Pitt Law Magazine

U N I V ER SI T Y OF PI T TSBU RGH

NEXT STEP >

THE NEW DEAN AND HER PREDECESSOR TAKE A TRANSITION IN STRIDE.

FA L L

2018

FA L L ’ 1 8

M A G A Z I N E

DEAN AND PROFESSOR OF LAW

Amy J. Wildermuth EDITOR

Cori Parise ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jan-Tosh Gerling WRITER

Christine H. O’Toole CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Brian Cuban Jan-Tosh Gerling Cori Parise DESIGN

Landesberg Design PHOTOGRAPHY

Terry Clark Rebecca Kiger Shauna Miller Noah Purdy Christopher Sprowls ILLUSTRATION

Alex Berdis Doug Chayka WEBSITE

law.pitt.edu/magazine COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?

lawalum@pitt.edu

Pitt Law magazine is published by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Office of the Dean and the Office of Communications

BOARD OF VISITORS

Nicole Aandahl, ’01 Vincent J. Bartolotta, Jr. ’70 Maximilian F. Beier, ’99 Linda Beerbower Burke, ’73 Hon. Robert J. Cindrich, ’68 Carrie Collins, ’99 Senator Jay Costa, Jr. Q. Todd Dickinson, ’77 Hon. D. Michael Fisher Elke Flores Suber, ’96 Brad A. Funari, ’02 James M. Gockley, ’80 Vincent J. Grogan, ’60 Jo Ann Haller, ’80 Janice H. West, ’75 Gerald T. Hathaway, ’79 Dawne S. Hickton, ’83, Board Chairperson Tremelle Howard-Fishburne, ’97 Frederick Wells Hill, ’78 Joseph A. Katarincic, ’60 Richard B. Kelson, ’72 James E. Kopelman, ’66 Hon. Lisa Pupo Lenihan, ’83 Marvin S. Lieber, ’58 Hon. Frank J. Lucchino, ’64 Hon. David J. Mayernik, ’81 Martha H. Munsch, ’70 Jack H. Olender, ’60 Timothy D. Pecsenye, ’87 Diane W. Perer, ’76 Robert J. Rogalski, ’92 Hon. Eunice L. Ross, ’51 Professor Pamela Samuelson Hon. Doris A. Smith-Ribner, ’72 Jeffrey P. Taft, ’92 Scott E. Westwood, ’91

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF LAW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Michael S. Nelson, ’96 President Elizabeth L. Hughes, ’04 President-Elect 2018 Jill M. Weimer, ’07 Vice President Meredith Odato Graham, ’11 Treasurer Tony J. Thompson, ’06 Secretary Stuart W. Benson III, ’75 Assistant Secretary Patrick Sorek, ’84 Immediate Past President Shannon O. Braden, ’07 Stuart W. Benson III, ’75 Ilene H. Fingeret, ’86 Bruce C. Fox, ’84 Necia B. Hobbes, ’11 Tony Thompson, ’06 Joseph J. Bosick, ’73 Ronald Basso, ’85 Maximilian F. Beier, ’99 Thomas M. Beline, ’07 Kathryn S. Nordick, ’05 Bethany E. Miller, ’08 Dorothy A. Davis, ’81 Elizabeth L. Hughes, ’04 Meredith Odato Graham, ’11 Kevin W. Tucker, ’11 Hon. Mary Jane Bowes, ’79 Hon. Kim D. Eaton, ’81 Hon. Alan D. Hertzberg, ’83 Hon. Philip A. Ignelzi, ’81 Hon. Marilyn J. Horan, ’79 Hon. Lisa Pupo Lenihan, ’83 Hon. Christine A. Ward, ’82

I N S I D E P I T T L AW

08

12 26

08 T HE HAND-OFF

Constitutional scholar, environmental engineer, and snowboarder Amy Wildermuth tells why she left the University of Utah to become Pitt Law’s new dean.

12 TAX TRIBE

What to do when you don’t make Law Review?

Start your own journal. Dedicated “tax nerds” celebrate fifteen years of the Pittsburgh Tax Review.

16 A LEGAL LIFELINE

When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico last year, Pitt Law welcomed law students from the island 1,700 hundred miles away.

22 O N MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, DON’T KICK THE CAN

Who’s responsible for law students and lawyers drowning in addiction and depression? Brian Cuban, ’86, tells how interventions saved his life.

26 PAST AND PRESENT PARTNERS

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kim Eaton, ’81, got one request she couldn’t refuse.

28 L AW’S DIGITAL FRONTIER

The intellectual property bar is opening its doors to new lawyers without scientific backgrounds.

So go for it, urges Elke Flores Suber, ’96, assistant general counsel for Microsoft Stores.

16 02

FROM THE DEAN

04

ON CAMPUS

30

FACULTY

36

ALUMNI

45

PARTING SHOT

FROM THE DEAN

Welcome! We are thrilled to share this latest edition of Pitt Law magazine with you. Inside you will learn more about the amazing things happening in the Pitt Law community. From our awardwinning students, to our highly-regarded staff and faculty, to our remarkable alums, this is indeed a very special place.

My mother’s longstanding advice to my brother and I has been to “talk less and listen more.” Now both academics, we have never had much trouble talking so you might guess that her goal was a bit of quiet in the house. But my mom’s aim was different. She spent her career in special education, an area in which it is particularly important to listen carefully in order to do the best by one’s students. We later learned from the parents of those children that our mother did this regularly and with great patience, and achieved incredible outcomes for the kids and their families.

As I arrived this summer in Pittsburgh to a very warm welcome, I realized how powerful listening — and listening deeply — can be. In only a few short months, I have seen firsthand Pitt Law’s collective commitment, day in and day out, to train the next generation of law students for the demands of a twenty-first century career and to then support them on their career journey long after they have graduated.

I have had the chance to hear and learn from our outstanding faculty, recently ranked 54th in the Sisk-Leiter scholarly impact rankings. I have been amazed by the path-breaking work being done in our communities, locally and globally.

I have congratulated our alums named to the bench and to prestigious positions throughout government and industry.

And I have had the tremendous support of former Dean Carter, who has been extraordinarily generous with his time and wise advice as we have worked together these past few months. I am deeply grateful to him for all he has done for the law school and for me personally.

Most of all, I have felt the joy of being part of an amazing team whose members value one another for the unique contributions they make. From LuAnn Driscoll putting chalk in every classroom every morning, to Doug Branson’s critically-acclaimed books, most recently The Future of Tech is Female, to Rochelle McCain adding another prestigious appointment as part of the OSCAR Working Group to her

PHOTO BY THOMAS ALTANY

already-lengthy portfolio, to David Harris being recognized as the 18th most cited criminal law scholar in the nation, to Linda Tashbook publishing a new book, Family Guide to Mental Illness and the Law: A Practical Handbook, with Oxford University Press, to Sue Leroy doing, well, everything one can imagine to keep the law school running, to the countless other faculty and staff I wish I could mention individually by name for all of the incredible work they do, I have come to one realization: It is a privilege and a true honor to be part of this outstanding school. This is a place with a long history of contributions and impact, and is guided in its mission by four core principles: justice; intellectual rigor; professionalism and civility; and equity and inclusive excellence.

As we move forward, I am grateful to all of you for your partnership and your support. We could not be the place we are without your help. Thank you for all you do, every day, to share your many gifts, and especially your precious time, in support of what we do. You are essential to our success, and I warmly welcome you to stop by for a visit or to drop me a note anytime. My door is always open!

With best wishes,

AMY

amy.wildermuth@pitt.edu 412-648-1401

P.S. The photo on page 31 appears to have been the source of a few questions among the communications staff and the copy editors, and therefore requires some comment from me.

The photo set forth therein is not in fact of a young George Clooney, but rather is of my very talented and able partner in the dean’s office, Vice Dean Hamoudi. Although we are grateful and benefit enormously from his skilled and able leadership, I expressed my disappointment to Vice Dean Hamoudi for causing this confusion, and he in turn has promised he will do his best not to look so similar to Mr. Clooney in the future.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

2 | 3

ON CAMPUS

NEWS & E VENTS

STUDENTS CONTRIBUTE RESEARCH FOR AMICUS BRIEF CHALLENGING ATTORNEY GENERAL

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. (CLINIC) received research assistance from students in the Immigration Law Clinic in filing an amicus brief. CLINIC, along with nine other faith-based groups, filed an amicus brief in response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to certify to himself the Matter of A-B. The case involves a Salvadoran woman who fled her country because of domestic abuse and was granted asylum in the United States by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

2018 NORDENBERG FELLOWS COMPLETE SUMMER INTERNSHIPS ABROAD

For the twelfth year, Pitt Law students spent the summer overseas as Nordenberg Fellows funded by the Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg University Professorship held by Professor Ronald A. Brand.

Allison Bustin, ’20, interned with the USAID Property Rights Program in

Pristina, Kosovo; Jonathan Churchin, ’19, interned with Dr. Vjosa Osmani at the Parliament of Kosovo; Robbie Cimmino, ’19, interned with the law firm of Karanovic & Nikolic in Belgrade, Serbia; Brittany de Hoyos, ’20, interned at the Legal Aid Clinic of Eldoret (LACE) in Eldoret, Kenya; Austin Koltonowski, ’20, interned with the law firm of A.O. Ouerfelli Attorney & Counsels in Tunis, Tunisia; Sarah Pybus-Elmore, ’20, interned with the USAID Justice System Strengthening Program in Pristina, Kosovo; Christopher Yon, ’20, interned as a researcher with the Institute of European Studies in Brussels, Belgium; Nicholas Wentz, ’20, interned with the law firm of A.O. Ouerfelli Attorney & Counsels in Tunis, Tunisia; Megan Yvorra, ’20, interned with Democracy Plus (D+), an independent, not-forprofit organization formed to support democratic values and practices in Kosovo.

TERRY CLARK

Pitt Law was ranked No. 20 in Health Care Law in the nation for 2019 by U.S. News & World Report. From left to right: Professors Mary Crossley, Mary Nell Cummings, Tina Hershey, and Alan Meisel.

PRELAW NAMES PITT LAW TOP SCHOOL FOR TAX LAW

STUDENT STARTUP REACHES SEMIFINALS AT RICE BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

For the first time in the 17-year history of the Rice Business Plan Competition, billed as the world’s richest and largest graduate-level student startup competition, Pitt was among the competitors.

Pitt Law student Dan Hickton, ’19, represented Pitt in the competition at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Hickton’s “Four Growers” robotic farming team was the first Pitt team ever to make it to the semi-final round of 15. Four Growers is developing a robotic system for harvesting tomatoes in greenhouses.

FORWARD MOMENTUM RECOGNIZED

BY U.S. NEWS AND NATIONAL JURIST

U.S. News & World Report released its rankings for the Best Law Schools for 2019, ranking the University of Pittsburgh School of Law as No. 74 in the nation out of more than 200 ABA-accredited law schools. This marks an increase of eight places compared to the 2018 rankings. Pitt Law also gained notable rankings in specialized areas of study: No. 20 in Health Care Law and No. 27 in International Law. In addition, Pitt Law’s U.S. News Peer Reputation Rank increased this year to No. 55, the law school’s highest peer reputation ranking since 2013.

Pitt Law was honored for the first time as one of the top schools in the United States for practical training by the National Jurist’s preLaw magazine.

The ranking was part of the National Jurist and preLaw’s “Best Schools for Practical Training” feature. In addition, Pitt Law was ranked for the first time as a top school for Environmental Law in preLaw’s “Small Footprint, Global Impact” feature.

PITT LAW PLACES IN CARDOZO BMI MOOT COURT COMPETITION

Erin Belfield, ’19, and David Rodkey, ’18, placed second in the 2018 Cardozo BMI Entertainment and Media Law

From left to right: Elizabeth Taylor, Nicholas Weltz, Christian Kegel, and Jared Quinn of Pitt Law’s 2018 Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot team.

Moot Court Competition, the nation’s premier student moot court in copyright, entertainment, and communications law.

Belfield and Rodkey finished second overall in the competition, edged out by the University of Iowa in the championship round in what judges described as one of the greatest final rounds they’ve ever seen. This is the best result in an IP moot court by a Pitt Law team since the Cardozo competition team of 2002. Along the way, Pitt Law’s team has racked up victories against Emory and Florida State, among other law schools.

Pitt Law’s Cardozo coaching team has been led for more than 30 years by Rick Rinaldo, now with William Coulson and formerly with Meyer, Unkovic & Scott. Rinaldo is seconded by his former Meyer, Unkovic colleague David Oberdick, ’86. Rinaldo and Oberdick led a crew of advisors, mentors, and practice judges that includes Christian Ehret, ’11, with The Webb Law Firm, Dave Coogan, ’14, with Jones Day, Victoria Summerfield, ’11, with Pepper Hamilton, Dave DuMont, ’07, with The Webb Law Firm, David Radack with Eckert Seamans, and Judge Hugh McGough, ’92.

ADVOCATES CHOICE AWARD TAKEN HOME BY PITT LAW

Pitt Law took home The Advocates Choice Award at the 2017 Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, which goes to the team voted by the competitors as having the highest degree of skill, competence, and professionalism.

Matthew Banta, ’18, Christopher Harris, ’18, and Bryson Stephen (of Duquesne University School of Law) traveled to St. John’s University School of Law’s Manhattan campus in New York for the competition. For two days teams tested their advocacy skills in the negotiation, mediation, and arbitration of a simulated securities dispute. Pitt Law’s team, all members of the Securities Arbitration Clinic, under the direction of Clinic Professor Alice L. Stewart and adjunct Professor Rachael Shaw, were coached by volunteer Michael Nagy, an experienced securities attorney.

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is a joint effort between the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution and FINRA. Members of FINRA’s roster of experienced neutrals serve as mediators, arbitrators, and judges, critiquing the student teams and offering the students an invaluable real-life experience.

PITT LAW FINISHES IN TOP 15 AT 2018 VIS INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION MOOT

Pitt Law finished 14th out of 357 teams at the 2018 Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition in Vienna. Pitt Law’s team comprised of Elizabeth Taylor, Nicholas Weltz, Christian Kegel, and Jared Quinn finished the general rounds with a score placing them in the top 4 percent of the competition. In the knockout rounds, they made it to the round of 32 teams before being eliminated by the University of Cambridge, which went on to be runner-up in the final argument portion of the competition.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Law has been named one of the nation’s best law schools for tax law by preLaw magazine. Pitt Law was one of only 40 law schools, out of more than 200 nationally, to be ranked. preLaw magazine graded law schools based on the breadth of their curricular offerings and considered multiple factors such as concentrations, clinics, centers, and externships.

Pitt Law’s Concentration in Tax Law is intended to provide students with a solid foundation in tax law that can be used either to enter a career in tax law, as a basis for pursuing further study in tax law, or as an adjunct to a career in another area of law. Students may pursue this concentration by taking a foundational course in tax law, six credits of elective courses, and three credits of skills-based courses.

PITT CYBER ANNOUNCES AFFILIATE SCHOLARS

Twenty-four University of Pittsburgh faculty members will combine their areas of expertise to support Pitt’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security.

The affiliate scholars represent a wide range of professional and scholarly research interests. They include counterterrorism experts, computer science technologists, foreign policy analysts, information security professionals, legal scholars, and other thought leaders. As affiliate scholars, the chosen faculty will continue to make strides in their respective fields of study while collaborating within Pitt Cyber.

Pitt Law professor and Pitt Cyber’s senior scholar and academic director, Michael Madison, said the affiliate scholars will be a source for collaborative innovation University-wide.

“We want computer technology innovators talking regularly with legal minds and counterterrorism officials discussing the issues of the day with public policy professionals,” he said.

