W&L Law - Summer 2012

The Washington and Lee School of Law Magazine

A Conversation with the New Dean

S u m m e r 2 012

Janet Fallon ’00L All Business

Election 2012 Alumni Opinions

Graduation and Reunion

Nora V. Demleitner

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ure

Photo this page: Commencement speaker Linda Klein ’83L tells the 2012 graduation class, “[D]ream big as you

usher in the generation that follows you here, and come back to tell about your

big moment of choice and tell them how proud you are to have had an education here, how much it means to you. I know

how much it means to me.”Photo by Kevin Remington

On the cover: Dean Nora V. DemleitnerPhoto by Kevin Remington

DEPARTMENTS

2 General StatsBy the numbers

3 Dean’s ColumnTradition & Innovation

4 DiscoveryGraduation 2012, endowed professorships, faculty books and accomplishments.

26 Class NotesReunion recap and alumni news.

FEATURES

12 All BusinessJanet Fallon ’00L develops new business deals for Pratt & Whitney.—> By M el i s s a P ow el l ’ 1 2

14 Meet the DeanQ&A with Nora V. Demleitner.

19 Election 2012What the alumni think. —> By B ro o k e S uth er l a n d ’ 1 2

2 W & L L a w A l u m n i M a g a z i n e S u m m e r 2 0 1 2 l a w . w l u . e d u 3

In B

rief by theNumbers

© Washington and Lee University

Volume 12 No. 2Summer 2012

Louise UffelmanEDITOR

Jennifer UtterbackCL A SS N OTE S EDITOR

Patrick Hinely ’73, Kevin RemingtonUN IVER SITY PH OTO GR APH ER S

Laurie Lipscomb, Denise Watts,Mary Woodson

GR APH I C DE SI GN ER S

Bart Morris, Morris DesignART DI R ECTOR

Published by Washington and Lee University,Lexington, Va. 24450. All communications and

POD Forms 3579 should be sent to Washington andLee, Law Alumni Magazine, 7 Courthouse

Square, Lexington Va. 24450-2519. Periodicals postage paid at Norfolk, Va.

University AdvancementJeffery G. Hanna

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Elizabeth Outland BrannerDIRECTOR OF LAW SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT

Peter JettonDIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

FOR THE SCHOOL OF LAW

Julie A. CampbellASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

L AW ALUMN I A SS O CIATI ON

T. Hal Clarke Jr. ’73, ’76LPresident (Charlotte, N.C.)

Eric A. Anderson ’82L Vice President (New York)

James J. Ferguson Jr. ’88LImmediate Past President (Dallas)

Darlene MooreExecutive Secretary (Lexington)

WASHINGTON AND LEEUNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF LAW

Lexington, Virginia

$17,552In January, students raised a record $17,552 for local nonprofits during the 2012 Phi Alpha Delta charity auction. The proceeds were split among several organizations, including Yellow Brick Road Early Learning Center, Project Horizon and the Rockbridge Area Free Clinic. Some auction proceeds also helped to provide a scholarship for a W&L law student working in a public interest position.

130The Law School’s Powell Archives have about 130 Powell SCOTUS case files available online. These cases deal mostly with race-related issues, such as voting rights and affirmative action. Among the new titles are DeFunis v. Odegaard, Washington v. Davis and Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education. Visit law.wlu.edu/powellarchives.

Denis J. Brion has retired after 34 years on the Law School faculty. He earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia. His areas of expertise included private and public land regulation, law and economics, property and the constitution, real estate transactions and jury advocacy.

34From February through April, law students (through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program) offered free assistance on federal and state income tax returns for those with a 2011 family income of $50,000 or less. During that period, they

assisted 40 members of the community claim refunds totaling approximately $55,000.

40ADDENDUM—The profile on Lynell Skarda on p. 23 of the 2012 Winter issue failed to mention that Lynell’s brother, Cash, was in the class of ’42L. We regret the omission.


L AW CO UN CI LBlas P. Arroyo ’81L (Charlotte, N.C.)

Stacy D. Blank ’88L (Tampa, Fla.)J. Alexander Boone ’95L (Roanoke)

Katherine Tritschler Boone ’06L (London)Benjamin C. Brown ’94, ’03L (Washington)

John A. Cocklereece Jr. ’76, ’79L (Winston-Salem, N.C.)Malinda E. Dunn ’81L (Alexandria, Va.)

David K. Friedfeld ’83L (Hauppauge, N.Y.)Fred K. Granade ’75L (Bay Minette, Ala.)

M. Peebles Harrison ’92L (Nags Head, N.C.)Christina E. Hassan ’98L (New York City)

Wyndall Ivey ’99L (Birmingham, Ala.)Bruce H. Jackson ’65, ’68L (San Francisco)

W. Henry Jernigan Jr. ’72, ’75L (Charleston, W.Va.)Lauren Troxclair Lebioda ’06L (Charlotte)Susan Appel McMillan ’89L (Boise, Idaho)Samuel A. Nolen ’79L (Wilmington, Del.)

W. Brantley Phillips, Jr. ’97L (Nashville, Tenn.)Moira T. Roberts ’93L (Washington)

J. Andrew Robison ’02L (Birmingham, Ala.)Thomas L. Sansonetti ’76L (Denver)James S. Seevers ’97L (Richmond)William M. Toles ’92, ’95L (Dallas)

Richard T. Woulfe ’76L (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

L AW CO UN CI L E MER ITIPeter Baumgaertner ’83, ’86L (New York City)

J. I. Vance Berry Jr. ’79L (Jacksonville, Fla.)Michael P.A. Cohen ’90L (Washington)

Thomas E. Evans ’91L (Bentonville, Ariz.)Thomas J. Gearen ’82L (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

Betsy Callicott Goodell ’80L (Bronxville, N.Y.)Rakesh Gopalan ’06L (Charlotte, N.C.)Nathan V. Hendricks ’66, ’69L (Atlanta)

Thomas B. Henson ’80L (Charlotte, N.C.)A. John Huss ’65L (St. Paul, Minn.)

Mary Miller Johnston ’84L (Wilmington, Del.)Chong J. Kim ’92L (Atlanta)

A. Carter Magee Jr. ’79L (Roanoke)Everett A. Martin Jr. ’74, ’77L (Norfolk, Va.)Andrew J. Olmen ’96, ’01L (Arlington, Va.)

Diana L. Grimes Palmer ’07L (Des Moines, Iowa)Lesley Brown Schless ’80L (Greenwich, Conn.)

Richard W. Smith ’98L (Washington)W. Hildebrandt Surgner Jr. ’87, ’94L (Richmond)Stacy Gould Van Goor ’95L (San Diego, Calif.)

Andrea K. Wahlquist ’95L (New York City)

WriteNow!

By Mail:Elizabeth Outland BrannerDirector of Law School AdvancementSydney Lewis HallWashington and Lee University School of LawLexington, VA 24450-2116

By E-Mail:[email protected]

By Phone:(540) 458-8191

All letters should be signed and include the author’s name, address and daytime phone number. Letters selected for publication may be edited for length, content and style. Signed articles reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of the editors or the University.

WTradition and Innovation

With this issue of W&L Law, you will begin to get to know Nora Demleitner, our incoming dean. I am confident that you will enjoy that process, and equally confident that as you do, you will understand what a wonderful choice we’ve made and how fortunate we are to have Nora joining us. These last two years, during which I served as interim dean, have been among the most professionally rewarding of my 36 years at the Law School. One of the best parts is to have traveled with Elizabeth Branner to meet some of you I’ve not previously had the opportunity to know, and to re-connect with many others of you for whom it had just been too long. Those visits constantly reminded me not only of the tremendous talent and commitment we have in our alumni body, but also of the genuine warmth you have for your experiences at the Law School and for your classmates and teachers. It is a bond that is rare among the alumni of most law schools, and is a testament to the special quali-ties of this place, with which I feel privileged to be associated. In a time when legal education faces many challenges, W&L has held steadfast to its traditional values while at the same time leading curricular innovation among American law schools. Our commitment to both tradition and innovation has enabled us to move forward as many law schools struggle to define their mission in the current environment. We sometimes express this success as being based on our tradition of innovation—certainly one among many of our fine traditions. None of this, however, would be possible without the loyal and generous support of our alumni. For that support we are forever grateful. Each May, our graduating students, who have been the most recent beneficiaries of this sup-port, become a part of this continuing circle. And each August, our entering students sense quickly that they have become a part of something much more significant than just another law school. Those of us who have the honor of welcoming 1Ls each year, helping them along in various ways for the next three years, and then celebrating their graduation, as we have just done, know that we are fortunate to be able to do this and thank you for all you do to allow us to continue to serve in this way. Please join me in welcoming Dean Demleitner.

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Mark H. Grunewald, Interim Dean

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With a soft spring rain falling on the historic front cam-pus, the School of Law

celebrated the completion of its 163rd year by awarding juris doctor degrees to 129 graduates. If any of those grad-uates were having second thoughts about their career choice, then Linda Klein, a practicing attorney and chair of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, assured them

that they had chosen well. “One of the best choices you ever made is why you are sitting here today. You chose to become a lawyer,” said Klein ’83L. “I promise you that’s true, even if you find yourself doubt-ing it some days. The law is vital. Everyone needs access to the law. Indeed, knowing the law is how we make the right choices.” Klein is managing shareholder of the Georgia offices of Baker, Donel-son, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. In her role as chair of the ABA’s House of Delegates, she presides over the policy-making body of the largest voluntary-membership professional organization in the world. Klein encouraged the graduates to work as hard for their clients as they had during their law studies. “You know what hard work is because you survived this law school. Don’t stop now,” she said. “Choose to

do your best on every assignment—pro bono, small cases, your clients, clients of your colleagues—just always do your best. The problem you’re solving is the most important thing to your client. Your reputation, our profession’s reputation, the commu-nity’s reputation, could be at stake. Once your reputation is lost, it’s nearly impossible to find it again.” Klein warned them not to yield to the temptation to make bad choices. When times are tough, she said, there are legions of people eager to take advantage. “They will tempt you with easy wins, easy promotions and easy money, perhaps when you need it most. What they ask of you will seem so simple, yet so lucrative. How many times have you heard, ‘If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true?’ Every day in your law practice, you will have the opportunity to make

The 2012 law graduates process along the Colonnade.

Lauren Chunn ’12L receives her hood from Professors Brian Murchison and Joan Shaughnessy.

W&L Law Graduates Urged to Make Good Choices

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a bad choice,” she said. “Making the good choice is often harder at first, but in the long run it’s easier. When you make a good choice, you will not have the stress associated with regret and guilt that’s going to follow you.” She encouraged the graduates to exhibit the professionalism that has al-ways been a hallmark of law graduates from Washington and Lee. “You act on behalf of all of us,” she said. “Our culture is too precious to sacrifice.” Klein also exhorted the graduates to use their roles to make a differ-ence, not just to make money. “While our profession is a pretty good one for making a dollar, it’s also the best profession I know for making a differ-ence, which is a lot harder and worth every effort,” she said. “So dream big as you usher in the generation that follows you here, and come back to tell about your big moment of choice and tell them how proud you are to have

had an education here, how much it means to you. I know how much it means to me.” In his remarks to the graduates, Mark H. Grunewald, interim dean of the School of Law, noted that they represented the first class in which every member had completed W&L’s innovative third-year curriculum, which has gained national recognition. “Each of you had the opportu-nity to take important steps in law school that put you much closer to the professional world that you are about to enter,” said Grunewald. “Each of you gained a real understanding of the complex professional roles lawyers played; gained confidence not from having mastered the roles that take years of practice to perfect, but from having experienced the process; and gained, perhaps most important, a beginning sense of what it means to exercise professional judgment.”

AwardsJohn W. Davis Prize for Law

highest cumulative grade point averageAvalon Jonah Frey

Academic Progress Awardmost satisfactory scholastic progress

in the final yearKelsey Marie Baughman

Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Awardeffective trial advocacyParker David Kasmer

Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Commercial Law Awardexcellence in commercial law

Sam Ferrell Alman Jr.

Calhoun Bond University Service Awardsignificant contributions to the

University communityAnthony Gerard Flynn Jr.

Frederic L. Kirgis Jr. International Law Award

excellence in international lawChristine M. Shepard

Charles V. Laughlin Awardoutstanding contributions

to the Moot Court ProgramJennifer Grace Dean

Jonathan Randall Little

Randall P. Bezanson Awardoutstanding contributions to diversity

in the life of the Law School communityAshleigh M. Greene

Virginia Bar Family Law Section Award

excellence in the area of family lawMarc Joseph Zappala

American Bankruptcy Institute Medal

excellence in the study of bankruptcy lawAndrew Shane Gerrish

Michael Hugh Hill

Barry Sullivan Constitutional Law Award

excellence in constitutional lawMeghan Elaine Hobbs and Tegan Jo Peterson

James W.H. Stewart Tax Law Awardexcellence in tax lawEllis Harris Pretlow

Thomas Carl Damewood Evidence Award

excellence in the area of evidenceChaz Daniel Klaes

A.H. McLeod-Ross Malone Advocacy Award

distinction in oral advocacyTyler Simms Laughinghouse

Student Bar Association President Award

services as the president of the Student Bar Association

Negin Farahmand

ALI-ABA Scholarship & Leadership Award

best represents the combination of scholarship and leadership

Christine M. Shepard

From l. to r.: President Ken Ruscio ’76 with commencement speaker Linda Klein ’83L and Interim Dean Mark H. Grunewald.

Liz Zamorski Friberg ’12L presents Interim Dean Mark H. Grunewald with the third-year pledge to

the Law Annual Fund and the Law Scholarship Fund.


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Law Council: New Members

Malinda E. Dunn ’81L is the execu-tive director of the American Inns of Court Foundation in Alexandria, Va. Before assuming her current position, Dunn served for more than 28 years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, retiring as a brigadier general. Her last field assignment, as staff judge advocate, XVIII Airborne Corps, included tours as the staff judge advocate, Combined Joint Task Force-180, Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan, in 2003, and staff judge advocate, Multi-National Corps–Iraq, Victory Base, Iraq in 2005.

