W&L Law Discovery - Summer 2023

First Year in the Dean’s Office

personal notes

Favorite thing about living in Lexington?

It’s an easy walk to almost everything. I often walk to work along Woods Creek. I can walk downtown from home or work in less than 20 minutes. I walk to the post office and to vote.

What has been the most surprising thing about your first year?

There have been a number of pleasant surprises. Perhaps two surprises stand out among the others. The first is the absolute beauty of the area. There are so many mountains in view; everything is so green; and Woods Creek and walking trails are just down the hill from the law school. Second, and the most welcome surprise, is the incredibly high level of commitment and loyalty the law alumni have for this law school and for the current students and recent graduates. I had heard so many positive comments about the alumni before I arrived, but they have exceeded my expectations in every way. W&L Law alumni call us when they hear of job opportunities for students. They make calls and write letters to admitted students, emphasizing why this is a special place to study law and to spend three years. They invest in us financially. They show up for special events on campus and respond to calls for help. I am so gratified to lead a law school where the alumni are so proud of their degrees and invest their time, energy, and passion in the graduates who are following the same path.

What was your experience like teaching this semester?

I taught criminal law this spring to approximately half of the 1L class. I loved it. Our students are outstanding. I appreciated the opportunity to get to know them in the classroom context. Over the course of the year, I have been meeting for

breakfast or lunch with various student groups, including members of the American Constitution Society, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Christian Legal Society, Federalist Society, First Generation Student Union, J. Reuben Clark Society, Jewish Law Students Association, Latin American Law Students Association, OutLaw, Middle Eastern and South Asian Law Students Association, and Women Law Students Organization, among others. I have also held schoolwide “ask the dean” sessions and attended numerous events, competitions, and symposia. I formed a small, dean’s student advisory group, and meet with them periodically. But, the classroom experience was different. Every Monday and Wednesday, I was reminded of why I enjoy my leadership role at the law school. My criminal law students were wickedly smart, engaged, and thoughtful. They debated each other and me, supporting their arguments with statutory interpretation principles, policy, and legal precedent. They were always well prepared, and they engaged with each other diplomatically and civilly. Our future is bright. These students inspire me, and give me so much hope and optimism for our future.

What do you see as the law school’s biggest challenge?

There are several. With the continuing help and support of the University and our alumni, we are well-positioned to weather whatever chal-

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Names and types of pets?

Choden, who is 10 years old, is my blue Great Dane. She’s 106 pounds. Leaper, a brindle English Mastiff who weighs about 160 pounds, is 9 years old. The newest addition to the family is Parker, an 8-month-old, 8-pound black cat, adopted from the Rockbridge SPCA. Parker already rules the dogs.

Book on your beside table?

Southern Living Garden Book next to a paper copy of the Lexington News-Gazette and a Gilbert Law Summaries Criminal Procedure book that I need to update before the end of June.

Favorite hike in or around Lexington?

I love the Chessie Trail because of the cows, and the view of the Maury River on the back campus trails of Washington and Lee.

the newsletter from washington and lee university school of law

Follow Dean Wilson on Twitter, @mdwilson_law, for updates and great nature photos like the one above!

“Succeeding in an everchanging law school environment will require that we stay mindful and proactive about managing student debt, changing technology, and in the short term — hiring talented faculty who will invest in our students and our community.”

lenges we face. At a minimum, succeeding in an ever-changing law school environment will require that we stay mindful and proactive about managing student debt, changing technology, and in the short term—hiring talented faculty who will invest in our students and our community.

For a law school of our caliber, we are an incredible value. In fact, in 2022, Bankrate.com ranked our law school the best value private law school in the country based on our low debt to

are constantly evaluating our course offerings to ensure that we prepare our students to “think like lawyers” and also to leave law school with all of the practical skills necessary to represent actual clients in an ever-changing world.

