Leading the Virginia Bar Association

The Virginia Bar Association is the state’s largest voluntary professional association, with a membership of over 4,000 lawyers, judges and law students. This year, the VBA is benefitting from the leadership of W&L Law graduates across its senior positions.

PAUL FLETCHER ’85L EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Fletcher was named executive director in 2021. Prior to his appointment with the VBA, Fletcher was publisher and editorin-chief of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, a role he has held since 1989.

“One of my main goals is to position the VBA for success in the post-COVID world of law practice. There have been many changes — from technology to client relations to how courts do business — and it’s important to keep up with those new twists and turns. I’m working on a big project that will help there — our Practice Management Advisor program. It covers many of the areas that lawyers in firms of all sizes can use some assistance — technology, HR and personnel, work-life balance, marketing and ethics.”

1971L

The Omicron Delta Kappa Society and Educational Foundation Board of Trustees (ODK) awarded the Hon. Paul Trible, the president of Christopher Newport University, the 2021 Laurel Crowned Circle Award, the highest honor bestowed by the national leadership honor society, in recognition of his being an outstanding American who exemplifies the society’s ideals of collaboration, inclusivity, integrity, scholarship and service.

1977L

After 15 years trying cases on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the Hon. Pamela J. White has retired from active service. In senior status, she will continue with certain civil docket assignments and service on statewide judiciary committees prioritizing access to justice initiatives. Pam and Susan are also planning multiple trips among national parks.

VICTOR CARDWELL ’87L PRESIDENT

This year, Cardwell was elected the 134th president of the VBA and the first Black lawyer to hold this position. He is principal and chair of the board of directors of Woods Rogers. He co-chairs of the firm’s law and employment Law section and practices labor and employment law throughout the U.S.

“My goal as president is to make the organization more accessible to as many lawyers as possible, no matter their background, practice field or location in Virginia. I have worked to staff the DEI committee with people who are committed to the VBA and to sharing their experience to a wider array of lawyers. Other programs, such as the Practice Management Advisor program and President-Elect Ben Leigh’s desire to increase the benefits to small firms, are other ways to appeal to lawyers who may not currently belong.”

RYAN SNOW ’01L CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Snow is an attorney at Crenshaw, Ware & Martin PLC in Norfolk, where he served as managing partner from 2012–20. He handles high-stakes litigation with a focus on complex business disputes. He successfully argued one of the seminal financial-tracing cases in the Virginia Supreme Court and was co-counsel in one of the largest patent trials in Norfolk federal court.

“Technically speaking, I preside at all meetings of the board of governors and work with the other board members to advance the goals of the VBA. Practically speaking, I support Victor and Paul. Their leadership is taking us to the next level. I’m really proud that all three of us took the same road through Lexington to get here.”

1979L

Peter Strasser is an anti-corruption consultant for the government of Mongolia.

1981L

Kathy Fenton Kronau retired from the Prosperity Group in Roanoke.

Charles W. Miller III has joined Hinshaw & Culbertson’s New Jersey and New York offices as a partner in the consumer financial services practice group.

Carolyn Saffold Wilson retired from Womble Bond Dickenson after 40 years of practice as a real estate and finance lawyer. She started as the first female lawyer at a small law firm in Atlanta, which later became a part of the regional firm Womble Carlyle, now Womble Bond Dickenson operating in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

1982L

Craig K. Morris retired from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Lizanne Thomas joined board of directors of RS&H’s, a national architecture, engineering, and environmental services consulting firm headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. Thomas is a partner at Jones Day in its Atlanta offices, where she leads the law firm’s global corporate governance practice.

1984L

R. Craig Wood retired from McGuire Woods at the end of 2021.

1990L

Jeanne A. Hamrick received the AARP New Mexico 2021 Andrus Award for Community Service. The award is given annually to the volunteer who, over the course of the year, best exemplifies the spirit of AARP’s founder Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus and her motto of “To serve, not to be served.”

1991L

Charles K. Grant, a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson, has been appointed by the

Supreme Court of Tennessee to serve on its board of professional responsibility.

1992L

The Hon. Rama G. Elluru joined Special Competitive Studies Project in Washington, D.C., as senior director of research and analysis.

