Discovery Summer 2020 % Volume 6, No. 2
the newsletter from washington and lee university school of law
HONORS AND AWARDS
The Class of 2020
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n May 8, W&L Law celebrated the Class of 2020 with a virtual Conferral of Degrees ceremony, during which 154 students were awarded their juris doctor degrees. The online event occurred the same day and time as the original date for the School’s Commencement ceremony, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. University officials have announced that the in-person, traditional Commencement exercises for the Class of 2020 will take place on Saturday, April 3, 2021. Following the online event, the school announced the winners of awards recognizing academic excellence and service to the law school and university communities. The John W. Davis Prize for Law, given to the graduate with the highest cumulative grade point average, was awarded to Caroline Louise Crosbie of Manassas, Virginia. Six students graduated summa cum laude, 24 graduated magna cum laude and 23 graduated cum laude. Fifteen students were named to Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society that encourages excellence in legal education. A list of honors and awards appears below. The Student Bar Association Teacher of the Year and Staff Member of the Year award were also announced during the virtual ceremony. Dean Brant Hellwig was named Teacher of the Year, and Wendy Rains, student affairs administrative assistant, won the staff award.
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1. Brittany Ryers-Hindbaugh celebrates her
graduation. 2. Leilani Bartell ’20L, from Chantilly, Virginia. 3. Dean Brant Hellwig congratulates the Class of
2020, with President Will Dudley standing by to deliver his remarks. Watch the Conferral of Degrees ceremony online at go.wlu.edu/law-conferral.
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AWARDS John W. Davis Prize for Law
Randall P. Bezanson Award
A. H. McLeod-Ross Malone Oral Advocacy Award
CAROLINE LOUISE CROSBIE student with the highest cumulative grade point average
JUNIOR JOSHUA SICELO NDLOVU distinction in oral advocacy
Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Award
MAHALIA SHANEE HALL DANIELLE JUSTINE SCOTT outstanding contributions to diversity in the life of the law school community
Student Bar Association President Award
KASIA JAHNAE WIGGINS effective trial advocacy
Virginia Bar Family Law Section Award
ROY ALEXANDER ABERNATHY service as the president of the Student Bar Association
Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Commercial Law Award MATTHEW R. DARE NATALIA NACHEFF HOMCHICK excellence in commercial law
Calhoun Bond University Service Award ROY ALEXANDER ABERNATHY EVELYN AIKEN CLARK significant contributions to the university community
Frederic L. Kirgis, Jr., International Law Award WILLIAM JOSEF BARTON IV SARAH NICOLE BRETTIN excellence in international law
National Association of Women Lawyers Award NATALIA NACHEFF HOMCHICK outstanding woman law student
Charles V. Laughlin Award WHITNEY ALANNA DAVIS outstanding contributions to the moot court program
LAUREN ELIZABETH SAYERS excellence in the area of family law
American Bankruptcy Institute Medal CHRISTOPHER REED ROGAN excellence in the study of bankruptcy law
Barry Sullivan Constitutional Law Award ANDREW ROBERT KLIMEK MUHAMMAD UMAR excellence in constitutional law
James W. H. Stewart Tax Law Award GEORGE LIANG MARY KATE NICHOLSON excellence in tax law
Thomas Carl Damewood Evidence Award HENRY PRESTON GLASSCOCK ELIZABETH HARRINGTON MCLELLAN excellence in the area of evidence
Clinical Legal Education Association Award MARISSA LIZANN BAER ERICK RESEK excellence in clinical work
Criminal Law Award KIMBERLY ANN BLASEY EMILY ERB KELLEY excellence in the study of criminal law
Administrative Law Award HENRY PRESTON GLASSCOCK excellence in the study of administrative law
Business Law Award HANNAH OLIVIA CLOH GIANCARLOS RODRIGUEZ excellence in the study of business law
W&L School of Law Women’s Law Award ALEXANDRIA ROSE TAYLOR
W&L and BLM: ‘Progress Awaits’ “WE HOPED THAT OUR DEMONSTRATION TODAY would remind vulnerable people in our community that we see them and also voice to Lexington as a whole that Black lives matter, there will be no peace until there is justice, and we cannot be silent about racial inequality and police brutality. “The overwhelming turnout today from students, faculty and community members, along with the support from our local police force, was a beautiful reminder that, though we do not all face the struggles that people of color face in this country, we are fighting together for equality for all.” This is how one of the organizers, a recent graduate of W&L Law, described the June 3 protest in Lexington responding to the death of George Floyd, the latest in a string of incidents of violence directed at members of the Black community. Members of the Law Class of 2020 were joined by individuals from the W&L and Lexington communities for a peaceful demonstration that drew hundreds of supporters. This example of student-led activism was one of the more visible responses to the dramatic events that swept the nation and the world following Floyd’s death. Many student organizations released statements expressing solidarity with the protesters and reiterating their commitment to the pursuit of justice as future lawyers. The faculty adopted unanimously a resolution acknowledging that many members of the W&L community labor under a heavy burden due to the shadow of our institution’s history and expressed support for efforts to ensure all members of the community feel welcome. Dean Brant Hellwig also released the following statement:
Dear members of the W&L Law School community, Earlier this week, I wrote a brief message to the returning members of our student body to convey my sadness and utter bewilderment that our nation had witnessed, yet again, another senseless killing of a Black man by those empowered to protect society. While that degree of injustice inflicts searing damage to the soul of our country, that pain and degradation is focused on members of the Black community whose daily existence puts them at risk of harassment at best and, at worst, racially motivated violence. That prospect is something that I, and many others in our community, simply cannot imagine. Yet for the Black community, the typically unimaginable can be commonplace. Of course, racially motivated denials of human dignity are nothing new; they have been with us since the founding of our country and before. A poignant sign I saw at a peaceful protest on the streets of downtown Lexington yesterday afternoon — one I am proud to say was organized by recent graduates of our school — read “George Floyd’s last 8 minutes and 46 seconds was 250 years in the making.” Mr. Floyd’s death, coming in the wake of so many other killings of members of the Black community that are difficult to fathom, appears to have broken the dam on outrage, sadness and pleas for mercy that have been building for years as a result of systemic racism. And yet, despite this harsh reality, there exists reason for optimism. Over the past days, we have seen numerous student groups step forward to express solidarity with Black Americans by reiterating their commitment to the pursuit of justice and equality, both in our law school and in the legal profession they will soon enter. Those statements of mutual support and concern are strong, profound and ultimately uplifting. They speak to the true aspirations of our community. I and my colleagues on the faculty and staff are fortunate that we can play a role in helping prepare our students for this work. To advocate to right individual wrongs. To identify and challenge structural inequities in the legal system. To promote civil liberties and human rights. To pursue equal treatment under the law, both as written 2
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and as applied. Yet we also recognize the need to focus on the environment in which our students engage in this preparatory work. I am proud of the community we have at W&L Law, but I also understand that progress awaits. A key step in that progress is to ensure that every student feels a true sense of belonging at our school. Belonging. Increasing that feeling among all members of our community, and particularly those who too often have found themselves on the
margins, is how I would define success. This may not be a quick or easy fix, but I look forward to working with all of you on that path. Brant Hellwig Dean and Professor of Law For more on W&L Law’s response to the national events, visit go.wlu.edu/solidarity.
Slowing the Spread Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox ’01L is leading the state’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. A DECADE AGO, AS A COUNTY COMMISSIONER in rural Utah, Spencer Cox ’01L oversaw public safety during a wildfire that burned 100,000 acres and destroyed 50 homes. Later, as lieutenant governor, he spearheaded Operation Rio Grande to combat a massive drug problem impacting Utah’s homeless community, uniting federal and state government with law enforcement and community leaders to help a vulnerable population. Cox learned valuable lessons through those experiences, such as the importance of good communication during a crisis and how to tackle big problems through broad-based collaboration. “Still, I would be lying if I said I was truly prepared for what is happening right now,” he said.