Finally, due to the retirement of many of our longest serving professors over the last decade, we have a number of open faculty positions. This presents a wonderful opportunity to add to our already outstanding and talented faculty over the next few

entering 1L class was the most highly credentialed in over a decade. My goal is to attract a class that is even stronger this coming year. I also want to continue to see our students find fulfilling employment upon graduation. Recent graduates have been highly successful in this regard. Ninety-seven percent of the Class of 2022 is already employed, about 20 percent in judicial clerkships. I am excited to build a comprehensive academic support program that will not only continue to support our graduates as they take and pass their bar exams in jurisdictions across the country, but will also ensure that every student is supported from day one through commencement. I expect to hire our first director of academic excellence this year. I look forward to adding to personnel in our advancement office and our career strategy team over the next year.

high income ratio. Even so, a law school education at a quality law school like ours is a serious financial investment. We need to continue to grow our scholarship pool to keep graduate debt manageable and to ensure that our graduates can pursue their dream job, including those in public interest or non-profit positions.

As with every organization, we need to keep up with changes in our area of expertise. For us, that means offering courses and teaching our students to use new modes of legal research and analysis, as technology changes in the legal profession. We

years. Many law schools are in a similar position, and competition for the best teacher-scholars is fierce. Nevertheless, we believe that we offer something special and unique in our community that will help us succeed on the hiring front.

What are the top things you want to accomplish in the coming year?

I want to continue to build excellence in all that we do at the law school. This excellence will manifest in a number of ways. For instance, this year’s

Financial Overview

$123 Million Law School Allocation

$123 million of the University’s nearly $2 billion endowment was allocated to the Law School in FY2022, providing approximately $5.9 million in annual revenue.

If you could convey one message to Law Alumni, what would it be?

I want to convey my thanks for the warm and enthusiastic welcome the alumni have extended to me, and for their incredible engagement and support of the entire law school community. The alumni are a huge driver behind our success. Thank you for your kindness and encouragement. I look forward to meeting many more of you this year. Please come see us in Lexington.

“I want to convey my thanks for the warm and enthusiastic welcome the alumni have extended to me, and for their incredible engagement and support of the entire law school community. The alumni are a huge driver behind our success.”

Dean Wilson meets with her leadership team.

Alumni philanthropy provides about 5 percent of the Law School’s annual budget of $30 million. Your financial support is critical to our success.

Admissions

As a top law school that recruits students from across the U.S. and abroad, W&L Law exists in a competitive landscape for the best and the brightest. 125 students selected from about 2,000 applications form our incoming class each year. Our most recent class was the most highly credentialed in over a decade.

28 States

Outcomes – Employment and Bar Passage

Our graduates continue to achieve success in the job market at the highest levels the school has ever seen. Career Strategy utilizes an executive search firm model to match students with great jobs, and our alumni network is an essential part of that process.

Class of 2022 Placements

93%

A Day of Celebration

Commencement 2023

Jessica Mika Matsuda

John W. Davis Prize for Law (highest cumulative grade point average)

Colin John Manchester

American Bankruptcy Institute Medal (excellence in study of bankruptcy law)

Joseph M. Aminov & Lara Nicole Morris Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Commercial Law Award (excellence in Commercial Law)

Jarod Christopher Dye

Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Award (effective trial advocacy)

Jessica Mika Matsuda

A. H. McLeod-Ross Malone Oral Advocacy Award (distinction in oral advocacy)

Dylan S. Jarvis & Lara Nicole Morris

The Washington and Lee University School of Law celebrated its 168th commencement on Friday, May 12, awarding 106 juris doctor degrees.

W&L President Will Dudley welcomed the graduates and their families gathered on the front lawn between the University Chapel and the Colonnade, an apt setting for remarks that were rich in the recollection of the law school’s long history as well as the history of this particular class. President Dudley noted that the Law Class of 2023 arrived in the fall of 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing, and he complimented them for persevering through a first year of law school unlike any before it.