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Samuel A. Nolen ’79L joined Richards, Layton & Finger in 1980 and is a director in the corporate department. He advises individu-als, boards and management on corporate governance, transactional and control dispute issues. Nolen also represents corporate and indi-vidual clients in derivative and class actions, fiduciary responsibility actions, and other complex cases. Nolen served as a law clerk in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

W. Brantley Phillips Jr. ’97L is a partner with Bass Berry & Sims P.L.C., in the firm’s litigation and government advocacy practice areas. In 2011, Bass Berry received the Tennessee Bar Association’s 2011 Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative Award for work done by Brant and three colleagues as a part of a successful clemency petition ef-fort on behalf of a Tennessee death row inmate.

Moira T. Roberts ’93L is an as-sistant director of the division of enforcement, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, in Wash-ington. She joined the commission in 2000, after working for the firms Howry & Simon and Ropes & Gray L.L.P. She clerked for the late Hon. Robert R. Merhige of the Eastern District of Virginia.

J. Andrew Robison ’02L is a partner of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings L.L.P. in Birmingham, Ala., where he is a member of the corporate and securities practice group. He serves as outside general counsel (pro bono) for the Birmingham Museum of Art, The Art Fund of Birmingham Inc. and The Birmingham Museum of Art Endow-ment Trust. He has also served on the President’s Advisory Council for Birmingham-Southern College and the board of directors of the Literary Council. He is a director and past president of the Birmingham Chapter of the W&L Alumni Association, and he has served as a class agent.

Richard T. Woulfe ’76L is the managing partner of Bunnell & Woulfe P.A., with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, Fla. His trial practice is in complex civil litigation, including professional liability, products liability and com-mercial litigation. He is a Florida Bar Board certified civil trial lawyer and a fellow of the American Col-lege of Trial Lawyers.

Malinda E. Dunn ’81L

Samuel A. Nolen ’79L

W. Brantley Phillips Jr. ’97L

Moira T. Roberts ’93L Richard T. Woulfe ’76L

J. Andrew Robison ’02L


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“These cases always come down to credibility,” Haas says. “It can be very difficult to ascertain whether what our clients claim actually happened. Im-migration officers see hundreds of cases just like this. We have to have proof in order to prevail.” And proof is just what Elisabeth Juterbock ’06, ’12L delivered. Follow-ing three months of investigation, legal research and an arduous in-terview process, Juterbock obtained political refugee status for her client. He is now able to apply for a work visa and move on with his life. “I can hear it in his voice when I talk to him now,” says Juterbock. “He has gone from having no options to having a path to the future.” Juterbock’s client, who wishes to remain anonymous, is from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he worked for a non-governmental organization that helped farmers understand how small businesses operate. When DRC military forces stole money and livestock the organization used for seed projects, killing the villagers who resisted, the man reported these acts to the heads of his NGO. The media picked up the story, and the government responded by putting him in jail, where he was beaten and denied access to attorneys. He managed to escape during a prison transfer and ultimately made his way to the U.S. The DRC then attacked his family, and those who survived fled the country. “If there is any reason asylum exists in this country, it is for people like him,” Juterbock adds. The Immigration and Citizenship Clinic, which W&L Law launched in 2010, took on the case in summer 2011, and Juterbock received the assignment when classes began in September. During the fall, she worked with her client

to solicit letters and other paperwork from friends and family members abroad that corroborated his story. She

also helped her client through the difficult task of recounting painful and traumatic events, a process that would be repeated during a lengthy interview with an immigration of-ficer. But Haas notes that the mere fact that bad things happen to people is not enough to estab-lish grounds for political asylum. Juterbock also had to prove that her client fit into one of five protected classes the government recognizes. In this case, Juterbock argued that her client’s reporting of the military violence constituted a political opin-ion for which he was persecuted. Juterbock and Haas were at the client’s side during the three-hour interview, which Juterbock describes as tough but fair, as the immigration office turned over every stone in an effort to test their client’s story.

But Juterbock knows that this is an important part of the process. “For every honest person who comes in with a story that needs to be heard, there are many more who embel-lish the facts, so she has to ask tough questions,” Juterbock said of the immigration official. “But she made the right call.” For Juterbock, who has focused much of her legal education on business law, working on this case was un-like anything she has done in law school. “You can hear everything in the world about the bur-den of proof, but until you actually have to come forth and meet that burden for a client before the court, you don’t realize how difficult and important meeting that standard is,” she says. “It was an eye-opening experience for me.”

W&L Law Student Wins Asylum Case for Political Refugee

It seems like an easy decision. Grant political asylum to a Congolese man or send him back to the country where he suffered unspeakable abuse in prison, where his family members were attacked and forced into hiding. The reality, says Aaron Haas, who directs the Immigration and Citizenship Program at Washington and Lee School of Law, is much more complicated.

Elisabeth Juterbock ’06, ’12L

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E n d o w e d P r o f e s s o r s h i p s

Professor Joan M. “Shaun” Shaughnessy has been appoint-ed the Roger D. Groot Professor of Law. She has been a member of the law school faculty since 1983 and teaches Civil Procedure, Federal Jurisdiction and Jurisprudence, among other courses. She has writ-ten in the areas of federal proce-dure and complex civil litigation, as well as child welfare and jurispru-dence. She is a founding member of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Children and the Law. Shaughnessy has been hon-ored numerous times for her teach-ing, including by Phi Delta Phi, the Student Bar Association, and the Women Law Students Association, and was twice named the John W. Elrod Fellow in Teaching Excellence. From 1996 to 1999, she served as associate dean for academic affairs and has

chaired many major Law School and University committees. “The Groot Professor-ship honors the memory of an extraordinary member of the law faculty,” said Interim Dean Mark H. Grunewald. “Roger Groot embodied fully the personal and institutional values that distinguish W&L and the legal education our students receive. It is most fitting that Shaun Shaughnessy be the in-augural holder of the Groot chair.” The Groot Professorship is a new chair created by the generosity and cumulative effort of nearly 400 alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the Law School to honor Profes-sor Roger D. Groot, who died in 2005. Groot taught Criminal Law and Procedure and Property to thousands of students during his

32 years at the School and was a much beloved and respected member of the faculty.

Erik Luna, professor of law, has been appointed the Sydney and Frances Lewis Professor of Law. Luna joined the W&L faculty in 2009. An expert in criminal law and procedure, he is has written on an array of domestic and comparative criminal law topics, including manda-tory sentencing, over-criminalization, the war on drugs, and search and seizure law. His current scholarly proj-ects include two books, “The Prosecu-tor in Transnational Perspective” and “The Law of Terrorism.” In 2011, Luna was elected to the American Law Institute, the most prestigious law reform body in the U.S. “Erik Luna is a most worthy holder of the Sydney and Frances Lewis Professorship,” said interim dean Mark H. Grunewald. “His teaching and scholarship are exemplary. Erik’s students consistently praise his enthusiasm for his subject and his skill in the classroom. Similarly, Erik’s multi-faceted work on the prosecutorial function in both domestic and international criminal justice systems is widely recognized and highly regarded.” Luna is frequently called upon to testify regarding issues of criminal justice. He previously offered testimony before a U.S. congressional subcommittee on the judiciary on the

ability of U.S. states to provide legal services to indigent defendants as required by law. Luna also testified be-fore the Senate Judiciary Subcommit-tee on Crime and Drugs for a hearing examining whether violence against America’s homeless population is on the rise. Most recently, his testimony and scholarship on federal manda-tory minimum penalties were cited extensively in a report to Congress by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. “The law school is quite literally built upon the extraordinary gener-osity of Frances and Sydney Lewis,” Luna said. “I am humbled to receive the chair named in their honor, and I hope that my work can pay tribute to their commitment to scholarly excel-lence.” Luna’s varied experience includes service as a Fulbright Scholar

researching restorative justice in New Zealand, a visiting scholar in Germany at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, and a visiting professional at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He is also an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute, a public policy research foundation. His commentary on criminal justice issues appears frequently in the national media, including the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, NPR, and the National Law Journal.

Erik Luna, Sydney and Frances Lewis Professor of Law

Joan M. “Shaun” Shaughnessy, Roger D. Groot Professor of Law


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A timely new book by Mark A. Drumbl, the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor and director of its Trans-national Law Institute, examines the complex problem of child soldiering and challenges conventional wis-dom. “Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy” (Ox-ford University Press, 2012) offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of child soldiering world-wide and presses the international community to rethink its approaches to the problem. Drumbl suggests that the phenomenon of child soldiering is largely oversimplified and that inter-national humanitarian and criminal justice systems must evolve in order to offer adequate responses. “Two images of the child soldier dominate this discussion,” said Drumbl. “Child soldiers are presented either as bloodthirsty, programmed killers or as faultless passive victims, devastated, with no control over their lives. But the reali-ties on the ground are much more complex.” Drumbl urges the adoption of restorative, rehabilitative, and remedial initiatives outside of the criminal justice system to facilitate reintegration and promote social re-pair. Truth commissions, traditional ceremonies, transitional justice, oc-cupational training, and community service are some of the processes Drumbl believes can better serve the interests of former child soldiers and their communities.

The German Law Journal was in the vanguard of online academic journals when Professor Russell Miller and his co-founder Peer Zumbansen launched the project over 10 years ago. Now, to celebrate and take stock of the Journal’s contributions to scholarship in the fields of German, European and international law, the pair have a compiled a first-ever print volume to assess the project’s impact on the field known as transnational law. Titled “Comparative Law as Transnational Law: A Decade of the German Law Journal” (Oxford University Press), the book contains a selection of articles, essays, book reviews and interviews published on the German Law Journal website. The Journal’s English-language treatment of comparative and international law attracts more than two million site visits from more than 50 countries each year. Miller says the volume is in-tended to be both reflective of what the Journal has achieved but also to make an argument about the defini-tion and methodology of a sometimes amorphous subject area. “There are many scholars who argue that there is now a canon of transnational law that one must study and command in order to consider him or herself a transnational lawyer, and we dispute that,” said Miller. “We see transnational law rather as an event and not a static body. Trans-national law exists as the meeting of different approaches to law, it exists at the nexus of different legal cultures.”

Todd Peppers ’90, visiting professor of law, co-edited “In Chambers: Sto-ries of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices” (University of Virginia Press). In addition to reflecting the personal experiences of the law clerks with their justices, the essays reveal how clerks are chosen, what tasks are assigned to them, and how the institu-tion of clerking has evolved over time. Peppers contributed two essays, including an interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and former Dean Randy Bezanson contributed an essay on his clerkship with Justice Blackmun. Essayists also include U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson writing about his clerkship with Lewis Powell and Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz discussing his clerkship with Arthur Goldberg. Other justices who are the subject of essays include Horace Gray (the first justice to hire a law clerk), Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Louis Brandeis, Harlan Fiske Stone, Felix Frankfurter, William J. Brennan Jr., Thurgood Marshall and William H. Rehnquist. The Associated Press wrote, “The best parts of the book are the behind-the-scenes descriptions of life at the court: Justice Hugo Black cooking breakfast for the two clerks [who] lived with him during the 1953 term, Justice Byron White engaging in in-office golf-putting competitions with his clerks, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist putting together NCAA betting pools and taking walks outside the court with his clerks.”

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ryJohanna Bond published “Honor As Property” in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, and contributed comments titled “Victimization & the Complexity of Gender” to a symposium issue of the Santa Clara Journal of International Law. She gave several presentations on feminist legal theory and is on the organizing committee of the fall 2012 Feminist Legal Theory Collaborative Network Conference. Bond is an advisory board member to the Local Human Rights Lawyering Project, housed at Washington College of Law.

Christopher Bruner presented “Corporate Governance, the Rule of Law and Russia’s Economic Development” at the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting as part of a panel titled “The Dictatorship of Law: The Khodorkovsky Case, Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Russia.” He also participated in an Aspen Institute roundtable program on “Rethinking ’Shareholder Value’ and the Purpose(s) of the Firm” at the NYU-Stern School of Business.

Sam Calhoun published two articles: “Lincoln’s Religion: The Case for His Ultimate Belief in a Personal, Sovereign God,” with W&L politics professor Lucas

Morel, in the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, and “Stopping Philadelphia Abortion Provider Kermit Gosnell and Preventing Others like Him: An Outcome that Both Pro-Choicers and Pro-Lifers Should Support,” in the Villanova Law Review.

Mark Drumbl’s book “Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy” (Oxford University Press) came out to considerable public acclaim. He presented the book at a number of law schools including Berkeley, Miami and Osgoode Hall in Canada.

Drumbl was quoted by “Voice of America” and Spanish “MSN” on the Kony2012 campaign, by the Christian Science Monitor on human rights lawsuits in U.S. federal court, and by the International Bar Association on an extradition case. He wrote an op-ed on the Charles Taylor conviction for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also discussed that subject on California Public Radio.

Michelle Drumbl updated a chapter, “Ethics in Practice before the IRS,” for the ABA Section of Taxation’s 5th edition of “Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS.” She co-organized the ABA Low Income Taxpayer Continuing

Legal Education workshop and also served as moderator for a panel of the CLE titled “Timely Administrative Refunds.” The Tax Clinic, which Drumbl directs, received a $60,000 grant from the IRS Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, the fifth consecutive year the clinic has received federal funding.

Josh Fairfield received a Fulbright to study comparative treatment of privacy in the United States and European Union contexts at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn, Germany. His article,

“ ‘Do Not Track’ as Contract,” was published in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law. Fairfield was an invited speaker in the Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office Speaker Series, and he continues to advise the federal government on a range of issues involving privacy and security in virtual worlds.

Jill Fraley received a $10,000 grant from the National Sea Grant Law Center for a symposium on History, Property Law and Climate Change. She was appointed to the Programs Committee for the Association for Law, Property and Society.