“Testing and tracing, that’s the way out of this. As a nation, we were behind where we needed to be with testing, and that led to the sledgehammer approach of social distancing.” – Spencer Cox ’01L
“This is like 9/11 and the Great Recession all rolled up in one.” Cox is leading the Coronavirus Task Force for the state he has served as lieutenant governor since 2013. He was previously a member of the Utah House of Representatives, as well as city counselor and mayor of his hometown, Fairview. As he assembled the task force in early March, he was guided by this local perspective and the challenges of managing a response involving 3.2 million people spread out across the 12th-largest state in the nation. “Of course, we wanted to have medical expertise, but we also needed the expertise of those who would help get our messages out and to think about the economic impact,” Cox said. His team includes the state epidemiologist and other health care professionals, as well as representatives from the state’s health centers, state and local government, law enforcement, community impact organizations, and Utah’s faith-based communities. “We jumped in with both feet, but after a week we realized this was far bigger than anything any of us has experienced collectively.” Today, the task force comprises 10 subcommittees targeting responses in different areas, such as hospital capacity, long-term care facilities and medical supply chains. “We really are on a war footing,” said Cox. “We have integrated those committees into an incident command center. We have what feels like an infinite amount of information coming in that we have to synthesize and then get out to our decision-makers.” On May 18, Utah moved to a moderate/low risk level. Cox credits a successful response so far to early action on a number of fronts. Utah was among the first states to limit large gatherings, to restrict dining in restaurants and bars, and to suspend colleges and K-12 classes. It was the first state to provide free child care for health care workers and preceded the federal government with a first round of state funding for small businesses. But the most important step, Cox said, was a very early focus on testing and tracing. In mid-April, Utah had the fifth highest testing capacity in the nation; by early May, NPR reported that Utah was one among only nine states that were exceeding the testing minimums estimated by Harvard. “Testing and tracing, that’s the way out of
this,” said Cox. “As a nation, we were behind where we needed to be with testing, and that led to the sledgehammer approach of social distancing. We can further arrest the spread through more and more testing. Identifying and isolating the infected and those who might be carriers will allow us to get our economy back online sooner.” The task force is now in the midst of a stabilization phase and a recovery phase, where the economy is coming into focus. Utah led the nation in private sector growth each of the last 10 years, and Cox admits it is disheartening to see all that hard work vanish in three weeks. “We know the best thing we can do for our economy is not to overwhelm our hospital system,” said Cox, who laments that the medical response and economics have been portrayed as competing values. “What we have seen in other countries and states is that these responses serve each other. If we get the health and safety response right, we will spare damage to the economy. These are not just statistics. These are people who have lost jobs or shuttered their businesses to help save lives.” In his capacity as lieutenant governor, Cox oversees the state’s elections, and he is currently running to succeed Gary Herbert as governor. Consequently, he understands as well as anyone how events and decisions get politicized in ways that are divisive for the country. That is the primary reason he suspended his campaign and all fundraising when Herbert appointed him to lead the Coronavirus Task Force and encouraged his supporters to make donations to response organizations and those in need. He only resumed his campaign after the state moved into the stabilization phase. “It was an easy decision, the right thing to do,” said Cox. “I swore an oath to do this job, and this has
to be my top priority right now.” The best way to cut through the politics, Cox believes, is through good communication. An avid user of social media himself, Cox has seen how easily bad information grows and spreads, especially in a crisis situation. “Technology giveth and technology taketh away,” said Cox. “Confirmation bias is very powerful right now. It is less likely than ever for people to pay attention to accurate information from credible sources.” To combat this, Utah quickly set up a website, coronavirus.utah.gov, and associated social media accounts, and activated a network of public information officers from entities across the state to share official information such as the number of cases, expanded testing capacity and state-wide directives related to travel and staying at home. Beyond his multiple daily meetings with his task force, Cox participates in briefings with the federal task force led by Vice President Mike Pence and hosts a weekly Zoom call with mayors and county commissioners from across the state to disseminate information and answer questions. “This has made it easier to tamp down bad information and point people in the right direction,” said Cox. “But it is a constant battle.” In the midst of his 20-hour days and the evershifting landscape that has defined this outbreak so far, Cox says he is still processing the depth and breadth of what is occurring and what it means on a larger scale. “While there is some negativity, there are incredible things happening in Utah and elsewhere,” said Cox. “It has renewed my faith in humanity and my faith in Utah. In hard times, we come together, and as dire as it looks right now, I know we will come out stronger in the end.” Summer
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AMANDA TRIPLETT ’20L
LARA MCMAHON ’20L
LUKE CHARETTE ’20L
KAT PHILLIPS ’20
CAREER PATHS: WHERE ARE THEY GOING? Visit law.wlu.edu/career-strategy to learn more about recruiting law students for jobs and internships. AMANDA TRIPLETT ’20L spent three years working as a consultant in Washington, D.C., before attending law school. She served as student note editor for the Journal of Civil Rights & Social Justice, president of the Public Interest Law Students Association, president of the Antitrust & Consumer Law Society and as a Burks Scholar. She was a student attorney in the Black Lung Clinic. She will practice antitrust law as a trial attorney in the Health Care Division of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition in Washington, D.C. “I spent both of my summers working in antitrust law with the federal government, and it was a great fit for me. I have primarily worked on anticompetitive conduct cases rather than mergers, and the law in this area is uniquely judge-made in comparison to more statutory or rules-based practices. This provides interesting opportunities for advocacy in the law and makes for very complex, intellectually fulfilling work. Additionally, the work has meaningful impact on consumers and businesses across a variety of industries. It feels good to go to work investigating, bringing cases and issuing guidance to promote free competition and protect consumers.” LARA MCMAHON ‘20L spent her 1L summer working as an intern in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and her 2L summer working for Vinson & Elkins in Washington, D.C. As a 3L, she worked as an extern in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia. McMahon was a senior articles editor for the Washington and Lee Law Review. She will join Vinson & Elkins’ D.C. office and will focus on government investigations and white-collar defense. “Before law school, I worked for a large firm
in New York City as a paralegal. During my time there, one of the most interesting cases I worked on was the representation of a major sports organization in connection with a DOJ investigation. This experience sparked my interest in litigation in general and in whitecollar work in particular. Classes such as the White Collar Crime Practicum and my externship at the U.S. Attorney’s Office helped further this interest. During my summer at V&E, I was able to work with multiple attorneys in a number of litigation-focused practice groups — appellate, white collar and antitrust, to name a few. I was surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed all of the projects I worked on. At the end of the summer, I left feeling confident that I had chosen the firm that was the right fit for me.” LUKE CHARETTE ’20L served in the Coast Guard Reserves for the past 10 years. He spent his 1L summer as a legal intern at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island and his 2L summer working at Proskauer Rose in Boston. As a 3L, he completed a full semester externship at The Kraft Group in the general counsel’s office. Charette is headed to the Boston office of Proskauer Rose, working on private equity deals with its private investment funds group. “I was pretty confident that I wanted to join a corporate/transactional law practice, but didn’t know what specific field I wanted to work in. I didn’t have a deep understanding of legal practices entering law school, so the career search was a learning experience for me.
It was very important to me to find a job in Boston, since my wife had already accepted a medical residency in Massachusetts. After many conversations with the Office of Career Strategy, I realized my best options would be midsized to large law firms. Proskauer receives intellectually stimulating and complex legal work that I am looking forward to working on. Additionally, the professionals I will work with are some of the most brilliant, diligent and patient people I have ever met.” Before law school, KAT PHILLIPS ‘20 interned at StoryCorps in Brooklyn, New York, and worked at a midsize litigation firm in Washington, D.C. She will serve a two-year judicial law clerkship with the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia, through the Department of Justice Honors Program. “During my 2L year, I represented individuals in removal proceedings in Arlington Immigration Court through W&L’s Immigrant Rights Clinic. The clinic transformed my understanding of the system and gave me insight into the challenges faced by immigration law practitioners. I was moved by the relationships I built with my clients and found that I enjoyed the continually evolving, interdisciplinary nature of immigration law. I followed my interest to a summer position with the DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation, Appellate Section, where I drafted motions and briefs on behalf of the government at the federal appellate level. As someone who values seeing both sides of an argument, gaining an understanding of both the immigration practitioner’s perspective and the government’s perspective confirmed my choice to pursue an adjudicative role.”
W&L Law Releases 2019 Graduate Employment Report According to the report, 92.7% of the Class of 2019 secured a full-time, long-term job that either requires bar passage or for which a J.D. degree is an advantage. W&L LAW ANNOUNCED ANOTHER YEAR OF extremely strong performance in employment for the Class of 2019. The report measures employment 10 months after graduation. According to the report, 92.7% of the Class of 2019 secured a full-time, long-term job that either requires bar passage or for which a J.D. degree is an advantage. This is 5% higher than the employment percentage for the class of 2018, which placed W&L as the #2 law school for the Virginia, Maryland and DC market. The overall employment rate for the class including all employment types and graduate school is 96.4%. “I am really excited for this class and the incredible success they had in securing great jobs all over the country,” said Cliff Jarrett ’91L, assistant dean for Career Strategy. “This is further evidence that the whole-school approach that W&L Law takes toward career success is working. This high-water mark for employment is a testament to our students, our faculty and administration and 4
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especially our loyal alumni.” Jarrett added, “W&L Law grads are working in a wide variety of geographic locations and in so many different types of legal positions. Our clerkship placements for this class were also top notch, both with federal and state judges.” The report shows graduates working in a diverse range of jobs, with a significant number of graduates in larger law firms and clerkships. Almost 50% of those employed are heading to law firms, and 31% of those graduates working for firms are working for Big Law, firms with over 500 lawyers. More than a quarter of the class will be clerking for judges, and another 18% are working in government positions and 7% in business and industry positions. One particular area of strength for W&L Law has always been placement in federal and state clerkships, and this remains the case for the Class of 2019. Twenty-six percent of the class is clerking, including placements in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, federal district courts in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia, as well as state appellate and trial courts in Alaska, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey and Virginia. These 110 graduates are employed in 22 states and one foreign country. The top geographic areas for employment are Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and New York. The complete ABA employment report for the Class of 2019 is available and will include data about the employment status of all the 2019 graduates. An extensive summary is provided online at go.wlu.edu/2019law-job-summary. Despite the uncertainty of the market caused by the COVID-19 crisis, OCS also is reporting positive employment news for the Class of 2020. As of early April, almost two-thirds of the class is employed in J.D.-required or preferred jobs.
FACULTY FOCUS
Karen Woody and the ‘New’ Insider Trading INSIDER TRADING IS BACK IN THE news, although some would argue it never left. Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Insider Trading Prohibition Act, which seeks to create a new provision banning any trade of securities if the trader is “aware of material nonpublic information.” If the bill is enacted, it would represent the first time the phrase “insider trading” has been defined by congressional statute. Typically, charges of insider trading are brought under Section 10(b) and the SEC’s Rule 10b-5, which do not mention the term “insider trading” but instead broadly prohibit any “device, scheme, or artifice used to defraud,” as well as any “untrue statement, or omission, of material fact” in connection with the purchase or sale of any security. The scope of insider trading has been shaped almost entirely by common law, in the form of SEC administrative actions, and judicial opinions. One of the reasons that regulation of insider trading is thorny is that it is not per se illegal to trade on inside information, especially in scenarios involving tippers and
Karen Woody joined the W&L Law faculty in 2019. Her scholarship focuses on securities law, financial regulation, and white-collar crime. Woody discusses her article “The New Insider Trading,” which is forthcoming in the Arizona State Law Journal. The full article is available for download from SSRN.
tippees. Pursuant to the foundational holding in Dirks v. SEC, in order to obtain a conviction for insider trading based upon a tipper-tippee theory, the government must prove that the tipper received a personal benefit for the tip, and that the tippee knew about that benefit.
