Vinson & Elkins in Dallas, Texas, specializing in Restructuring and Bankruptcy Litigation.
M. Catherine OliverSmith ’05 is currently residing in Antigua, Guatemala, with her husband, Brian, and three daughters, Bella (10), Gigi (8) and Maisy (4). Part of what brought them to the country was the expansion of Urban Planet Mobile, their global digital education business. Catherine is also in her second-year M. CATHERINE OLIVERSMITH pilot of a mobile literacy program in Uganda, funded as part of the All Children Reading USAID Grand Challenge. The first-year pilot proved conclusively that young children can develop the basics of literacy through a mobile-delivered, audio-only program.
Jesse Saivar ’05, a partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP who heads the firm’s growing intellectual property department, was named one of the most influential digital media lawyers in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Benjamin Taylor ’05 has founded the Taylor Law Firm. Based in Century City, the firm focuses on business and employment litigation.
Ryan E. Blair ’06 was part of the defense team for Cooley LLP in the case of Moser v. Encore, involving the breach of a confidentiality agreement, which was selected by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top Verdicts of 2013.
Hannah L. Cannom ’06 was one of the attorneys at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy who successfully represented Apple Inc. in the patent infringement case NetAirus Techonologies LLC v. Apple Inc., which was selected by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top Verdicts of 2013. Cannom and Bethany Marvin HANNAH CANNOM AND Stevens ’06 recently opened a law BETHANY STEVENS firm with a third partner, Amanda Walker. Walker Stevens Cannom LLP is a women-owned boutique law firm that represents clients in commercial litigation, corporate counseling, internal and government investigations, and intellectual property matters. They are located in downtown Los Angeles.
Merril Keane ’06 was recently elected to the board of directors of the Audubon Society of Portland. Keane focuses her practice at Portland, Oregon-based Miller Nash LLP on general business transactions, international business and trade, tax and executive compensation. Keane is involved with several sections of the Oregon State Bar, including the International Law Section, for which she served as chair in 2013 and continues to serve as part of the executive committee. She also currently is a member of the Northwest China Council’s board of directors. Keane has been named to the “Rising Stars” list published by Oregon Super Lawyers magazine for the past two years.
BENJAMIN TAYLOR
Air Force Captain Star Lopez ’07 was recently featured on the PBS series “Coming Back with Wes Moore,” which chronicles the personal lives of different soldiers as they attempt to reintegrate back into society. The episode featuring Lopez portrays her deployment to Afghanistan, where she worked as an Air Force JAG attorney at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The show also features her struggle to stay connected to her husband, Chris Phelan, a retired Marine Corps Sergeant and member of the Los Angeles Police Department, and their two-year-old daughter, who stayed behind in Los Angeles. In the series, Lopez said that she took the Air Force job because she “wanted to get more out of her legal practice” and to make sure she did something “for a greater purpose.” While overseas, she helped build the legal groundwork for the Afghan government. In “Coming Back,” Lopez said that her transition back into her previous life was extremely difficult, especially with her daughter, who was just an infant learning how to crawl when she left, but that serving her country was a gratifying experience.
134 | UCLA LAW MAGAZINE