Johanna Bond

Michelle Drumbl

Timothy Jost

Erik Luna

Doug Rendleman

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Susan Franck organized the inaugural winter conference for the Institute of Transnational Arbitration, which was covered by the Global Arbitration Review. She also assisted in the organization for the Society of International Economic Law conference. Franck spoke at the London School of Economics conference, “The Political Economy of Investment Treaties,” on collaborative research in international investment at Seoul National University in connection with the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and presented “Investment Treaty Arbitration by the Numbers.”

Lyman Johnson gave talks on corporate law at the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting and at Oregon, Pepperdine, Seattle and George Washington universities. He published “Reality Check on Officer Liability”(with Rob Ricca ’06L) in Business Law and “Debarring Faithless Fiduciaries in Bankruptcy” in the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. Johnson is chair elect of the AALS section of Agency, Partnerships and LLCs.

Timothy Jost continues to work on health-law reform issues. He blogs regularly on HealthAffairs.org, reviewing new regulations and guidance implementing the Affordable Care Act and related litigation. He has also published an article and edited a symposium for Health Affairs on small business exchanges and published two articles about the ACA Medicaid litigation in the New England Journal of Medicine. He published an article about loopholes in the ACA in the Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law and Policy and another on ACA rules prohibiting abortion coverage for Commonweal.

J.D. King published “Beyond ’Life and Liberty’: The Evolving Right to Counsel” in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. He participated in a

panel discussing the ethical and pedagogical challenges of teaching fact investigation in the context of an advocacy-centered clinic at the 2012 AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education in Los Angeles.

Erik Luna published “The Bin Laden Exception” in the Northwestern University Law Review and “Spoiled Rotten Social Background” in the Alabama Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review. He gave presentations on over-criminalization and sentencing law at Northwestern Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Luna was a guest on NPR discussing the U.S. Supreme Court strip-search case Florence v. Chosen Freeholders of Burlington County.

Russ Miller was named the Bosch Fellow of the Year by the Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Association. He gave numerous lectures and symposium addresses on German constitutional law and led an in-house training at the National Counter-Terrorism Center titled “Militant Democracy: Germany’s Struggle against Domestic Terrorism.”

Jim Moliterno’s publications include “Cases and Materials on the Law Governing Lawyers” and “Rectifying Wrongful Convictions: May a Lawyer Reveal Client Confidences to Rectify the Wrongful Conviction of Another?” in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. He consulted on legal education reform, lawyer ethics and judicial training in Kosovo, Indonesia, Tbilisi, Georgia, and Spain and gave presentations on training future lawyers, lawyer regulation and transactional experiential education at several law schools and the AALS annual meeting.

Brian Murchison delivered a lecture at the W&L Institute for Honor titled “New Media, Old Media and Media in Transition: Variations in First Amendment

Disputes.” He received the Student Bar Association Faculty Award for 2011-2012.

Doug Rendleman published the eighth edition of his casebook, “Remedies,” along with an accompanying teacher’s manual. He also published “Measurement of Restitution: Coordinating Restitution with Compensatory Damages and Punitive Damages” in the W&L Law Review. His amicus brief on restitution and unjust enrichment filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the respondent in First America v. Edwards was a top-10 download at several online journals.

A. Benjamin Spencer published “The Judicial Power and the Inferior Federal Courts” in the Georgia Law Review. Spencer was a panelist on legal education reform at the 20th Anniversary Conclave on the Education of Lawyers hosted by the Virginia State Bar’s Section on the Education of Lawyers, which Spencer chairs.

Sally Wiant is chair of the AALL Scholarship Committee that scores and awards scholarships to law students planning to attend library school or those in library schools planning to attend law school. She spoke about copyright law for music educators at Radford University.

Robin Fretwell Wilson contributed a book chapter titled “Enlarging the Regulation of Shrinking Cosmetics” to “The Nanotechnology Challenge: Creating Law and Legal Institutions for Uncertain Risks.” She was a visiting professor at the University of Padua in Italy teaching comparative family law. Wilson contributed an op-ed, “But What About the Child?,” to the New York Times “Room for Debate” section. She offered expert testimony and gave numerous academic presentations on religious liberty, both in the U.S. and abroad.

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JJanet Fallon ’00L is driving through the perfect Florida afternoon rain—the kind where the sky is bright but you need windshield wipers. She has a one-hour drive ahead, on her way from West Palm Beach to Miami, where she will catch a 9 p.m. flight to Connecticut for several business meetings the next morning. She’s not sure how long she’ll be there, or where she will be next. Perhaps New York or a quick trip to Europe. Fallon is a manager of business de-velopment for Pratt & Whitney, a design-er, manufacturer and servicer of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. Since stepping out of her legal role at the company and becoming a player in the business sector, Fallon develops and closes deals. “I’m in the middle of a deal right now, so my schedule is not my own,” Fal-lon said. “It’s crunch time, so it’s a little bit crazier than it is normally.” What the deal is, she can’t say, for Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp., a publicly traded company. In general, her work involves creating joint ventures, acquiring busi-nesses and divesting assets of businesses or whole businesses—think military fighter propulsion, helicopter engines and energy-efficient commercial aircraft engines. While she may no longer be practicing law, Fallon still sees herself negotiating and discussing projects as a lawyer—one who just happens to be making business decisions. “I might not have made it to the conference table this quickly without taking the law school path,” she said. Fallon grew up in West Palm Beach, Fla., before attending Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., for her undergraduate studies. There she designed her own major in environmental economics, es-sentially a double major in biology and international business.

Janet Fallon ’00L, a manager of business development for Pratt & Whitney, has worked

on the company’s rocket engine programs, including a joint venture with a Russian rocket

engine manufacturer.

Janet Fallon ’00L—All BusinessB Y M E L I S S A P O W E L L ’ 1 2

She had planned to attend busi-ness school after graduation, but at the time, conventional wisdom was that graduates work at least five years before applying to a top-ranked M.B.A. school. Fallon didn’t like the idea of postpon-ing graduate school, so she opted for law school. “I thought law school would help me learn the rules of the game,” she explained. “I thought I could compete more effectively.” Never having heard of Washington and Lee University School of Law, Fallon met with a few W&L representatives at a law school fair and further researched

the place. Because it was a top-tier school, she visited, which “sealed the deal.” She finished her undergraduate edu-cation in three years and went straight to W&L, where the culture surprised her. “You hear these stories about law students ripping out cases from report-ers and being very cutthroat, but that was not the case at W&L,” Fallon said. “Instead, people are like, ‘Here, let me make a copy of this case for you.’ ” After graduating, Fallon clerked with the Hon. Joseph Robert Goodwin of Charleston, W.Va. In the office next door was classmate Melissa Nichols, and the two collaborated on many cases. When Fallon’s clerkship ended, she joined Covington & Burling in Washington, planning to focus on life sciences trans-actions. September 11, however, caused corporate work to dry up. “The whole economy was in a downturn, so I found myself at a firm where I wasn’t doing what I thought I would be doing,” she said. Fallon moved to Dickstein Shap-iro, also in D.C., where she focused on corporate bankruptcy reorganization. “That’s a great practice because you’re still dealing with businesses and their issues, but it’s in this fast-paced litiga-tion environment,” she said. “Whatever the company is and whatever it’s doing, you learn quickly about its specific issues and the regulatory bodies that impact its business.” Although she enjoyed her job at Dickstein Shapiro, she kept thinking about her interest in business, as well as working as an in-house lawyer. At that time, Nichols passed along information about a position with Pratt & Whitney in West Palm Beach. “It was a corporate-focused job, and as soon as I heard about it, I thought of Janet,” Nichols said. “She sounded perfect for it. She’s bright, has a corporate law background and an amaz-ing resume.”

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Fallon joined Pratt & Whitney in 2006 as a lawyer in its space division. She relocated from Washington to Florida, where she focused on international business transactions. As an in-house lawyer, she concentrated on relationship building. “If you’re an outside lawyer, someone has made the decision to call you and ask for advice,” she elaborated. “But in the in-house environment, there is a difference in the approach and the receptiveness to your advice. You really have to partner with your internal clients so they can see the value of your role and trust you.” After five years as an in-house lawyer, Fallon transitioned into the role of manager of business development. Her home base is in Miami, where her husband of four years, Michael Shep-herd ’00L, is a partner at White & Case. Work, however, takes her most often to Hartford, Conn.—Pratt & Whitney’s and United Technologies’ headquarters—

New York and Los Angeles. Balancing work and a personal life has been a challenge. Sixty percent of revenues for United Technologies are generated outside the U.S., which means Fallon has traveled all over the world, from Barcelona to Zurich to St. Peters-burg to Moscow. “Luckily, I like to travel,” Fallon said. “And I have a great boss who is really flexible, so if I want to work at home because I haven’t been home in a while, he understands.” But still, free time doesn’t exist. “I know it’s not normal,” Fallon joked. “People talk about this thing called ‘happy hour’ when they get off work, and I don’t know what that is.” Fallon noted that her work as a project manager is similar to what she would do in a law firm. “When you have a lot of cases, you work to resolve issues,” she said. That’s still what she does now. “But I’m probably in more meetings now where the focus is very strategic. It’s all

about developing business models and cases—it’s number-driven.” Whatever hat she’s wearing, lawyer or business developer, Fallon thinks W&L provided her with “a way of think-ing about or approaching issues, as op-posed to just memorizing the black letter law. At W&L, we considered what we’d learned in previous classes (Professor Lyman Johnson’s business planning class was a favorite) and connected the dots.” It’s that melding of disciplines—business, law, science—that gives her the greatest satisfaction. “What I like about my current job is the interdisciplinary nature of my work. I interact with people across the business, and, therefore, I am constantly learning about other functional areas, business models and products. Understanding the elements underlying the big picture allows me to execute projects more effectively with a view towards success beyond the closing date.”

“What I like about my current job is the interdisciplinary nature of my work. I interact with people across the business, and, therefore, I am constantly learning about other functional ar-eas, business models and products. Understanding the elements underlying the big picture al-lows me to execute projects more effectively with a view towards success beyond the closing date.”

Janet Fallon’s work with Pratt & Whitney has involved energy-efficient commercial aircraft engines (left), trips to Russia (center, Saint Basil) and military fighter propulsion systems (right, F-135).

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Q&A withDean Nora V. Demleitner

Nora V. Demleitner will be the new dean of the Law School. She becomes the first woman to hold that position and is the 17th dean in the 145-year history of W&L’s law school. She will also hold the Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professorship in Law.


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Where are you from? Where did you go to college and law school?

I was born and grew up in Bavaria, Germany. All my family is German, but thanks to amazing parents, who encouraged me to study abroad and had saved enough money to support my stud-ies, I ended up attending Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Washington and Lee has brought back many fond memories of the fabulous three years I spent at Bates. After college I attended Yale Law School, and subsequently earned an LL.M. in interna-tional and comparative law from Georgetown Law Center.

What drew you to the legal profession?

My parents were avid readers, and early on I discovered some Perry Mason mysteries (in translation) in our house. My father and I early on spent many an evening and Sunday afternoon dis-cussing the lines of argument in the mysteries, the identities of the offender and anything else that had to do with the law. He often re-read the books just to talk to me. I am confident he would be happy to know that criminal law, sentencing and collateral sanctions have become my academic passions.

How did you become interested in your area of sentencing and collateral sentencing consequences?

Part of this interest goes back to my excitement about criminal law issues in general. The late Professor Dan Freed is to credit—or blame—for my interest in sentencing. At a time when the federal sentencing guidelines were only a few years old, I took a sentenc-ing seminar with him, which riveted me. As part of the class, he secured a travel grant that allowed me twice to go to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to observe a state court judge and interview her about her sentencing practice. Inge Johnson, who is now a federal district court judge, was amazing. As a Danish LL.M. student at the Uni-versity of Alabama Law School, she met her future husband, also a lawyer, and ended up staying. Ultimately she was elected to the state bench and appointed to the federal court. What a role model for a then 24-year-old immigrant from Germany. Collateral sanctions came a few years later. To explain, collateral sanctions are all those sanctions that befall an offender upon conviction, often automatically, usually without being an-nounced in court. Among them are felon disenfranchisement, deportation, denial of welfare benefits. I began to focus on these consequences when my husband, who is a practicing lawyer, was retained by a woman in nursing school who was trying to fight a very long exclusion from the Medicare program because she had

A highly respected scholar on issues of criminal, comparative and immigration law, Demleitner was dean and professor of law at Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Her first academic position came in 1994, when she joined the faculty at St. Mary’s University School of Law, in San Antonio, where she also served as the director of LL.M. programs. She joined Hofstra in 2001 as a faculty member. After serving as aca-demic dean in 2006 and interim dean in 2007, she became that law school’s first female dean in January 2008. Demleitner has special expertise in sentencing and collateral sentencing conse-quences. She is the lead author of “Sentencing Law and Policy,” a major casebook on sentencing law. She also is an editor of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, and serves on the executive editorial board of the American Journal of Comparative Law. She has extensive international experience, having lectured and served as visiting professor at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and the Sant’ Anna Institute of Ad-vanced Studies in Pisa, Italy. She has been a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Germany. She has also been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School and St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami. Demleitner is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

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pled guilty to a minor role in a fraud scheme years earlier in ex-change for a probationary sentence. At the time, she had no idea that the guilty plea would prevent her from working as a nurse. It was particularly irksome, as the two major players in the alleged conspiracy had fought the charges and won—and consequently could continue to work in the medical field. If the nursing student had known at the time of the collateral consequences, she might have fought the charges as well. The situation of this woman, who was devoted to becoming a nurse after having taken care of her very ill husband for years, struck me as inequitable and unfair, and it piqued my interest. As I learned quickly, the United States has one of the most exclusion-ary regimes of collateral sanctions imaginable, concealed from view, often racially discriminatory, and overall harsh. The panoply of collateral sanctions in any state has made it impossible to com-pile them all. And their overall impact on an offender often leads to greater exclusion and recidivism rather than provide assistance with reintegration. One example may highlight the irony of this regime: Many prisons teach inmates the skills to qualify as barbers; in many of

the states in which these prisons are located, convicted felons are ineligible for a barber license. While we may agree that some-one who committed assault with a knife should perhaps not be licensed as a barber, it is far less understandable why a drug or fraud conviction should have this impact.