The last five years of blockbuster insider trading cases have focused on this nebulous personal benefit test, and the Supreme Court has been unable to clear the muddy waters when it comes to defining insider trading that involves tips to outsiders. In my forthcoming article, “The
New Insider Trading,” I suggest that the hubbub in the courts and legislatures over the extent of the personal benefit test may be misguided. This is because there may be a simpler way to bring an insider trading case. Since the passage of SarbanesOxley, there has been a somewhat sleepy provision of the criminal code that could present an endaround to the morass of insider trading cases brought under Rule 10b-5. Under 18 U.S.C. §1348, the government can bring an insider trading case under the more general umbrella of securities fraud, but this law rarely been used in prosecuting insider trading. My article outlines the history of insider trading prosecutions and then analyzes this new way to bring insider trading cases. In doing so, I argue that the 50 years of case law regarding insider trading may be moot given that criminal prosecutors can rewrite the definitions of insider trading by using this new charge of general securities fraud.
Tax Credits for the Working Poor MICHELLE LYON DRUMBL, clinical professor of law and director of the Tax Clinic, has published “Tax Credits for the Working Poor: A Call for Reform” (Cambridge University), that identifies shortcomings in how the U.S. delivers social benefits through its tax system and proposes changes designed to better serve the individuals and families who receive those benefits. The book examines the earned income tax credit (EITC), which was introduced in the U.S. in 1975. According to Drumbl, the EITC remains the most significant earnings-based refundable credit in the Internal Revenue Code. “It is a tremendously important anti-poverty benefit to low-income families, in some cases amounting to a quarter or even a third of their annual income,” said Drumbl. However, after many years of research and advocacy experience representing low-income taxpayers who were audited because they claimed the EITC, Drumbl argues that the delivery and administration of the credit can be improved. “The EITC comes to low-income families in a lump sum as part of their tax refund. Many families view this as a sort of windfall. At the same time, studies show that many recipients use at least a part of their EITC to pay
“The EITC comes to low-income families in a lump sum as part of their tax refund. Many families view this as a sort of windfall. At the same time, studies show that many recipients use at least a part of their EITC to pay down high-interest debt, for instance from credit cards, payday loans or title loans.”
down high-interest debt, for instance from credit cards, pay-day loans or title loans,” said Drumbl. Drawing on her research into similar tax credits in Canada and New Zealand, Drumbl argues that a reimagination of the EITC and its delivery can bolster its effectiveness. For example, a periodic delivery of the credit spaced throughout the year would allow families to better manage their finances.
– Michelle Lyon Drumbl
Drumbl addresses the complexities of such a change, including the increased administrative costs and difficulties in calculating the credit accurately from year to year. In particular, she is concerned about situations where the EITC is awarded by mistake, or in the wrong amount, only to become a tax debt that will be collected in subsequent years.
In addition to instituting periodic payments, Drumbl makes several other recommendations for ways Congress could better structure the EITC, including decoupling EITC delivery from the tax return filing process. She argues that calculating the credit after a return is filed, and delivering it separately from the tax refund, would have a number of potential benefits and may help curtail incidents of noncompliance or return preparer fraud. “We need solutions that protect EITC recipients but also protect our treasury,” Drumbl said.
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FACULTY RETIREMENTS
David Bruck: Tireless Defender of Capital Cases “David is a fantastic teacher, an extraordinary lawyer and a wonderful friend. He has brought a humanity and gentleness to classrooms, courtrooms and prisons and has changed countless lives for the better. His humility is matched only by his effectiveness as both a lawyer and teacher, and the law school will not be the same without him.”
— J.D. King, clinical professor of law
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avid Bruck, clinical professor of law and director of W&L Law’s Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, retired this spring to represent one of the five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bruck has dedicated his career to opposing all government executions and has argued for mercy for some of the most infamous and nationally despised defendants of his lifetime. He represented Dylann Roof, the white supremacist convicted for perpetrating the Charleston church shooting, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, and Susan Smith, who was sentenced for drowning her two children. He has argued before the Supreme Court seven times, and for each of the seven, the court ruled in his favor. The story of the person is not as evident as the story of the crime, Bruck said. And part of the job of the defense attorney is to uncover the story of the person. “Almost always, clients in a capital case were very badly hurt before they hurt anyone else,” he said. “The crime that someone commits is the easy part — everybody knows about that — but the story of the client’s life that led them on the road to the point where they committed the crime, that has to be painstakingly recorded, to see what was lying underneath the circumstances.” As a law student at the University of South Carolina, Bruck didn’t consider a career in capital defense; two months before Bruck’s law education began, the Supreme Court struck down the death penalty. But seven months after he graduated, the Court allowed executions to start again. Criminal attorneys who assumed that the death penalty was done for were unprepared. Many didn’t know how handle a capital case. While working as a public defender in South Carolina in the years following law school, Bruck became aware of this void in expertise and resources. “I noticed that there was no real system for assuring adequate defense services in capital cases, so I set myself up to be the expert, even though I had never tried a case before.” Virginia was one of the first states to start executing again, and the lack of support that the state provided was ruthless — being sentenced to death in Virginia essentially equaled eventual execution, Bruck explained. In 1987, W&L sponsored a conference that invited solutions for the dismal state of defense representation in Virginia, and Bruck attended. The Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse grew out of that conference, and it was unique in that it tried to intervene at the stage of the capital process where the need was the greatest — at the trial level. Following that conference, Bruck was invited back to W&L Law regularly to run seminars. Eventually, he was asked to take over the VC3 in 2004. The caseload at the clinic has evolved with the state; under Gov. Ralph Northam, there have been 6
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no executions in Virginia, so student caseworkers’ purpose has had to shift. The VC3 now represents clients that were imprisoned before parole was abolished in 1995, meaning that they still have a chance at freedom, while inmates imprisoned after 1995 do not. These clients have been in prison for 25 years or more, and most have grown elderly or infirm. Bruck said that students in the clinic have “the experience of meeting people that we usually only know as clichés, people who have been labeled criminal — and when you actually meet them, you discover that that’s never true.” Cultivating a vigilance against clichés and preconceptions is crucial to becoming an effective lawyer, Bruck said. Attorneys should look to prove themselves wrong, rather than right, especially in a country that punishes so severely and cruelly as the United States. When he spoke about success in court, it was not necessarily in terms of unreserved celebration. “Of course, I’ve had a few clients who were acquitted on death row, but victory in this sense is usually a life sentence: a life sentence without parole. When you learn so much about someone
and see them change, become better people, become good people, and in the end you have to lock them up for ever, with no real hope, no other chance in life — that’s a bitter kind of victory, but it beats the alternative.” Bruck’s colleagues reflected on his career as an attorney, as well as his significant contributions to W&L Law. “David is a fantastic teacher, an extraordinary lawyer and a wonderful friend,” said J.D. King, clinical professor of law. “He has brought a humanity and gentleness to classrooms, courtrooms and prisons and has changed countless lives for the better. His humility is matched only by his effectiveness as both a lawyer and teacher, and the law school will not be the same without him.” “David has been a powerhouse for decades: in the fight against the death penalty, in court as a zealous attorney (where he saved lives) at the Supreme Court (arguing seven times, winning each case and changing death penalty law for the better) and as a teacher (where he has trained scores of new zealous lawyers),” said Jon Shapiro, law professor of practice. “He will be sorely missed at W&L.”