“The tradition of excellence at the Washington and Lee School of Law stretches backward more than 150 years, but it also aspires ever forward, in keeping with our motto—non incautus future—not unmindful of the future,” said President Dudley. “You are all a part of this tradition. Take W&L—the place, the people, and the lessons learned—with you, into the world, and you and the world will be better for it.”

Melanie D. Wilson, dean of the Law School, followed President Dudley to the podium. Dean Wilson recounted by name many of the students and accomplishments that she would remember from her first year leading the law school.

“This class exhibits a rare community spirit mixed with kindness and tenacity that has allowed you to traverse three really tough years under unusual conditions,” said Dean Wilson. “And that journey makes this day all the more special.”

After the graduates were awarded their degrees, Dean Wilson introduced Justice Cleo Powell as this year’s commencement speaker. A trailblazer throughout her career, Justice Powell was the first

Black woman elected to the Commonwealth’s highest court and the first Black woman to serve at every level of Virginia’s state court system, beginning in 1992 when she joined the 12th Judicial Circuit as a general district and circuit judge in Chesterfield County. She was named to the Virginia Court of Appeals in 2008 and then was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to the Supreme Court in 2011.

Justice Powell noted at the outset of her speech that “few things give me as much pleasure as watching new lawyers join the profession that has brought me so much satisfaction for the past 41 years.” But as satisfying as that career has been, Justice Powell cautioned that the Law Class of 2023 enters the profession during a challenging time for the nation, a time marked by the inability to communicate and growing lack of tolerance. However, she also noted that lawyers are uniquely trained for this environment.

“And as you deal with your client’s issues, you will have an opportunity and an obligation to lower the volume on the clamoring noise, to calm their fears, to reintroduce civility, to bring reason to bear,” said Justice Powell.

Justice Powell also acknowledged the shifting terrain of the law, with once settled law becoming disturbed as a new generation of lawyers looks at the world through a different lens, even as they do their sworn duty to uphold the rule of law.

“I challenge you to so live that in years to come you will look back and see your fingerprints all over a world left better because you were in it,” she said.

The Student Bar Association Teacher of the Year and Staff Member of the Year award were presented at the awards ceremony on May 11. Allison Weiss was named Teacher of the Year, and Jane Pultz won the staff award.

Frederic L. Kirgis Jr. International Law Award (excellence in international law)

Christina Jane Fallon Virginia Bar Family Law Section Award (excellence in the area of family law)

Alicia F. Ochsner Utt

Barry Sullivan Constitutional Law Award (excellence in constitutional law)

Benjamin Michael Halligan & Kellen Elizabeth Spradlin

James W. H. Stewart Tax Law Award (excellence in tax law)

Mallory Rebecca Kostroff, Jessica Mika Matsuda & Samuel D. Romano

Thomas Carl Damewood Evidence Award (excellence in the area of evidence)

Jessica Mika Matsuda & Samuel D. Romano

Criminal Law Award (excellence in courses of criminal law)

Catherine I. Bulger & Lara Nicole Morris Business Law Award (excellence in courses of business law)

Samuel A. Adams

Administrative Law Award (excellence in courses of administrative law)

Jessica Mika Matsuda

Clinical Legal Education Association Award (outstanding clinic student)

Brenna M. Rosen

Clinical Legal Education Association

Outstanding Externship Award (outstanding externship student)

Adam Thomas Kimelman

Charles V. Laughlin Award (outstanding contribution to moot court program)

Brighid Ann O’Donoghue Student Bar Association President Award (recognition for services as president of the Student Bar Association)

Christina Jane Fallon & Caroline Jane Barbara Kerr

The Washington and Lee School of Law Women’s Law Award (outstanding contribution to women in the law)

Kobie Justin Crosley & Jessica Mika Matsuda Calhoun Bond University Service Award (significant contribution to the University community)

Kobie Justin Crosley & Jessica Mika Matsuda

Randall P. Bezanson Award (outstanding contribution to diversity in the life of the Law School community)

Kerin Rose Daly

Professionalism and Service Award (significant contribution of public service in the community)