“By creating this ongoing dialogue between individuals who wouldn’t usually interact, we anticipate that these researchers will find new and exciting ways to combine their interests and expertise in ways that will benefit Pitt, Pittsburgh, and American society.”

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

4 | 5

ON CAMPUS

2L AVINASH RAM RECEIVES LAW FELLOWS SCHOLARSHIP AT 2018 LAW FELLOWS RECEPTION

Pitt Law hosted the 2018 Law Fellows Reception and Dinner at Hotel Monaco honoring alumni supporters.

Pitt Law 2L Avinash Ram received the Law Fellows Scholarship to support his studies. Eric Anderson, ’73, and Alfred Yates, ’73, serve as Law Fellows Co-chairs.

POEMS, POLITICS AND LITIGATION AGAINST THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

Pitt Law played host to poet, essayist, oral historian, translator, photographer, and social activist, Margaret Randall.

Randall has published more than 100 books of poetry, prose, and oral history, including numerous books on Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Vietnamese women, and recently Che on My Mind, a feminist reflection on the life and legacy of Che Guevara.

In 1984, Randall returned to the United States, but faced deportation under the McCarran Walter Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 based on her writings, which the U.S. Government declared were, “against the good order and happiness

of the United States.” After a five year legal battle, she won her case.

Randall read her poetry and discussed her successful legal battle against deportation with Professor Jules Lobel, who participated in her legal fight.

PITT LAW’S OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT RENAMED THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (PDO)

A new name will simplify and clarify what used to be a bit of a mouthful.

Pitt Law’s Office of Professional and Career Development has been renamed the Professional Development Office (PDO) as of July 2018. The staff of the now PDO continue to provide Pitt Law students and graduates with skills, resources, and support for their career goals.

MOTHER OF MATTHEW SHEPHARD SPEAKS AT PITT LAW

Pitt Law hosted Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student who was murdered in 1998 in what became one of the most high-profiled cases highlighting hate-crimes against LGBTQ people.

She and her husband, Dennis, are co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and advocate for LGBTQ rights. Shephard spoke of the foundation’s work on hate crimes, passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, and the effect of our current political environment on LGBTQ rights and issues.

Professor William M. Carter, Jr., who has written several articles and an amicus brief in a federal appellate case regarding the constitutionality of the Shepard/Byrd Act, provided commentary on two high-profile appellate cases challenging the constitutionality of the law and argued that the Act is constitutional under the Thirteenth Amendment. Guests included Pam Connelly, ’95, Associate Vice Chancellor of Diversity & Inclusion at Pitt, Judge Hugh McGough, ‘92, of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, and Jason Landau Goodman, ’18, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, as well as members of the Mayor’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Council, Pitt Law’s OUTLaw group, Pitt Law’s Black Law Student

Association, and the Allegheny County Bar Association’s LGBT Rights Committee.

ENERGY LAW AND POLICY INSTITUTES HOSTS INTERNATIONAL ENERGY EXPERTS

Pitt Law’s Energy Law and Policy Institute hosted national and international energy experts for discussions surrounding issues in Oil & Gas Law, International Law, Environmental Law, and Renewable Energy. Nearly 100 participants listened to Timothy Croushore of FirstEnergy Technologies discuss the role of renewable sources of energy in the era of utility deregulation from the perspectives of public policy, cost, and operational issues. Founding Director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security, David Hickton,’81, was the featured lunchtime speaker, and Colette Honorable, former Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, delivered the keynote address.

MAJOR GENERAL DANIEL J. LECCE, ’87, PROMOTED, ASSUMES ROLE OF STAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE TO THE COMMAND OF THE MARINE CORPS

BARCO LAW BUILDING UNDERGOES $6.2 MILLION RENOVATION

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

6 | 6

TERRY CLARK

T

he Barco Law Building’s first, second, and fourth floors have been refreshed by a $6.2 million renovation that was approved by the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees Property and Facilities Committee in 2016 and completed in January 2018. The renovation project was part of the University’s Facilities Master Plan with major changes to the first floor. Movable chairs and more ergonomic workspaces were added to classrooms. An ADA-accessible men’s restroom was constructed, and the lobby was renovated with new lighting fixtures, flooring, and paneling.

The second floor administrative offices were reconstructed with a curved entryway and an open floor plan to enhance students’ and visitors’ accessibility to the Deans’ Suite, Office of Alumni Relations, Office of Marketing and Communication, the Registrar, and the Professional Development Office (formerly named the Office of Career and Professional Development).

On the fourth floor, a suite was constructed to house the law clinics in the new Hickton Center for Community Legal Services & Clinical Education, moving them from Sennott Square. The move to house the clinics in the same building as the school substantively and symbolically brings theory, doctrine, and practice closer in Pitt Law’s educational program. A larger and more private space was constructed to house the Pitt Legal Services Incubator as well.

Additionally, new energy efficient systems now provide improved environmental control and comfort throughout the building while meeting new building codes.

Continuing a Pitt Law tradition of producing attorneys who serve as distinguished judge advocates and JAGs, Pitt Law graduate Major General Daniel J. Lecce, ’87, was promoted to his current rank in July 2018 and assumed the officer billet of Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the senior legal adviser in the Marine Corps.

Major General Lecce was selected and attended the Judge Advocate General of the Army School from where he received a Masters of Law in Operational and International Law in 1997. In 2006 he was selected as the Marine Fellow to Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies where he graduated with a Masters of International Public Policy in 2007.

His personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

Another Pitt Law graduate in the judge advocate ranks is Brigadier General John G. Baker, ’97, the Chief Defense Counsel for Military Commissions.

COMMENCEMENT 2018 Elke Flores Suber, ’96, Assistant General Counsel for Microsoft Stores, spoke to graduates during the 2018 commencement ceremony held May 11 at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall. The class of 2018 comprised 135 JD graduates, 16 LLM graduates, 12 MSL graduates, 1 Disability Legal Studies Certificate graduate and 3 SJD graduates.

35 students graduated with honors. Professor Rhonda Wasserman received the 2018 Robert T. Harper Excellence in Teaching award, as voted on by the graduating class.

F E AT U R E

As Amy Wildermuth succeeds William M. Carter, Jr. as dean, the pair discovers a shared vision for Pitt Law’s future.

A

t first glance, Amy Wildermuth and William M. “Chip” Carter, Jr. might seem to have little more in common than their reputation as leading legal scholars. In fact, the two had never met before their first encounter in February, when Wildermuth visited Pitt Law. But when she was named Carter’s successor, they discovered a shared style that the new dean, previously a law professor and administrator at the University of Utah, says has helped her hit the ground running.

“Chip has offered advice, connections, and resources for decisions,” she says, as Carter, who has served as dean since 2012, rejoins the faculty. Following a sabbatical during the Fall 2018 semester, he will return to the classroom next spring.

She says their professional introduction “was like getting assigned to work with somebody on an amicus brief. You don’t necessarily know each other, but you have this shared interest. And then you find out, wow, it is really easy and great to work with this person. It turned out that Chip and I see so many things in a very similar way, and I admire how he works through a problem. He sees all the details, which is really helpful.”

Carter returns the compliment. “She was three or four steps ahead of me at all times. And our styles and values are similar — we are both student-focused,” says Carter.

The deans’ transition comes as the school marks its highest level of applications in a decade. While U.S. law school applications have dropped 40 percent from 2008 levels, Pitt Law has seen a steady rebound. Applications are up 7 percent this year, on top of a 28 percent increase last year. Maintaining a highly-accomplished and diverse student body is the goal of the deans’ first collaboration.

Balancing Science and the Humanities Wildermuth likes a challenge. In a career that has spanned the humanities, engineering, clerking at the U.S. Supreme Court, and serving as both a law professor and administrator at the University of Utah, she also found time for snowboarding and mountain biking, most recently in Utah’s Wasatch Range.

She admits that she thrives on a work-hard, play-hard schedule. “I think that my parents — both public K-12 educators — would say it’s good to keep me busy.”

Wildermuth earned dual degrees, in history and engineering and policy, from Washington University. The Chicago-area native continued to balance the two fields in graduate school at the University of Illinois, where she received both a JD and MS in environmental engineering in 1998. After a series of federal clerkships, including one with Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, she spent sixteen years at the University of Utah. She served as associate vice president for faculty at the public institution,

PHOTOS BY NOAH PURDY

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

8 | 9

t his

OR

t h at

w/ DEAN WILDERMUTH Bicycle v. Mini-van?

Nissan Leaf! And hopefully it will once again be powered by the sun as it was at my house in Utah.

Veg or Omnivore?

Gwen is just happy if I eat lunch so she doesn’t have to worry about running out of food at dinner.

Primanti’s v. Pamela’s?

Is there a deep dish pizza or Indian food option? If so, I’m there!

City v. Suburb?

City. I grew up in a great suburb, Park Forest, Illinois, which is somewhat well-known as one of the first planned communities.

Gwen and I love the ease and fun of living in a walkable city.

adding a second appointment as the university’s first sustainability officer in 2013.

Clerking for Justice Stevens in 2002-03 remains one of Wildermuth’s prized professional memories. She affectionately describes the justice, who retired in 2010, as “about the most gracious and kind human being on Earth.” But the punishing workload, reviewing close to 8,000 petitions a year, required nonstop effort.

“The cert [certiorari] petitions are public records — they were the one thing I could take home. So I used to take home, on the Metro, these two giant grocery bags of cert petitions every weekend,” she says, extending her arms by her sides.

Legal scholarship, particularly in the field of environmental law, remains a priority for Wildermuth. She has contributed nearly two dozen articles to law journals and regularly submits amicus curiae briefs in cases before SCOTUS. She will teach Civil Procedure to 1Ls next semester.

“Procedure and process has always been a strong theme in my writing. It turns out it’s also a really good fit for those who want to be university administrators — knowing processes would be helpful.” She also intends to pursue her interests in sustainability in Pittsburgh.

When the Pitt Law opportunity surfaced, she was intrigued. “I was so impressed by the level of talent, the commitment, the passion” among Pitt Law faculty and administrators. She was also drawn to a city forging a PITT LAW MAGAZINE

10 | 11

“ One of her real skills is figuring out how to solve an issue and— this is important—find the win-win solution. She has a talent for that.”

D AV I D P E R S H I N G , President Emeritus, University of Utah

new reputation. “I think this region is likely to see a lot of growth in the environment and sustainability side of things,” she observes. “What’s really interesting about Pittsburgh is that it’s very tech-savvy and tech-centered. And the big health sciences emphasis has always been here. All my friends in the health sciences at Utah talk all the time about folks at Pitt, which tells me its huge reputation.”

One colleague from Utah, President Emeritus David Pershing, says Wildermuth’s problem-solving skills made her a valued administrator during his tenure. He credits Wildermuth with negotiating the university’s cost-saving electricity contracts using solar, wind, and geothermal power

Beach v. Mountains?

Mountains, where I try not to injure myself biking and snowboarding.

Fiction v. Non-Fiction Let’s be more specific: Scottish and British detective novels.

I like Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride. Who doesn’t love a flawed but good DCI?

Twitter v. Instagram?

Neither. I have enough trouble texting and am often made fun of for my inability to use abbreviations in texts.

HBO or Netflix?

Netflix for the gym, the one place I watch TV shows.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALEX BERDIS

and adding bicycles and car-charging stations to campus.

“I would call her my utility infielder,” he says of Wildermuth.

“One of her real skills is figuring out how to solve an issue and — this is important — find the win-win solution. She has a talent for that.”

One of the first institutional Pitt Law issues facing Wildermuth was how to best serve students facing a tight job market. Former Dean Carter framed the problem succinctly.

“In my time as dean, legal employment shrank relatively dramatically beginning with the recession. That constrained opportunities for our graduates,” he explains. “The new normal is that there are not 150 jobs waiting when 150 people earn their Pitt Law JDs. And every law school was faced with declining applications, competing for a smaller number of students. So we had one of two choices: to maintain our class size and risk a corresponding decline in diversity and entering credentials, or to reduce class size and take a budgetary hit.

Both choices had significant costs.”

Carter quickly adds that the school was not forced to reduce class size. “Our applications are up. Our reputation is improving. But would we be doing a service to the student if we admitted the same numbers as in the past? Voluntarily reducing class size is, in my mind, the right thing to do. The institution has to make a choice for quality.”

Carter and Wildermuth worked with Charmaine McCall, assistant dean of admissions, on a plan to reduce the size of Pitt Law’s incoming class. Wildermuth flew in to join Carter in presenting the proposal to faculty in May; the plan was approved. The class entering in 2019 will comprise about 120 to 130 students, compared to the current 140.

“The university really supports this. It’s very similar to something that the university did about ten years ago with undergrads. They moved the needle in terms of quality,” says Wildermuth.

Wildermuth is settling her family in Squirrel Hill. Her wife, Gwen Foster, is a middle school educator and former professional snowboarder who competed in many competitions, including the Winter X Games, for several years. The family now includes their six-year-old daughter who also loves biking — she is already known at the Wheel Mill — and goes snowboarding on their outings. “She’s just learning, so we don’t need a giant mountain. We just need a little snow hill,” says Wildermuth.

She is still learning Pittsburgh’s puzzling topography, noting that she often longs for the grid system of Utah. She also notes the big change from Utah’s arid climate. “Having a lot of water means sometimes your basement floods — which we never ever had in Utah. But we’re taking that pioneering spirit that we got from Utah and bringing it with us.”

F E AT U R E

T A X T

P

R

itt Law’s selection as a top tax law program by preLaw magazine in 2017 was a comingof-age honor for a concentration formally created in 2014. But a decade earlier, a core group of self-described “tax nerds” had created their own opportunities for a deep dive into the field. While the program graduates fewer than a dozen students each year, its alumni have had a major impact on national tax policy and interpretation in fields from taxexempt law to solar energy. Their common characteristics: Pitt Law JDs, editorships of the school’s Pittsburgh Tax Review (PTR ), professional stints in federal agencies in Washington, D.C., and usually an LLM from Georgetown University School of Law. PTR celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this year.

Faculty editor Anthony Infanti, Christopher C. Walthour, Sr. Professor of Law, says the impact factor for PTR, based on the average number of citations to articles published, places the journal in the top five journals published in the field.

The twice-yearly journal was the brainchild of two 2Ls who insisted they created the journal out of necessity.

John Marciano,’04, now partner and co-head of the global project finance practice at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, and Casey Lothamer,’04, who now advises the IRS’ Exempt Organizations functions, admit they were stumped.

“I said, Casey, we didn’t make law review. How are we going to get jobs?” Marciano recalls. “Let’s start our own!”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DOUG CHAYKA

I

B

E

“ He told us, ‘You have to raise $200,000’ ... that seemed wrong.

We didn’t raise nearly that much, maybe $20,000, but it was enough to move forward. We built the chain.”

J O H N M A R C I A N O , ’0 4

They enlisted Dave Kirk, a 1L who had returned to school after four years at Deloitte as an accountant. Kirk, ’05, now a partner in national tax at Ernst and Young, accompanied them to their first pitch meeting with then-Associate Dean of Academic Affairs John M. Burkoff.

The response to their idea was a raised eyebrow.

“He told us, ‘You have to raise $200,000,’” Marciano says. “That seemed wrong. We didn’t raise nearly that much, maybe $20,000, but it was enough to move forward.

We built the chain.”

Kirk’s background and connections laid the foundation. “[John and Casey] had the idea. I had the resources,” says Kirk. “The school did not want to subsidize a new money-losing venture. What ended up happening was that I took the idea back to Deloitte, which matched donations, including mine, to the university. Lexis[Nexis] gave us the computers. We created a five-year business plan: we’d lose money up front and then, with ads and Westlaw and Lexis revenue and subscriptions, it could be self-sustaining.”