“David has been a powerhouse for decades: in the fight against the death penalty, in court as a zealous attorney (where he saved lives) at the Supreme Court (arguing seven times, winning each case and changing death penalty law for the better) and as a teacher (where he has trained scores of new zealous lawyers). He will be sorely missed at W&L.” — Jon Shapiro, law professor of practice
FACULTY RETIREMENTS
Sam Calhoun, Robert O. Bentley Professor of Law “He’s been for me, and for many, an indispensable colleague. Sam helped the newcomers in what sort of assignments would work and how to keep the students striving to improve. He embodied that whole mantra — that we were teaching writing as thinking.” — Brian Murchison, director, Roger Mudd Center for Ethics, and Charles S. Rowe Professor of Law
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fter 42 years of teaching at W&L Law, Sam Calhoun, Robert O. Bentley Professor of Law, has retired. In his classes, students learned contracts, sales and payment systems. They explored the abortion controversy, core UCC concepts and practiced legal writing. “I typically teach highly technical subjects,” Calhoun explained. “And you would think it would be deadly dull — how could a student stand to be in a class like that? But I enjoy the challenge of making the class not just interesting, but enjoyable.” Calhoun comes from a family of lawyers. He attended the University of Georgia School of Law, and then, like his father and brother, spent some years as a practicing attorney. Later, he surprised himself with the desire to teach. “[I thought] if I could get a job teaching out West — that would be a fantastic adventure.” Calhoun and his wife had taken long camping trips in the West and both wanted to return for a more prolonged period of time. Calhoun eventually found a one-year teaching position at Puget Sound in Washington, and he felt that it was meant to be. “I’m a Christian,” he said. “So, I don’t think these things happen by chance — God led me to that position.” Calhoun’s beliefs have guided his scholarship, and he is proud of that fact, he said, since legal academia is not always a receptive environment, and his viewpoints have often sparked controversy. Some of his writing attempts to locate the role of religion in the law and society; Calhoun has argued that — while church and state may be rightly separated — elected officials who are religious have a right to apply their values to political under-
takings. He wrote one such paper after President George W. Bush received pushback for citing personal religious beliefs as the driving force behind a decision to limit federal funding for stem-cell research. Calhoun has also written on topics such as abortion and the moral foundations of law. “It just happens that my position on these issues is not popular, in terms of the legal academy,” Calhoun said. “And there are polls and statistics that show this — it’s 90% liberal politically, and the positions I take stand in the face of that.” He said he valued the atmosphere at Washington and Lee Law, which maintains a sense of academic freedom. By frankly acknowledging his religion, Calhoun said he also developed relationships with Christian students, which enriched his role as a teacher. “That’s been an important part of my career.” But students of all beliefs have been the focus of his classes; teaching is not lecturing, Calhoun said, and it’s the dialog with students that should be a prioritized. “I’ve always attempted to give full energy to my students in the classroom, and never be satisfied with past preparation,” he said “If you’ve taught a
course 30 times, you could probably teach it without looking at the material. Though I always read the assignment again, every year.” During his retirement, Calhoun will complete a couple of writing projects, one of which is the publication of a speech given by his brother on how George Washington changed over time. “I feel very fortunate — to have 42 years in one place is not common,” he said. “I did not retire because I was sick of what I was doing — my wife and I wanted the prospects of 10 or so years of good health and retirement.” “He’s been for me, and for many, an indispensable colleague,” Professor Brian Murchison said. He described Calhoun as an energetic teacher, a committed academic dean, a kind community member and a generous member of the law faculty. “Sam helped the newcomers in what sort of assignments would work and how to keep the students striving to improve. He embodied that whole mantra — that we were teaching writing as thinking. “Sam Calhoun has made many intangible gifts to the school,” he continued. “You can find traces of his influence all over Lewis Hall, all over W&L and mostly in the lives and souls of the students that he encountered.”
“Sam Calhoun has made many intangible gifts to the school. You can find traces of his influence all over Lewis Hall, all over W&L and mostly in the lives and souls of the students that he encountered.” — Brian Murchison, director, Roger Mudd Center for Ethics, and Charles S. Rowe Professor of Law
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FACULTY RETIREMENTS
John Jacob: Archivist and De Facto Law School Historian “John grew the archives into something that draws people from all over. Not just the Powell papers, but the archives gave us the emphasis that gave us the right space. There are treasure troves in there, and John has worked hard to make the treasures available.” — Sally Wiant ’78L, former director of the law library
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ohn Jacob, W&L Law’s law library archivist, filled the void in expertise that emerged after Justice Lewis Powell ’29, ’31L decided to give his papers to Washington and Lee. Over the course of his career, though, his role expanded beyond the care of Powell’s papers to include researching institutional history, and helping the archives move into the digital age. He will retire this year. Sally Wiant ’78L, former director of the law library, said that, years ago, when she executed a national hiring search for the position, it felt serendipitous to find the right candidate so close by. At the time, Jacob was working at the George C. Marshall Foundation at the Virginia Military institute. “He towered over the other candidates,” Wiant said. “He had an incredible work ethic and an attention to detail that you would want in an archivist.” For the early part of his life, Jacob had never heard of Lexington, Virginia, and he didn’t think of becoming an archivist. As an undergraduate, he wanted a career as a filmmaker, and he studied film at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. There, he became interested in archival records. “The Wisconsin historical society had a big collection — all the gangster movies, Hammerstein and Rodgers musicals. They had a great archive, and I would watch films there very often.” He got to know the film archivist there and was inspired to go back to school to pursue a similar career. “But at the time there were a couple of dozen film archives in the country, and they all had quite young archivists,” he explained. A recession exacerbated the difficulties of his job search. Thinking more broadly, he found a post as project archivist at the George C. Marshall foundation. He was later hired by W&L in 1990. Jacob had no legal background, and he said that he had to learn quickly in order to do general reference with the other law librarians. He read books and watched videos to get up to speed. The larger task, though, was collecting, organizing, preserving and providing access to Powell’s papers. “A lot of information came to us that weren’t just [legal papers],” said Wiant. “There were many items of personal import, and John was so good about being ethically responsible in identifying those documents, working with the family to return those things that ought not to be in the collection.” Jacob said scandals can happen when information that shouldn’t have been made public gets distributed or picked up by newspapers. “The Washington Post had a big story about Justice Marshall’s papers,” he mentioned as an example. “Even though I fretted about it, though, we never had any problems.” Jacob was able to make the papers available fairly soon after he was given control of them. He advertised their availability, but initially, there was not much interest. Then a political science professor came to do research in the case files, and later presented a 8
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Archivist John Jacob (second from left) shows some of Lewis Powell’s papers to judges visiting for the Appellate Advocacy competition, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
paper based on that research. “That set off a flurry of activity,” Jacob said. He recalled generations of academics and research assistants whom he befriended over the course of their studies in the archives at W&L Law. After the papers were digitized, however, the visits lessened, and the law library archives became quieter. “It was a mixed thing for me,” he said. “I was gratified that people all over the world were using these case files, but I met so many interesting people, and that largely ended. That cut down 90% of those visits.” In addition to being the first head archivist in charge of the Powell papers, Jacob also informally became the law school’s first historian. He recalled noticing that, in the shuffling of offices — when a dean would retire or move and give their space over to somebody else — papers would get shoved into closets, and they would stay there for years. Jacob collected those abandoned papers, among other things, to help put together a
history of the law school. “Whenever somebody has a question about something — when was the first barrister’s ball, for example, they would ask me, and I’ve become the de facto the law school historian,” he explained. Jacob is retiring at the same time as his wife, Diane, who was the director of VMI’s Preston Library. He said he doesn’t feel like he’s leaving W&L, which he considers to be a lifestyle as well as an employer. “To my fervent anticipation and Diane’s horror, I have a long list of DIY projects, which I think will be tolerated,” he said, “as long as I don’t make our house unsellable.” When it is safe to travel again, he plans to visit his grandsons in Oregon. “John grew the archives into something that draws people from all over,” Wiant said. “Not just the Powell papers, but the archives gave us the emphasis that gave us the right space. There are treasure troves in there, and John has worked hard to make the treasures available.”
“A lot of information came to us that weren’t just [legal papers]. There were many items of personal import, and John was so good about being ethically responsible in identifying those documents, working with the family to return those things that ought not to be in the collection.” — Sally Wiant ’78L, former director of the law library
FACULTY RETIREMENTS
Mary Natkin ’85L: Professor, Dean “For us on the faculty, Mary Natkin has represented the best of Washington and Lee: devotion to innovative education, intrepid work on behalf of the public good and the day-to-day work of keeping a law school community a joyful and exciting place.” — Brian Murchison, director, Roger Mudd Center for Ethics, and Charles S. Rowe Professor of Law
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ary Natkin ’85L, a clinical professor of law, will retire this year after 23 years of teaching. Next year, she will transition to working as an adjunct. Her retirement plans originally involved Florence, Italy, but now she is puzzling over a syllabus that could be adapted for online learning, if necessary, and she is grateful for the distraction. Natkin, who hails from California, practiced poverty law for a few years in the Shenandoah Valley after graduation. Later, she returned to the school to teach legal writing. Over the next few years her role grew: Natkin helped W&L Law shift its structure to better align with its changing values, developing and overseeing clinical experiences that, during her time, became mandatory for law students. Law schools across the nation, including W&L, were beginning to see hard lawyering, not just academic pursuits, as an essential part of a legal education. Natkin said that W&L Law, because of its small size, could be more nimble in its creation of new programs. She built on her history as a public interest lawyer by helping to build programs such as the former Western State Hospital Legal Practice Clinic and the Black Lung Clinic, established in 1996. Natkin and her colleague Brian Murchison were persuaded to start the Black Lung Clinic — which helps miners suffering from lung disease with claims under a federal worker’s compensation act — by another professor, Uncas McThenia ’58, ’63L, who had been teaching a seminar entitled Lawyering for Social Change. Administrative law judges from the Department of Labor visited McThenia’s class to describe the miners’ health issues and their dire need for legal help. Natkin and Murchison traveled to Pipestem,
West Virginia, to observe hearings and meet with the black lung association. “We then spent three weeks camped out at a long conference table in the bowels of Lewis Hall, surrounded by treatises, CFRs, Fourth Circuit decisions and coffee mugs of all descriptions,” Murchison wrote. “Our job was to decipher black lung’s arcane legal world.” The following August, the clinic began. “In the day-to-day grind of depositions, interrogatories and
other pre-trial preparation, Mary gave the students perhaps their first real look at the meaning of professionalism,” Murchison said. Today, spots in the Black Lung Clinic are coveted by 3L law students. Natkin believes that, among other things, clinical experience provides an outlet for students who learn by doing. “Students who have not had particularly successful academic careers can find that they are terrific lawyers,” she explained, “and that’s always wonderful to see. “Expanding clinical opportunities and public interest work were (and are) my proudest achievements,” she continued. “Clinical experiences engage a law student’s problem solving and communications skills in a different way. Working with students as they took ownership of a client’s matter was a way to develop valuable insights into how they wanted to practice.” In 2010, the first year that all students were required to participate in a clinical, extern or transnational program, Natkin was named the assistant dean for Clinical Programs. Then, in 2013, Natkin switched from clinical work to teaching Professional Responsibility and directing the Academic Success program, and she continued that until her phased retirement. These days, she participates in regular Zoom phone calls with her California friends, all of them interested in theater. They perform one act of a play each week and have started with the works of Oscar Wilde. “For us on the faculty, Mary Natkin has represented the best of Washington and Lee: devotion to innovative education, intrepid work on behalf of the public good and the day-to-day work of keeping a law school community a joyful and exciting place,” Murchison said.