You clerked for the Hon. Sam Alito. What was that experi-ence like?

It was a wonderful experience clerking for now Justice Alito, who at the time was on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The justice is an excellent mentor and teacher. I could not have worked for someone who cherishes the law more and believes in and models integrity and hard work. On top of it, Justice Alito has a marvelous sense of dry humor. The justice never once asked anything of his clerks that he would not do himself. While many judges give their clerks the pro se cases, which are hard to decipher, he dealt with all of them himself. Let me give you a few examples of some of the events in chambers that surely shaped me. On integrity: Justice Alito kept a role of stamps in his desk to assure that no personal letter would go out charged to the government. On hard work and the value of family: Every night the justice left in time to have dinner with his family. Unfailingly, he took two heavy bags, filled with briefs, with him to read after dinner. Today I am trying to live up to his example—and will blame him for a bad back carrying those heavy bags home.

Did you think you’d ever move from teaching into academ-ic administration?

I love being an academic—I enjoy teaching and scholarly pursuits. However, when the then dean at Hofstra Law School, Aaron Twerski, asked me to become his academic dean, I did not hesitate. It was a steep learning experience, but I was proud to be able to help shape the academic component of the law school and support the faculty in its creative endeavors. Sometimes being in the right (or some would say, wrong) place at the time makes all the difference. I did not plan my career paths but have enjoyed every part of both my scholarly and my administrative career.

Why W&L?

What a question! I firmly believe that there is no other law school in the United States that is as exciting and has as much potential

I could not have wished for a more thoughtful and helpful predecessor than Mark Grunewald (pictured here).

His judgment is unfailingly excellent, and I have truly enjoyed spending time with him. I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with him and all members of

the faculty and administration in the years to come.

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as W&L. It is already a very fine law school with a great history, but its future strikes me as even brighter in light of its creative and innovative faculty, who are dedicated to their students and the institution, the support from the University and its board, and a large and strong group of supportive alumni. The 3L curriculum is the most forward-looking and com-prehensive curricular reform in any law school, and the first-year curriculum combines the traditional courses with those that prepare law students for practice in the 21st century. Even during my initial visit, I was struck by the caliber and dedication of everyone and have gained additional admiration and respect for faculty, administrators and all University person-nel with whom I have interacted. I do want to single out Mark Grunewald, the interim dean, for special recognition. I could not have wished for a more thoughtful and helpful predecessor than Mark. His judgment is unfailingly excellent, and I have truly en-joyed spending time with him. I am looking forward to continu-ing to work closely with him and all members of the faculty and administration in the years to come. It is an honor to serve Washington and Lee’s Law School as a dean and to be able to build on the impressive foundation those preceding me have built.

What are your plans for the Law School’s future?

Initially, I have to listen and learn so much more about the Law School and the University with its incredible people, resources and programs that might provide exciting synergies with the Law School. Whenever I mention to anybody—and I truly mean anyone—that I am the incoming dean at W&L Law, I find out about another project, another exciting initiative, another confer-ence that is in the planning stages. I want to support innovation, initiative and creativity, and that means first learning about all the initiatives and then hopefully bringing them together in a meaningful way so that we can tell the W&L story more loudly within the legal academy, to potential applicants and to potential employers. In terms of priorities, one of my first goals will be to focus on student and graduate employment. As a professional school, our preeminent emphasis has to be on helping our students gain meaningful employment upon graduation, which allows them to build a successful career. As I learned in my clerkship, it is impor-tant to have an employer who presents a strong professional role model and who is invested in the professional development and learning of the young lawyers working with him or her. I hope and wish that each of our graduates will be in a position to have that experience, in a clerkship, private practice, a not-for-profit setting or in government service. To help create these opportunities, I plan on meeting with alumni around the country and non-alumni employers who might be interested in hiring our students. I hope you will all join me in this effort! Ultimately, the test of the third-year curriculum will be in the success of our graduates in the marketplace. As part of these employment efforts, we will also consider other strategic opportunities in the Washington market, as well as around the country. We will explore more public service posi-

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Dean Nora V. Demleitner addressed alumni during Reunion Weekend.

tions for our graduates. The employment efforts may have to be matched by an attempt to expand our public service opportu-nities within the Law School and the need to expand our loan forgiveness program. We also have to be able to adjust to some of the coming changes that will impact the legal profession and our country. One of our goals will be to increase overall diversity in the Law School. In conjunction with this effort, we will continue build-ing programs that are focused outside the borders of the United States, as the practice of law will likely be increasingly across international borders. Those opportunities are part of the ongoing efforts to improve our curriculum. We will continue to hone the third year and then will start taking a close look at the second year, to which admittedly no other school is paying much atten-tion at this point. We will also respond to the teaching chal-lenges brought by enhanced technology. In light of increasing

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taking, and I am thrilled to find myself in the company of deep thinkers who are also able to bring true change to an institution.

What book(s) would you hope every incoming law stu-dent would have read?

Good literature is most important. Read well-written, thoughtful and interesting books. One may give some thought to the classics: Albert Camus’ “The Stranger,” Franz Kafka’s “The Trial” and, of course, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”; not high literature but surely spellbinding is John Grisham’s very first book, “A Time to Kill”; throw in some Shakespeare and mix it all up with some of Martin Luther King’s great speeches and “The Federalist Papers.” There are so many great books out that I am always loath to recommend some over others. Here are a few of my recent favorites. Nancy Gertner’s “In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate” is an inspiring ac-count of lawyering and an inspirational read for those who believe law should be about justice. Tom Morgan’s “The Vanishing American Lawyer” provides an insightful account into the changes in the legal profession. Scott Turrow’s “One L” has become a classic. It should go on the must-read list—not because it reflects reality in to-day’s law school but because it has become part of the shared lingo of lawyers today—for the same reason, one should read (or watch) “The Paper Chase.”

How do you like to spend your downtime?

Other than reading, which is largely a solitary activity, any-thing I can do with my family: traveling, enjoying good food, hiking, skiing, swimming. My two children, Cordell, 11, and Venetia, 8, make me laugh, challenge me, keep me humble and “fix” iPhones, iPads and any other technical gadgets. My husband, Michael, is a fabulous father and a great supporter of my work—and he makes sure that I never lose sight of what he considers the most important constituency: students. My mother, who lives with us, is my worst critic—no others needed—and makes sure I make time for our family. Together they are quite a combination, and I try to spend every free minute with them. We are looking forward to exploring the Lexington area and all of Virginia and surrounding states. All of us are already excited about fall hikes and winter skiing in our new neighborhood. And, of course, I will make sure we also get to travel abroad regularly—one of my passions.

open-source access to information and even great teaching, it becomes crucial for us to enhance our students’ learning in novel ways. As part of this effort, I expect us to explore the use of online education as well, perhaps with the goal of turning the classroom experience into collaborative team-based learning and teaching tutorials.

What are the greatest challenges facing legal education today?

The value proposition of law school: tuition and employment prospects. All of higher education has to learn how to control tuition increases going forward. This will be challenging and may require substantial structural changes. A number of mem-bers of our faculty have already given serious thought to the tuition and cost structure, and I expect that institutionally we will take a lead in that area as well. On the employment front, I hope to create new opportuni-ties for our students, inside and outside the law. For that reason, we will begin strategic conversations with other institutions about possible joint degree programs and other career-enhanc-ing initiatives.

W&L’s Third-Year Program is well underway. What’s next for the program?

I am excited about attending some of our third-year simula-tion classes and the immersions. My goal is to be better able to convey the incredible richness of the third-year curriculum to various audiences. We will likely bring industry leaders to the Law School to give them a real feel for our innovations and to expose our students to the most advanced thinking in the profession. Of course, the academic dean, together with Dean Mary Natkin, will keep an eye on the quality of courses offered and placements. We will try to add cutting-edge simulation courses that respond to market changes and bring together our first-rate faculty with leading practitioners. It will be an exciting under-

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Election 2012Law alumni comment on

the upcoming election seasonB Y B R O O K E S U T H E R L A N D ’ 1 2

Dean Nora V. Demleitner and her husband, Michael Smith, with their children on Moving Up Day.

Daughter Venetia recently finished second grade, and Cordell graduated from elementary school and

will be entering sixth grade.

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S u m m e r 2 0 1 2 l a w . w l u . e d u 19 18 W & L L a w A l u m n i M a g a z i n e S u m m e r 2 0 1 2 l a w . w l u . e d u 19

Election 2012Law alumni comment on

the upcoming election seasonB Y B R O O K E S U T H E R L A N D ’ 1 2

WWith Gov. Mitt Romney’s primary win in Texas on May 29 and subsequent clinching of the Republican presidential nomination, the nation is that much closer to election day. With an eye toward the November presidential and congressional showdowns across America, alumni from Washington and Lee’s School of Law, including a journalist, congressmen and lobbyists, offer their takes on the political environment in Washington, D.C., the major issues facing the country and what they will be keeping an eye on this election season.

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JEFFDEBOER ’81L

BRIANBELL ’10L

REP. JOEDONNELLY ’81L

REP. BOBGOODLATTE ’77L

KRISTALLAUREN HIGH ’07L

JOHNTIMMONS ’81L


What are you watching this elec-tion cycle?

I’m really interested to see how the voter-protection and the voter ID issues play out across the country. There are several states that have voter ID laws, and when you think about the impact on young people, people of color, older people, I’m curious to see what kind of voter aware-ness efforts are in play [and if] the voter ID issue impacts turnout at the polls.

Most political pundits say this election is all about the

economy. Do you think that is true or will voters be influenced by other concerns? It depends on who the voter is. I think that folks who have adequate skill sets that match the kinds of job opportunities that are available are the folks that will see growth in the economy such that they might say, “Things appear to be on the uptake, so now in terms of what differen-tiates my choice between the candidates, who is best aligned with where I am cul-turally?” I think the economy is still going to be front and center for [those who lack economic security]. The question is, will they see the lackluster economy as a rally-ing cry—“Let me vote people in office or out of office who are going to advocate my best interest”—or are they just going to be so frustrated that they stay out of the polls entirely.

What is your strategy for cover-ing this election cycle and the

main issues at stake? In our case, [at Politic365], we mainly focus on a multicultural view of the political and cultural issues that are at play. With the economy, our focus is re-ally being drilled down to what do some of these broader economic trends really mean to a community of color, and how does the economic reality for a person of color impact the nation at large.

What role will social media play in this election from the

perspective of candidates’ communi-cation with the public?If you go back to 2008, President Barack Obama did something unprecedented by leveraging social media and online orga-nizations to raise hoohas of money and to connect to a much younger generation. In these past four years, there are more folks on the Hill that have Twitter pages. You have to create a personal program. It is no longer about, “Let me hold a stand-up event over here and hope thousands of people will come to my rally.” It’s, “How can I impact someone in their car enroute to a meeting or in the airport?”

Are young voters going to play as big of a role in this election?

It’s going to be really interesting. Part of what helped Obama, aside from know-

ing how to reach people, is he had this message of hope and change that really inspired young people in ways that we haven’t seen since [John F. Kennedy]. It’s harder now, after being in office for the past three years, to go back to that message of hope and change, because I think people were expecting a lot more to change and to do so a lot more quickly. [On the other hand], people may say, “Look at how much we actually have changed. Hope and change wasn’t all talk and puffery. It’s a lot harder than people expected, but hey, we got a lot of things accomplished.”

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is trying

to capitalize on the same message of change Obama used in the last election cycle. How effective is this strategy going to be and why will it work or not work for him? I think Americans have become a lot more pragmatic, so, you know, hope and change is great, but there’s going to be that “show me the money” kind of moment—“What is the proof? Tell me how you are going to make this happen.” The challenge is going to be finding a really hot sound bite that resonates with people but has some substance backing it. So not just hope for the best, and we are going to change the world, but this is what I am going to do.

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Kristal Lauren High ’07L is editor in chief of Politic365, an online news magazine focused on politics and policy related to

communities of color. High also serves as policy counsel for the New Media Entrepreneurship

Conference, belongs to the advisory board of the National Association of Multicultural Digital Entrepreneurs and has worked as a

research analyst for the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council and the Joint

Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Media & Technology Institute.

High speaks at a Game Changers Politics365 reception, where special recognition was given to

Trayvon Martin, who was killed on Feb. 26.


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Rep. Joe Donnelly ’81L (D-Ind.) currently represents the Hoosier

state’s 2nd Congressional District. A member of the House

of Representatives since 2007, Donnelly has served on both the House Financial Services Committee and the House

Veterans’ Affairs Committee. In May 2011, Donnelly, also

the owner of a small printing business, announced he would vie for a seat in the U.S. Senate

in November 2012.

Donnelly with a veteran.

What are you watching this election cycle?I am focused on my effort to be a U.S. senator who gets

things done for Hoosier middle-class families.

What aspects of the economic recovery are going to be weighing the most on voters’ minds this

election cycle?Jobs and economic growth are the most important issues to families in Indiana and across the country. I’m focused on my plan to help Indiana businesses create Hoosier jobs, and I won’t stop until every Hoosier who wants a job has a job.

The Occupy Wall Street movement made some-what of a resurgence this past May Day. How

much anger still lingers among Americans toward the financial sector? The economy should work for all families in America, not just a few on Wall Street. It is not right that a nurse in Terre Haute or a firefighter in Fort Wayne pays a higher income-tax rate than some hedge-fund managers. We need a tax code that creates confidence in all Americans that it is a fair system.

How much of an impact do you think positive economic reports will have on voters’ mind-sets?

Manufacturing data and consumer spending have been up in recent months, and data are starting to point toward slow progress in lowering the unemployment rate, but is it enough to make voters believe things are turning around? Are things really turning around?Manufacturing is a large part of Indiana’s economy, and its success is essential to our state’s economic future. We’ve seen the manufacturing industry—especially the domestic auto industry—start to come back, but there is still work to do.