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

12 | 13

MENTORING

With Infanti as faculty editor, PTR became the glue that bound students to a high-powered group of tax attorneys.

Each year, second-year students are assigned to alumni mentors who help them choose the topics for the notes they must write as part of their participation on the journal. The result is a strong chain of professional connections.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

14 | 15

For Anne Bryson Bauer ’08, the editorship of PTR opened a professional and personal path. She succeeded Michael Bauer, ’07, in the position; as a third-year, he urged her to consider running for the post. The two were married in 2009 and both took posts in Washington. At the IRS, she met fellow PTR editor Dave Kirk, who encouraged her desire to teach by inviting her to conduct the class in the course he was teaching at Georgetown Law’s LLM program. Eight years later, she joined Pitt Law as a visiting professor. This year, she mentored PTR Executive Editor Gwenyth Gamble Jarvi, ’18, who accepted an IRS position upon graduation.

“The network has grown organically. We know how hard it is to get a job, particularly in a specialty,” says Bauer.

Charles Wakefield, ’11, was elected PTR Articles Editor in his third year. Now a senior associate at Alston & Bird NYC, he has been an alumni mentor since 2014.

He was intrigued when 2L Shriram Thirumalai Eachambadi, ’18, reached out for advice on his student note topic last year.

“Ram was nervous when he presented his idea: an argument to eliminate state and local taxes. I practice state and local taxation, so that would have eliminated my job! But I loved the idea. It was interesting and novel.”

Already a CPA with master’s degrees in both taxation and accounting, Eachambadi worked on the note for the following year, frequently conferring with Wakefield. “I had worked in India and seen the difference in the two systems in terms in federalism,” he explains. Wakefield recalls, “He hadn’t taken any state tax courses, so he didn’t know where to go with his topic. Over time, I got to hear his story.” While serving as executive editor of PTR and chief of staff at JURIST, Pitt Law’s international legal news service, Eachambadi began his job hunt. “I saw him as a model for what it takes to be an excellent attorney. He’s a good fit for tax,” says Wakefield.

PTR published the student note, and Eachambadi accepted a position as tax staff with Ernst & Young.

PTR editors coordinate the alumni mentor program and planned a CLE in April on the implications of the 2017 tax reform bill, preparing materials for speakers. Through the process, Notes Editor Danny Walters, ’18, reached out to alumni mentor Melissa Dougherty, ’10, now a director in the Estates and Trusts Group at Cohen & Grigsby. He has accepted a position at MacDonald, Illig, Jones & Britton LLP, Erie’s largest law firm.

“I’m excited to see how he grows as a tax attorney,” says Dougherty. “It’s so important to find the area of law that challenges you every day and where you feel fulfilled. You need to find the thing that makes you light up.”

AN AMBIGUOUS OVE RHAU L: TA X RE FORM BILL CHALLE NG ES TA X ATTORNEYS B Y A N N E B RY S O N B AU E R ,’ 08

Visiting Professor, Pitt Law

T

outed as the first overhaul of the Internal Revenue Code in 31 years, Congress enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December of 2017, in part, to reduce taxes, simplify the code, and reduce the extent to which taxpayers must rely on professional assistance to comply with their tax obligations. Despite these intentions, the sweeping tax legislation will likely keep tax practitioners and the Internal Revenue Service busy for the foreseeable future.

The statutory language itself contains many ambiguities, disconnects in terminology, and implications that many practitioners are certain Congress could not have intended. The burden to interpret and clarify gaps in the statutory language falls on an underfunded and understaffed IRS. Many of the drafting oversights cannot be remedied through IRS guidance and require a deeply divided Congress to pass corrective legislation, an accomplishment unlikely to occur before the upcoming midterm elections. Therefore, the biggest challenge facing most tax attorneys will be advising clients on specific return positions and planning around uncertainties in the law without guidance from the IRS. In addition to raising interpretation and compliance issues, the legislation prompts attorneys (and their clients) to reconsider matters as fundamental as: The form and location of a client’s business. A reduction in the corporate tax rate, a 20 percent qualified business income deduction, and a new international tax landscape may change how attorneys advise their clients with respect to choice of entity and whether to engage in business activities abroad.

Planning around the estate tax. With a doubled federal estate and gift tax exemption, very few estates will be subject to the tax and the focus of planning will likely shift to minimizing the future income tax consequences of existing arrangements on beneficiaries.

Structuring alimony and property settlements at divorce.

To fund other tax rate reductions and expenditures, Congress eliminated the deduction for alimony payments, which is likely to affect family law practitioners directly by changing the dynamics of negotiating dissolution and property settlement agreements.

Faced with navigating a significantly altered and, in some cases, uncertain tax landscape, attorneys must rethink longstanding positions. They must counsel clients in a manner flexible enough to respond to both current statutory language and any future IRS interpretations or corrective action from Congress. Experts disagree over whether the TCJA will fulfill its intended purpose and stimulate the economy while reducing taxpayer burdens, but one thing remains certain: the Act has created new sources of work and a steady revenue stream for tax attorneys.

TA X - E X E M P T E X P E R T J O I N S TA X F A C U LT Y

SHAUNA MILLER

Casey Lothamer would become the first executive editor. “We ended up doing a faculty-reviewed journal. Professor Infanti would select articles by other scholars and communicate with them. Students would review all the sources and citations, really drilling down. And they were required to write a note on articles as members of PTR.” Infanti and former faculty like Daryll Jones and James Flannery encouraged the group. But the three editors faced more obstacles. “We couldn’t get office space. We couldn’t even get chairs. So I ran for Student Bar Association president and won, so we used that space,” says Marciano.

“It was an uphill walk the entire time,” Kirk confirms.

An essay published by Professor Infanti this year revealed the intentional roadblock. “[The founders] overcame every obstacle that the law school’s administration put in their way,” he wrote in a foreword to the most recent issue of the journal. “In fact, when the proposal to create the journal came before the faculty for approval, our then-dean, David Herring, remarked how he had purposefully created a series of tasks for the students that was designed to test their perseverance and dedication to the task of creating the journal. The dean then told the faculty that he had never seen a group of students jump through a series of hoops with such flying colors in the way that these tax students had.”

The founders, in turn, credit Infanti. “He was the kernel that all this grew around. He’s such a dynamic professor — everyone loves him,” says Marciano. “He taught a broad section of the tax classes himself, for a time, and the offerings have only gotten better.”

Infanti’s enthusiasm for his subject stems from his belief that tax “follows people’s lives. Society is complicated, and the system tracks that complexity.” Since joining the Pitt Law faculty in 2000, he has published dozens of scholarly articles and opinion essays in U.S. media, analyzing the impact of changing societal norms on tax policy. He is the author of Our Selfish Tax Laws, to be published this year by MIT Press; the book aligns Infanti’s work in comparative legal theory and critical tax theory, examining the impact of the tax system on traditionally subordinated groups. He is an affiliated faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh’s Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program.

M

oving to the home of major universities, deep-pocketed philanthropies, and UPMC, a non-profit that is Pennsylvania’s largest non-governmental employer, is captivating for Philip Hackney. His research on tax-exempt law as a professor at Louisiana State University and his five years of experience advising the Tax Exempt Government Entities commissioner at the Office of the Chief Counsel of the IRS in Washington, D.C. make Pittsburgh’s local issues familiar turf. He joins the faculty as associate professor of law this fall.

“I think of Pittsburgh as a nonprofit wonderland,” he jokes. “It’s part of why I was excited about the move to Pitt.” In Louisiana he served as a member of the Louisiana Tax Institute, a state board created to aid the state in improving its tax system, and was a member of the board of directors for LANO, the state association of non-profit organizations.

Hackney started his legal career as a law clerk to the late Honorable Henry A. Politz on the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He earned an LLM in Tax from New York University School of Law and a JD from LSU ’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

In addition to his scholarly work, Professor Hackney contributes op-eds to the Washington Post, The New Republic, and Salon. He is also frequently quoted in the media as a national expert on nonprofit organizations, and is one of the founding members of an academic blog on tax called the Surly Subgroup.

Hackney will teach Agency and Partnership and Partnership Tax in Fall 2018 and Federal Income Taxation and a tax law and policy seminar in Spring 2019. He hopes to teach a course in non-profit law in 2020.

F E AT U R E

A LEGAL P I T T L AW M O BILIZ ES TO H E LP P UERTO R I C A N L AW STUD E NTS SALVAGE ST U D I E S A FTER H URRICANE M ARIA

LIFELINE

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

16 | 17

NASA/NOAA EOSDIS

6:15 A.M., WED., SEPTEMBER 20, 2017: HURRICANE MARIA MAKES LANDFALL

A

s dawn broke over the forests of Trujillo Alto near San Juan, Rocío Alers, 24, (shown top right) huddled with her mother and brother as a catastrophic hurricane cut across the island “like a buzz saw,” as one student described it. The powerful storm dumped 30 inches of rain as it destroyed power lines, cell towers, infrastructure, and forested hillsides in a day.

“That morning was horrible,” Alers recalls. “Traffic lights were blown down. Street lights were on the ground.

The streets were completely blocked by fallen trees.” Onethird of Puerto Rico’s 3.3 million residents had just lost power.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the Category Four storm packed a one-two punch. On September 20, the Alers family had already been living without electricity for two weeks. As they hunkered down in a friend’s home, they waited with questions: would their home survive? Would the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where Alers would begin her second year of law school in a few days? Early reports estimated that in some towns, 90 percent of structures had been destroyed.

In her Pitt Law office, Sheila I. Vélez Martínez picked up the phone, trying to reach a dear friend. The Jack & Lovell Olender professor of refugee, asylum and immigration law and director of clinical programs earned her JD at the University of Puerto Rico. “I’ve known Hiram Meléndez [the associate dean at UPR law school] for 20 years,” she explains.

To her surprise, he answered her text; he was in Maryland at the time. “My first question was ‘Hiram, how can we help?

How can we support your students?’”

Meanwhile, then Pitt Law Dean William M. Carter, Jr. saw a message on a listserv for U.S. law deans. UPR law school dean Vivian Neptune requested mainland schools’ aid: which institutions could reconstruct curricula, enroll students, and award credits for the truncated fall semester? Separately, the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Florida offered to pay the expenses of UPR law students transferring to mainland U.S. law schools.

“Dean Carter reached out to a group of us, asking who would be most eager to help,” Vélez Martínez recalls. Ron Brand, professor and director of the Center for International Legal Education, had brought dozens of international visitors to campus. Orlando Portela, an adjunct faculty member and Vélez Martínez’ husband, could coordinate the logistics for bringing students to campus. Haider Ala Hamoudi, then PITT LAW MAGAZINE

18 | 19

“ The challenging part was not getting them here, but to build, in a couple of weeks, an academic program that was challenging and could meet ABA requirements” SHEIL A I. V ÉLEZ M A RTÍNEZ

associate dean of academic affairs, would play a key role.

“The challenging part was not getting them here, but to build, in a couple of weeks, an academic program that was challenging and could meet ABA requirements,” explains Vélez Martínez. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the American Bar Association had adopted law school guidelines for coping with disrupted academic schedules.

“We needed help from the university registrar’s office, as well as [law school registrar] Beth Liberatore and her assistant Jaime Horensky. It was all hands on deck.”

FRI., SEPTEMBER 22, 2017: REPORT: 85 PERCENT OF PUERTO RICO’S CELL TOWERS HAVE COLLAPSED

P

itt Law and 16 other U.S. law schools agreed to admit temporary transfer students, and Pitt Law set October 16 as the start date for the program. The next challenge loomed: how could stranded UPR students, without electricity or cell phone service, hear about the opportunity?

“I didn’t have a signal. I couldn’t connect my cell phone,” says Alers. “But we heard there was a spot on a highway overpass that might have a signal, so we drove there to find out.” Dozens of other cars had jammed the bridge for the same reason. “It was a weak signal, but we could connect to Facebook, and UPR’s law school page announced there were mainland law schools who wanted to help us finish our semester. It was not an official announcement, but we were very interested.” Alers’ fellow law student and boyfriend, Francisco Blondet, thought they should go. Alers wasn’t so sure.

SAT., SEPTEMBER 30, 2017: REPORT: MORE THAN HALF OF PUERTO RICO WITHOUT DRINKING WATER

W

ithin a week, four dozen UPR law students seized the opportunity to transfer to Stateside law schools for the semester. Some had always had a goal to live and work on the mainland. For others, like Alers, the decision was difficult. “I am the first one in my family to attend law school,” she says. “I worried about leaving my mother and brother behind.”

The storm disrupted airline operations at San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marin Airport. As hundreds converged there, trying to evacuate, all flights were grounded for five days.

The radar system was knocked out, forcing pilots to fly to the island using “visual confirmation,” a time-consuming protocol for takeoffs and landings. Only a few commercial flights could arrive and depart each day. With the computer system still down, every reservation had to be confirmed with phone calls to Miami. Tickets were scarce and booking them online was impossible.

“If I don’t find a ticket, I’m not going,” Alers realized.

PHOTOS BY REBECCA KIGER

I

12:00 A.M., SUN., OCTOBER 8, 2017: A MIRACULOUS PLANE TICKET

n Pittsburgh, adjunct professor Portela became the point person for the transfer operation. Pitt Law would accept the largest number of University of Puerto Rico transfer students of all participating schools: 11 of 49. Each arrival, as they trickled towards campus, became a logistical challenge.

The spreadsheet of student itineraries listed some students flying to Pittsburgh International Airport. Others landed in New York or Philadelphia, then made the long journey to Pittsburgh by bus.

“We had our student volunteers picking them up.

Somehow, everything worked,” says Vélez Martínez.

Both she and her husband looked at the transfer operation “as a duty and obligation, because we were in a position to help, and that’s what you do,” says Vélez Martínez. “That’s a very Puerto Rican cultural thing.”

After days of effort, Alers finally secured her ticket to Pittsburgh. “It was at midnight on October 8, for a ticket on October 10,” she recalls. “It was a miracle. Then, I really cried.”

9 A.M., SAT., OCTOBER 14, 2017: ORIENTATION

A

s the final transfer arrived, Portela and Vélez Martínez helped the students settle in. “We wanted them to relax and blend in. We really tried to protect them [from media exposure],” said Vélez Martínez.

The most immediate need was housing. Caroline West, ’94, stepped up. Her family-owned real estate company had offered rentals to international students in the LLM and SJD programs, as well as visiting professors teaching in the Center for International Legal Education. With a handful of vacancies within walking distance of campus, she made the

properties available free to the UPR students. Alers called the With fellow UPR students Mendoza Matos and Blondet, arrangement “Awesome. If we had had to pay living expenses, Alers applied to complete her JD in Pittsburgh. “Even before, I could not have come.” at UPR, I always wanted to study in the States,” says Alers.

Accepted, Pitt Law guided her and Blondet to paid summer Course selection came next. Vélez Martínez realized that the case work in Pitt Law’s seven clinics — particularly internships with the York (Pa.) County public defender’s in immigration law, the program she founded in 2010 — office as certified legal interns representing clients, including provided an immediate opportunity for the UPR students many Spanish speakers. to jump in: the demand for representation for migrants Reflecting on the academic solidarity, Vélez Martínez requesting asylum, facing removal from the United States, was inspired by the law school’s response. “It required a lot or seeking special protection under the Violence Against of people. It was a load you were not expecting in the middle Women Act is far greater in the U.S. mainland. Fluency in of the semester. But I was very proud of my colleagues.”

Spanish is a prized skill.