After her last class, Mary Natkin received the traditional clap out (complete with flowers) from faculty, students and staff.
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Doug Rendleman: ‘Respect for the Court’ “Doug is really a renowned scholar of the law of remedies; that was true then and has been true throughout his career. He put together a book with Owen Fiss about the civil rights movement and its claims to justice — so I think that’s how Doug became engaged with the law of remedies.” — Joan Shaughnessy, Roger D. Groot Professor of Law
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oug Rendleman, Robert E. R. Huntley Professor of Law, an acclaimed scholar and professor with over 40 years of experience, has retired. Rendleman came to W&L Law from a teaching position at William and Mary to serve as director of the Frances Lewis Law Center, which supports the research and scholarship of law faculty. The position was indication of his prowess as an academic. “Doug is really a renowned scholar of the law of remedies; that was true then and has been true throughout his career,” his colleague Joan Shaughnessy explained. “He put together a book with Owen Fiss about the civil rights movement and its claims to justice — so I think that’s how Doug became engaged with the law of remedies.” Rendleman later wrote a textbook on the subject, which he used in his classes. He also published a textbook on litigation procedure. His other publications are numerous; on his resume, they run about six pages long. One of his briefs was cited and quoted by members of the U.S. Supreme Court. Rendleman said that, growing up, he didn’t have any fixed ambition. “I got a master’s degree in history and decided that wasn’t for me, but that law school definitely was.” He was born in rural Iowa, and his parents ran a small country store. Armed with a twoyear college degree, Rendleman’s mother taught the neighborhood kids in a one-room schoolhouse. To pay for expenses at the University of Iowa, he held down a part-time job at the student union and covered his room and board by working as a cook for a fraternity. “For the remainder of his studies, including law school, Doug operated the motion picture projectors at several of the local theaters,” Carolyn Rendleman, his wife, wrote. “His was a full-time job, usually six days one week and seven days the next, alternating afternoon and evening shows; and every other Sunday he worked both of the afternoon and evening shifts, 1:30 to 11:30 p.m. He was a local union officer and served as its president.” Rendleman estimates that he saw about 1,000 movies before he was finished. “It was not an amateur job,” he said. He described loading the reels into the projection machine and listening while watching the movies out of the corner of one eye. He was not sentimental or passionate about films, though. The job was a way to make money, he said. During his time as undergraduate and a law student, Rendleman’s four children were born. Carolyn took care of the children, and together, they managed a rooming house to provide their housing. After law school, Rendleman clerked for Justice Becker at the Iowa Supreme Court in Des Moines, and the year after he earned a master of laws from the University of Michigan, where he was a Cook fellow. In 1970, he began
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his teaching career, starting at the University of Alabama and ending at W&L Law, where he taught for over 20 years. “He’s really a wonderful mentor,” Shaughnessy said. “He’s helped develop the careers of younger people that he came to know as fellow academics or first-year students, and he’s always engaged with new people that came on the faculty, watching out for them.” “Respect for the court,” is a part of his teaching philosophy, Rendleman said, and it’s something he has hoped to instill in his students. “I’m a great believer in the text,” he said. “I think my students know that.” Rendleman sees life in Lexington as one of the fringe benefits of working for Washington and Lee. He has been able to ride his bike to work most days, and he enjoys the fresh air. He has no plans to leave at present, especially since
the pandemic prohibits it. “I expect to continue to be busy and engaged close to home,” he said. “In addition to growing vegetables in our raised beds and cultivating flowers, I have a backlog of homeowner projects and maintenance.” Rendleman puts the word retirement in air quotes; he is still an advisor for the American Law Institute’s Third Restatement of Torts, Remedies, and he will teach a seminar on tort remedies in the spring semester of 2021. He will also continue researching and writing. “We’ve been enormously fortunate to have Doug on our faculty all these years,” Shaughnessy said. “He’s a great friend, and we will miss him in his retirement, even if he’s not far away.”
“He’s really a wonderful mentor. He’s helped develop the careers of younger people that he came to know as fellow academics or first-year students, and he’s always engaged with new people that came on the faculty, watching out for them.” — Joan Shaughnessy, Roger D. Groot Professor of Law
CLASS UPDATES AND SUCCESS STORIES
Rob Couch ’78, ’82L Joins the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ROB COUCH ’78, ’82L has rejoined the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the federal financial monitor overseeing the grant administration and disbursement process of disaster recovery funds to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He previously served as HUD general counsel from December 2006 to November 2008. Couch was selected for the position by HUD Secretary Ben Carson in response to reports of financial mismanagement and corruption in
60s 1968L Joseph W. Brown started a new position as of counsel at Jolley Urga Woodbury & Holthus in Las Vegas.
70s
Col (ret.) William T. Anderson published his field guide to the Battle of Belleau Wood, “The Bravest Deed of Men,” as part of the Marine Corps’ World War I Centennial Commemoration in 2018. Anderson led marines on tours of Belleau Wood for 10 years while working at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium. An active member in several veteran service organizations, and a disabled veteran himself, he advises veterans through the local chapter of the Disabled American Veterans.
1975L Angelica Didier Light and her husband, Henry, moved to Charlottesville.
and policies affecting HUD programs. Previously, Couch also served as president of Ginnie Mae, as a commissioner on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission and as a member of President George W. Bush’s Task Force on the Status of Puerto Rico in 2008. He was also a member of the banking and financial services practice group in the Birmingham office of Bradley Arant.
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Donald C. Schultz was appointed the managing partner at Crenshaw, Ware & Martin in Norfolk, Virginia. He succeeds W. Ryan Snow ’01L, who had served in that role since 2012.
Stephen D. Rosenthal (’71) received the Virginia Bar Association’s Health Law Section’s Alan Goldberg Award. Rosenthal is a partner at Troutman Sanders in Richmond. Richard A. Hooker and his wife, Jan, moved to Spring Hill, Tennessee, near Nashville, to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. While retired, Hooker will remain of counsel to his law firm Varnum.
1972L Sherwin Jacobs (’69) retired at the end of 2019 after having had a successful career in business and real estate (1973 to 1995), followed by a second career practicing law in litigation (1991 to 2019). He and his wife, Carla, reside in Linville, Virginia.
Puerto Rico. As a career member of HUD’s senior executive service, Couch is overseeing HUD’s Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, which involves aid intended to help the island nation’s recovery from Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017 and to help it prepare for future natural disasters. While serving as HUD general counsel, Couch acted as the chief legal advisor to the secretary, deputy secretary and other principal staff, providing advice on federal laws, regulations
Stanley Fink ’64L; Micaela Owens ’19L, law clerk to Judge Ciarrocca; Elizabeth Farrell ’15L; and the Hon. Mark Ciarrocca ’85L, Judge Superior Court of New Jersey, attended the Union County, New Jersey, Bar Association annual Judicial Reception dinner.
1977L Samuel J. Webster retired from the practice of law after 42 years. He plans to downsize into a condo in Norfolk, travel with Jane, spend time in Colorado skiing and visiting with their grandchildren and relaxing at their cabin on Claytor Lake. Webster will continue working as the chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia for a while longer. Eventually, he plans to volunteer for various church and arts organizations.
80s 1980L
John R. Clark III and his wife, Mary, moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Mary has retired from the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, while he will continue to work part time for Steuart Investment Co.
1985L Robert Ray joined Zeichner Ellman & Krause L.L.P. as a
partner in New York City. He focuses on white-collar criminal litigation, corporate governance/internal investigations and anticorruption. He also served as counsel to President Donald J. Trump at the Senate trial on impeachment.
1986L Martha Boyd retired from Volvo after 24 years. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
1987L Powell “Nick” Leitch III (’84) was voted into the American Board of Trial Advocates, a national association of experienced trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the civil jury trial right. Leitch is a partner, focusing on medical malpractice, at Gentry Locke in Roanoke. Victor O. Cardwell, a principal with Woods Rogers in Roanoke, was elected chair of the board of governors of the Virginia Bar Association.
1988L Heather King Mallard joined the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina, as director of strategic transactions in April 2019. She serves as the deal manager/quarterback for complex and strategic transactions that support MUSC’s tripartite mission of patient care, education and research. Louise Phipps Senft received The Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award for 2020. She is president and director of the Baltimore Mediation Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Seth B. Whitelaw is editor of the Policy & Medicine Compliance Update. He also is the president and chief executive officer of the Whitelaw Compliance Group L.L.C. and is senior fellow and adjunct professor, life sciences compliance, with Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
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Nanette C. Heide was named to Mergers & Acquisitions’ list of Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A for the third consecutive year. She is a partner in Duane Morris’ New York office.
1991L Paul A. Driscoll (’85) was named a subchapter V trustee at U.S. Trustee Program. This is in addition to his creditor rights practice with the Zemanian Group in Norfolk, Virginia. William C. Mayberry joined Troutman Sanders’ business litigation practice as a partner in its Charlotte office. He primarily handles banking and other commercial litigation, class actions and bank regulatory work, including enforcement actions and internal investigations.