JESSICA (SICA) MATSUDA ’23L graduated from the University of Richmond, where she received a degree in Business Administration and Political Science. After college, she was as a legal assistant for a private criminal defense firm in Northern Virginia, working for W&L alumna Mary Nerino ’13L. At W&L, Sica was a student attorney in the Criminal Justice Clinic, a senior articles editor on the Law Review, the appellate advocacy chair on the Moot Court Board, and the co-president of OutLaw. She will be a litigation associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington, D.C. Then she will clerk for Judge Amy Berman Jackson at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

“In my first summer after 1L, I was an intern for Judge Thomas Cullen in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia and Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. I cannot speak highly enough of the judicial internship experience. Not only is it unbeatable in terms of key research and writing practice, but as an intern I was able to watch extremely good attorneys actually do their thing in the courtroom. I really enjoyed the fast-paced nature of the trial court, so that confirmed my decision to clerk after law school. Judge Jackson was an especially great mentor during my summer in her chambers, so I’m absolutely ecstatic to be returning to work for her.”

GRANT MCCLERNON ’23L graduated from Penn State in 2016 where he majored in finance. Between undergrad and law school, Grant worked for Recovery Centers of America, a startup behavioral healthcare company based in the Philadelphia area. At W&L, Grant was an extern with the Honorable Thomas T. Cullen of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, the co-chair of the Robert J. Grey, Jr. Negotiations Competition, the co-president of the Powell Lecture Series, a McThenia research assistant, and a senior articles editor of the German Law Journal. He will join the healthcare transactions team at Kirkland & Ellis in the Washington, D.C., office.

“I guess I’ve had a pretty unusual law school path for someone going into transactional work. I’ve taken a lot of classes related to constitutional law and civil procedure. I figured I had a good enough background in business that I could use my time in law school to learn about other things that were interesting to me but which I had zero basis in. And that’s what I did. I don’t know if I would have ever had the chance to learn those things at any other point in my life. And, in the long run, I think I’ll be a better off for it.”

SIERRA TERRANA ’23L is a 2020 graduate of W&L, where she received a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies. Sierra spent her 1L summer working as a judicial intern for the Honorable Thomas Barber of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and as a legal intern at the Social Media Exchange, a Beirut-based NGO advocating for privacy rights in the MENA region. She worked at an international trade boutique in Washington, D.C., during her 2L summer. At W&L, Sierra was on the German Law Journal and served as Law School Key Staff for the Outing Club. She will work for IBM in New York exploring a range of practice areas, including IP, international trade, global markets, and cybersecurity/data privacy.

“Coming into law school, I actually had very little idea of what I wanted to do. I had a broad interest in international law that stemmed from my undergraduate studies, but I was unsure of how that would translate into tangible job prospects. Had I known that in-house opportunities existed for new graduates, they would have been higher up on my list. After my 1L summer in Beirut, I knew that cybersecurity and data privacy were areas I wanted to keep exploring. I felt the same about IP and trade law after my 2L summer in D.C. Working at IBM struck me as a unique opportunity to continue engaging with these and other areas of interest directly out of law school.”

FRANCIS MORENCY ’23L received a B.A. in International Relations and African American Studies from Syracuse University. Between undergrad and law school, Francis taught 7th grade Civics and Law Studies in North Miami. At W&L, he served as the managing editor of W&L’s Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, a Burks Scholar for Legal Writing, a student attorney for Small Business Start-Up Practicum, a research assistant for Professor Carliss Chatman, a judicial extern for the Judge Joel R. Branscom of the Botetourt Circuit Court, and a mock trial coach for BLSA. After graduation, he will work in the Bankruptcy group at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP in the firm’s Tampa Office.