FRI., JUNE 1, 2018: “We have a strong clinical program, with a very unique ANOTHER HURRICANE SEASON BEGINS set of case work in our immigration clinic. And our securities arbitration clinic is one of very few in the U.S. That was lers was reunited with her family for a visit to her really attractive to a group of UPR law students that had repaired home in May, but the island is still reeling degrees in finance and were already pursuing a joint MBA from the effects of Maria. Some 11,000 residents and JD,” she explains. “And because I am Puerto Rican, it remained without power eight months after the storm, in gave them a sense of connection. They took advantage of the the longest blackout in U.S. history. Although the federal opportunity. Alice Stewart [clinical professor and director of government has spent nearly $4 billion, some worry that hurPitt Law’s Low-Income Tax Clinic and Securities Arbitration ried repairs to the power grid will not hold through the next Clinic] was delighted with them.” One UPR student, Sofía hurricane. Perhaps the most tragic news came from a study Mendoza Matos, worked on an amicus brief challenging a in the New England Journal of Medicine, which found the ruling on the status of immigrants seeking asylum as victims death toll from Hurricane Maria was vastly underestimated. of criminal groups in their home countries.

Harvard researchers said more than 4,600 people likely died Working against the clock, Pitt Law faculty reorganized in the storm — significantly more than the government’s other curricula to accommodate the newcomers. Courses estimate of 64. in antitrust law and commercial law, both domestic and “It’s the new normal,” says Vélez Martínez of her beleainternational, were a good fit. Constitutional literacy and guered home island. “Nothing works the way it’s supposed legal writing classes emphasized basic skills, as did courses to work. It’s really harrowing.” in evidence and critical tax theory.

Independent studies in tech-related law topics, including intellectual Before beginning their third year at Pitt Law, Rocio Alers and Francisco Blondet (above, seated on left) took internships in York (Pa.) County, working with property, cyberlaw, and artificial professionals in the public defender’s office. Of the 11 students who transferred to intelligence, provided other credits.

Pitt Law from University of Puerto Rico, the pair, along with Sofía Mendoza Matos Portela, who opened his philosophy (below, seated second from left), remained at the school to complete their JDs. of law and professional responsibility courses to the newcomers, said, “there was an overwhelming amount of support from our faculty. Professors like Anthony Infanti, Matiangai Sirleaf, David Harris, Jasmine Gonzalez Rose, Elena Baylis, Kevin Deasy — more than a dozen professors jumped in.

They incorporated the new students into their classes and/or created short courses as needed.” By Thanksgiving, the students had adapted to their new routine, and gathered for a holiday dinner at the home of Vélez Martínez and Portela.

In early December, Marcus Martin, ’18, last year’s president of the Latino Law Student Association, arranged a meeting. He asked staff to walk interested UPR students through the transfer and financial aid process.

A

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

20 | 21

OPINION

ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, DON’T KICK THE CAN

BY BRIAN CUBAN, ’86

I

n the fall of 1983, I walked through the doors of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law as a 1L. I brought some baggage: two eating disorders (traditional and exercise bulimia), a substantial drinking problem, and clinical depression, as well as unresolved trauma from weight-based bullying and other issues that I dealt with as a teenager. Walking through those doors, I literally despised the person I saw in the mirror: a person not worthy of acceptance or love from anyone including my law school classmates. Not quite the resume for a successful law school journey.

Walking through those doors, I literally despised the person I saw in the mirror: a person not worthy of acceptance or love from anyone including my law school classmates.

I had no concept of any of these issues as disorders that I should seek help for. To me, drinking, binging and purging, excessive running, and aerobics (back when that was a thing) were simply how I got through the day. All I cared about was daily survival. As one might guess, my three years at Pitt Law were anything but distinguished. I showed up for classes drunk and hungover and often skipped classes to go on long runs. I would get drunk in my apartment with a bottle of Jose Cuervo just to be able to socialize.

The Friday law school happy hours were the only times I felt like I belonged. Going to the Dean of Students, using the general student counseling services at the University, or telling my family or another student was unthinkable.

PHOTOS BY NOAH PURDY

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

22 | 23

I walked out those same law school doors three years later pretty much the way I walked in: as a clinically depressed alcoholic with eating disorders. I moved to Texas and added cocaine to my resume. In 2005, as my legal career disintegrated, I was hopeless in spirit and body. I decided to end my life. In that terrible fog, I believed that I was doing my family a favor: It was my act of love for them to be rid of my burden.

I had no concept of recovery. At the time, if anyone had told me that I was being “selfish” as an intervention technique, I believe I would simply have cut off contact with them and withdrawn further. I was fortunate. As easy as it would be to mind his own business and avoid a possible confrontation, a friend did not do that. Sensing that something was wrong, he alerted my two brothers. They came into my house and found me in bed, intoxicated. There was a 45mm automatic on my nightstand. I had been practicing with the unloaded weapon for two days to get comfortable with the final act of my life.

The path of least resistance leads to the worst possible result. The stigma of addiction and depression keeps many students suffering in silence, waiting for someone to reach out.

My brothers took me kicking and screaming to a local psychiatric facility. While I would not enter full recovery from drugs and alcohol until 2007, that was a pivotal moment. I am alive today only because my friends and family did not mind their own business.

Would my journey have been different if friends did not mind their own business during those three years at Pitt Law? There is no way to know. It was a different time. We had a fraction of the mental health awareness and resources that we have today. I was an expert at hiding my pain and behaviors from those who would want to help: My family.

My friends. My law school roommates.

I now speak to law students all over the country and they tell me that I was certainly not alone in dealing with these issues. So what can law schools do today to identify and help the struggling “Brians”?

It is imperative that universities empower both faculty and students to not mind their own business. The path of least resistance leads to the worst possible result. The stigma of addiction and depression keeps many students suffering in silence, waiting for someone to reach out. Without help, they will “kick the can” down the road into the practice of law. At that point, the professional consequences may catch up to the problems.

Many law schools are being proactive. A handful of them have full-time counselors on staff. However, this is not always possible budget-wise for many schools. Law schools should then work with the university counseling system to be sure they understand the unique issues and stressors facing law students.

I hear from some law students that university counselors are scarce. Universities need to stop kicking that can down the road and find the money to add staff. Students with mental health issues must be seen as soon as they are ready to seek help. An extended wait can cause a student to change his or her mind. A chance for help turns into a can kicked.

Some solutions cost nothing but time. I encourage Pitt Law and all law schools to consider a wellness committee consisting of all stakeholders in the law school experience: students from all years, professors, law librarians (who hear everything), and a diversity representative, because not all cultures view mental health in the same way.

Once a law student walks through those doors like I did, the baggage they carry affects their personal and professional future. The law school must take an active role to identify students struggling with mental health issues. That does not mean the school needs to be a counseling center. We can start by simply identifying the points where we can and should not mind our own business. We must understand that the law school experience encompasses so much more than the Socratic method and grades.

That does not mean that every student can or will be helped. One student at a time is enough.

Appointments are available daily at the University Counseling Center, located on campus at 119 University Place.

The University of Pittsburgh’s Counseling Center offers students comprehensive care for a wide variety of mental health concerns, such as anxiety, depression, stress/crisis management, and eating, sexual, or relationship concerns.

Additionally, Pennsylvania’s confidential lawyer assistance program, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (lclpa.org), have visited the law school during orientation, presents at Pitt Law Academy, and hosts confidential “student hours” in the Barco Law Building. Their confidential helpline is 1-888-999-1941. The law school also hosts ABA Law Student Division’s Law Student Mental Health Day screenings, which provide information about student resources on and off campus, and Pitt Law faculty and staff have been trained through the Allies Network, which focuses on improving the visibility and support to LGBTQIA+ students.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

24 | 25

PROFILE

PAST AND PRESENT PARTNERS HON. KIM EATON’S INTERN GOES WAY BACK.

ick Logan’s summer internship with Hon. Kim Eaton, ’81, administrative judge for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Family Division, was two decades in the making.

During his 1L year, Logan set his sights on a judicial experience. Family court seemed the right fit: not only had Logan earned his Pitt undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology and been a founding member of the Student Conduct Peer Review Board, he also had first-hand experience with family law.

“I’m here studying family law, so I wanted to work with the judge who was my mom’s attorney,” explains Logan, ’20.

“I wanted to tell her the story of how her decisions had affected my life.”

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

26 | 27

In 1999, Logan’s mother retained an attorney from the former firm Rose Schmidt Hasley & DiSalle to represent her in a divorce case. “The family universally agreed that her attorney was a fierce and effective advocate,” Logan wrote to Eaton. “My mother’s case was the attorney’s last matter before being sworn in as a judge. I recall repeatedly hearing this story as a child, and saying to myself that I wanted to be a hero just like that attorney.”

Logan’s mother was awarded primary physical custody, child support, and alimony, and the family thrived.

Eighteen years later, her son wrote, “Judge Eaton, you were my mother’s attorney. You literally changed the course of my life, and I know that I would not be qualified to write this letter today without your prior assistance to my mother. Your dedication eighteen years ago was my primary motivation in attending law school; I want to give [other] kids as good a shot as I had.”

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SPROWLS

“My mother’s case was the attorney’s last matter before being sworn in as a judge.

I recall repeatedly hearing this story as a child, and saying to myself that I wanted to be a hero just like that attorney.”

Eaton’s response was immediate. “It was hard to say no to that letter,” she laughs. She left a voice message for Logan: “You not only made my day, you made my entire career. You can be my intern anytime.”

Eaton, a member of Pitt Law Alumni Association Board of Governors, routinely brings two or three Pitt Law interns

into her courtroom; this summer she expanded the group to include Logan.

“The interns come to court every day. It’s family drama from 8:30 to 4:30. I didn’t know what effect it would have on Nick, but he’s embraced it,” she says.

The experience has confirmed Logan’s interest in family law. “I want to practice family law to help people, and that’s what I see when I see Judge Eaton in action,” he says. “We sit in on her hearings and hear the battles about school choice, custody arrangements, and contempt for failure to pay child support. It’s a fair amount of ugly. It’s interesting, because I see her thought process in making decisions in cases like my mom’s.”

Eaton is particularly pleased to see family law attracting male law students. “It’s hard to find men who are interested in doing family law, so I’m thrilled to see men like Nick getting involved.”

Q&A

LAW’S ONTIER R F L A T I DIG n as a 0, was chose iate ’2 i, k s in Tyler Sim nology Summer Assoc au ech 2018 Legal T ith. The global firm in u m st S r three law with Reed fo e c n e ri e ed exp gurated the .S. The Students work ce U ti e c dents in th ’s attorneys and Pra and rm with the fi m to develop creative s Tea tion Innovation -driven solu y g lo o n h c te innovative, ce. cti drive ra for legal p nology also h c te d n a , n Innovatio uber, ’96 S s e r lo F soft f Elke the career o sel for Micro en u o C l ra e en nc Assistant G t Law’s 2018 comme it P sked a d Stores an magazine w a L t it P r. ath e er on her p ment speak b u S w ie v r inte ges Siminski to world and the challen h c into the te e she has m t.

SIMINSKI It seems like the legal profession is rela-

SUBER Three critical things really set me on my path.

tively slow in adopting new technology and business models. Your experience with Microsoft may be the exception. How important is it for attorneys to be innovators?

When I was in college at Slippery Rock University, I attended a forum to introduce college students to potential graduate school programs. I went to an event in Philadelphia and got to meet folks who talked about their different MBA and law school programs. It was at this event that I met Fredi Miller, who at the time was assistant dean of admissions at Pitt Law. She was amazing, super impressive. She told us about Pitt Law School and a summer program that the Law School supported which was offered by the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, known as CLEO, which still exists. As the first generation in my family to go to college and then to think about pursuing law school, CLEO could provide me with an amazing introduction to what you’d experience in law school.

So fast forward: I study for the LSAT, take it, and incredible things happen. One, I get into the CLEO summer program. Two, I get into Pitt Law. And three, the CLEO summer program is being held at Pitt Law the summer before I start law school. Associate Dean of Students and Professor Kevin Deasy, ’84, organized the CLEO Summer Institute. So when you talk about amazing things colliding, that was an incredible summer for me, the summer of 1993.

As a first-year student, I had Professor Deasy’s legal writing class, which led to an opportunity to be a teaching assistant the following year. After my 1L year, I had an opportunity to take a class on European Union law in Brussels with Professor Ron Brand and studied at the university there during the summer. At school, I built relationships with some incredible professors whom I really respected and who invested in me and advised me well. My law school professors encouraged me to take classes like Intellectual Property, Federal Jurisdiction and Transnational Negotiation — all classes that would serve me well after graduation.

SUBER Technology companies and their lawyers have

to embrace innovation because that’s our business.

We’re excited about seeing how it works. But we are also working with our law firm partners to take some of our best practices and cross-pollinate.

Today, I’m more of a transactional/counseling lawyer. I think where law firms can continue to advance their practice, as we are doing internally for our company, is considering questions that come up time and time again. As an in-house lawyer, I ask, how can we embrace technology like chatbots, for example, to handle advice we’ve given time and time again? How can we digitize that so that a co-worker can type into a chatbot, “I want to find out what do I need to do to get a release,” or, “how do I protect something I’ve written?” and find the answer.

SIMINSKI But the law school education model may

not have moved as fast as technology has in the legal profession. Are law schools doing enough to prepare young attorneys for practice in the 21st century?

SUBER Legal challenges evolve continually. In an

SIMINSKI A lot of young attorneys and aspiring

law students are interested in careers in intellectual property and emerging technologies, but they fear that they might not have a sufficient background.

What advice would you give them?

SUBER I have zero scientific or tech background.

I was an English major with a German minor as an undergrad. The good news is that the intellectual property bar is opening its doors to lawyers and students who don’t have a scientific background because outside of patent prosecution you don’t need a technical background to be an intellectual property or technology lawyer.

People don’t realize that, in fact, intellectual property law is not just patent law, and encompasses copyright law, which protects everything from books to television to movies to dance, music, and software.

So that’s a very broad array of potential industries.

Trademark law is another area of intellectual property with opportunities for generalists.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

28 | 29

example from my generation, one of the big digital legal cases was Napster. At that time, it was a technology no one had addressed in the law. The attorney and courts were able to look to existing copyright law and make the analogy to then come to a decision to address the rights holders as well as the new technology in a way that would allow technology to continue to develop.

Now law schools across the country realize that they really do have to invest in courses in intellectual property, digital technology, and cyber law and/or cyber security. Serving on our Board of Visitors for Pitt Law, I’ve had an opportunity to see how Pitt Law is doing that.

I still believe that it is important for lawyers to learn the fundamentals — how to do the research, how to do the analysis, and to be able to then synthesize a solution to a problem or issue. I feel good about what we’ve done with our curriculum thus far, and I also think students should be outspoken about the resources they need.

SIMINSKI What moments from your time in

Pittsburgh helped shape your legal career?

SIMINSKI Were there any moments in your career

where you faced a real challenge or doubted yourself?

How did you overcome that?

SUBER Sure. And I think any lawyer that says that

they haven’t faced that is not telling the truth.

Coming out of my clerkship, I took a job as a general commercial litigator in Philadelphia. It was a great opportunity. But, I realized I really wanted an opportunity to do intellectual property law. That was challenging, because the Intellectual Property practice was in another office. I did two things to build experience. I joined the local intellectual property bar. I went to every program, every course, every networking event they had. I just immersed myself. And then, I volunteered with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in

Philadelphia. That allowed me to partner up with an experienced intellectual property lawyer and do volunteer cases. When I transitioned into the intellectual property group with a new firm, I was nervous about my skills, doubted what I could contribute.

But, a year or so later I won a copyright litigation case on a summary judgment motion for one of our clients. At that point, the confidence level that had been so low, went right up. I had spent the time, I dug in, and I was able to get a great result for my client.

And what I realized was this: the greatest thing about law school is that it really teaches us that you can learn anything. If you apply yourself and spend the time, you will master it.

