "The Rice in the Pot Goes Round." The books focus on the many experiences of Chinese Americans with humor, heart and a sense of history.
Shang also co-authored a chapter, "First, a Reckoning: Prioritizing Racial Equity in Pretrial Reform," in the "Handbook on Pretrial Justice." The book was published by Routledge in September.
1995
Jason G. Moyers was named president of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys at its annual meeting in October. Moyers, a partner with Frankl Miller Webb & Moyers in Roanoke, has been a member of VADA since he passed the bar in 1995. Moyers represents insurers, individuals and businesses in the defense of automobile, commercial carrier, product liability and premises liability claims in state and federal courts throughout Virginia. Among his areas of practice is an emphasis on the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles and autonomous vehicle technology. Moyers was named to the 2021 Class of Leaders in the Law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly.
Last year, Raymond E. Patricco was appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Idaho, one of four federal District Court judges in the district. In April, he became the chief U.S. magistrate judge for the district. Previously, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney for 21 years in the Eastern District of Virginia and District of Idaho.
1996
Trey Hanbury joined Jenner & Block as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office, after nine years as a partner with Hogan Lovells. Previously, Hanbury was director of government affairs at Sprint. Prior to that, he held various policymaking positions at the Federal Communications Commission, including working on satellite and international telecom matters in the International Bureau. Hanbury also served as special counsel in the Office of General Counsel, where he was responsible for providing policy and legal advice on wireless issues to the Office of the Chairman.
1997
Lori D. Thompson received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award as a commendation for her dedication to community service. In 2003, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation founded the President’s Volunteer Service Award Program to recognize the important role of volunteers in America’s strength and national identity. The Roanoke Bar Association became a certifying organization for the program in 2006, and Thompson has received a Presidentís Volunteer Service Award every year since.
This year, Thompson hit an important milestone when she surpassed 4,000 hours of community and pro bono service. Thompson has assisted in the provision of pro bono legal services as a board member of the Roanoke Valley Legal Aid Society, as a Virginia Bar Association Pro Bono Taskforce member, as a board member and past president of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, and as a member of the Virginia Supreme Courtís Access to Justice Pro Bono Committee. She also has provided pro bono legal representation as a volunteer with Blue Ridge Legal Services and the Virginia Bar Association’s Veterans Initiative.
For the past 15 years, Thompson has organized the Roanoke Law Foundation’s “Santa at the Station” event, which is a free holiday party for families living in homeless shelters in the Roanoke Valley.
Thompson has volunteered with the Virginia Bar Association’s mentor program and the Roanoke Bar Association’s Barrister’s Book Buddies program in Roanoke City Public Schools. She also has been an active volunteer within the public school system, assisting with fundraisers and organizing events.
Thompson has a litigation practice with Spilman Thomas & Battle.
Colby Walton and Jason Meyer have acquired Cooksey Communications in Dallas. Walton, who began his public relations agency career at Cooksey in 1998, was named a partner in 2015 and most recently served as president. He now serves as chairman and CEO. During his 23-year tenure at Cooksey, Walton 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.
1998
The firm Mandelbaum Salsburg changed its name to Mandelbaum Barrett to recognize the contributions of CEO William S. Barrett. The rebrand represents the first time in 42 years that a name has been added.
Since Barrett was named CEO in 2018, the firm's revenue has grown year over year, and the firm has expanded its practice offerings to keep pace with client needs. In recent years, the firm has expanded its dental, veterinary, health care and emerging markets groups, as well as added to its cannabis, elder law and special needs practices.
In addition to serving as CEO, Barrett co-chairs the corporate law practice. With 25 years of experience, he specializes in mergers and acquisitions, and provides strategic advice to companies of all sizes from formation to dissolution and every stage in between. Barrett often serves in the role of outside general corporate counsel to his clients and advises them on issues concerning contracts, policy development, executive compensation programs and agreements, and business succession and related planning.
Billie Colombaro LL.M. was recognized by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals for excellence in her arbitration practice. Colombaro is a former court of appeals judge and now a full-time arbitrator and mediator working primarily with the American Arbitration Association.
Lucas Hobbs was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to serve as a general district court judge for the 28th Judicial District.
Erica Y. Williams was sworn in as chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in January. Appointed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November, Wiliams’ initial term runs through October 2024.
1999
Kim ’99 Wins Literary Award for Poetry
Annie Kim ’99, assistant dean for public service at the Law School, won the 2021 Library of Virginia Literary Award for poetry at a virtual ceremony Oct. 16.
The award recognized Kim's poems in the book "Eros, Unbroken," which explores the complicity between art, intimacy and violence between two musicians in 18th-century Spain. Kim's first collection, "Into the Cyclorama," won the Michael Waters Poetry Prize. "Eros, Unbroken" won the Washington Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2020 Foreword INDIES Poetry Book of the Year.
"Year after year, we marvel at the incredible authors and books that come out of — and are inspired by — Virginia," said Joseph Papa, who co-chaired the Literary Awards Committee along with Jordana Kaufman. "It's a thrill to be a part of honoring these works that shine a light on forgotten histories, take prose to new heights, and give readers an escape."
The Library of Virginia established its annual Literary Awards program in 1997 to honor Virginia writers and celebrate their contributions to the literary landscape of the state and the nation, according to the organization's website.
Kim directs the Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center and the Program in Law and Public Service at the Law School. Prior to joining the Law School, Kim practiced for 12 years as a litigator and in-house counsel, representing Virginia school districts and local governments.
Kim has taught graduate legal research and writing to LL.M. students at the Law School, legal writing to undergraduates at the UVA College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, poetry writing to undergraduates at Virginia Commonwealth University, and many writing seminars to community members throughout Charlottesville. Currently at the Law School she teaches the courses Law and Public Service, Public Interest Law and Advocacy Skills, and Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships.
Kim has served in many leadership positions with the Virginia State Bar and the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia. She taught newly barred Virginia lawyers on the faculty of the state bar's mandatory Justice Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course, and has taught hundreds of local government attorneys, paralegals, school administrators and teachers, police officers and emergency communications workers on topics ranging from Fourth Amendment use of force and qualified immunity to legal ethics.
—Mike Fox
Marc D. Glenn is one of 12 collaborating attorneys who founded Continuum Legal Group in Atlanta. Glenn represents clients in all areas of real estate, lending and corporate finance, including in the acquisition, financing, development, leasing, subleasing, workout and foreclosure of commercial, office, retail, industrial and multifamily real estate. As part of his practice, Glenn also advises clients in bond financing transactions, the corporate structuring of entities (including nonprofits and supporting organizations), and all aspects of real estate held or utilized for educational purposes. Glenn also holds the diplomatic post of honorary consul of Iceland.
Peirce Moser, who until recently worked as a prosecutor with the New York County District Attorney's Office, serves as corporate secretary and chair of the governance committee of the board of trustees for Helen Keller International. The nonprofit, a global health organization started by Helen Keller, works to eliminate preventable vision loss, malnutrition and diseases related to poverty, primarily in the United States, Africa and Southeast Asia. Moser has spent time with the organization's programs in Ivory Coast, Myanmar, Nepal and Tanzania.
Johanna W. Schneider has been elected to the partnership at Hemenway & Barnes in Boston. Schneider has more than 20 years of experience advising public and private clients on real estate development projects and real estate litigation. She is active in industry associations and serves on her town's zoning board of appeals.