“During 1L, the Black Law Students Association invited me to moderate a bankruptcy panel with Dean Mason. The judge and lawyers on the panel were candid about the lack of diversity in bankruptcy. But they explained bankruptcy law as an area with litigation and transactional elements. I was sold. After the panel, I shifted my summer internship search and applied to intern for Judge Russin in Bankruptcy court. At court, I witnessed lawyers, pro se parties, creditors, and debtors communicate their positions, focusing on the merits instead of the personal discourse that could come out when someone owes someone else money. I always knew I wanted to return to Florida after graduation. Living close to my family is important to me. Starting my legal career in a medium or small law firm was equally important.”

BLSA Teams Take National Writing Awards

Moot Court Teams Compete in Arlington

The Black Law Students Association (BLSA) sent two moot court teams to the annual competition and conference for the National Black Law Students Association, held March 7–12 in Arlington, Virginia.

At nationals, the team of Charisma Hunter ’23L and Kobie Crosley ’23L were recognized with the Best Petitioner Brief award. Law students Jasmine Cooper ’24L and Tom Boss ’24L won the top award for Best Respondent Brief.

The teams advanced from the regional competition after stellar performances in the moot court competitions, while also garnering best brief awards and recognition for oral advocacy. They received support this year from several coaches, including Noriya Shahadat ’21L. In addition to hosting the competitions, the national conference serves as an opportunity for students to network with other students as well as practitioners and potential employers.

Jasmine Cooper ’24L, Tom Boss ’24L, Charisma Hunter ’23L and Kobie Crosley ’23L

W&L Law Commits $330,000 Annually to Public Interest Students and Alumni

W&L Law has announced the creation of a program to guarantee financial support for current students and graduates interested or serving in public interest and government careers. The Path to Public Interest Program (PPIP) will supply over $330,000 in funds annually toward employment in public service positions.

Public interest internships for current law students are typically unpaid, and recent graduates working in public interest positions do so at salaries below that of their counterparts in the private sector. For rising 2L students in particular, supporting their summer employment is critical for them to gain experience and develop skills that lead to future opportunities in both the public and private sector.

Components of PPIP include:

• $1.3 million endowment for public interest scholarships

• Up to $5,000 per student each summer to support students working in qualifying government and public interest positions

• Transportation and lodging reimbursement for public interest job interviews

• $1,250 monthly, short-term stipends for recent graduates working in temporary public interest and government positions while awaiting their bar results

• $100,000 pool available annually for loan repayment for alumni during the first ten years following graduation.

Last summer, 70 law students received a portion of over $160,000 to support summer public interest work. Alumni taking advantage of the loan repayment program have received on average $5,000 per year to help with student loans.

Want to support the PPIP Program?

Contact Elizabeth Branner at brannere@wlu.edu

FOCUS ON PUBLIC INTEREST

Summer Placement

Legal Aid of West Virginia

About the Experience

As my property professor often said, “beware of Kings of tiny kingdoms.” Working for Legal Aid, I finally gained an understanding of what she meant. For many of my clients, all of whom were below the poverty threshold, representation was their only salvation. Without it, they undoubtedly would have been dismissed without a thought. Representation matters. This legal degree I have chosen to pursue matters.

Summer Placement

New Jersey Office of the Public Defender

About the Experience

I gained one of the most important things from this experience – I realized that I am interested in doing litigation. That was a serious concern for me as I was not sure throughout my first year of law school whether I wanted to do litigation or transactional law. Going into law school, I believed I wanted to do transactional business law. This experience has made me realize that I want to do litigation related to white-collar defense.

Clinics: Growing While Helping Others

Connecting with Clients

Ben Halligan ’23L discusses his year as a student attorney in the Tax Clinic, helping clients resolve post-filing controversies with the IRS.

I joined the Tax Clinic because it gives students the opportunity to gain actual practice experience and provides a valuable service to people throughout Virginia. The clinic provides legal representation to low-income taxpayers who have post-filing controversies with the IRS or Virginia Department of Taxation. The structure of the clinic gives students the opportunity to learn about actual representation before we begin our legal practices. Clinic work has also been helpful in learning to work under time constraints and organize effectively. A deadline will not wait for me to finish work for another class, so I have developed a better ability to organize my work and schedule things ahead of time to stay organized.