SIMINSKI Is there any award or honor that you’ve

earned throughout your career that you’re especially proud of?

SUBER There are three.

Making the Savoy Magazine 2018 list of Most Influential Black Lawyers is truly humbling — to be included among leaders like Eric Holder and Tony West, and my colleagues, Bruce Jackson and Neal Suggs, both of whom have been great internal mentors to me at Microsoft.

Another accolade that I received that really meant a lot to me was the Alumni Award I received from Slippery Rock University. I was a kid from Brooklyn who ended up in a college in western Pennsylvania.

I was an undeclared major. I struggled like you would not believe during my first year away from home, being in a school and an environment that was so different from where I grew up. But, I learned so many amazing lessons.

And, finally, to have the ability to come back as a commencement speaker for my law school was an amazing honor — if anybody here would have asked me in 1996, can you foresee this? I would’ve said I’m just happy I’m graduating. It’s just, mind-blowing. To speak to students and share my story — these are the most incredible honors I’ve received.

F A C U LT Y

FACULTY T H E F O L L OW I N G I S A S A M P L I N G O F P R O F E S S I O N A L A C T I V I T I E S C O N D U C T E D B Y P I T T L AW F A C U LT Y O V E R T H E P A S T Y E A R .

P

rofessor Haider Ala Hamoudi was promoted to vice dean on July 1. Hamoudi has been a faculty member at the law school since 2007. From 2013 to 2017, he served as associate dean of research and faculty development. This past academic year, he was named associate dean for academic affairs. As vice dean, Hamoudi is a critical member of the leadership team. He serves as the principal advisor to the dean as well as designee of the dean in circumstances determined by the dean. Specifically, in addition to retaining the responsibilities of the associate dean of academic affairs, Hamoudi’s additional responsibilities include participation in the decision making process for major financial decisions as they arise, oversight of the budget planning process, being part of the leadership team to craft a new five-year strategic plan pertaining to alumni relations and advancement, and participation in all key decision making regarding setting advancement goals, priorities, and initiatives for the law school.

Under his leadership as associate dean of research, the law dchool enjoyed consistently high faculty scholarship reputation rankings in U.S. News & World Report and high readership and engagement on the Social Science Research Network. As associate dean for academic affairs, Hamoudi was tasked with curriculum building, oversight of external accreditation processes, academic program procedures and policies for the School of Law, and the quality and accountability of academic programs. In that role, Hamoudi took the leading role in preparing the requisite documentation for, and managing, last year’s successful Site Accreditation Visit by the American Bar Association. He also managed a new examination administration system, implemented a new and thoroughly revamped mentoring system, took the lead in initiating changes to the curriculum, and assisted in updating the academic standards of the School of Law. Hamoudi also teaches contracts, commercial transactions in goods, and a seminar on Islamic law. He received the Robert T. Harper Award of Excellence in Teaching in 2014.

Four professors who have taught at Pitt Law for a combined 144 years retired at the end of the 2017-18 academic year.

S

heila I. Vélez Martínez, Director of Clinic Programs and Jack and Lovell Olender Professor of Refugee, Asylum, and Immigration Law, leads the only immigration law clinic in western Pennsylvania at Pitt Law, which was highlighted by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The impetuous shifts in law and policy under the Trump administration have placed the clinic and its students in a constant state of uncertainty and higher caseload. Vélez Martínez told the Chronicle the way her clinic chooses and handles cases has shifted from previous years, especially now, when it comes to appeals for asylum.

Despite the challenges, Vélez Martínez said she relied on the dedication of her students to meet the higher demand under the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Douglas M. Branson, W. Edward Sell Professor of Business Law; Harry M. Flechtner, Professor of Law; Lawrence A. Frolik, John E. Murray Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law; and Alan Meisel, Professor of Law and Psychiatry, Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Professor of Bioethics, Director of MSL Program, Health Law Certificate Program, and Certificate in Disability Legal Studies retired in May of 2018.

PROFESSOR BR ANSON has published numerous articles and books and approximately 75 law review articles in the fields of corporate law, corporate governance and securities regulation. He had an influential role in framing the American Law Institute’s recommendations for corporate governance and is a leading expert on corporate law.

PROFESSOR FLECHTNER , a six-time winner of Pitt Law’s Excellencein-Teaching Award, taught and published in the areas of international and domestic commercial law, including sales and general contract law.

PROFESSOR FROLIK is a national expert on the legal issues facing older Americans. One of the founders of the field of elder law, he has authored, co-authored or edited over a dozen books.

He has published widely on law and aging issues as well as legal issues faced by persons with disabilities.

PROFESSOR MEISEL , a leading national and international authority on end-of-life decision making and informed consent to medical treatment, founded Pitt’s Center for Bioethics and Health Law, the Law School’s Health Law Certificate Program, the Law School’s Master of Studies in Law Program, and served as the director of the Certificate in Disability Legal Studies Program.

P

itt Law Professor Rhonda Wasserman’s article, “Dueling Class Actions,” 80 B.U. L. Rev. 461 (2000), was cited by the Supreme Court of the United States in the opinion in China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh. The 9-0 ruling, which reversed and remanded the Ninth Circuit, was decided June 11, 2018. Justice Sonia Sotomayor quoted Wasserman in her opinion concurring in the judgment, noting “the existence of multiple putative class actions covering the same harm to the same class may lead to a ‘race toward judgment or settlement.’”

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SPROWLS

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

30 | 31

T 4 1

Professor Vivian Curran has been elected to a six-year term as a Vice-President of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL).The IACL is composed of approximately 1,000 elected scholars, and holds an international congress and thematic congresses in countries around the world on specific topics in comparative law analyzed from several perspectives.

At this year’s congress, Curran organized, introduced, and chaired a session, “Remembering Patrick Glenn,” to commemorate both the life and work of Glenn, one of the great comparatists of the 20th century.

3

WRITTEN & SPOKEN & PRESENTED

2

Publications in Scholarly Journals

Analysis of CIETAC Cases (1990-2000), 22 Harv. Negot. L. Rev. 241 (2017).

JESSIE ALLEN , Doctrinal Reasoning

MARY CROSSLEY, Bundling Justice: Medicaid’s Support for Housing, 44 J.L. Med. & Ethics __ (2018) (forthcoming).

as a Disruptive Practice, 6 J. L. & Cts. 215 (2018).

Pitt Law welcomed four new faculty members to its fold this fall. They add to the law school’s strengths in landlord/tenant and housing law, health law, environmental law, and tax law.

1 Visiting Associate Professor of Law

2 Assistant Professor of Law

Joshua Galperin served as the director of the Environmental Protection Clinic, a lecturer in law, and a research scholar at Yale Law School. He also was a lecturer and the Environmental Law and Policy Program director at the Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Galperin graduated magna cum laude from Vermont Law School, earned a master’s degree in environmental management at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in wildlife conservation at the University of Delaware.

Greer Donley’s teaching and scholarship focus on health care, bioethics, and administrative law, especially as those topics relate to reproductive rights.

Donley graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School and was editor in chief of the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law. She received her undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College.

JOSHUA GALPERIN,

he Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County bestowed its highest honor, the 2018 Honorable Joseph F. Weis Jr. Distinguished Service Award, to well-known Pitt Law alumnus, trial attorney, and adjunct professor, John P. Gismondi. The award was presented to Gismondi at the group’s 30th Annual Masters of Trial Advocacy Retreat Dinner in October.

Gismondi has led a distinguished career as a trial lawyer since graduating from Pitt Law in 1978, where he was a member of the Law Review. Concurrent with his private practice, he was elected president of the Allegheny County Bar Association in 1995 and has remained an active adjunct professor at Pitt Law since 1985, teaching trial advocacy.

In his name, Pitt Law established the John P. Gismondi Civil Litigation Certificate Program to provide special training to law students aiming to become courtroom attorneys. Gismondi received the Distinguished Alumnus award in 2008.

The Honorable Joseph F. Weis Jr. Distinguished Service Award was established in 1991 and is given for outstanding and exemplary service which greatly enhanced and inured to the benefit of the judicial system or the legal profession.

GREER DONLEY,

3 Visiting Professor of Practice

THE HONORABLE LAURIE MARIN,

Laurie Marin currently sits as a judge in the New York City Housing Court. She previously worked as a court attorney in the New York City Civil Court, resolving

landlord/tenant disputes as a litigator at both the trial and appellate levels, and as a legal counselor and advocate at several public interest organizations. Marin received her JD from Brooklyn Law School and her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

4 Associate Professor of Law PHILIP HACKNEY,

Philip Hackney joins Pitt Law from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he had been a member of the faculty since 2011.

Hackney’s scholarship focuses on the law that governs the nonprofit taxexempt sector of the economy, such as charities, social welfare organizations, labor unions, and trade associations.

Hackney received his JD from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, his LLM from New York University School of Law, and his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University.

Electronic Surveillance and the Adultification of Juvenile Courts, 108 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 399 (2018).

MARY CROSSLEY, Community Integration of People with Disabilities: Can Olmstead Protect Against Retrenchment?, 6 Laws 22 (2017).

KEVIN ASHLEY, Experimental

VIVIAN CURRAN , U.S. Discovery in

Evidence for Diagramming Benefits in Science Writing, 45 Instructional Science 537 (2017) (with B. Barstow, L. Fazio & C. Schunn).

VIVIAN CURRAN , Preface, 66 Am. J.

CHAZ ARNETT, Virtual Shackles:

ELENA BAYLIS , The Persuasive

Authority of Internationalized Criminal Tribunals, 32 Am. U. Int’l L. Rev. 611 (2017).

RONALD BRAND, Recognition of Foreign Judgments in China: The Liu Case and the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, 37 J.L. & Com. __ (2018) (forthcoming).

a Transnational and Digital Age and the Increasing Need for Comparative Analysis, 51 Akron L. Rev. 857 (2017).

Comp. L. vii (July 2018) (co-edited issue with Franklin A. Gevurtz).

GERALD DICKINSON , Cooperative

Federalism and Federal Takings After the Trump Administration’s Border Wall Executive Order, 70 Rutgers U. L. Rev. 647 (2018).

GERALD DICKINSON , State

Constitutional General Welfare Doctrine, 40 Cardozo L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2019).

JOSHUA GALPERIN , No Farms No Food? A Response To Baylen Linnekin, 45 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1141 (2018).

JOSHUA GALPERIN , Food

Localization: Empowering Community Food Systems Through the Farm Bill, 14 J. Food L. & Pol’y 183 (2018) (with B. Fink & A. Schluntz).

JOSHUA GALPERIN , Board Rooms and Jail Cells: Assessing NGO Approaches

to Private Environmental Governance, 70 Ark. L. Rev. __ (2018).

JOSHUA GALPERIN , Value

Hypocrisy and Policy Sincerity: A Food Law Case Study, 42 Vt. L. Rev. 345 (2018).

PHILIP HACKNEY, Prop up the Heavenly Chorus? Labor Unions, Tax Policy, and Political Voice Equality, 91 St. John’s L. Rev. 315 (2017).

DAVID HARRIS , Terry Stops-and-

GERALD DICKINSON , Property Musings on the US-Mexico Border, 33

Frisks: The Troubling Use of Common Sense in a World of Empirical Data, 79 Ohio St. L.J. 2 (2018) (with D. Rudovsky).

PAT CHEW, Opening the Red Door

Md. J. Int’l L. 162 (2018).

DAVID HARRIS , Racial Profiling,

to Chinese Arbitrations: An Empirical

GREER DONLEY, The Broken

2 Reforming Criminal Justice 117 (2018).

DEBORAH BRAKE , Back to Basics:

Excavating the Sex Discrimination Roots of Campus Sexual Assault, 6 Tenn. J. of Race, Gender & Soc. Just. 7 (2017).

Medicare Appeals System: Failed PHOTO BY SHAUNA MILLER

Regulatory Solutions and the Promise of Federal Litigation, 28 Health Matrix 269 (2018).

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

32 | 33

F A C U LT Y

PUBLICATIONS IN SCHOLARLY JOURNALS CONTINUED...

JULES LOBEL , Ziglar v. Abbasi and the Demise of Accountability, 86 Fordham L. Rev. 2149 (2018) MICHAEL MADISON , IP Things

as Boundary Objects: The Case of the Copyright Work, 6 Laws 13 (2017).

PETER OH , Disregarding the Salomon

Principle: An Empirical Analysis, 18882014, 38 Oxf. J. Leg. Stud. __ (2018) (forthcoming).

JASMINE GONZALES ROSE , Racial Character Evidence

in Police Killing Cases, 2018 Wis. L. Rev. 369 (2018).

MATIANGAI SIRLEAF, Ebola Does

Not Fall from the Sky: Structural Violence & International Responsibility, 51 Vand.

J. of Trans’tl L. 1 (2018).

MATIANGAI SIRLEAF, Not Your

Dumping Ground: Criminalization of Trafficking in Hazardous Waste in Africa, 35 Wis. Intl’ L.J. 327 (2018).

DAVID THAW, Ancient Worries

and Modern Fears: Different Roots and Common Effects of U.S. and E.U. Privacy Regulations, 49 Conn. L. Rev. 1621 (2017).

RHONDA WASSERMAN ,

Ascertainability: Prose, Policy, and Process, 50 Conn. L. Rev. __ (2018) (forthcoming).

Books and Book Chapters Published by Leading Academic Presses JESSIE ALLEN , “Blackstone,

Expositor and Censor of Law Both Made and Found,” in Blackstone and His Critics (Hart Publishing, 2018).

KEVIN ASHLEY, Artificial Intelligence

and Legal Analytics: New Tools for Law Practice in the Digital Age (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017) ELENA BAYLIS , “Hybrid Criminal

Courts as Pluralist Institutions,” in Oxford Research Handbook on Global Legal Pluralism (Oxford Univ. Press, 2018) (forthcoming).

ELENA BAYLIS , “Transnational

Collaborations in Transitional Justice,” in International Law as Behavior (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2018) (forthcoming).

DEBORAH BRAKE , “Women on

the Court and the Court on Women,” in The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: Life and Law in the Commonwealth, 1684-2017 (Penn State Univ. Press, 2018) (with Susan Frietsche).

DOUGLAS BRANSON, The Future of Tech Is Female: How to Achieve Gender Diversity (NYU Press, 2018).

MARY CROSSLEY, “Parental Autonomy, Children with Disabilities, and Horizontal Identities,” in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Disability (Oxford Univ. Press, 2018) (forthcoming).

MICHAEL MADISON , “The Knowledge Commons Framework,” Governing Medical Commons (eds., Katherine J. Strandburg, Brett M. Frischmann & Michael J. Madison) (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

KEVIN ASHLEY, Research Progress in Artificial Intelligence and Law: An Intellectual Survey. Presented at: University of Bologna Faculty of Law; Dec. 2017.

MICHAEL MADISON , The Law of Intellectual Property (5th ed. Wolters Kluwer, 2017) (with Craig Allen Nard & Mark P. McKenna).

Space Models for Identifying Legal Factors from Text, and Detecting Agent Mentions in U.S. Court Decisions. Presented at: The 30th International Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems (Jurix 2017); University of Luxembourg; Dec. 2017.

ANN SINSHEIMER , TERESA KISSANE BROSTOFF & NANCY M. BURKOFF, Legal Writing: A

Contemporary Approach (2d ed., West Academic Publishing, 2018).

VIVIAN CURRAN , “Comparative

GEORGE TAYLOR , “‘No Reasonable

Law and Language Revisited,” in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (eds., Mathias Reimann & Reinhard Zimmermann) (Oxford Univ.

Press, 2017).

Person’: The Rhetoric of Justice Scalia,” Justice Scalia: Rhetoric and the Rule of Law (eds., Francis J. Mootz, III & Brian Slocum) (University of Chicago Press, 2019) (forthcoming).