From your perspective, where does our country stand on digging itself out of the housing crisis?

We are starting to see some positive trends, but we need to continue to work on housing issues so men and women rent-ing property, buying their first home, refinancing or moving can find affordable, practical ways to find homes for their families.

What are the other major issues weighing on voters’ minds this election? Is the debt crisis or the health-

care debate going to weigh as heavily on voters, or will it simply come down to unemployment and the economy?These issues are also very important, but the No. 1 issue for my home state of Indiana is job creation. I often say the best social program is a job for Mom and Dad, and I intend to work nonstop to help Indiana families achieve their goals of having a job to make ends meet, send their kids to college and retire with dignity.

You were elected to the House of Representatives in 2006. How have the dynamics changed in Wash-

ington since the Republicans claimed a majority in the House in the 2010 midterm elections?We can see that there is too much partisan bickering and not enough working across party lines. Since I have been in Congress, I have worked with all my colleagues, both Repub-lican and Democrat, toward the best interests of the United States. It is not about Democrats or Republicans; it is about Americans.

What is your campaign strategy this election cycle? What issues will you be focusing on?

I am traveling the state from one end to the other, meeting vot-ers and talking about my plan to help Indiana businesses create Hoosier jobs.

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What are you watching this election cycle?I’m watching the presidential race. This is a critical year

because Republican voters across the country have a chance to unify behind our Republican candidate and change the direc-tion our country has been headed over the past four years.

What has changed in Washington since you were first elected to Congress? How is this election

landscape different from or similar to what you’ve seen before?Since my election to Congress, I have witnessed the escalating need for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitu-tion. Out-of-control deficit spending by the federal govern-ment is being recognized more and more by voters as a major contributor to our economic woes. While Greece is the current poster child of undisciplined government spending, our nation is not far behind. This election, as many in the past, will be fo-cused on the economy. I believe voters will send representatives to Washington who will take a fiscally disciplined approach to government spending in order to reinvigorate our economy.

Are politics more or less polarized than they were in the ’90s? Or are complaints about polarization

simply tunes that have never gone out of style?Currently, we have a divided government—Republicans control the House of Representatives and Democrats control the presidency and the Senate. Political polarization is certainly magnified because of this. As an example, the House of Rep-resentatives continues to pass legislation focused on economic recovery—only for that legislation to be stonewalled in the Sen-ate. Polarization or not, representatives are sent to Washington to work. There will always be differences in opinion on how to address pressing issues, but both sides have an obligation to bring their ideas to the table and work through their differenc-es. Of late, the Senate’s intransigence has thwarted this process.

Virginia is considered to be one of the more compet-itive states in this upcoming election. Why do you

think this state has become such a political hot zone?Unlike most states, Virginia has statewide elections every year.

Frequency of elections allows voters and activists to stay po-litically involved. Since the commonwealth cast its Electoral College votes for President [Barack] Obama in 2008, it has elected a Republican governor, lieutenant governor and attor-ney general, and elected a majority Republican State Senate. All eyes will be on Virginia this year as Republicans attempt to reverse the 2008 results and replace a Democrat U.S. sena-tor with a Republican.

You faced a Republican primary challenger for the first time ever. Do you think this is reflective of

national divisions within the Republican Party, or does the challenge to an incumbent say something about changing demographics in Virginia?We are fortunate to have a democratic process for choosing our representatives. Voters have a chance to make their voice heard on Election Day. Elections are about reaching out to voters and listening to their concerns. It is the duty of the elected to bring those concerns with them to the legislative process. Right now, many are hurting in these tough economic times. The elected should be focusing on this. This is what I have been doing.

What issues are you focusing on in your own cam-paign?

Stimulating job growth and improving the economy will be the pivot points of my campaign. The government should fa-cilitate both, not by massive government spending programs, but by reining in its own spending, stripping away overbear-ing regulations that stifle job creation and allowing American enterprise and ingenuity to flourish.

You have held office for 10 consecutive terms, a tes-tament to the power of incumbency. Does Romney

have what it takes to knock off an incumbent president?Gov. Romney certainly has what it takes. He will bring with him the business and private-sector experience our current president lacks. I believe voters will respect that experience and contrast it, favorably, with the mistakes and misdirection of the current administration.

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Rep. Bob Goodlatte ’77L (R-Va.) has served 10 terms as the representative for Virginia’s 6th District. During his tenure, Goodlatte has been a member of both the House Judiciary Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. In 2011, he was elected to serve as

the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. Goodlatte will attempt to earn an 11th term in office this November after he won his first Republican

primary challenge ever, from Karen Kwiatkowski, a Shenandoah County resident and Air Force veteran.

Goodlatte visited W&L in Marchto offer his perspective on Israel and the Middle East.

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Did you know you wanted to go into politics when you

started law school? Absolutely not. But then again, I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do before I attended law school. As I worked my way through law school, I began to develop a better under-standing of the legal system and its relationship with public policy. The power to help come up with legisla-tive solutions to address the array of problems this country faces strongly appealed to me. I realized I’d rather help draft the laws than argue over the different interpretations of them.

What is frustrating and what is rewarding about being

involved in politics?The idea that as a congressional staffer you’re helping to carry out the wishes of the American people can be incredibly rewarding. There are few opportunities where someone gets the chance to affect people’s lives on a scale of this magnitude. It’s a great feeling to witness a legislative idea eventually become the law of the land. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to separate politics from policy. So no matter how nuanced an issue may be, there lies the potential for even the most mundane issue to be politicized. As frustrating as this may be at times, there’s really nothing else I’d rather be doing.

What additional responsi-bilities does your job demand

during an election year?My responsibilities don’t really change during election season, but I am defi-nitely more aware of the consequences of my actions. Because everything tends to become more scrutinized dur-ing an election season, it is incredibly important that I’m aware of this reality as I approach my day-to-day duties.

How much harder is it to get people to focus on the sub-

stance of legislation in the heated political climate of an election year? Nearly impossible. Even under normal circumstances, the hyperpartisanship that has plagued Congress over the last couple of years has made it difficult for members to focus on any substantive legislation. An election season tends to amplify these problems. As the elec-tion approaches, both parties are cog-nizant of the potential ramifications of exhibiting policy differences with their party’s presidential nominee. So even legislation that most members would agree upon may not even get voted on in the House or Senate. Unfortunately, there are a number of critical issues that must be resolved this year in order to stave off significant economic consequences (for example, 2001 Bush tax cuts, Medicare “Doc fix” payments, payroll tax cuts). While addressing these issues in this political climate will remain challenging, I remain optimistic.

What are you watching this election cycle?

The No. 1 thing I’m watching this election cycle is the economy. What happens to the economy over the next several months will determine the political headwinds come No-vember. This is important not just in determining whether my boss gets reelected or not, but because the political composition of Congress will determine the legislative direc-tion they decide to go in next year. While everyone, no matter what their political affiliation, hopes the economy improves, the reality is that one party will benefit more than the other from the economy’s ultimate trajectory, and this, more than any other factor, will likely determine the future leadership of the country.

Can you give a kind of be-hind-the-scenes breakdown

of your job?As legislative counsel, my normal day-to-day duties involve drafting talking points, giving vote recom-mendations, drafting legislation and writing memorandums on complex policy issues. However, as anyone who’s ever worked or interned in Congress can attest to, at the end of the day, we all serve at the pleasure of the member. That means if the member needs coffee or copies need to be made, and there’s no one else that can do it, I’ll do what needs to be done in order to make sure the office runs smoothly.

Brian Bell ’10Lserves as senior legislative

counsel to Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.). Bell received

his undergraduate degreefrom the University of

Maryland in 2007.

Bell at his desk on Capitol Hill.

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years of experience, and I don’t think they’ve bought into it like they did before.

A poll from Quinnipiac University showed that voters in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania

supported a Supreme Court overthrow of the Affordable Healthcare Act. How much of a factor do you think the court’s decision on the health-care plan will be in this election?I think it’s going to be a big factor, but I’m one of those guys that believes you win by losing. The side that wins is going to be complacent. The side that loses is going to be irritated and really charged up. I know there are a lot of people who disagree, but I’d be rooting for a loss because then you say, “The only way we are going to change this is at the ballot box.”

What do you think has happened in Virginia in the past few years to make it such a competitive state in this

upcoming election?When I first moved to Virginia, it was Democratic. Back in the 1970s, it was a Yellow Dog state. So it’s actually kind of veered twice. It veered from Yellow Dog to Republican, and now it’s veer-ing back. It’s become more contested almost exclusively because of the growth in the northern Virginia suburbs. That growth in the suburbs has brought in a very different crowd.

How does your job change in an election year?It’s hard to say this because we are in a political business—but

things become more political and less substantive. It’s harder to get real things done that don’t have some kind of political spin to them. Everyone is in search of that political point, that “gotcha” point. It’s hard to do serious legislating when you’re trying to get that “gotcha.”

You roomed with Jeff DeBoer, founding president and chief executive officer of The Real Estate Roundtable,

(see opposite page) during your first year in Lexington. Are you two still good friends?We’re still best friends. We don’t talk about politics a lot. You do a little because you’re in this thing. But we’re sports guys. We talk about music. I went with him on his 50th birthday to see the Roll-ing Stones in Cardiff, Wales.

What are you watching this election cycle?Politically, my view is, it’s all about the economy, and from a

political-science-observer standpoint, it’s interesting to watch how [President Barack] Obama’s administration keeps trying to change the conversation, to keep the economic storyline from being the 24/7 storyline. From a business point of view, I’m watching my clients’ interests and what might happen. I’m basically more on the busi-ness side than the labor side, so you watch cost drivers: what could increase your clients’ costs from the federal policy standpoint. I don’t see much of that happening before the election—things like tax increases and fee increases—but you’ve got to stay on your toes.

What are the similarities and differences between this election cycle and the last presidential election

year, in 2008?The Republicans find themselves in the same situation as they did four years ago. The guy who got the nomination (Gov. Mitt Rom-ney) is not popular with the shock troops of the Republican Party. Those conservative people [are] the people who will come to your office and lick envelopes—you need those people. It’s the same for Romney as it was for McCain. Romney doesn’t have to throw the Hail Mary that McCain had to throw with [former Alaska Gov. Sarah] Palin. Bush was McCain’s monkey [on his back], but Obama is Obama’s monkey [on his back]. Romney doesn’t have a monkey on his back, but he has got to find a way to connect to those [more conservative] people.

Your firm has also worked on passing legislation involv-ing higher education. With all of the recent drama re-

garding student debt, will young Americans continue to be as important of a constituent group as they were in 2008? If so, what is the most effective strategy for appealing to this group?Last time around, Obama got [young Americans] fired up. It all made sense. You had this tremendous economic calamity, these Middle East wars that had long since run their course and a really good opportunity to fire up the youth, that 18-26 demographic. Over the last four years, that demographic has been, at minimum, diluted and disillusioned. They bought in to the Obama hope-and-change thing so they all came out [to vote]. Now, they have four

John Timmons ’81L is a founding partner of The Cormac Group, a Washington-based lobbying

firm. Previously, Timmons served as senior managing director of the Washington office of Hill

and Knowlton public relations firm. He has also served as vice president of government affairs for America West Airlines, senior minority counsel

for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, deputy assistant secretary

for government affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation and legislative counsel

for Sen. John McCain.

Timmons (left) with classmate Jeff DeBoer ’81L.

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is unemployment. From my perspective, I understand why that is, but the two go hand in hand. Many problems like under-water mortgages have not been fully addressed and digested through the system. Frankly, I think there should be more focus and emphasis on these problems.

Do you think politics have become more partisan recently? And if so, how will that impact the govern-

ment’s ability to address some of the major public policy issues such as the tax code and deficit reduction?Partisanship in and of itself is not a bad thing. People should stand up for their points of view and argue for them. What has really happened, in my point of view, is it’s gotten much more personal and much less accommodating for a final solution af-ter you present your point of view. So the flip to the Republican [control of the House of Representatives] in 2010 didn’t change all of that or make it any harder. It was just another chapter in the same book, which is a book of partisanship and difficulty in finding solutions.

What distinguishes this election from past ones? What makes it unique?

Every election, the people running say, “This is the most impor-tant election in our lifetime.” This election, it really maybe is. We are at an inflection point where there are so many different policy directions that Washington can go in. What is this tax policy? How are we going to reduce the deficit? I do feel that more than past elections, this one seems to have a bit more of direction-setting [power] to it.

You roomed with John Timmons, a founding partner of Washington-based lobbying firm, The

Cormac Group, who was also interviewed for this article, during your first year in Lexington. Are you two still good friends?Did John tell you that I walk with a severe limp because I had to carry him for so long through law school? A lot of times when you are in college, you have these friends and you figure, “Well, they are a friend for now,” and you wonder if you will be friends years from now. It’s really neat to work in a business and a town where 35 years later, we are still good friends.

What are you watching this election cycle?The most important thing for the clients I represent is how

candidates propose to deal with the economy going forward and what types of initiatives they might put forward regarding job creation, tax reform and deficit reduction. Since I represent real estate owners and financiers, we’re extremely interested in mak-ing sure the economy grows and creates jobs.

Are things starting to turn around at all in the real estate markets? Are things better or worse in the com-

mercial versus residential?The bottom line is that the commercial real estate markets have stabilized pretty much across the country. [They’re] not at an optimum level, but at least the situation is not getting worse any-more. People feel pretty good relative to how they felt a year ago, but looking ahead, people are very concerned about what is going to happen in the euro zone, the policy making in Washington and the uncertainty that surrounds the tax laws, the finance laws and the health-care laws. [In terms of residential, things] continue to trend slightly up in a lot of markets, but there is still a tremendous number of underwater mortgages, and it is still a major problem in the economy.

What can or should the government do to help bring the real estate market back to life?