1992L Michael Scott Carlson was named one of Georgia’s 2020 most influential attorneys by James Magazine. A successful trial and appellate attorney, Carlson, together with his father, University of Georgia law professor emeritus, Ron 2020
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William Goodell ’80L Named Interim Executive Director of Robertson Scholars Leadership Program WILLIAM GOODELL ’80L has been named interim executive director of the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, an undergraduate leadership development program sponsored and administered by The Robertson Foundation in cooperation with UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University. Goodell was most recently president and chief operating officer of San Francisco-based
Carlson, have trained and taught countless numbers of judges and lawyers across the country. Their books and articles are widely recognized as influential in state and federal politics. Carlson is the legal services director and ethics officer for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and resides in Duluth, Georgia.
1993L Michael E. Hastings joined Woods Rogers as a principal in its business and corporate practice group in Roanoke. He focuses on bankruptcy and restructuring. John P. Shea Jr. is of counsel with Jackson Lewis in Hartford, Connecticut. He focuses on labor and employment matters.
1995L Blaire A. Postman (’92) is an advertising and sponsorships account manager for NBC in Washington, D.C.
1997L Stacy Ostrowski Louizos joined Blank Rome’s New York office as a partner in the corporate, mergers and acquisitions and securities group and serves as co-chair of the firm’s investment management group.
1999L Jeffrey L. Rhodes joined McInroy, Rigby & Rhodes as a partner in Arlington, Virginia. He focuses on employment law, corporate law and civil litigation.
00s 2000L
Loren L. Lunsford serves as CEO of the SD Mediation Center, which he founded in San Diego. He also owns The Lunsford Law Firm. J. Duncan Pitchford was named director of strategy and business development at Hydro Aluminum Metals in Baltimore. He lives in Chesterfield, Virginia.
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2001L W. Ryan Snow has been appointed to a three-year term on the board of governors of the Virginia Bar Association. He previously served as chair of the Construction and Public Contracts Section of the VBA and as executive council member of the Law Practice Management Division. He was managing partner of Crenshaw, Ware & Martin from 2012 to 2020.
2002L Amy King Condaras joined Frost Brown Todd as a member in Charleston, West Virginia. Scott B. Gregerson joined West Group at Envision Healthcare in Pleasanton, California, as president. Michael D. McGill joined Arnold & Porter as a partner in the government contracts practice in the firm’s D.C. office. Justin W. Ward joined Ford Richardson as a partner in Richmond. He focuses on complex civil litigation cases defending personal injury cases involving commercial transportation, products liability, premises liability and medical malpractice claims.
2003L T. Heyward Carter III joined the fraud division of the Southern District of Texas U.S. Attorney’s office in Houston as an assistant U.S. attorney. Jacob E. Comer joined NovaQuest Capital Management as general counsel and chief compliance officer in Raleigh, North Carolina. W. Austin Jowers was named to Turnarounds & Workouts’ 2019 Outstanding Restructuring Lawyer list. He is a partner at King & Spalding in Atlanta. Henry C. Leventis joined Bone McAllester Norton as a member. He focuses on white-collar criminal defense, parallel criminal and civil investigations and civil enforcement matters. He and his wife, Kelly ’03L, live in Nashville, Tennessee, with their three children.
Partner Fund Management. He is former general counsel for Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management and served as the first president of the Robertson Foundation. The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program was founded in 2000 with a mandate to develop leaders who will make transformational contributions to their societies, communities and campuses. One of the preeminent
undergraduate leadership programs in the country, the program nurtures greater collaboration between Carolina and Duke. Goodell graduated cum laude from Williams College and magna cum laude from W&L Law. An active philanthropist, he currently serves on the board of governors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (chair, Investment Committee) and the board of trustees of the Tiger Foundation.
Julie Smith Palmer was named a shareholder with Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman in Richmond. She focuses on professional liability, premises liability, product liability and commercial disputes. Palmer is also a member of Harman Claytor’s appellate practice group.
2004L Laurie Kelleher Woods was appointed a deputy clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court in August 2018. Her husband, Tyler Woods ’04L, joined the U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division, as an attorney advisor in January 2020.
2005L Joseph R. Dunn was named co-chair of the cross-border asset recovery practice at Mintz Levin in its San Diego office. Magali R. Langhorne was promoted to officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Lauren Paxton Roberts (’02), of Stites & Harbison P.L.L.C., was named to the 2019 Rising Stars list by Mid-South SuperLawyers. Trevor R. Ross joined Fisher, Tousey, Leas & Ball in Jacksonville, Florida, as managing shareholder.
2006L David D. Christensen joined Northern Bank as deputy general counsel in Boston. Jillian DiLaura McGuire was named a 2019 40 Under 40 award recipient. McGuire is a family law attorney at Mackenzie Hughes L.L.P. and serves as vice president of the board of directors at the Central New York Women’s Bar Association and on the board of directors at Hiscock Legal Aid Society and the Onondaga County Bar Foundation. She volunteers at the Onondaga County Family Law Clinic. She also received the 2018 Hanna S. Cohn Pro Bono Award from the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York and the Onondaga County Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award in 2014. She was recognized for her contributions to pro bono
W&L Law alumni at the February ABA midyear meeting in Austin, Texas. From l. to r.: Howard Wall ’83L, board of governors member; Linda Klein ’83L, ABA past president; and Robert Grey ’76L, ABA past president.
service by the Empire State Counsel. McGuire was named partner at Mackenzie Hughes in Syracuse, New York. She focuses on family and matrimonial law.
2007L R. Robert R. Benaicha joined Hirschler Fleischer as a commercial real estate partner in its Richmond office.
group on strategic investment and collaboration activities across its global pharmaceutical, consumer health and agricultural business units. He and his family reside in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jeffrey T. Mauzy was appointed prosecuting attorney for the Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Fayetteville, West Virginia.
Charles L. Capito III was promoted to partner at Morrison & Foerster in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He is part of the firm’s litigation department.
Sarah B. Wong was promoted to partner at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher in New York City.
B. Walker Entwistle, of Stites & Harbison P.L.L.C., was named to the 2019 Rising Stars list by Mid-South SuperLawyers.
G. Calvin Awkward III (’06) was promoted to counsel with Franklin & Prokopik P.C. in Baltimore. He focuses on civil litigation, as well as construction litigation.
James D. Humphries IV joined WestRock as senior counsel in Atlanta. Mayuri Reddy Wynn was appointed a federal administrative law judge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals. She and Chris ’06L live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with their 5-year-old son.
2008L C. Patrick Autry joined 9Round Fitness as general counsel in Boiling Springs, South Carolina. Stephen M. Lesser joined NovaQuest Capital Management as vice president. The firm provides strategic capital to life sciences and healthcare companies. Previously, he spent seven years at Bayer and was responsible for advising its corporate venture capital
2009L
Jonas A. Callis is founder and managing attorney at Hurt At Work Workers Compensation Law Firm in Richmond. Jane J. Du joined Mayborn Group Limited in Dallas as IP counsel. Virginia Bell Flynn was featured in Law360 for receiving a 2019 Rising Star Award in Consumer Protection. She was one of five consumer protection practitioners under the age of 40 honored by Law360. She is a partner with Troutman Sanders in Richmond. Garrett S. Ledgerwood joined Miller Nash Graham & Dunn in Eugene, Oregon. Roger H. Miksad joined Battery Council International as senior vice president and general counsel in Washington, D.C.
Kris Ahrend ’96L Named CEO of Mechanical Licensing Collective KRIS AHREND ’96L has been named CEO of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. MLC was created as an entity to license and administer rights under the Music Modernization Act. After graduation, Ahrend clerked for the Western District of the Virginia District Court and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals before joining the intellectual property and litigation group of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett L.L.P. in New York. Ahrend began his career in the music industry working in the law department at Sony Music,
Mark A. Sweeney Jr. was named senior counsel, transactions, at Hyatt Hotels Corp. in Chicago.
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2010L Christopher W. K. Fetzer was promoted to partner at Dentons in D.C. He is a member of the public policy and regulations practice and leads the defense and security policy team. He focuses on advocacy and strategy in the defense, trade, security, energy and foreign affairs arenas. He and Lindsey ’10L live in Chevy Chase. Brian J. Hoynak joined Venable as counsel in Washington, D.C. He focuses on real estate. Steve R. Mammarella was promoted to manager of web development at W&L. Christopher R. Riano was named executive director of the Center for Civic Education in Calabassas, California. He leads the center’s work in promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy within the U.S. and in dozens of countries around the world. Previously, he led the New York State Bar
where he provided legal services to all of Sony’s US divisions, including its publishing company. He subsequently worked in the business and legal affairs department at Sony BMG Music Entertainment before accepting a senior executive role at Rhino Entertainment. In 2013, Ahrend left Rhino to assume a senior executive role within Warner Music Group, where he led a large legal, financial and administrative shared services organization that he helped to create. In 2016, Ahrend was promoted to president of U.S.
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Association’s Committee on LGBTQ People and the Law. Riano served as assistant counsel to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Chad M. Ayers joined the Legal Council for Health Justice as a staff attorney in Chicago.
Eduardo E. Safille joined HR Florida State Council in Miami as editor of the HR Florida Review. Kara R. Webster joined the specialized crimes bureau with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, Division of Criminal Justice, as a deputy attorney general.
2011L Andrew D. Atkins joined Troutman Sanders as counsel in Charlotte, North Carolina. He focuses on business litigation and consumer financial services. Jesse M. Eshkol joined the Department of Justice in the Eastern District of Louisiana as an assistant U.S. attorney. As part of the criminal division, he will handle Project Safe Neighborhood drug and gun cases. Sheila-Marie Finkelstein was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in California. She received the Woman of the Year Award from Congressman Lou Correa; is a nominee for NAWBO Remarkable Woman, a special recognition to four attorneys under 40 who have fearlessly pursued the business of law; and was
Shared Services and tapped to lead the development and launch of Warner Music’s new Center of Excellence for Shared Services in Nashville, where he oversaw the operations of 15 different functional teams providing a variety of administrative, financial and legal services to Warner Music’s U.S.-based publishing teams, record labels and corporate divisions. Ahrend serves on the boards of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Downtown Partnership and is a member of the Music City Music Council.