LAWRENCE FROLIK , Elder Law and Later-Life Legal Planning (ABA

GEORGE TAYLOR , “On the

Publishing, 2017).

HAIDER ALA HAMOUDI , Islamic

Law in Modern Courts (Wolters Kluwer, Aspen Casebook Series, 2018) (with Mark Cammack).

ANTHONY INFANTI , Our Selfish

Tax Laws: Toward Tax Reform That Mirrors Our Better Selves (MIT Press, 2018).

ANTHONY INFANTI , Feminist

Judgments: Rewritten Tax Opinions (Cambridge University Press, 2018) (with Bridget J. Crawford).

JACQUELINE LIPTON , “Mass Digitization in the eBook Market: Copyright Protections and Exceptions,” in Intellectual Property and Digital Technologies (ed. Tanya Aplin) (Edward Elgar Research Handbook Series, 2018) (forthcoming).

MICHAEL MADISON , “The

Football as Intellectual Property Object,” in A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects (eds., Dan Hunter & Claudy Op Den Kamp) (Cambridge University Press, 2018) (forthcoming).

MICHAEL MADISON , “Knowledge Commons and the Road to Medical Commons,” Introduction: Governing Medical Commons (eds., Katherine J. Strandburg, Brett M. Frischmann & Michael J. Madison) (Cambridge Univ.

Press, 2017).

Cusp: Ricoeur and Castoriadis at the Boundary,” Ricoeur and Castoriadis in Discussion: On Human Creation, Historical Novelty, and the Social Imaginary (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2017).

GEORGE TAYLOR , “The Deeper

Significance of Ricoeur’s Philosophy of Productive Imagination: The Role of Figuration,” Productive Imagination: Its History, Meaning and Significance 15781 (eds., Saulius Genius and Dmitri Nikulin) (Rowman & Littlefield, May 2018).

Presentations Given at Notable Law Schools and Universities CHAZ ARNETT, From Decarceration to E-carceration. Presented at: Culp Colloquium; Stanford Law School; June 2018.

CHAZ ARNETT, Panoptic Policing:

Surveillance Technology and the Struggle for Community Control. Presented at: Mid-Atlantic Junior Faculty Forum; University of Richmond School of Law; May 2018.

CHAZ ARNETT, Virtual Shackles:

Electronic Monitoring and the Adultification of Juvenile Courts.

Presented at: University of Maryland School of Law; Apr. 2018.

KEVIN ASHLEY, Mining Information

from Statutory Texts. Presented at: University of Tukuba, Tokyo Campus; Nov. 2017.

KEVIN ASHLEY, Utilizing Vector

KEVIN ASHLEY, Artificial Intelligence

and Legal Analytics. Presented at: University of Heidelberg Faculty of Law; Jan. 2018.

ELENA BAYLIS , Hybrid Criminal

Courts as Pluralist Institutions. Presented at: The Global Legal Pluralism Conference at Queen University of London; Nov. 2017.

ELENA BAYLIS , Transnational

Collaborations in Transitional Justice.

Presented at: Marquette University Law School; Oct. 2017.

DOUG BRANSON , Presented at:

Academic International Conference on Interdisciplinary Business Studies; St. Anne’s College, Oxford University; Oct. 2017.

MARY CROSSLEY, Bundling

Justice: Medicaid’s Support for Housing.

Presented at: Annual Health Law Professors Conference; Case Western Reserve University School of Law; June 2018.

MARY CROSSLEY, Community Integration of People with Disabilities: Can Olmstead Protect against Retrenchment? Presented at: Next Steps in Health Reform 2017 Conference; American University Washington College of Law; Oct. 2017.

VIVIAN CURRAN , John Sumner Stead Lecture International and Comparative Law. Presented at: The University of Baltimore; Oct. 2017.

GERALD DICKINSON , Federalism,

Gravity and Divergence in Constitutional Property. Presented at: Progressive Property Conference; Harvard Law School; May 2018.

JOSHUA GALPERIN , No Farms No

Food? A Response to Baylen Linnekin.

Presented at: Fordham Urban Law Journal Annual Symposium; Fordham Univ. School of Law; Feb. 2018.

DAVID HARRIS , Presented at:

RONALD BRAND, participated

Symposium on Body Worn Cameras for Police; University of North Carolina School of Law; Nov. 2017.

as a member of the U.S. Delegation in the Third Special Commission on Judgments of the Hague Conference on Private International Law; The Hague; Netherlands; Nov. 2017.

MICHAEL MADISON , Governing University Knowledge Commons.

Presented at: Lastowka Academic Roundtable; Washington & Lee University School of Law; Apr. 2018.

MICHAEL MADISON , Fantastic Fair Use and Where to Find It. Presented at: Works in Progress Intellectual Property; Case Western Reserve University School of Law; Feb. 2018.

TOMAR PIERSON - BROWN , Panel session: Bridging The Gaps: A Discussion Of Medical-Legal Partnerships. Presented at: Black Health Matters Conference; Harvard University; Nov. 2017.

JASMINE GONZALES ROSE ,

Color-Blind But Not Color-Deaf: Accent Discrimination in Jury Selection.

Presented at: Equality Law Scholars’ Forum; University of California, Berkeley, School of Law; Feb. 2018.

MATIANGAI SIRLEAF,

Responsibility for Combatting HighlyInfectious Diseases. Presented at: Culp Colloquium; Stanford Law School; June 2018.

MATIANGAI SIRLEAF, Disposable

Bodies of Color. Presented at: MidAtlantic Junior Faculty Forum; University of Richmond Law School; May 2018.

MATIANGAI SIRLEAF, Panelist at: The Ethics and Politics of Finding Facts and Making Truth; Solidarity: Sustaining the Struggle for Human Rights in a Fractured World; Yale Law School; Apr. 2018.

MATIANGAI SIRLEAF, Ebola

Does Not Fall from the Sky: Structural Violence & International Responsibility.

Presented at: Faculty Workshop; Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; Nov. 2017.

Notable Organization and Government Engagements KEVIN ASHLEY, Computationally Modeling Case-Based Legal Reasoning.

Presented at: Institute of Theoretical Informatics; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; 2018.

DEBORAH BRAKE , From #MeToo

to #NotHere: Organizational Culture and Sexual Harassment. Presented at: Open plenary session of the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference and Annual Meeting of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association; Chicago; Apr. 2018.

MARY CROSSLEY, Could We Pass the ADA Today? Disability Rights in an Age of Partisan Polarization. Presented at: AALS Annual Meeting; Jan. 2018.

LAWRENCE FROLIK , How Far

Do You Push the Envelope? Presented at: National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Annual Summit; Newport Beach, CA; Nov. 2017.

HAIDER ALA HAMOUDI ,

Competing Faith Commitments in Islamic Finance, Annual Meeting of the American Society of Comparative Law; Oct. 2017.

DAVID HARRIS , Mitigating Implicit

Bias for Lawyers and Judges. Presented at: PA Bar Assoc. Midyear Meeting; Key West, Fla.; Jan. 2018.

ARTHUR HELLMAN , A Court Transformed: The Ninth Circuit, the 1978 Judgeship Act, and the Carter Judges. Organized, chaired and moderated at the Richard Chambers Courthouse in Pasadena, CA; Mar. 2018.

JACQUELINE LIPTON , New Employee Privacy Developments in the European Court of Human Rights.

Presented at: Annual Law and Society Meeting; Law and Society Association; Toronto; June 2018.

MICHAEL MADISON , Biobanks as Knowledge Institutions. Presented at: Global Genes, Local Concerns Seminar, University of Copenhagen; Nov. 2017.

SHEILA VÉLEZ MARTÍNEZ ,

“Normas Internacionales Aplicables al Manejo de Desastres y la Protección de los Derechos Humanos,” in Justicia Ambiental, Desigualdad y Pobreza en Puerto Rico (Dec. 2017) (Report presented to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights).

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

34 | 35

ALUMNI

NOTES

SHARE YOUR CONTINUING STORY WITH PITT LAW. SUBMIT AN ALUMNI NOTE AT LAW.PITT.EDU/ALUMNI. HON. MAURICE COHILL, JR., ’56 ,

was honored as a 60-year practitioner by the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA).

ANN KETTERER, ’66 ,

mourned the passing of her husband William “Bill” Ketterer. He was a member of the PA and MD state bars, the bar of the Supreme Court of the U.S., and had retired from his position as Senior Attorney for the National Institutes of Health.

JOHN COOK, ’66 , was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. STANTON LEVENSON, ’66 , was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. CARMINE MOLINARO, JR., ’66 ,

was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. CHARLES TAYLOR, JR., ’66 ,

published a book of poetry called Never Alone in a Cemetery, available in bookstores and on Amazon.

H. YALE GUTNICK, ’67, was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. SANDRA KUSHNER, ’67,

was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA.

EDWARD LAWRENCE, JR., ’67, was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. ROBERT MCKEE, JR., ’67, was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. JAMES WYMARD, ’67, was honored as a 50-year practitioner by the ACBA. HON. DORIS ANN SMITH-RIBNER, ’72 ,

was honored by the ACBA Women in the Law Division at its 2017 Trailblazer Award Ceremony.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

36 | 37

DONALD SPRY II, ’72 ,

was featured in the Lehigh Valley Business article, “Never Stand Still, and Have Good People Around You.”

JOHN HUTZLER, ’73 , was elected to a third four-year term as the County Auditor in Washington County, Oregon.

THOMAS FRAMPTON, ’73 ,

a shareholder at the firm Goehring Rutter & Boehm, was elected President of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County.

MARK LASKOW, ’74 , participated in presentation of the 10,000th and 10,001st Carnegie Hero Medals by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission where he has served as Chair or President since 2001.

JOEL WALKER, ’77,

partner at Duane Morris LLP, was selected as the “Lawyer of the Year” in Pittsburgh for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law by Best Lawyers.

ROBERT L. BYER, ’77,

partner at Duane Morris LLP, was one of only six recipients to receive the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Legal Intelligencer.

JOHN GISMONDI, ’78 , received the 2017 Presidential Merit Award at the ACBA’s Fall Foundation Reception.

Additionally, Gismondi received the Honorable Joseph F. Weis, Jr. Distinguished Service Award from the Academy of Trial Lawyers.

MARK SCIOSCIA, ’78 , was promoted to Shareholder & Director at Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. TIM RILEY, ’78 ,

was honored by the Erie County Bar Association with its 2018 Chancellor of the Bar award.

LISA KABNICK, ’80,

rejoined Pepper Hamilton LLP as a senior advisor in the Commercial Department.

SOMETHING ABOUT NEIL DAVID MCQUISTON, ’80,

was elected president of Thomson Rhodes & Cowie, P.C. He is a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, and his civil litigation practice is focused primarily on the defense of medical malpractice claims, transportation law, maritime law, and insurance coverage.

HON. KIM EATON, ’81 ,

was appointed as the administrative judge in the Family Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

CHARLES AVALLI, ’81 ,

was selected by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to be vice-chairman of the Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee, which manages the rules that govern matters in Orphans’ Court. Avalli has served on this committee since 2014.

MARK ECK, ’81 , has joined Clark Hill’s Pittsburgh office as Senior Counsel in its Litigation Practice Group.

HON. CHRISTINE WARD, ’82 ,

was appointed as the administrative judge in the Civil Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

ROBERT MILLER, JR., ’82 ,

retired from a 36-year career as an attorney for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

He was honored as State Employee of the Year in 1996 by the Governor’s Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities for outstanding performance in service to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

LUANN DATESH, ’83 , was promoted to shareholder and director at Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. FRANK GUADAGNINO, ’83 , associate general counsel at The Pennsylvania State University, was named the university’s new vice president for administration.

A MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR NEIL ALEXANDER, ’97, HONORS A FEARLESS LEADER

B

y the time of his death on March 24, 2015, Neil Alexander had succeeded in nearly every role he chose: Los Angeles street cop, husband, father, Pitt Law grad, Pirates fan, financial consultant, and fundraiser. When he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“ALS”) in 2011, he decided that he would take on his final task, as a public advocate for victims of the incurable disease that ended his life three years later. Again, he succeeded.

ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a 100 percent fatal, progressive neurological disease that gradually destroys the voluntary muscles of the body. Alexander, the father of two young children with his wife, Suzanne, raced to establish a fund called LiveLikeLou, to support families coping with the disease and much-needed medical research to find a treatment or a cure. The organization exceeded its original campaign goals and has become a national notfor-profit organization, The LiveLikeLou Foundation, while continuing to provide substantial support for research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

When Pitt Law’s class of 1997 gathered for their 20th reunion last spring, Ted Schroeder and his wife Theresa, ’00, used the occasion to create a scholarship fund in his name. The fund, with an initial goal of $50,000, will assist Pitt Law students with an interest in criminal law. “We just thought it would be a good way to honor Neil,” explained Ted Schroeder. “LiveLikeLou obviously has been a fantastic tribute to him and has done great work. But after his death we thought we should do something unrelated to ALS. The disease was a very small part of who he was. He was a wonderful and inspirational person before he got ALS.” Suzanne Alexander loved the scholarship idea. “Neil paid his way through law school. It was a tremendous worry for him to consider the loans and the long-term financial impact his degree would put on our future. He would be so honored to know that his friends remembered him with this scholarship and pleased that his legacy will help future Pitt Law students achieve their own successes.”

A deep friendship forged in the halls of Barco during the summer of 1995 brought the Alexander and Schroeder families together. “Ted was first in his class. He and Theresa were tremendously bright people, and they and Neil enjoyed late-night debates,” recalls Suzanne Alexander. Schroeder, now office managing shareholder for Littler Mendelson

During his battle with ALS, Neil Alexander asked photographer Duane Rieder to take his portrait in T-shirts from organizations he loved, including Pitt Law.

P.C. in Pittsburgh, says that Alexander had “a soft spot” for Pittsburgh traditions and small family businesses. “He was drawn to someone with a unique story. He always wanted to engage the person.”

By the time he enrolled at Pitt Law, Neil Alexander had five years of unusual professional experience. After earning his B.A. in history at Fordham University, he entered the Los Angeles Police Academy and was assigned to the turbulent South Central neighborhood. By 1994, he had married his wife Suzanne, a California native, and the pair began methodically planning a move.

“What I remember early on was him telling me about the process of choosing Pittsburgh, as a city and a location for law school,” says Schroeder. “He thought California was too expensive. He was a very analytical person. It was endearing — he had a spreadsheet for every decision. He and Suzanne had carefully ranked places all over the country and decided to move here.”

The 90-degree move to law didn’t surprise Suzanne Alexander. While Alexander served the LAPD, he had offered his own brand of retirement and tax planning workshops to his fellow officers. He attacked his law coursework with vigor, though his wife recalls his chagrin when he received his only B grade — in his Criminal Law class. He knew how to be a beat cop, but the study of legal process was a whole new challenge, she remembered. “The non-traditional path prepared him to do exactly what he wanted — going from being an L.A. cop to leadership at one of the region’s finest companies,” she says. Joining Hefren-Tillotson upon graduation, he became Director of Corporate Services at the financial firm and a financial advisor for corporate 401K and retirement plans.

After Alexander’s ALS diagnosis in 2011, two support teams formed quickly. Classmates and work colleagues rallied around the family. Within weeks, Hefren-Tillotson fielded the largest team in the ALS Walk, a local fundraiser, and raised $40,000.