The most important thing for the real estate markets, whether residential or commercial, is job creation. It sounds a little bit corny to say job creation is the key to everything, but it really is. What can Washington do? It’s very simple: provide some level of certainty in policy. We’ve had quite a number of years where whatever direction we’ve gone in, it seems there is a strong push to go in the other direction. People can live with pretty much anything if they know what it is, but going back and forth makes it hard to create jobs.

How much of a factor do you think concerns about the real estate market are going to be in this election?

A lot of people in Washington believe the page has been turned in residential real estate and commercial real estate and underwa-ter mortgages. That was yesterday’s problem, and today’s problem

Jeff DeBoer ’81L is the founding president and chief executive officer of The Real Estate Roundtable, a lobbying firm representing the nation’s top 150 privately owned and

publicly held real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms, as well as the elected leaders of the

16 major national real estate industry trade associations. He also serves as chairman of the Real Estate Information

Sharing and Analysis Center and as co-chairman of the advisory board of the RAND Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy, and is a founding member of the steering committee for the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) and is also on the advisory board of

directors for the Smithsonian National Zoo.

DeBoer (right) with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke.

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Law alumni converged on Lexington for Reunion Weekend, April 13 and 14, and on Saturday they enjoyed each other’s company and lunch in Evans Dining Hall. The returning classes gave a check of

slightly more than $1.4 million to support the Law School.

Distinguished Alumni—Interim Dean Mark H. Grunewald honors Lizanne Thomas ’82L (left photo) and Chong Kim (right photo) for

their distinguished service to W&L and their communities.

During Law Reunion 2012, the Law School bestowed the Outstanding Alum

Award upon Lizanne Thomas ’82L and the Volunteer of the Year Award upon Chong Kim ’92L. Thomas was recognized for her exceptional achievements in the legal profession and her unselfish service to her community and alma mater. Thomas is partner-in-charge of the 150-lawyer Atlanta office of Jones Day and also heads the firm’s global corporate governance team. While her roots are in mergers and acquisitions, Thomas practices, teaches and lives corporate governance. She participates in more than 100 board meetings per year as counsel to a number of public companies. She has lectured on Dodd-Frank to leading business organizations, companies, and

universities throughout the world. Kim, the founder and managing partner of the Law Offices of Kim & Kert, was recognized for going above and beyond assisting the Law School. Kim is chair of the Law Annual Fund, a former Law Class

Agent, an emeritus member of the Law Council and active in the Washington and Lee Atlanta Chapter. Her work is evident in the turnout of her classmates for this reunion and in fundraising success achieved by the Class of ’92L in honor of its 20th reunion.

Reunion 2012


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Alumni who graduated 50 years or more ago received special recognition during the Saturday morning events. From l. to r.:

Francis “Bing” Van Nuys ’59, ’62L, Joe Spivey ’62L, Larry Smail ’59, ’62L, John Petzold ’62L, John Paul ’59, ’62L, Richard Lang ’62L, Bob

Stroud ’56, ’58L and Hardin Marion ’55, ’58L.

From l. to r.: Melodie and Jerry Short ’77L and

Jeff Morris ’77L.

The Class of ’92L

From l. to r.: Tom Good ’07L, Lile Trice Benaicha ’07L, Chris Price ’01, ’07L and

Rob Benaicha ’07L.


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1965LThe Hon. Daniel T. Balfour (’63) retired as circuit judge and former chief judge of the Circuit Court of Henrico County in February 2012. He plans to be on the substitute/re-call list to try cases in the Common-wealth and also resume arbitrating and mediating cases.

1966LRichard S. Harman welcomed a granddaughter, Sasha Abigail, on Aug. 4, 2011. He lives in New York City.

1969LJames D. Humphries III (’66L) was honored in the 2012 Georgia

Super Lawyers magazine in the area of construction litigation. Humphries is based out of the Stites & Harbison P.L.L.C. Atlanta office and serves as an executive partner. A member of its construc-tion service group, who works with general contractors, subcontractors and developers, Humphries served as corporate counsel and business advisor to numerous clients and has significant transactional, real estate and probate experience. His litigation and business practice have interfaced with organized labor as well as employment issues, including restrictive covenants. Humphries serves on the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s advisory board of directors.

1974LKent M. Brown wrote, hosted and narrated “Unsung Hero: The Horse in the Civil War,” which aired on the Horse Network in March 2012. “Unsung Hero” presents the story of the millions of horses (and mules) that were used in all branches of both armies during the Civil War. It dis-cusses how the horses were procured and trained for field use, how they were fed and maintained, and the toll the animals endured in service. Some of the war’s most famous horses—Cincinnati, Winchester, Old Baldy, Highfly, Little Sorrel and Traveller, to name a few, are highlighted.

A.J. Alexis Gelinas joined Sadis & Goldberg as partner in the New York office. Gelinas focuses on tax advice for investment managers of hedge funds, private equity funds and other investment funds. He also provides tax advice to U.S. pension funds,

Congratulations to Angelica Didier Light ’75L who was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa in May. Joining her for the ceremony on the W&L campus were her husband, Henry Light (left) and her son, Preston Lloyd. In February she retired as president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, a position she held with the foundation’s predecessor, the Norfolk Foun-dation. Under her leadership, the foundation’s assets and annual grants and scholar-ship distribution more than doubled. Light is the chair of Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads, an entrepreneurial nonprofit organization formed by the community foundation to address the issue of school readiness among preschoolers. She also serves on the boards of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Virginia Law Foundation. She was instrumen-tal in the establishment of the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence in 2004, which partners with Tidewater Community College to provide comprehensive training for nonprofit staff and board members. Before joining the foundation, Light was vice president, general counsel and secretary of Shenandoah Life Insurance Company in Roanoke and a general attorney for Norfolk Southern Corp. She has received leadership and distinction awards from WHRO Public Broadcasting, LEAD Hampton Roads, YWCA of South Hampton Roads, and Inside Business. In October 2011 she was named an honorary alumna of Old Dominion University. Light is the granddaughter of Dr. Lucius Junius Desha, a 1906 graduate of W&L and a much-admired chemistry professor here for 35 years.

Mark Davis ’56, ’58L, has written “Solicitor General Bullitt: The Life of William Marshall Bullitt” (Crescent Hill Books). The subtitle bills the subject, who lived from 1873 to 1957 and served as U.S. solicitor general in 1912, as a “nationally prominent lawyer, gifted mathema-tician and astronomer, restorer of Kentucky’s Oxmoor Farm.” The author was drawn to the subject because of Bullitt’s relationships with W&L figures John W. Davis (of the Classes of 1892 and 1895 Law) and Francis P. Gaines, University president from 1930 to 1959. See solicitorgeneralbullitt.org for more information about the book.

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Rebecca Connelly ’88L has been appointed a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge for the Western District of Virginia. She is the first female to serve as a bankruptcy judge in the state and was appointed by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals following recommendations by a merit selection panel. The Western District stretches from Winchester to Lynchburg and to the state’s western tip. Connelly’s chambers will be in Harrisonburg. “The Western District has

developed a strong reputation of excellence in its handling of bankruptcy cases,” said Connelly. “I am honored to join this distinguished bench and hope to build on Judge Krumm’s legacy.” The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District has three judges, and Connelly will join the Hon. William E. Anderson and fellow W&L alumnus William F. Stone ‘68, ‘70L. Approximately 10,000 bankruptcy cases are filed each year in the Western District. In October 2000, she was appointed a Standing Chapter 13 trustee for individual bankruptcy cases and the Chapter 12 trustee for farm reorganizations in the Western District of Virginia. As a bankruptcy trustee, Connelly serves as a fiduciary and an adjunct to the bankruptcy courts. She has worked closely with attorneys of both creditors and debtors to ensure that creditors were repaid and that debtors returned to solvency. Conelly, whose husband is W&L politics professor William F. Connelly, is a contributing editor for the American Bankruptcy Institute American Bankruptcy Law Journal and has published numerous articles on bankruptcy law issues in American Bankruptcy Law Journal, Bankruptcy Law News, Virginia Lawyer and Farm Bureau News.

sovereign wealth funds and other U.S. and foreign institutional inves-tors. Gelinas has published many ar-ticles and lectured on various tax and ERISA regulatory subjects applicable to investment management.

1976LHiram Ely III, of Middleton Re-utlinger, received the 2012 Louisville Best Lawyers Litigation - Construc-tion Lawyer of the Year. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each com-munity was honored. Ely, a certified mediator and arbitrator, is a listed neutral for the American Arbitra-tion Association and the American Health Lawyers Association.

1978LJohn D. Klinedinst (’71), CEO and shareholder of Klinedinst P.C., was named Most Admired CEO by San Diego Business Journal for 2011. Klinedinst won the award in the Journal’s private company/medium category. The Journal, which has never recognized the chief executive of a law firm, evaluated CEOs on contributions to the company and community, with emphasis on inno-vation, leadership and results-based focus. A total of 18 chief executives were singled out as winners in their respective category.

1980LEdward H. Brown, an attorney with Burr & Forman L.L.P., has been ranked as a leading practitioner in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA.

John J. Eklund has been appointed to the Ohio state senate for the 18th District representing Lake, Geauga and part of Cuyahoga counties. He will stand for election to a full four-year term in November.

Charles W. Hundley joined the Science Museum of Virginia Founda-tion board. Hundley is an attorney with Cherry, Seymour, Hundley & Baronian P.C., focusing on civil litiga-tion, business, insurance, govern-ment regulation and civil appeals.

1982LJ. Andrew Lark won a 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service’s

Keeper of the Dream Award, in Summit, N.J. He has a solo practice in New York as a trusts and estates attorney. With his wife, Kay, he instituted the MLK Day of Service, in 1999. Every year since its inception, the day has drawn between 500 and 700 people who volunteer for service projects at 25 to 35 locations in the city of Summit. He is also execu-tive director of the Bagby Founda-tion, an 80-year-old organization that aids elderly and infirm former musical artists of distinction, and co-trustee of the Cummings Memorial Fund, which supports organizations in New York City and northeastern New Jersey that provide social-wel-fare, education and health programs and services.

Craig K. Morris transitioned to the head of trademark outreach for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For the past 14 years, he served as the managing attorney for the Trade-mark Electronic Application System

at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

William C. Nicholson retired in 2010 from the Department of Crimi-nal Justice at North Carolina Central University, where his expertise in emergency management and home-land security law helped to provide a firm foundation for the Homeland Security Institute. His most recent law review article is “Obtaining Com-petent Legal Advice: Challenges for Local Emergency Managers and At-torneys” in California Western Law Review Natural Disaster Law. His casebook, “Emergency Response and Emergency Management Law: Cases and Materials” (2nd ed.) is on press. 1983LThe Hon. Cecily LaVigne Morris was elected to the bench of St. Law-rence County Family Court Judge in November 2011 for a 10-year term.


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Stephen G. Schweller, a partner in Dinsmore’s Cincinnati office, was elected president of the University Club of Cincinnati board of gover-nors. Schweller has been a member of the club for 22 years, serving on the board for five consecutive years and on the executive committee for four years. 1986LBrig. General Philip L. Hanrahan (’76) was selected to be the CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevo-lent and Protective Association, Inc., headquartered in Lexington, Ky. After law school, he moved to Lexington, where he has specialized in bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and equine law for the past 25 years. Hanrahan grew up working on a horse farm on Long Island, where he learned to ride in exchange for muck-ing stalls. For a time, Hanrahan was a licensed Thoroughbred trainer. He has also owned, bred and pinhooked racehorses. He is currently a handi-capper and occasional tournament player.

William R. Mauck Jr. (’79), a part-ner at Williams Mullen, was named the 2012 Best Lawyers Richmond Litigation – Construction Lawyer of the Year. Mauck chairs the firm’s construction and appellate practice groups and has been a partner in the litigation section since 1993. While an experienced commercial litigator, he focuses on representing clients in the construction industry in state and federal courts and in arbitration and mediation.

Douglas G. Stanford, former head of the Florida real estate section of the Jacksonville law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell L.L.P, joined Broad and Cassel in Orlando as a partner. Stanford has represented major clients with real estate interests throughout Florida and the South-eastern U.S. in a variety of real estate and asset-based commercial transac-tions. He has been recognized for his real estate work in several leading le-gal guides, including Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America and Legal 500. He is a member of the Urban

Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

1987LJames D. Crutchfield is a litigation staff attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison L.L.P., in New York City.

1988LK. Whitney Krauss, a partner at Wilson Elser in New Jersey, was elected to a two-year term as a trustee of the Morris County Bar Association in November 2011. Krauss was a full-time member of the New Jersey Supreme Court District X Ethics Committee and chaired it from 2005 to 2006. He also has served on the committee as an at-torney investigator on overload cases since 2006. Krauss was appointed to the Superior Court of New Jersey to serve as a condemnation commis-sioner in Morris County and was vice chair of the Boonton Township Plan-ning Board for eight years. Krauss

has extensive litigation experience handling complex cases in the area of commercial and business disputes. His practice also concentrates on professional malpractice, including attorney malpractice, public entity errors and omissions and insurance coverage.

Heather K Mallard is vice presi-dent, general counsel and corporate secretary of Acorn Energy. Previ-ously, she was a partner in the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice L.L.P., where she practiced for over 23 years. She and her husband, Craig, have relocated to Wilmington, Del., where Acorn Energy is based. They are thrilled to be geographically closer to classmate Seth Whitelaw and his wife, Kate ’89L, with whom they are having great fun exploring the culinary offerings of the greater Philadelphia and Brandywine Valley areas.