Christopher Hagenow joined Tuohy Bailey & Moore as a partner in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1993L

Indrajit B. Majumder joined Frost Brown Todd in Dallas as a partner.

Michael S. Roe joined International Flavors & Fragrances in New York as vice president of corporate legal.

1995L

Cathy Greenebaum Borten joined the facilities law group of the U.S. Postal Service.

William Toles (’92) joined Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr in Dallas as a partner and focuses on tort litigation, ranging from negligence and transportation matters to complex premises liability, Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as commercial and contractual dispute litigation.

1996L

Michael H. Spencer was promoted to chief counsel and chief compliance officer at Rimini Street in Las Vegas.

1997L

Francis M. Hamilton III was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

John J. Louizos joined Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky in Stamford, Connecticut, as a partner and focuses on commercial law, corporate and real estate.

1998L

Marc Nichols was appointed chief counsel of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration by President Joe Biden.

1999L

Matthew Young (’96) was promoted to partner at Pryor Cashman in New York City.

2000L

Benjamin Horowicz and Elizabeth Curtis Horowicz ’00L have relocated to Richmond Hill, Georgia, near Savannah. Beth continues to work for PayPal remotely, and Ben is a principal with Miles & Stockbridge working remotely, with occasional trips to District Of Columbia.

2001L

Ross S. Goldstein was promoted to assistant director at the U.S. Department of Justice, Consumer Protection Branch, in Washington, D.C.

2002L

Stacy Smith Gray joined Carolina Tractor and Equipment Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina, as vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Tara J. Mooney joined Ford & Richardson’s Northern Virginia office as an attorney and will focus on white collar criminal defense, civil litigation, employment law and workers’ compensation matters.

2003L

Anthony M. Briggs Jr. joined Accenture in Washington, D.C., as intellectual property counsel.

2004L

C. Daniel Atkinson formed the firm of Wilkes, Atkinson & Joyner in Spartanburg and Charleston, South Carolina. He is a litigator, practicing construction law, professional negligence defense, aviation law, business law and insurance law. He was reelected to a second term on the board of directors of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association.

Michael L. Lawhead joined Nixon Peabody in Los Angeles as a corporate and securities partner.

F. Paul Pittman was promoted to partner with White & Case in Washington, D.C.

2005L

Luder F. Milton joined AppleCredit in San Francisco as general counsel and chief compliance officer. He works remotely from the Louisville, Kentucky, area.

Nathaniel C. Parker joined the Stam Law Firm in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area as counsel and focuses on land use and real estate litigation.

Luis E. Rivera II was appointed to Florida Gulf Coast University’s board of trustees by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Virginia E. Robinson joined Tlingit Haida Tribal Business

Corp. as deputy general counsel.

Meghan Morgan Ruel joined the Pilot Co. as head of privacy and legal retail operations in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Christopher Anthony Vrettos joined Cumberland Litigation in Nashville as an attorney.

Nathan C. Weinert joined Maynard Cooper & Gale in Birmingham as a shareholder in the real estate and financial services group.

2006L

Janssen E. Evelyn is of counsel with Baker Donelson in Baltimore.

Shannon Borromeo Goldsmith joined Experian in Omaha, Nebraska, as corporate counsel.

2007L

Brandon D. Almond was promoted to partner with Troutman Pepper in Washington, D.C.

Dawn M. Davison joined the Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center at the University of Virginia School of Law as a director of public service.

T.J. Maas serves as general counsel at MFO Group, of counsel at Odom & Des Roches, and partner at The Law Office of Thomas J. Maas in Chicago.

Yousri H. Omar was promoted to director and AGC – Business Conduct and Ethics at Amazon in Seattle.

2008L

G. Robert McCormick Jr. joined Moses & Stringer in New York City as a partner.

Erin A. Willoughby was promoted to managing attorney at Atlanta Legal Aid Society in Atlanta.

2009L

Nicholas V. Albu is the owner and chief litigation counsel at The Albu Law Offices in Leesburg, Virginia, where he represents privately held companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation.

Leigh Anne Faugust was promoted to managing attorney, Office of the General Counsel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in Washington, D.C.

Karthik Nagarajan joined RTI International in Washington, D.C., as senior counsel and head of international affairs.

2010L

Brian L. Bell was promoted to staff director, U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Aviation Subcommittee, in Washington, D.C.