Like his hero Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, Neil wanted his young children, Abby and Patrick, to remember him as courageous, strong, and mostly grateful for the life that he had lived. “ONWARD” became his byword. He asked Duane Rieder, a photographer and operator of the Clemente Museum, to take a series of unflinching portraits that documented the advance of his disease. In each, he donned a T-shirt honoring the organizations that had inspired him, including Pitt Law. And, along with hundreds of family and friends, Neil established LiveLikeLou in 2012 as a fund at The Pittsburgh Foundation. The effort quickly raised more than $4 million and seeded the $10 million LiveLikeLou Center for ALS Research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Brain Institute. Mindful of the high costs families incur for ALS patients — “it’s an expensive disease,” says Suzanne Alexander — it includes an endowment to assist families who live with ALS in the Pittsburgh region.

SEAN COLEMAN, ’88 ,

To contribute to the Neil Alexander Scholarship Fund at Pitt Law, contact the Office of Development & Alumni Affairs at 412-648-1305 or lawalum@pitt.edu.

Neil’s 2015 death marked a sad moment in the history of LiveLikeLou, but his family and friends continued the grassroots work to raise the funds and meet the goals he established. But that was not the end of the story.

In November 2017, LiveLikeLou evolved into the national non-profit entity The LiveLikeLou Foundation, under the direction of his widow Suzanne, and in close partnership with the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. The international organization, which claims both Neil Alexander and Lou Gehrig as Phi Delt brothers, has raised money to fight the disease for decades. They have set a goal to raise another $4 million in five years (Lou Gehrig’s jersey was #4) and carry on Neil’s promise to “leave ALS better than we found it.”

In late August, dozens of emerging researchers in the fields of biology and neurosciences from across the country convened in Pittsburgh for an invitation-only forum sponsored by the LiveLikeLou Foundation. The conference was held three blocks from Pitt Law, at the university’s acclaimed Brain Institute. As Pitt strides toward breakthroughs in treatment and a cure for ALS, Alexander’s motto resonates: ONWARD.

was a featured panelist for the ACBA’s Nonpracticing Attorneys and Legal Professionals Committee Panel Presentation.

DANIEL WEISS, ’90, was named a Superior Court Judge by the New Jersey Senate.

FRANCINE DONNORUMMO, ’92 ,

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman, was named the 2017 Government Lawyer of the Year by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

KERRI CAPPELLA, ’90, was elected to the ACBA’s Board of Governors, serving on the Nominating Committee.

She was also named to the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys, 10 Best in Pennsylvania.

MARYELLEN NOREIKA, ’93 , was appointed as a United States District Judge for the District of Delaware on August 1, 2018.

SAMUEL CORDES, ’88 ,

WALDO JONES, ’90,

GLADYS BROWN, ’88 ,

joined Rothman Gordon, P.C. as a partner.

MICHAEL HAMMER, ’88 ,

was named a 2018 Leader in the Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

MARTIN GATES, ’88 ,

joined Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP as a partner in the Cleveland Office.

GEORGE NOVAK, ’88 ,

was appointed president of the National Air Carrier Association (NACA). NACA was founded in 1962 and represents U.S. airlines providing scheduled and nonscheduled passenger and cargo services in the U.S. and around the globe.

CANDACE MCGRAW, ’88 ,

was elected as chair of the Board of Directors of Airports Council International-North America (ACI), a trade organization representing airport owners and operators in the U.S. and Canada. She has also been appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of the ACI World Board.

RONALD GOLD, ’89,

AMARILIS DIAZ, ’84 , became the first Hispanic woman to serve as chief presiding judge in the city of Passaic, New Jersey.

JOSEPH SOBOCINSKI, ’84 ,

accepted a position with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services, Inc. as the Protection from Abuse/ Protection of Victims of Sexual Violence or Intimidation Attorney, covering Washington, Fayette, and Greene counties, under a grant from the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency. He recently retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a 33-year career as a special agent.

BRUCE WOLSTONCROFT, ’85 , joined Saxton & Stump, LLC as a shareholder and chair of the Intellectual Property Practice Area.

BRIAN VARGO, ’85 , joined Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC as senior counsel.

NICHOLAS VERONIS, ’86 , published a book of poetry, Musings of a Preacher’s Son. LORI MCMASTER, ’86 ,

was elected to serve as President-Elect of the ACBA.

RICHARD SEDORY, ’86 ,

was awarded the 2018 Outstanding General Counsel of the Year in the small company category by the Charlotte Business Journal. The Corporate Counsel Awards program honors distinguished in-house attorneys, general counsels, and law departments at corporations in Charlotte.

KATHY HERMAN, ’86 ,

was appointed to the national board of directors of Minds Matter, a nonprofit organization that provides a multi-year comprehensive program designed to help accomplished high school students from low-income families achieve college readiness and success.

DEIRDRE COBB, ’87, was appointed as chair and chief executive officer of the Civil Service Commission by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

JOHN BELAK, ’87,

became certified as specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section.

DEANNE H. D’EMILIO, ’87, was inaugurated as the sixth president of Gwynedd Mercy University in April 2018.

COL. DANIEL LECCE, ’87,

was appointed to the rank of major general and as the staff judge advocate to the commandant of the Marine Corps.

There are only two active duty Marine Corps judge advocate general officers, and Lecce will be one.

was selected to Leadership Cincinnati Class 41, the flagship leadership development program of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

JUI JOSHI, ’89,

was a featured panelist for the ACBA’s Nonpracticing Attorneys and Legal Professionals Committee Panel Presentation.

KATHLEEN MCKENZIE, ’89,

vice president of community affairs for Highmark Blue Shield, was named chair of the 2018 Capital Region Go Red for Women Luncheon.

HON. NANCY HARRIS FARESE, ’89,

has been adjudicating workers’ compensation cases for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since 2015.

SCOTT BOJCZUK, ’90, joined Advance Financial as chief administrative officer and general counsel where he will use his business, legal, and operational experience to advise the company through its future growth.

has been the head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s Sydney, Australia office since it was opened in 2001 and was elected a partner of the firm effective January 1, 2017.

ROBERT DAUER, JR., ’90,

was reelected to serve on Meyer, Unkovic & Scott’s management committee for a two-year term.

was elected as an advisory board member for the non-profit Christy’s Cause.

NICHOLAS SEITANAKIS, ’93 , was promoted to Shareholder & Director at Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. ALAN PITTLER, ’94 , joined the Pittsburgh office of Cozen O’Connor as a member.

JO-ANNE MINEWEASER, ’95 , joined Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP as a partner.

ERIC MAHR, ’90, joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP as a partner.

joined Winston & Strawn LLP’s Transactions Department as a partner in Dallas, TX.

HON. SHAWNDYA SIMPSON, ’90,

JOHN GOTASKIE, JR., ’97,

was featured in PittWire for her impressive career, including becoming the first Panamanian American to serve as the Supreme Court of New York State.

BETH SLAGLE, ’90,

CHARLES HAAG, ’96 ,

was appointed as a member of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Franchising Litigation and Dispute Resolution Division. He was also named a “Legal Player” by 1851 Franchise, an award recognizing the highest profile attorneys in franchising and a “Legal Eagle” by the Franchise Times.

was named cochair of 412 Food Rescue, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve health and sustainability by fighting hunger and reducing food waste in the community.

BRYAN NEIDERHISER, ’97, was named partner at Marcus & Mack, P.C.

BRIAN VERTZ, ’91 ,

JOHN FLETCHER, ’97,

was elected to the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Family Law Section Council and appointed to the Executive Committee, which includes the officers of the Family Law Section. Vertz was also appointed to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Foundation as a member of the Fundraising Committee.

HON. BRUCE ROTH, ’91 ,

was re-elected to a fourth term as Magisterial District Judge in the city of Lancaster, PA. He continues to practice law as a principal in The Personal Injury Law Group, also located in Lancaster.

SCOTT MILLER, ’92 ,

was named Dean of Edinboro University’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

WALTER WISZ, ’92 , was promoted to Deputy Director at Southern Arizona Legal Aid. He joined the Tucson office in 2004 as a staff attorney and was promoted to managing attorney for the domestic relations and immigration units in 2013.

JENNIFER SMOKELIN, ’92 ,

was promoted to partner at Reed Smith LLP.

was promoted to special counsel in Barnwell Whaley’s South Carolina office. Fletcher has worked on some of the firm’s most complex and challenging cases, in such varied areas of the law as antitrust, intellectual property, and professional malpractice.

J. BRENDAN O’BRIEN, ’97,

joined Rawle & Henderson LLP as a partner in the Philadelphia office where he concentrates on the defense of employers and insurers in workers’ compensation matters.

BENJAMIN ALFONSI, ’98 ,

creator of Metabook, was featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for the awardwinning short film, Yours Sincerely, Lois Weber. He served as executive producer of the film with Elizabeth Banks.

JOSHUA LAFF, ’98 ,

joined Kaplin Stewart Meloff Reiter & Stein, P.C. as an associate and a member of the Real Estate Transactions Department.

HON. DANIEL ANDERS, ’98 , was elected as president of the International Association of LGBT Judges. He has served as a Judge on the Court of PITT LAW MAGAZINE

38 | 39

ALUMNI

Common Pleas of Philadelphia since 2007 and currently serves in the Civil Division after serving in the Criminal and Family Divisions.

DAMON CHILCOTE, ’98 ,

is Associate Counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Board of Veterans’ Appeals, in Washington, D.C.

PHILLIP EARNEST, ’98 ,

of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP, was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Disciplinary Board as a hearing committee member for a three-year term.

JUDITH SAMSON, ’98 , a criminal defense attorney in Minneapolis, was featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for her invention of the Bra Bridge.

THOMAS FRANCELLA, JR., ’98 ,

joined Cozen O’Connor’s national Bankruptcy, Insolvency, & Restructuring Group as a member.

ELLEN FREEMAN, ’99,

was appointed partner-in-charge of Porter Wright’s new Pittsburgh office. In this role, she will expand the capabilities of the office to align with the firm’s broad range of legal services across seven markets. She also was a winner of the Pittsburgh Business Times 2018 Women of Influence Award.

BRETT SOLOMON, ’99,

was elected as Section Chairman of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

STEPHEN TANZILLI, ’99,

was a featured panelist for the ACBA’s Nonpracticing Attorneys and Legal Professionals Committee Panel Presentation.

PETER STRNISTE, JR., ’99,

accepted a fellowship with the Construction Lawyers Society of America, an invitation-only construction lawyer honorary society. He dedicates his practice to construction and surety law, business litigation, and the negotiation of all types of construction contracts.

MICHAEL CIANFRINI, ’99,

was inducted into the OakfieldAlabama Central School Alumni Hall of Fame based on his postgraduation achievements.

ERIK HUME, ’99, was named partner at Smigel, Anderson & Sacks where he focuses on real estate transactions,

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

40 | 41

zoning and land development, business law, municipal law, and oil and gas law.

sixteen years and educates as an adjunct professor of law at Penn State.

JOHN BLACK III, ’99,

JENNIFER DONALDSON, ’02 ,

joined Rothman

Gordon, P.C. CARRIE COLLINS, ’99,

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s chief advancement officer, was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer for the school’s gift of doctor-written poetry to new graduates of the school.

TIMOTHY FESENMYER, ’99,

joined King & Spalding LLP as a partner in the Corporate, Finance and Investments practice group’s New York office. He will focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate representation for public and private company clients.

JOSHUA GEIST, ’00,

was elected President of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (formerly the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association).

MICHAEL MALIA, ’00, joined Peri & Stewart, LLC as a partner. He is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney and focuses his practice on insurance coverage matters and civil litigation. He joined fellow Pitt Law alum, MICHAEL STEWART, ’85 .

EDWIN EDWARDS, JR., ’01 ,

joined Blank Rome LLP’s Corporate, M&A, and Securities group as Of Counsel in the Pittsburgh office.

AMY WILLIAMSON, ’01 ,

joined Blank Rome LLP’s Labor & Employment group as Of Counsel in the Pittsburgh office.

BRIAN TRUDGEN, ’01 ,

joined Jones Day’s Pittsburgh office as a partner in its Banking, Finance, & Securities Practice.

NICOLE PANICO, ’02 , joined Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, P.C. as an associate in the Professional Liability Department of the Fort Lauderdale office.

DOUGLAS MCKECHNIE, ’02 , a law professor at the United States Air Force Academy, was quoted in the USA Today article “Trump and the Twitter Presidency.”

CASEY MCCLAIN, ’02 ,

was elected district judge for Centre County, PA’s Magisterial District Court. He served as a public defender and trial lawyer at the Centre County Courthouse for

joined Eastburn and Gray’s Litigation and Education and School law practice groups in the Doylestown, PA office.

MICHELLE ORNER ALLAN, ’02 ,

joined Gordon & Rees as a partner in the Pittsburgh office.

DR. ROLANDO MEDINA, ’03 ,

was named partner at Choate Hall & Stewart LLP. In 2017, he was recognized as an IP Star by LMG Life Sciences and named to Who’s Who Legal’s list of top Life Sciences transactional attorneys.

BRETT MCCARTNEY, ’03 ,

joined

Bayard, P.A. as a director.

JENNIFER ANDRADE, ’03 ,

was named Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Pennsylvania.

MARK MARTINI, ’03 , partner at Robb Leonard Mulvihill LLP, was accepted into the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County.

LAURA ROSAS, ’04 ,

was appointed to the position of Ethics and Compliance Officer for the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System by the County of Santa Clara.

REBEKA SEELINGER, ’04 , saw her firm, Seelinger Law, receive top honors at the 2017 Erie’s Choice Awards in the category of Attorney/Law Firm.

HOLLY VEAL, ’04 ,

was appointed a Magistrate Court judge for Henry County Magistrate Court.

TOM ZUMPELLA, ’04 , was promoted to partner at Thomas, Thomas & Hafer LLP where he concentrates his practice in the defense of general liability matters.

BEVERLY BLOCK, ’04 ,

founded law firm Block & Associates, LLC, a woman-owned firm that focuses on servicing businesses and professional individuals.

KEVIN EDDY, ’04 ,

joined Blank Rome

LLP as an associate.

MATT DOLFI, ’04 ,

started his own practice, Dolfi Law P.C., a general practice focusing primarily on commercial disputes, real estate, and personal injury.

A FAREWELL TO THE FOREIGN SERVICE

W

hen Lizzie Shackelford, ’06, quit the State Department on December 8, 2017, the exit door slammed loudly.

Her resignation letter to then-Secretary Rex Tillerson, detailing what she described as the administration’s “stinging disrespect” for Foreign Service officers, was published in Foreign Policy. Media coverage followed, including a television interview on Samantha Bee’s comedy show.

Shackelford, 38, was seen as a rising star among mid-level officers in the profession, serving with distinction in Somalia, South Sudan, Poland, Kenya, and Washington. She joined the Foreign Service after working with Covington & Burling and Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C. By 2013, she was directing evacuation efforts for 1,000 U.S. and foreign citizens from South Sudan (shown above) as civil war broke out.

Her subsequent decision to leave a career inspired by Pitt Law’s international law program launched a wild ride.

In a recent conversation, she reflected on the eight months since her decision, in which she has ping-ponged between writing a book at her lakeside home in Kenya and working on a Congressional campaign in Virginia.

“The fun of quitting a job is getting to do a lot of different things,” she says cheerfully.

“I thought I’d sit by the lake and relax and think.

Eight months later, I’m still not sure what I want to do with my life.”

During 2017, the department “had already seen senior level officers depart,” says Shackelford. “That raised an alarm, but some folks thought, they were at the end of their careers anyway. Mine was the first mid-level resignation. And now we can see it’s a generational problem.” As Shackelford noted in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times in March, the State Department lost 60 percent of its career diplomats in 2017.