Marie Washington ’03L and John Broadway ’74L met in Vienna, Austria, when John noticed Marie was wearing a hat with the W&L trident. Both were participating in a trip organized by the Virginia CLE group out of Charlottesville.
selected as a grader for the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization - trusts, estates and probate law. Finkelstein is the principal with AHAVA Law in Lakewood, California. Christopher M. Hirsch joined the defense litigation firm DOPF P.C. in New York City. William B. Larson (’08) received the highest number of votes for Government Affairs Top Lawyer category in Delaware Today Magazine. He is an associate with MG+M Law Firm in Wilmington, Delaware. Joseph M. Toner joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an attorneyadvisor.
A.J. Frey joined Greenspring Associates as general counsel. Based in Owings Mills, Maryland, it is a venture capital firm investing primarily in the information technology, biotechnology, healthcare and telecommunications sectors. Frey lives in Washington, D.C. Chaz Klaes (’09) was promoted to shareholder with Donato, Brown, Pool & Moehlmann P.L.L.C. in Houston. He focuses on defending premises liability, personal injury, insurance defense, employment, medical malpractice, maritime and general civil litigation matters.
Andrew P. Larsen received the 2019 Pro Bono Legal Service Award from the John Carroll Society. He is an attorney-advisor with the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Office of the General Counsel, General Law Division, practicing fiscal and appropriations law. Joy Y. Lee was appointed to the senior staff team as legal counsel for the 2020 Republican National Convention.
Anna Knecht Page was promoted to counsel with Hunton Andrews Kurth in Richmond. She focuses on real estate investment and finance, financial services and energy. Elizabeth Petty Summers was promoted to wealth strategist/ director with UBS in Chicago.
2013L Eric D. Chapman was promoted to partner at CowanPerry in Blacksburg, Virginia. He focuses on business litigation, employment law and corporate transactions. Ernest B. Hammond III joined Twilio in San Francisco as senior product counsel.
2014L Michael J. Carrah Jr. was promoted to manager of compliance at Navy Federal Financial Group in Washington, D.C. Emily A. Feenstra joined the Alaska Department of Law as assistant attorney general, Oil and Gas Section. She lives in Juneau. Jessica Piltch Taylor joined O’Brien Law Firm in Petaluma, California, as an associate. She focuses on employment discrimination.
Eric Chaffin ’96L Organizes Food Drive for Pittsburgh Community On March 23, ERIC CHAFFIN ‘96L organized a drive-through to provide 10,000 free sandwiches to families and children in Green Tree, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Chaffin’s law firm, headquartered in New York, operates a branch in Green Tree. After hearing about job losses in the area following the coronavirus outbreak, he knew he wanted to do something to help. As reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Chaffin recalled what it was like when his
father, a steelworker, had financial troubles. “We certainly had times in our lives when life was just a struggle,” Chaffin told the paper. The event occurred at the Oakmont Bakery, which provided the bread for the sandwiches. Nation’s Best Deli Meats in the Bronx, New York, provided about 2,500 pounds of turkey and roast beef, Turner Dairy Farms provided milk and Utz donated 10,000 bags of chips. Chaffin also
arranged for food delivery for families around Pittsburgh who were not able to pick up. Chaffin is the managing partner of Chaffin Luhana, a firm he co-founded in New York in 2010 as a national plaintiffs-only product liability law firm. Since then, the firm has expanded into traditional personal injury and trucking litigation in the Ohio Valley in eastern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania.
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Brandt L.L.C. in Birmingham, Alabama.
Robbie Clarke ’06, ’11L and Mary Katherine Vigness Clarke ’12L, of Fort Worth, Texas, sporting their new W&L masks made by Robbie’s aunt Becky Morrison P’12, mother of Clarke Morrison ’12. Becky, who resides in Atlanta, made masks for the seven W&L Generals in the family.
Risa S. Katz-Albert joined the Roanoke office of Spilman, Thomas & Battle as an associate in its corporate and litigation sections, doing commercial litigation and bankruptcy work.
Lucas M. Barta joined King & Spalding’s Washington, D.C., office as an associate focusing on mergers and acquisitions, venture financings and general corporate matters for new and mature start-up clients.
Marc F. Mignault joined Bowles Rice as a member of its litigation department in Charleston, West Virginia. He focuses on insurance defense.
Kja Harper-Gopaul joined Hurrell Cantrall in Los Angeles as an associate.
Madeline T. Morcelle joined the National Health Law Program in Washington, D.C., as the reproductive and sexual health attorney. Danny R. Nappier joined Kirkland & Ellis as an associate in Dallas.
Priscilla K. Williams joined Christian & Small as an associate in Birmingham, Alabama.
2015L Cristina Macioch Agee joined the City of Salem’s Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as assistant commonwealth’s attorney. Meg Sawyer Doelling was promoted to staff attorney with the U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, in Charleston, South Carolina. Elizabeth A. Farrell joined Brighton Health Plan Solutions in New York City as associate general counsel. Matthew S. Hale was promoted to member at Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff &
2017L
Sukhmani K. Rekhi joined Calix as legal counsel in San Francisco. Daniel T. Strong joined Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham as an associate attorney in Raleigh, North Carolina. Cameron E. Tommey was promoted to senior attorney with The Nature Conservancy in Washington, D.C. Zara A. Wallace joined Troutman Sanders as an associate in the multifamily housing finance practice group in Richmond.
2016L Morgan C. Fiander joined Polsinelli as an associate in New York City.
Hengyi Jiang joined Banner Witcoff as an associate in Washington, D.C. William C. Simmerson assists clients with energy litigation and transactional matters at McCarter & English L.L.P. He has represented electric and natural gas entities in proceedings before a number of federal and state courts and agencies. Andrew P. L. Smeltzer is a contract and fiscal law attorney with the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve. His unit is the Army Reserve’s policy, planning, programming and budgeting liaison to the Pentagon.
2018L Meredith Toole Brenton joined Fisher Phillips as an associate in Columbia, South Carolina. She focuses on employment litigation. W. Watts Burks IV joined Glenn, Feldmann, Darby, & Goodlatte as an associate in Roanoke. Kendall P. Manning is a judicial law clerk at the U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina.
Glenn B. Williams joined Frith Anderson & Peake in Roanoke. He focuses on general civil litigation. Mark X. Zhuang joined Duane Morris as a corporate associate in its New York office.
2019L Nicholas A. Betts joined Glenn Robinson Cathey Memmer & Skaff in Roanoke as a law clerk.
WEDDINGS The Hon. Charles N. Dorsey ’79L to Heidi H. Stone on Aug. 3, 2019, in Giles County, Virginia. The ceremony was officiated by Jeffrey L. Dorsey ’82 (brother of the groom). Alumni in attendance included Douglas R. Dorsey ’78 (brother of the groom), William D. Broadhurst ’79L, James R. Swanson ’78L, David B. Carson ’88L and William P. Wallace ’74, ’77L. The couple reside in Salem, Virginia.
Frank N. Bozzi joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft L.L.P. in New York City. Tiffany E. Fellers was promoted to tax hearings attorney with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in Austin, Texas. Sally Harper Griffin is clerking for Chief Judge Kristi DuBose with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. She lives in Mobile. Bruce J. Kennedy II joined Zwicker and Associates in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an associate.
Andrea Wahlquist ’95L to Alvin Brown, Jan. 25, in New York City.
Michael W. Lehr joined Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig in Richmond as an associate. Alec A. W. Smith joined V3 Electric Inc., California’s leading residential solar provider, as counsel in Sacramento. Garner M. Stapp joined Blake & Associates Law Firm in Augusta, Georgia, as an associate.
Carney Simpson ’13L to William Underwood ’09, ’12L on Oct. 26, 2019, in Savannah, Georgia. The couple reside in Atlanta. There were a number of W&L graduates in attendance from the classes of 2009, 2012L and 2013L, among others.
Courtney R. Wolf joined Motley Rice in Charleston, South Carolina, as an associate.
Public Policy and Health Advocacy
Madeline Morcelle ’15L is lobbying congress, drafting bills, analyzing legislation and developing strategies to safeguard health access, and more. BY KATIE DOAR
MADELINE MORCELLE ’15L entered W&L Law with a broad interest in using public policy to address social disadvantages. “I selected W&L Law knowing that many alumni focused their careers on public policy practice,” she explained. “At W&L, I had the opportunity to study health law, comparative health policy, poverty law and policy, bioethics and administrative law.” She also took advantage of research and teaching assistant positions and spent a semester in Washington, D.C. Many of her former professors continue to serve as mentors, offering guidance throughout her challenging career. As her legal education progressed, Morcelle’s focus narrowed, and she began to concentrate on health policy and advocating for health justice. After graduation, she pursued a master’s in public health in health policy at Harvard. From there, she worked at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, supporting the design implementation of Medicaid and Medicare reforms. After the Trump transition, she found a job 14
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as a staff attorney at the Network for Public Health Law and, at the same time, she served as a research scholar at the Center for Public Health at Arizona State University’s College of Law. She then became a staff attorney and director at the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ), a public interest law firm, where she led the design and implementation of legal, legislative and administrative advocacy strate-
gies to protect and strengthen access to public benefits. Morcelle’s other work at the MCJ included organizing responses to federal administrative attacks on public benefits. For example, two years ago, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) published its then-proposed public charge regulation. The MCJ joined a coalition of other legal and advocacy groups that filed an
amicus brief challenging the legality of the new rule. “The rule makes it harder for lowerincome, lawfully present immigrants to secure a green card if they or family members participate in public benefits for which they are eligible,” Morcelle said. “The rule forces immigrant families who work hard, pay their taxes and follow the rules to make a heartbreaking choice between accessing Medicaid and other often lifesaving programs or staying together.” In April, Morcelle began the next phase of her career in public health, as a reproductive and sexual health attorney with the National Health Law Program in Washington, D.C. Morcelle thinks of her time at W&L Law as a platform for her current undertakings. As a student, she joined the Women in the Law Society and worked with other members to organize fundraising, social and professional development events, including the inaugural Lara D. Gass Women in The Law Symposium. “W&L Law offered fertile ground for me to realize my potential as a lawyer, public policy advocate and human.”