David M. Schilli, an attorney with Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson,

Suzanne M. Barnett ’81L has been appointed the new chief copy-right royalty judge and head of the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) by the Librarian of Congress. Barnett is a superior court judge of King County in Seattle, Wash. She joins two other copyright royalty judges on the panel, which sets reasonable royalty rates and terms for all licenses made compul-sory under the Copyright Act and oversees distribution of certain royal-ties collected by the U.S. Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

She becomes the first new judge on the CRB since the judges were first appointed in January 2006, shortly after Congress passed legislation creating the CRB in 2004 and placed it under the auspices of the Library of Congress.According to the legislation that created the CRB, the three judges must have dif-ferent experiences. One must have background in copyright law; a second must have background in economics; and the third must be someone with “at least five years of experience in adjudications, arbitrations, or court trials.” Barnett fills this third category. As the announcement from the Librarian of Congress noted, Barnett “hears cases of all types and presides over both jury and non-jury trials” in her current position as superior court judge. The announcement added that Barnett “has served on all the King County calendars—civil, criminal, family and juvenile—and at all three superior court locations.” She was first elected to the court in 1996 and had previously practiced law for 16 years with Lane Powell in Seattle, the Houston office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Barnett MacLean law firm, which she co-founded in Seattle.

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staying with Accenture but will now serve as its associate general counsel and director of litigation for Asia Pacific, which covers ASEAN, India, Japan, China and Australia. Hobbs worked in Hong Kong from 1996 to 2000, and has been eager to return to Asia ever since.

1997LShawn Boyer, the founder and CEO of Snagajob, was named Executive of the Year by the University of Rich-mond’s Robins School of Business. Boyer also gave a talk, “Leading a Purposeful Life,” at the school’s honor convocation. Boyer, a former attorney, founded Snagajob in 1999.

1998LChristina E. Hassan is the senior vice president and associate general counsel of Morgans Hotel Group in New York.

David T. McIndoe is now a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in Washington.

1999LRajesh K. Prasad received the Animal Welfare Institute’s Albert Schweitzer Award in November 2011, which goes to prosecutors who have aggressively pursued animal cruelty and animal fighting cases and raised awareness about the need to take such cases seriously. Rajesh is an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Wayne County Prosecu-tor’s Office and is assigned to the Homicide Unit. He co-founded the Animal Protection Unit, a volunteer group of four attorneys who review and handle every animal-related case from warrant stage to completion. The Animal Protection Unit has achieved a 98 percent conviction rate over the past three years. Prasad is on the State Bar of Michigan’s Animal Law Section and is the chair of the Animal Law Section’s Prosecutor’s Committee and on its Legislative Committee. He is a proud owner of two humane society dogs, Han Solo and Scout.

2000LDavid D. Brown works at KUT, the NPR station operated by the Univer-sity of Texas at Austin, as an execu-tive producer. As well as producing and syndicating shows, he runs the music journalism department, is launching a satellite station and is finishing up his Ph.D. in journalism at UT. He occasionally hosts specials for the public radio and recently trav-eled to Brazil and India for reporting/hosting assignments. His wife, Emily, is the news director for KUT. They have two children, Atticus, 6, and Magnolia, 2 1/2 .

2001LJason P. Walton joined K&L Gates L.L.P. in Charleston, S.C.

2003LCarrie Bowden Freed is now at Philip Morris International in New York City, and her husband, David Freed ’04L, remains with Hunton & Williams but relocated to the New York office.

Susan Stanier Healey, of Cozen O’Connor, was elected to the execu-

is serving a two-year term as vice president of the Carolinas Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. Schilli focuses on com-mercial bankruptcy, commercial loan workouts and restructurings and other creditors’ rights issues. He is regularly included in The Best Lawyers in America, Business North Carolina Legal Elite, North Carolina SuperLawyer and Chambers USA.

1990LTerence F. Flynn was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Flynn is currently detailed to serve as chief counsel to NLRB member Brian Hayes. Flynn was previously chief counsel to former NLRB member Peter Schaumber, where he oversaw a variety of legal and policy issues in cases arising under the National Labor Relations Act.

1992LBonnie L. Hobbs and her family are moving to Singapore in July. She is

Henry M. Coxe III ’72L received the Florida Bar Foundation’s 2012 Medal of Honor Award, the legal profession’s highest award in the state, for his lifelong commitment to duty and service to the public and for improving the administra-tion of justice. He is widely recog-nized in the state for his pro bono work, fund-raising for legal aid and leadership of the organized bar. “Hank Coxe has exhibited ex-traordinary leadership skills since his admission to the Florida Bar and becoming an assistant state

attorney in Jacksonville,” said former Florida Supreme Court Justice Major B. Harding. “He has exhibited innovation, courage and professionalism in the practice of law and in bar-related activities throughout his career.” This is not the first time Coxe has been honored for his service as a lawyer. Jacksonville Area Legal Aid presented him with its highest honor, the Equal Justice Award, in 2004. His many hours of pro bono service also earned him the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Award in 1985. His other recognitions include the Florida Bar President’s Award of Merit, the ABOTA President’s Award, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Steven Goldstein Award and the Florida Bar Criminal Law Section’s Selig I. Goldin Award. A criminal trial attorney and director with the Bedell firm in Jackson-ville, Coxe has served as president of the Jacksonville Bar Association and the Florida Bar. He currently serves on the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, as well as the Florida Innocence Commission, which is par-tially funded by the Florida Bar Foundation.


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2006LLauren Troxclair Lebioda and Nathan Lebioda have relocated to Charlotte, N.C. Lauren continues to work remotely for Goodwin Procter, and Nathan has joined the restruc-turing and bankruptcy group at K&L Gates.

Michael J. Pattwell left Dickinson Wright P.L.L.C. and joined Clark Hill in March. He used his two-week break between jobs to focus on his volunteer role as the Michigan legal director for Romney for President Inc. He lives in Lansing, Mich.

2007LMatthew L. Frisbee was pro-moted to trademark counsel at Dow Lohnes P.L.L.C., in Washington. He will assist clients with a variety of

tive committee of the Real Property Section of the Philadelphia Bar Asso-ciation in November 2011. Healey is an associate in the real estate practice group.

Marie E. Washington was named 2011 Chamber Pacesetter by the Fau-quier Chamber of Commerce. She has a solo practice in Warrenton, Va.

2004LMargaret A. Chipowsky has been named senior medical liability claim specialist at MD Advantage Insur-ance Co. of New Jersey, in Law-renceville, N.J. Previously she was a partner with the law firm of Lenox, Socey, Formidoni, Brown, Giordano, Cooley & Casey L.L.C.

Graham W. Gerhardt is a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cum-mings L.L.P in Birmingham, Ala. He practices in the firm’s litigation and banking and financial services groups, representing financial institu-tions and mortgage companies in civil litigation.

Evan M. Sauda, a trial attorney in the Smith Moore Leatherwood’s Charlotte office, was promoted to partner. Sauda focuses on com-plex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on contract disputes and business torts. He litigates a broad range of commercial contract issues in state and federal courts.

2005LL’Shaunteé J. Robertson opened the law firm of LJ Robertson in Washington, after seven years in the litigation practices of two of the country’s top law firms. She combines big-firm training and experience with public interest values, passion and creativity to serve the various needs of her clients. She focuses primarily on representing nonprofit organizations and small businesses in litigation and transac-tional matters. In addition to legal services, Roberston provides strate-gic consulting to nonprofit and arts organizations, artists and musicians. A versatile singer and songwriter, she performs in the Washington area as a classical, neosoul, folk and jazz vocalist.

intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on trademark prosecution, commercialization and enforcement.

Thomas H. Good and his wife, Kathleen S. Blaszak ’09L, have moved from Boston to Washington. She is with Proskauer Rose in its D.C. office, and he is with Goodwin Procter.

2009LClifford J. Ashcroft-Smith’s ar-ticle, “What is the Customary Law of War or Does that Even Matter?,” was published by the American Bar As-sociation’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security in April 2012. He explores the consequences of recent decisions by the D.C. Cir-cuit and the U.S. Supreme Court in the area of national security law and how these decisions affect America’s

In December, Massey Energy reached a settlement with the government in the investigation into the 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 men in a West Virginia mine. Booth Goodwin ’96L (right) and Steven Ruby ’06L are the U.S. attor-neys in West Virginia who handled the case on behalf of the government. In signing the settlement, the largest ever in a government investigation of a mine disaster, Alpha Natural Resources agreed to pay $209 million in restitution and civil and criminal penalties for the role of its subsidiary, Massey Energy, in the explosion. The deal includes $46.5 million for the families of the victims and those who were injured in the blast. Ruby, who is an assistant United States attorney, told the New York Times that the settlement required the company to modernize its safety equipment, including distributing digital devices that instantly measure potentially explosive coal dust and methane gas. The deal also includes terms that protect Alpha—but not individual Massey executives—from criminal prosecution. In addition, the agreement includes $80 million to improve safety and infra-structure in all underground mines owned by Alpha and Massey; $48 million to establish a mine health and safety foundation; and about $35 million in fines and fees that Massey owed to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.Goodwin, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia told the Times, “We believe this can change the way mining is done.”

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exercise of national security power. It is available on the American Bar As-sociation’s website americanbar.org.

2010LChristopher R. Riano is a lecturer in law at Columbia Uni-versity, teaching Constitutional Law Through the Lens of Higher Education. The course explores the intricacies of the most contro-versial aspects of the American Constitution and how they play out daily on college campuses across the country. Riano is the founder and CEO of The Riano Group L.L.C., a consulting practice dedi-cated to working for national and international institutions of higher education. It operates out of New York City and Washington. Riano

also serves as the inaugural chair of the board of visitors for the Student Affairs Committee of the Columbia University Senate and the co-chair of the GS Recent Alumni Leader-ship Committee.

2011LJames G. Ritter is an associate in the Richmond law firm of Christian & Barton L.L.P. As a member of the energy and sustainability practice groups, he addresses electricity, natu-ral gas, water and other public utility regulatory matters.

WeddingsBridget A. Blinn ’04L to Brian Spears, on April 16, 2011. They live in

Raleigh, N.C., and she is stepmom to Brandon, 6. She works at K&L Gates, focusing on labor and employment issues.

Charlotte Wang ’08L to Domi-nic A. Latella, on Nov. 11, 2011, in Totowa, N.J. She works in Arling-ton, Va., as an attorney for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review for the Social Security Administration. Her husband is a self-employed swimming coach in Alexandria, Va. Over a dozen law alumni from the 2008L and 2009L classes attended and all of the brides-maids were W&L law alumni.

Births & AdoptionsKathryn Knack Hagwood ’95L and her husband, Brent, finalized the adoption of their son, Tommy, born on Dec. 5, 2009.

Jonathan W. McCrary ’96, ’00L and his wife, Jackie, a son, Bates Walker, on Feb. 26. They live in Memphis, Tenn.

Sandra Ingram Speakman ’99L and Steven Speakman ’99L, twin sons, Benjamin Thomas and Elijah Lee, on Aug. 9, 2011. Their adoption was finalized on Nov. 15, 2011. They join sister Mary Grace, and the family live in Auburn, Ala.

J. Andrew Robison ’02L and Lindsey South Robison ’00, a son, John Andrew “Jack” Jr., on July 14, 2010. They live in Birmingham, Ala.

M. Todd Carroll ’05L and his wife, Erin, a son, Hayes Claxton, on May 5, 2011. He joins brother Hud-son, 2. The family live in Columbia, S.C.

Rakesh Gopalan ’06L, and his wife, Vidya, a daughter, Sahana Nisha, on Nov. 14, 2011. They live in Charlotte, N.C.

Ashley Everhart Pearson ’06L and R. Matthew Pearson ’06L, a son, William Riley, on Nov. 11, 2011, in Charlotte, N.C.

Matt Pearson ’06L (far right, with team members, l. to r.: the Hon. Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, administrative judge for the Family Court of the City of New York, Josephine Lea Iselin, attorney emeritus, and Jill Griset, McGuireWoods) received the 2011 Abely Pro Bono Award from Sanctuary For Families for his pro bono work on behalf of a domestic violence victim, originally from the Ivory Coast, whose young daughter had been kidnapped by the abuser. Pearson became involved when the extent of the cross-jurisdictional issues surfaced, and the case went to trial in North Carolina. The team’s tireless representation ultimately led to reunification of mother and daughter. “When I got the initial e-mail, I found this to be such a compelling story that I wanted to get involved and help,” said Pearson. “I also speak some French and thought that skill might be useful, since our client spoke no English. In the end, it was an incredibly gratifying experience to reunite our client with her daughter, almost a year to the day from when they left for the Ivory Coast and her ordeal started. I was very happy to have been able to be part of the team that got this resolution for the family.” About a month after the ceremony, Pearson and his wife, Ashley ’06L, celebrated the birth of their first child, William Riley, on Nov. 11, 2011. Pearson is an associate at McGuireWoods in Charlotte, N.C., where he works on complex commercial litigation and volunteers with the Charlotte-based Legal Services of Southern Piedmont.


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Joseph C. Murphy ’39L, of Lees-burg, Va., died on April 2, 2010. He fought in World War II, achieving the rank of captain. Murphy worked for Bowers & Rinehart, Counselors at Law, in Somerville, N.J., becoming partner in 1950.

Roy E. Fabian Jr. ’43L, of Berlin, Conn., died on Feb. 14. He served in the Army during World War II. He taught in the Berlin school system for 30 years. He coached several sports, serving 26 years as an assistant base-ball coach, 14 years as an assistant football coach and nine years as an assistant basketball coach. He played for two semi-pro football teams, the Hartford Blues and the New Britain Codys, of which he was co-captain. He also served as a high school bas-ketball official for eight years. Fabian was inducted into the Berlin Hall of Fame in March 2010.

Bernard Levin ’42, ’48L, of Portsmouth, Va., died on Feb. 20. He belonged to Omicron Delta Kappa and served on the W&L Law Review. During World War II, he served as an officer on the U.S.S. Converse and received 11 combat ribbons and a Bronze Star with Oak Leaf. He was elected to four, two-year terms as a Norfolk delegate in the Virginia Gen-eral Assembly, where he belonged to the Appropriations Committee. He founded the local chapter of the United Cerebral Palsy Associa-tion and advocated for the mentally retarded. He belonged to Phi Epsilon Pi. He was cousin to Stanley R. Mitchell ’43.