Foreign Policy’s attention to her resignation letter, submitted under department protocol, widened the media spotlight. “I didn’t realize I would be the focus of the Foreign Policy article. I knew it would be published — I had been talking with the journalist who wrote it. Really, it’s an industry publication, but not widely read.” Two months later, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee asked for an interview, and Shackelford immediately agreed. “How many people get invited to be on a comedy show?” she asks. Bee, she says, “was genuinely interested. She’s using comedy to draw attention to issues. I have a lot of respect for her.”

Shackelford was drawn back to the States this spring to work on the Congressional campaign of a friend and former Marine officer, Dan Ward. Although Ward lost the May Democratic primary in Virginia’s 7th District, the experience helped crystallize her aspiration “to serve the greater good in America. You can’t do that from Kenya,” she observes. She is now seeking a candidate to support in the November elections.

Now dividing her time between Africa and the U.S., Shackelford considers herself to be based in Kenya. “It makes sense. East Africa has been my stomping ground for a long time. There are so many interesting issues. And now that I’m working on a book, it’s a good place to do writing.”

Shackelford says her forthcoming book examines, through the lens of her own experience, why changes in U.S. foreign policy have not promoted stability and security.

Her State Department resignation has prompted her to examine why career foreign service officers don’t get the full-throated public support that the U.S. armed forces earn.

“Our State Department goes about its work quietly.

The officers don’t get the pats on the back that their military colleagues do,” she argues. “The work can be dangerous and hard on personal life. What I realized was that we haven’t consistently had a constituency back in the U.S. We saw this in the 2016 elections. Congress understands, but America doesn’t care because it doesn’t understand the role [of the Foreign Service]. We’ve got to persuade folks that this matters.”

ALUMNI

ALUMNI

CAREY CUMMINGS, ’04 ,

was selected as the 2018 Marjorie Matson Day honoree by the Pitt Law Women’s Association.

CHRISTOPHER DAVIS, ’04 ,

was named a shareholder and director of Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C.

CHRISTOPHER GABRIEL, ’04 ,

joined Cafardi Ferguson Wyrick Weis + Stotler, LLC. MEGAN TURNBULL, ’04 , joined Weiss Burkardt Kramer, LLC as a partner.

KATHRYN NORDICK, ’05 , rejoined Pepper Hamilton LLP as a partner in the Financial Services Practice Group.

MICHAEL RAFALKO, ’05 , joined Cozen O’Connor’s Global Insurance Department as a member in the Philadelphia office.

KATHERINE NORTON, ’05 ,

received both the 2017 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Duquesne University School of Law Student Bar Association and the 2017 Lorraine M. Bittner Public Interest Attorney Award from the Allegheny County Bar Foundation.

DANIELLE DIETRICH, ’05 , was elected shareholder at Tucker Arensberg, P.C. where she concentrates on business and commercial litigation and longterm care.

MARGARET COLEMAN, ’05 ,

JULIE COLTON, ’05 ,

joined Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP’s Pittsburgh office as a partner in the Family Law group.

GREGORY WALKER, ’06 , was promoted to counsel in the Frankfurt, Germany office of Latham & Watkins LLP. MARY ODEM, ’06 ,

was elected district judge for Mercer County’s Magisterial District Court.

CATHERINE MARTIN CHRISTOPHER, ’06 ,

was awarded tenure at Texas Tech University School of Law, where she teaches constitutional law, legal research, and writing. She was also appointed Associate Dean for Bar Success in Sept. 2018.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

42 | 43

ANTOINETTE C. OLIVER, ’07,

was named Co-chair of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott’s Associates Committee.

MICHAEL MAZACK, ’07, was elected as a shareholder of Tucker Arensberg, P.C. AMANDA PALBUS, ’07, joined Gordon & Rees as an associate in the Pittsburgh office.

RYAN CARROLL, ’07,

became certified as a specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section.

ROBIN FRANK, ’07, joined Thomson, Rhodes & Cowie, P.C. as an associate attorney. She concentrates her practice on family law, elder law, and corporate law.

RYAN SCANLON, ’08 ,

was certified as a legal specialist in workers’ compensation law. The certification was administered by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Section on Workers’ Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

JOSEPH SHAULIS, ’08 , was named the director of legal affairs and communication at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. He will provide proactive legal advice and representation for the agency’s operations, including labor relations, employment issues, contracts, and policy generation.

MATTHEW FORNATARO, ’08 , joined Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP as counsel.

LAURA DELFRATTE, ’08 , joined Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC as an associate.

ANDREW GABRIEL, ’08 ,

joined Cafardi Ferguson Wyrick Weis + Stotler, llc. as the head of the intellectual property practice.

PHILLIP KONDROT, ’08 ,

became certified as specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section.

FIGHTING FOR THE LITTLE PINK HOUSE

SAMANTHA SHERWOOD BONONNO, ’09,

joined Fisher Phillips’ Philadelphia office as of counsel. Her practice areas include healthcare, labor and employment litigation, wage and hour law, and prevention and compliance programs.

S

cott Bullock,’91, knows that courtroom dramas are can’t-miss Hollywood fare. But he didn’t expect that his own battle on an eminent domain case would cast him on the big screen.

“Little Pink House,” released as an independent feature earlier this year, documents Bullock’s fight in a case testing whether New London (Conn.) Development Corp. (NLDC) could seize homes in the city’s waterfront Fort Trumbull neighborhood. NLDC planned to use the land for condos, office buildings, and a hotel to benefit the new headquarters of the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer. Bullock, now president and general counsel of the Institute for Justice, represented defendant Susette Kelo for six years, arguing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. Canadian actor Giacomo Baessato portrays Bullock onscreen, with AcademyAward-nominated actress Catherine Keener as Kelo.

Bullock has been president of the Institute since 2016.

He joined the Virginia-based group upon graduation from Pitt Law. “We are libertarian in orientation, but the issues we take on cut across the ideological spectrum. Eminent domain abuse is a classic example. We take on cases we think will have the broadest impact: people fighting heroic battles, small property owners, upstart entrepreneurs,” he explains. Prior to the Connecticut case, he represented property owners in downtown Pittsburgh in the Fifth and Forbes corridor when the city proposed replacing mom-and-pop businesses with a retail mall. The city dropped the plan after the Institute

YULANDA CURTIS, ’09,

was hired as a Clinical Assistant Professor for the University of Illinois Law School where she also leads their new Veterans Legal Clinic.

LAURA BENSON, ’09, was promoted to member at Burns White.

J. CHADWICK SCHNEE, ’09, had his treatise on Pennsylvania’s open records law called “The Right-to-Know Law: A Practice Guide” published by PBI Press.

MCKEAN EVANS, ’10, joined Pivotal Law Group, PLLC as an associate attorney.

STEVEN CZAJKOWSKI, ’10,

joined The Webb Law Firm, P.C. as an associate.

MELISSA DOUGHERTY, ’10, was promoted to director at Cohen & Grigsby, P.C. She focuses her practice in estate planning, estate and trust administration and the representation of corporate fiduciaries.

JESSICA ALBERT, ’10,

was elected partner at Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl LLC.

received the Occupational Therapy Award of Recognition from the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association.

ALYSON STOVER, ’11 ,

DANIEL MARGONARI, ’11 ,

joined Burns

White as a member.

JORDAN SEGALL, ’11 , an attorney for the City of Philadelphia’s Board of Ethics, was featured in the Billy Penn article, “Who’s Next Public Service: 19 young Philadelphians with a passion for doing good.”

LACEE ECKER, ’12 , was named to the 19th annual 40 Under 40 list by Pittsburgh Magazine.

WILLIAM PASSODELIS, JR., ’12 , joined The Webb Law Firm, P.C. as an associate.

JEFFREY STACKO, ’12 , joined Dinsmore & Shohl LLP as an associate in the commercial litigation practice group. He has experience litigating a

for Justice posted billboards in opposition and threatened legal action. “It could have destroyed one-fifth of downtown Pittsburgh,” Bullock says.

Susette Kelo grew up in poverty in rural Maine, becoming an emergency medical technician and later, a nurse. On her own in middle age, she purchased the tiny Fort Trumbull home and painted it her favorite color. Six other neighbors joined her to fight the taking of their properties; although SCOTUS ultimately ruled against the plaintiffs in Kelo v. New London, they did receive greater compensation than what was originally offered, says Bullock, and Kelo still lives in the area even though she and her neighbors would have preferred to stay in Fort Trumbull. More important, the ruling sparked reform of eminent domain laws across the country.

“Pennsylvania was one of 44 states that changed eminent domain law after Kelo,” reports Bullock. “There’s much stronger protection for private owners throughout most of the country because of this fight.”

The Institute for Justice has won four of the five cases it has argued before the Supreme Court, and has another landmark case concerning civil forfeiture that will be heard by the Court this term. Bullock says the non-profit continues to pursue issues of economic liberty, educational choice, private property rights, and free speech. “It’s the goal of every public interest group to take on cutting-edge legal issues and to get the word out to further the chances of changing the law. That way, even with a setback in court, we can effectuate major change,” he says.

Little Pink House is available on DVD, cable, and certain streaming providers. Learn more at littlepinkhousemovie.com.

Scott Bullock represented Susette Kelo (together, below left) in a case that became a movie starring Catherine Keener (right).

A P P H OTO/ D E N N I S C O O K

rejoined The Law Offices of Timothy P. O’Brien to continue its long-standing record of successfully fighting for employees’ rights and citizens’ constitutional and civil rights.

TIFFANY WASKOWICZ, ’06 , joined Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, P.C. as a senior associate attorney. She focuses her practice in the areas of labor and employment law as well as general litigation.

ALUMNI

variety of insurance disputes related to general liability and insurance bad faith.

SARAH COBBS, ’12 , joined Robb Leonard Mulvihill’s Pittsburgh office as an associate practicing in the areas of insurance coverage, general civil litigation, and toxic tort litigation.

MATTHEW FEINMAN, ’15 ,

was featured in the business section of Oakland Business Improvement District for his new law office located in Oakland.

LEENA KETKAR, ’15 , joined Blank Rome LLP as an associate in the Real Estate group.

KATHERINE HABERL-THOMAS, ’12 , joined Simpson, Kablack & Rivosecchi, P.C. as an attorney.

LOGAN PRY, ’15 ,

DWYER ARCE, ’12 , was lead counsel for the Virgin Islands Bar Association in a case that was argued before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit sitting en banc.

MICHELLE BUNNER, ’15 ,

DURWIN FULLER, JR., ’12 , joined Gordon & Rees as an associate in the Pittsburgh office.

MELANIE SCHAFER, ’12 ,

joined Gordon & Rees as an associate in the Pittsburgh office.

TOM MAGNER, ’12 , was promoted to Broadcast Business Representative/ Labor Counsel at SAG-AFTRA. BRANDON GATTO, ’13 ,

joined Fox Rothschild LLP as an associate in the firm’s Litigation Department where he handles complex civil and criminal cases in both state and federal court.

BRANDY RINGER, ’13 ,

joined Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP as an associate.

JACLYN FAULDS, ’14 ,

joined Houston Harbaugh, P.C. as an associate in its Corporate Practice where she concentrates on the areas of general corporate law, commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and business planning.

THERESA DONOVAN, ’14 ,

joined Recovery Centers of America at the Danvers facility as quality manager.

In this role, she is responsible for compliance and quality control across the entire facility, including patient care and administration.

NICHOLAS KRAKOFF, ’14 ,

joined Rothman Gordon, P.C. as an associate.

NATHAN MILLER, ’14 , joined Lovett Bookman Harmon Marks LLP as an associate.

PITT LAW MAGAZINE

44 | 45

joined Gordon & Rees as an associate in the Pittsburgh office. was promoted to Trust Officer at the wealth management firm Tompkins Financial Advisors where she is responsible for developing estate planning strategies for clients. She is also a member of the Estate Planning Council of Tompkins County.

THEA PAOLINI, ’15 , joined Harrisburgbased Nauman Smith as an associate.

She is a member of the tax, trusts and estates, business and employment, and litigation practice group.

STEPHENIE G. ANDERSON, ’16

married JOHN SCIALABBA, ’17, on August 19, 2017 in Pittsburgh.

KELSEY WARD, ’16 ,

joined Pollock Begg Komar Glasser & Vertz LLC as an associate.

NICK KATKO, ’16 ,

joined Edgar Snyder & Associates as a personal injury lawyer.

NICHOLAS BUNNER, ’16 ,

joined Babst, Calland, Clements and Zomnir, P.C. as a staff attorney.

SUSAN BARRETT, ’16 , joined McGuireWoods LLP as an associate.

AMY MATHIEU, ’16 ,

joined Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC as an associate in the Pittsburgh office and Litigation Division. She concentrates her practice on commercial litigation matters.

JOSEPH CARUSO, III, ’17,

accepted a position as Government Affairs Counsel at the American Retirement Association where he will be responsible for federal and state lobbying through meetings with public officials, draft legislation, comments on proposed rules, hearing testimony, and more. He also signed a licensing agreement with Bloomberg BNA to make independently authored content on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed Regulation

Best Interest available on several pages through their subscription service.

SAMANTHA GAGLIARDO, ’17,

joined Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick & Gefsky as an associate.

LYDIA GORBA, ’17,

joined Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick & Gefsky as an associate.

JUSTIN BECK, ’17,

joined Thomas, Thomas & Hafer LLP as an associate in the Pittsburgh office where he will concentrate his practice in the area of workers’ compensation.

TAYLOR BRAILEY, ’17,

joined Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC as an associate in its Pittsburgh office.

LAURA DEGEER, ’17, joined Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP as an associate.

SARAH GRAPE, ’17,

was admitted to the Jefferson County Bar Association by Judge John H. Foradora.

NICHOLAS UHLER, ’17, joined Cohen & Grigsby, P.C. as an associate.

ANGELA DESANTIS, ’17, joined Cohen & Grigsby, P.C. as an associate.

MARCIE SOLOMON, ’17, joined Dinsmore & Shohl LLP as an associate.

KELLY PIETRACATELLO, ’17, joined Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC as an associate. She focuses her practice on a wide range of corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, commercial lending transactions, corporate governance, and general corporate matters.

PART ING

SHOT The ultra-modern mosaic of Teplitz Memorial Moot Courtroom soars beyond the traditional symbols of eagles and blind Justice. Designed and created by the University’s Virgil Cantini in 1975, the assemblage of 126 porcelain-on-steel pieces represents of the harmony of the law and the American legal system. The converging red and blue fields atop the 24- by 26-foot mosaic represent opposing sides of a controversy. The circle symbolizes the process of law. The band across the middle of the mural symbolizes a lie detector tape, while the message below proclaims, “I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God,” in Morse Code.

Cantini’s work accents many buildings on campus, including Posvar Hall, Hillman Library, and the façade of Pitt Public Health. Conservationists are also trying to preserve his center city mosaic in the pedestrian tunnel below Bigelow Boulevard, scheduled to be filled as part of the proposed the I-579 “Cap” Project, a new three-acre park connecting the Lower Hill District to Downtown.

VICTOR KUSTRA, ’17, joined Weiss Burkardt Kramer, LLC as an associate.

MARISA RODRIGUES, ’17, joined the World Bank as an Investigative Analyst.

KENDRA STROBEL, ’17, was featured in The Citizens’ Voice for her work as Luzerne County’s newest assistant public defender.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SPROWLS

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE

School of Law Barco Law Building 3900 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15260 law.pitt.edu

PAID PITTSBURGH PA PERMIT NO 511

u pcom i ng

THE PSYCHIATRIC PRESIDENCY

Presented by Jeannie Suk Gersen, John H. Watson, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

t uesday, oc tober 30, 2018, 12 : 30 -1 : 30 p.m., ba rco l aw bu ilding In a time of unprecedented public discourse on the President’s mental fitness for office, how should we think of the relation between lawyers, psychiatrists, Congress, states, professional organizations, and the Constitution?

Visit law.pitt.edu/events to learn more