Joshua B. Cannon was promoted to assistant general counsel at DigiCert in Salt Lake City.

Victoria V. Corder was promoted to partner at Norton Rose Fulbright in New York. She focuses on complex commercial disputes involving breaches of contract, fraud and business torts.

Brittani Nichols Cushman was named one of the High Times Top 100. She is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Turning Point Brands Inc.

Eli C. Gottlieb joined Kinsale Insurance in Richmond as claims counsel.

Meredith Brebner Haynes was promoted to partner with Williams Mullen in Richmond. She focuses on complex commercial litigation, government investigations and administrative proceedings.

Patrick T. O’Brien joined Capital Crypto Currency Law Center as a partner.

Elizabeth C. Roache joined Fenwick & West in New York City as knowledge management attorney, litigation.

John E. Thomas was promoted to partner at McGuireWoods in McLean, Virginia. He focuses on labor and employment.

2011L

Fadil Mamoun Bayyari joined Ice Miller as of counsel in Washington, D.C. He focuses on complex business transactions.

Amanda Streff Bonner was promoted to partner at Mayer Brown in Chicago.

Christina O. Hud is an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of New Jersey. She specializes in health care fraud investigations and prosecutions. She has also served on the Office’s Intern Committee for several years, through which she has retained and worked with numerous W&L Law students as interns over the years.

Jennifer Nguyen Lee was promoted to managing counsel, intellectual property and asset development and delivery at McKinsey & Company in New York City.

Rachel Vargo Rosetti was promoted to director, legal and counsel at Ultimate Kronos Group in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Lindsay Hitz Thomas was promoted to partner at King & Spalding in Washington, D.C.

Robert M. Vrana was promoted to partner at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor in Wilmington, Deleware.

2012L

Avalon J. Frey joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., as a partner.

2013L

Joseph D. Antel joined Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hamilton as an antitrust attorney in Washington, D.C. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Cristina Becker joined the Federal Defender’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia as an assistant federal public defender.

Michael P. Bombace serves as general counsel for Jet

On The Run

Several alumni participated in W&L’s Generally Fit virtual 5K run/walk.

Submit a class note: colonnadeconnections. wlu.edu or lawweb@wlu.edu

Protocol, a firm building a decentralized borrowing and lending protocol on the Solana Blockchain. He taught the E-commerce Practicum for Professor Josh Fairfield in the spring of 2022; additionally, he will teach a seminar in the fall of 2022, The Law of Financial Technology.

Christopher Edwards joined Coinbase in Washington, D.C. as public policy counsel.

Jennifer M. Hendricks joined Stryker in San Diego as senior manager legal counsel in employment.

Kellen S. Lavin joined Capital One in New York City as director and assistant general counsel.

Brandt H. Stitzer was promoted to partner at Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond.

2014l

R. Patrick Bolling was promoted to principal with Woods Rogers in Lynchburg. He focuses on labor and employment and e-discovery. Bolling served as an adjunct professor at the W&L Law teaching E-Discovery this past spring.

Maigreade B. Burrus was promoted to partner at Bailey Glasser in Charleston, West Virginia.

Michael Carrah Jr. was promoted to manager, legal and risk, at Naval Federal

Financial Group in Washington, D.C.

Kyle A. Dolinsky joined Troutman Pepper in Philadelphia as a health sciences attorney.

David S. Freeman joined Lighthouse Lab Services in Charlotte, North Carolina, as senior legal counsel.

Candice Lanez Furnald joined Akerman in New York City as a real estate associate.

David A. Hurst joined Divvy Homes in Phoenix as capital markets attorney.

Amy T. Johnson was promoted to partner with Lewis Brisbois in Denver. She focuses on litigation defense for the transportation and trucking industries.

Narges Kahvazadeh joined Morrison & Foerster in San Diego as an associate in the national security practice group.

Christopher J. McDonald joined Williams Mullen in Richmond as director of government relations.

Chrishon A. McManus joined Allspring Global Investments, a spinoff of Wells Fargo Asset Management, as counsel in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kathryn E. Peterson was named a 2021 Top Lobbyist by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics. She serves as partner and general counsel at Merchant McIntyre & Associates in Washington, D.C.