The Hon. Robert K. Smith ’48L, of Charleston, W.Va., died on Feb. 16. He served in the Army Air Force during World War II, participating in 40 bombing missions while on board a B-24 aircraft in the India-Burma Theater. He was a faculty member of the former Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston). He shared a private law practice with the late Judge Cyrus Hall and John Char-nock Sr. and Judge John Charnock Jr. He was a domestic relations judge and a Kanawha County circuit judge. Smith retired after 24 years of judicial public service. He continued to work

as a judge mediator and a special judge in senior status. M. Williamson Watts ’48L, of Harrisonburg,Va., died Nov. 23, 2011. He was a Marine during World War II. He practiced law in Charleston with his father and was a com-monwealth’s attorney for Madison County. He was father to Caroline Watts ’75L.

J. Leslie Dow ’49L, of Red Oak, Texas, died on Dec. 12, 2011. He was an attorney for a private law practice in Carlsbad, N.M., for nearly 10 years. He then served as Carlsbad’s city attorney. He served as president of the New Mexico State Bar As-sociation. He belonged to Phi Kappa Psi. He was father to Mark C. Dow ’73.

Col. Maurice J. Flynn ’49L, of Huntington, W.Va., died on Dec. 3, 2011. He served during World War II with the 87th, 28th and 95th infantry divisions, participating in action at Metz, France, the Saar River, Sieg-fried Line and the Ruhr, Germany. He received the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, European Theater Medal with battle stars and the Combat Infantryman Badge. He retired as a major and in 2001 was commissioned an honorary colonel in his regiment. He practiced law with Dingess and Flynn (now Flynn, Max, Miller and Toney) and served as general counsel of Hunting-ton Federal Savings Bank. Flynn was a board member and president of the Cabell County Health Department and board member of the Hunting-ton YMCA. He became a member of the Marshall University Foundation in 1974 and, on retirement, became an emeritus member, Circle of Gold. He served as an attorney for Lawyers Title Insurance Corp. and was of counsel to the Huntington Police Commission.

William E. Cuttino Jr. ’50L, of Orangeburg, S.C., died on Dec. 22, 2011. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He co-owned Harley and Cuttino Insur-ance and Real Estate for more than 40 years and retired from William Bryant Insurance. He belonged to the Orangeburg Chamber of Commerce, serving a term as president.

Markham Shaw Pyle ’84, ’88L co-annotated and co-edited versions of “The Wind in the Willows” and all of Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli stories and published a history of the United States in the shadow of World War II, “ ‘Fools, Drunks, and the United States’: August 12, 1941.” They are all available from Bap-ton Books, in which he is now a partner. Bapton bills itself as “a Very Small Imprint for Sound, Solid Works, . . . the project of the British cultural and political historian GMW Wemyss . . . and the American-Texan-military historian Markham Shaw Pyle.”

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William E. Quisenberry, ’48, ’50L, of Owensboro, Ky., died March 3. He graduated from the Officers Training School at Fort Benjamin Harrison and served during World War II and the Korean War. He opened his law practice in 1952, retiring 50 years later. He served as McLean County attorney for 28 years. Quisenberry was on the boards of Citizens Deposit Bank, First Kentucky Bank and the McLean County Hospital. He belonged to Beta Theta Pi.

J. Donald Shannon ’51L, of Somers, Conn., died April 3. He served in the Navy during World War II and later in the Korean War, retiring as a lieutenant. He started his law career in Rockville, Conn., and later opened his own office in Somers. He served as corporation counsel for Rockville in the 1950s and was town counsel for Somers in the 1960s. He was a member of Delta Upsilon.

James S. Wamsley ’50, ’53L, of Richmond, died April 14. He joined the Air Force at the outset of the Korean War and served as an editor at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe. He worked for the Associated Press in Richmond and was editor of The Commonwealth: The Magazine of Virginia for 19 years. As a freelancer, he traveled widely for National Geographic, Traveler, Architectural Digest, Geo and Travel & Leisure. Wamsley wrote seven books, including two art vol-umes published by Harry N. Abrams Inc. He was a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame and held a Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Harry J. Grim ’52, ’54L, of Charlotte, N.C., died Dec. 22, 2011. He served in the Marine Corps, piloting Marine One for President Dwight Eisenhower. He joined the

Charlotte law firm of Moore & Van Allen L.L.C. and served as the firm’s chair of its management committee. He then moved to Dallas as general counsel and group executive vice president of NationsBank Texas. He was the co-founder of the Charlotte Catholic High School Foundation, a member of the board of Goodwill Publishing Co., chairman of the board of councilors of the University of Dallas, a member of the board of advisors of the Southern Method-ist University School of Law, legal counsel for and board member of the Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation Inc., and legal advisor to Sacred Heart College. He belonged to Delta Upsilon.

Lawrence C. Musgrove Jr. ’54L, of Roanoke, died on Jan. 16. He served in the Army Air Corps, retiring as a major from the Air Force Reserves. He was a partner in the Roanoke law firm of Martin, Martin & Hopkins, later joining the staff of the U.S. At-torney’s Office for the Western Dis-trict of Virginia. Upon his retirement, he received a letter of commendation from J. Edgar Hoover for his service. He purchased the administrative ser-vices business of Arnold Schlossberg & Associates Inc., changing the name to Lawrence C. Musgrove Associ-ates. He also founded LCM Corp., an environmental services company.

Robert A. Quaintance ’54L, of Huran, Ohio, died on March 1. He served in the Navy during World War II. He was a special agent with the FBI and worked in Baltimore, New York, Cleveland and Sandusky.

Hubert H. Marlow Jr., ’56, ’59L, of Front Royal, Va., died Feb. 20. He practiced law and served as town attorney for Front Royal. He served in the Army Reserves. He was a member of the Front Royal-Warren County Chamber of Commerce and the Samuels Library board of direc-tors. He belonged to Pi Kappa Alpha.

David Franklin Guthrie Jr. ’56L, of Halifax, Va., died on Oct. 14, 2011. He practiced law in Halifax for more than 50 years, served on the town council for 12 years, and served as the Halifax Police Court justice. He also served as secretary of the Commission for the Visu-

Law and Literature:T h o m a s H a r d y ’ s

“ T e s s o f t h e D ’ U r b e r v i l l e s ”Nov. 9 – 10, 2012

In its 20th year—the longest-running program of its kind in the coun-try—the Law and Literature Seminar will turn to a classic work of English fiction, Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles.” On its initial publication in 1891, Hardy’s novel was greeted with hostile reviews for its scandalous portrayal of rape and its cynical view of English class structure. Even more distressing to his critics were Hardy’s elevation of a simple, virtuous, though often naive young woman to heroic victimhood, his condemnation of the motivations of the men in relations with women,

and his thinly veiled indictment of those institutions-religious and legal-designed to protect the innocent. Through “Tess,” the discussion will focus on Hardy’s insights into late 19th-century British society, as well as the relevance of his story for contemporary criticism of law’s shortcomings. The program will be led by Professors Dave Caudill and Marc Conner, with two guest faculty from W&L. As a bonus to practicing attorneys, the program will again seek approval for two hours of Continuing Legal Education ethics credit. The program is open to anyone interested in literature. To register, contact Special Programs at wlu.edu/x11126.xml.


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Peter J. Dauk ’63L, of Darien, Conn., died on Dec. 2, 2009. He coached Darien youth athletics and YMCA basketball leagues.

A. Stephen Cohen ’64L, of Hol-lidaysburg, Pa., died on Feb. 4, 2011. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War. He was the director of Child Welfare, practiced law and was CEO of Elkton Mushroom Co.

Frank M. Gray Jr. ’64L, of Madi-son County, Va., died March 12. He was a trust officer for National Sav-ings and Trust Bank in Washington.

Richard Lee Lawrence ’64L, of Roanoke, died on March 18. He was an assistant to Leroy Moran, the com-monwealth’s attorney, and then went into private practice. His son, David Lawrence ’89, ’94L, practiced law with him in the Lawrence Law Firm.

Robert S. Pless ’65L, of Staunton, Va., died on Nov. 17, 2011. He prac-ticed general law, working as lead counsel for the Larus and Brother Co., and for Lane Limited Group. He was active in the Boy Scouts and the Jaycees.

Matthew L. Cookson ’96L, of San Diego, Calif., died on Dec. 28, 2011. He worked for Oliva & Associates.

ally Handicapped. He belonged to Kappa Alpha.

George J. Tzangas ’56L, of Canton, Ohio, died on Feb. 10. He served in the National Guard. He was an office manager for U.S. Ceramic Tile Company and later built up a law practice. He was listed in Who’s Who in the Midwest and Who’s Who in Finance and Industry and was a lifetime member of the NAACP. He authored the “Secrets of Life” (1971), “Have You Talked To Him” (1975), “Junkyard Princess” (1982) and “Why Did Jesus Christ Come” (1997). He represented Vietnam Veterans of Ohio regard-ing Agent Orange, donating his office labor and earning an honorary Vietnam Veteran Award. He was ac-tive in the Greek Orthodox Church, serving as personal attorney to His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, legal dean for the bishop of Pittsburgh for the Greek Orthodox Church of North and South America and per-sonal attorney to His Grace Bishop Maximos. He received the Call to Stewardship Award, was a member of the Malone College Century Club and a citizen of Boys Town. He received an award for outstanding servant from Faith Fellowship Cha-pel. Tzangas also received the key to the city of San Francisco.

William M. Romans ’53, ’59L, of Canandaigua, N.Y., died on Aug. 6, 2011. He was a veteran of the Army. Romans was a practic-ing attorney for New York State Insurance Fund and a member of the Big Flats American Legion. He belonged to Sigma Nu.

Jim Gabler ’53, ’55L published two new e-books, and they could hardly be more different. “Be Your Own Wine Expert” promises readers that in less than three minutes, they will learn to enjoy “any one of more than 100 of the world’s best wine varietals.” Gabler further writes that “the emphasis of the book is on good available and affordable wines. . . . you will discover that drinking very good wine doesn’t have to be expensive.” His other new book is a novel, “God’s Devil,” a thriller about a Catholic priest who lets nothing stand in the way of his consuming ambition to become the first American pope and change the Catholic Church.

View our full catalogue online at bookstore.wlu.edu or contact us at (540) 458-8633.

And follow us on Facebook .

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Revenues from the University Store support W&L,including the Alumni Office.

W ithin a few months, however, he and his wife, Stephanie, a former engineer with Exxon, started BevCo International L.L.C., a wine import/distribution company with more

than 20 employees based in Texas. “I guess I’d rather be busy than have too much time on my hands,” he explained. “The business keeps me out of trouble.” Baird grew up in Irving, Texas, near Dallas, and attended Austin College, majoring in history and politics. “I didn’t know what to do with my degree—I thought either teaching or law—and decided that law would suit me best,” he said. After applying to a number of law schools, he received a hand-written acceptance note from Dean Charles Light. “That had a huge impact on me, and is a big reason I chose W&L Law.” His choice didn’t disappoint. “I had a good feeling about W&L from the start, and it only got better,” he remembered. “This is a place where the more time you spend, the more you come to appreciate its traditions, its sense of honor.” Baird particularly remembers how W&L responded when he received his military draft notice. “We were living in W&L housing at the time, and while I was doing my infantry training in Louisiana, the University allowed my wife to stay in our apartment. We were expect-ing our first child. The administration bent over backwards to help us. I’ll never forget that.” Baird gives W&L full credit for the successes that came his way after graduation. He joined Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil) law de-

partment in Houston in its trial section. Thereafter, he moved through a series of law and management positions for Exxon in the U.S. and abroad, including five years as Exxon’s corporate secretary,. He retired as worldwide upstream public affairs manager. “Even though W&L is a small school, it has such a strong reputation that wherever I worked—Texas, Washington, Hong Kong—people responded with respect,” he noted. “My family have enjoyed many great opportunities, and W&L has been a major factor in helping to make them possible.” In return, W&L has Baird’s deep and abiding respect. He’s stayed connected to his alma mater, serving on the Law Council, including a term as president, as a Houston Chapter volunteer and as a member of On the Shoulders of Giants Dallas Area Campaign Committee. This year, in addition to a multi-year commitment to the Law Annual Fund, Baird has endowed the David L. Baird Jr. Law Scholar-ship. “I feel strongly that I should recognize what W&L has done for me,” he stated. “To my fellow alumni, I would urge them to think about what W&L has done for you and your family, and the kind of experience we had here. We’ve done well largely because of W&L, and I’d like future students to have the same opportunities.” He added, “Even though so much has changed since I was a stu-dent—the technology, the building of Lewis Hall, admitting women, the groundbreaking and extremely practical third-year curriculum—W&L is fundamentally the same. The qualities that attracted me then are still here now. I feel privileged and very fortunate to have experienced W&L, and I think most alumni feel the way I do.”

H o n o r O u r P a s t , B u i l d O u r F u t u r e T h e C a m p a i g n f o r W a s h i n g t o n a n d L e e

David Baird ’71L, who has generously supported the Law Annual Fund and endowed a scholarship,

throws the first pitch at a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game in May 2011.

Ways to Give

David Baird ’71L is trying to retire, but he’s having a hard time doing so. “In 2001, I’d reached 30 years with ExxonMobil. I thought 30 had a nice symmetry to it, and it was time to slow down.”

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The Washington and Lee University L a w A l u m n i M a g a z i n e

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Alumni parents celebrate graduation day with their children. Back row, l. to r.: Sarah C. Ratzel ’09, ’12L, Gibson S. Wright ’12L, John H. Scully ’ 09, ’12L, Elisabeth E. Juterbock ’06, ’12L, Michael J. Hartley ’12L and Alexandra L. Price ’12L. Front row, l. to r.: Larry J. Ratzel ’75, ’78L,

Gibson M. Wright ’71, Stephen M. Scully ’76, Richard E. Juterbock ’68, James A. Hartley ’74, ’77L and Samuel P. Price ’81L.

W&L Law - Summer 2012

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