BIRTHS AND ADOPTIONS Moira J. O’Brien ’06L and her husband, Dave Kaufman, a daughter, Imogen James, on Oct. 19, 2019. She joins her sister Philippa, 5. The family live in Midlothian, Virginia. Kelly J. Repair ’06L and her husband, Quentin Miller, a daughter, Ellison Quinn, on Oct. 15, 2019. She joins brother Luke, 4, and sister Loren, 2. The family reside in Alexandria, Virginia. Jill Coffindaffer McCook ‘07L and her husband, Nick, a son Luke Emmanuel, on Feb. 23. He joins brother John, 7. Jill works in the office of the general counsel at the Tennessee Valley Authority. The family live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Koral Fusselman Alman ’12L and Ferrell Alman ’12L, a daughter, Bridget, on Oct. 26, 2019. The family live in Asheville, North Carolina. Ariel Brio ’12L, his wife Karen, a daughter, Alexandra, on Nov. 17, 2019. She joins sister Eliana. The family reside in Foster City, California. Samantha B. Owens ‘14L and her husband, Nate, a son Ellis, on April 18. The family live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John Badman IV ’15L and his wife, Alex, a son, Forrest Alexander, on Jan. 8. He joins
brother Quinn, 3. The family live in Henrico, Virginia. Oscar Molina 15L and his wife, Kristen, a son, Theo Ramon, on April 9. He joins sister Camila. The family live in Barboursville, West Virginia. Jasmine Brooks Redd ’15L and Ryan Redd ’15L, a daughter, Joanna Denise, on Dec. 24, 2019. The family live in Harker Heights, Texas, where Ryan serves as a JAG at Fort Hood, and Jasmine practices family law at the Law Office of Keiko Griffin P.L.L.C. Nigel K. Wheeler ’15L and his wife, Alexandra, a son, Sebastain, on April 7. He joins sister Emerson, 3. Wheeler joined the North Carolina Hurricanes as general counsel in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dowin Coffy ’18L and his wife Trista, a son, Knox, on March 6. The family reside in Springfield, Illinois. Bruce J. Kennedy II ’19L and his wife, a daughter, Ariel Isobel, on Nov. 15.
OBITS
Navy during World War II. He was employed in the accounting department of U.S. Steel until he retired. Charles F. Rucker ’51, ’53L died on April 30. Milburn K. Noell Jr. ’51, ’54L, of Memphis, Tennessee, died on Oct. 27, 2019. He served in the Army. He was associate director of Development at W&L until retiring in 1989. He belonged to Kappa Sigma. Andrew B. Gallagher ’51, ’55L, of Shreveport, Louisiana, died on April 11. He served in the Army Reserve. He served as juvenile court judge until his retirement in 1999. He belonged to Sigma Nu. George W. Fellows ’54, ’56L, of Naples, Florida, died on Oct. 30, 2019. He served in the Army. He worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert, Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley. He belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma. Robert J. Berghel ’61L, of Clarkesville, Georgia, died Nov. 14, 2019. He was father to Robb Berghel ’80 and Bill Berghel ’83. He belonged to Delta Tau Delta.
James J. Naccarato ’45L, of Silver Spring, Maryland, died on Feb. 3 at 101 years of age. He served in the Navy and was an attorney in the Department of Justice.
Junius M. Lemmon Jr. ’59, ’61L, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, died on Dec. 15, 2019. He retired from a career in the life insurance business. He belonged to Delta Tau Delta.
James F. Feeney ’49L, of Levittown, Pennsylvania, died on Jan. 6. He served in the
Malcolm Lassman ’60, ’63L, of Washington, D.C., died on Oct. 10, 2019. For 30 years he
was senior partner at Akin Gump. He belonged to Phi Epsilon Pi. Charles D. Bennett Jr. ‘66L, of Roanoke, died on April 23. He served in the Air Force. He was an administrative law judge for Medicare in Cleveland, Ohio. Charles G. Johnson ’64, ’66L, of Bridgeport, West Virginia, died on Nov. 5, 2019. He served in the Army Reserve as a lieutenant in the Judge Advocacy General Corps. He retired as a lieutenant colonel after 20 years of service. He practiced law at Jackson Kelly P.L.L.C. and belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma. William M. Gravatt III ‘71L, of Blackstone, Virginia, died on April 15. He practiced law in Blackstone. He belonged to Delta Tau Delta. Thomas R. Robinett ’70, ’75L, of Winchester, Virginia, died on April 11. He served in the Army. In addition to his private law practice, the majority of his law career was spent in public service for several municipalities across Virginia. James M. Sturgeon Jr. ’75L, of Charleston, West Virginia, died on March 24. He was an attorney and CPA.
of his contribution to downtown Harrisonburg, preserving the historic Wine Brothers building. William L. Higgs ’83L, of Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, died on Jan. 26. Randy Clay Robertson ’84L, Richmond, died April 26. He practiced law in Richmond. David L. Lundy ’86L, of Arlington, Virginia, died on Feb. 21. He worked as an attorney for over 30 years. Anne C. Grove ‘87L, of Roanoke, died on April 19. Ruth Duvall Kuhnel ‘87L, of Salem, Virginia, died on May 2. She served as counsel to the Roanoke County/Salem Department of Social Services, rising to county attorney of Roanoke County. She was wife to Paul Kuhnel ‘87L. Patricia J. Wohl ’90L, of Vienna, Virginia, died on Jan. 19. She worked at Elias, Matz, Tiernan and Herrick L.L.P. in Washington, D.C. Jonathan E. Porter ’05L, of Branchland, West Virginia, died on Jan. 25. He was a public defender for Lincoln County.
H. Clay Clark III ’75, ’78L, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, died on Nov. 21, 2019. He owned numerous restaurants over the years and was most proud
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Class of 2020, pg. 1
‘Progress Awaits’, pg. 2
Spencer Cox ’01L, pg. 3
Professor David Bruck, p. 6
Discovery
Madeline Morcelle ’15L, p. 14
THE NEWSLETTER FROM WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW LAW.WLU.EDU Non-Profit Org U. S. P o s t a g e
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Washington and Lee University School of Law 204 W. Washington Street Lexington, VA 24450-2116
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COVID-19 AND THE LAW SCHOOL: WHAT’S NEXT
CONTINUED SUCCESS
PLANNING FOR FALL
Like all schools around the country, W&L Law had to react quickly to the spread of COVID-19. After a short two-week break in March, the Law School went completely online for instruction. While some third-year students with clinical obligations could still enter Lewis Hall, the building was otherwise closed to all but a few essential personnel. Beyond instruction, all services for students, from career counseling to peer mentoring, were delivered online. The closure also impacted the Office of Admissions with the cancellation of all campus visits, including the second Open House, critical to recruiting students to Lexington. Alumni Weekend was canceled in favor of a combined gathering for two years’ worth of reunionists in April 2021. The official in-person Commencement for the Class of 2020 was pushed to next year as well, though students did participate in an online Conferral of Degrees ceremony on May 8, the day they would have gathered on the Colonnade Lawn.
Despite the major disruption to the institution, the Law School finished the year in a very strong position. The Office of Career Strategy reported at-graduation employment numbers at about 70%, right in line with the Class of 2019, which went on to post the best 10-month employment rates the School has seen in years. OCS has continued its counseling efforts with an online series called #summerstrategy, geared toward practical advice from alums and others navigating the summer in light of changing circumstances. Similarly, the Office of Admissions online recruitment efforts, including a new virtual tour, online Open House and too many Zoom calls to number, yielded fantastic results. With the second deposit deadline now passed, the School expects to enroll an exceptionally qualified 1L class around the typical class size of 120. Admissions plans to continue gathering current and incoming students online throughout the summer so they can begin building the strong relationships that define a W&L Law legal education.
As Dean Brant Hellwig announced to the student body in May, the Law School intends to return to in-person education in the fall while maintaining a healthy environment for students, faculty and staff. Working groups across campus are developing a reopening plan that takes into account the prevailing guidance from health officials in order to bring students back to campus safely. One decision that has already been announced is a change in the academic calendar. Classes will begin Aug. 17 and continue uninterrupted in order to conclude the semester before Thanksgiving, mitigating the health risks associated with students leaving and returning to campus. This is but the first of many changes that will occur on campus as W&L continues to deal with the ramifications of the pandemic. “We take great pride in our brand of legal education — one grounded in the relationships that develop among members of the student body, faculty and staff,” said Hellwig. “Those relationships are fostered by our interactions with one another in Lewis Hall, so we are eager to return to that setting. Doing so likely will require sacrifices by all of us so that we can preserve as healthy an environment as possible but gathering once again in person will be well worth it.”