When I began working in the Tax Clinic, I assumed that my conversations with clients would pertain mainly to their tax situations. As it turns out, this was not true. I was surprised with how I am able to connect with clients and learn about their lives outside of their taxes. Through our representation, we learn about our clients’ families, jobs and experiences. Clients love to discuss their interests, their children’s lives, and even the teams they root for. I love this part of the work—it is wonderful to be able to connect with clients in this way.

Help During the Hardest Times

Mallory Kostroff ’23L discusses her year as a student attorney in the Criminal Justice Clinic.

I chose to participate in the Criminal Justice Clinic because I wanted to serve my community through direct representation of clients in criminal district courts. I really loved the idea of the clinic because it gives students the opportunity to have actual cases and clients before becoming barred attorneys. Often in CJC, we are helping our clients through one of the hardest and scariest times of their lives. I have learned how to be an empathetic ear for my clients while effectively working with my client through every step of their criminal case. I have also developed my courtroom presence and how to be a zealous advocate for my clients both inside and outside of the courtroom.

Our professors provide excellent guidance and support to us but at the same time let us have complete control over our cases. All our clients are really our own clients, and we have complete autonomy over how to approach our case from start to finish. While this approach terrified me at first, it has allowed me to become a more confident version of myself. I like to describe their style as they let us swim on our own, but they have a life raft that they can use to pick us up in at any moment. They have shown us that not only can we swim on our own, but that we can swim successfully on our own.

Getting What They Deserve

Lexi Weber ’23L discusses her year helping miners get federal benefits.

Participating in the Black Lung Clinic gave me the opportunity to work with these incredibly deserving miners directly and help them navigate the complex administrative system to obtain the benefits that they deserve. Additionally, I wanted to gain real-world experience in handling client cases and apply the knowledge I had gained from my 1L and 2L doctrinal classes in a practical setting. I recognized that the clinic would help me strengthen my litigation skills, including research, writing and oral advocacy . Having the chance to develop these skills while also having a tangible impact on the lives of others made the Black Lung Clinic an obvious choice for my 3L year.

Participating in the Black Lung Clinic has been one of the best experiences that I have had in law school, and both my written and oral advocacy skills have increased tremendously over the past year. This year, I had the chance to write a brief to the Fourth Circuit, which was an amazing (but also incredibly challenging) experience. Professor MacDonnell provided guidance and support every step of the way and helped me to refine my writing and advocacy skills. By the end of that experience, I felt exponentially more confident in my ability to navigate the brief writing process and advocate for a client in the most effective way possible.

ALEXIS SMITH ’24L

ARTEM VOLYNSKY ’24L

Shaughnessy “Pressed Us In Civ Pro”

BY JEFF HANNA

ver four decades, hundreds, if not thousands, of W&L Law’s 1Ls were introduced to the law as a discipline by Professor Joan M. (Shaun) Shaughnessy in Civil Procedure.

Shaughnessy, the first Roger Groot Professor of Law, retired in December after 39 years at W&L. When the Law School’s social media channels carried notice of her “clap out” after her last class, many former students posted comments about her impact on their lives and careers. Civ Pro was a common theme.

On LinkedIn, Katherine Suttle Weinert ’05L wrote: “I loved how much Professor Shaughnessy pressed us in Civ Pro, really forcing us to think deeply, critically, and strategically.” James D. Coleman 05L was concise: “Actually learned something useful from her in Civ Pro.”

Shaughnessy said that if pressed to choose from among all the courses she has taught, she’d rate Civil Procedure as her favorite. She liked teaching Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure and found that students enjoyed Evidence. But Civ Pro accorded her “the great pleasure of teaching 1Ls when they first come and seeing them learn a whole new way of thinking. Some people seemed to come by it almost naturally while others have a ‘Eureka!’ moment when they finally start to see things coming together.”

And for some people, the comprehension comes even later.

“I had students who would come back in the fall of their second year and tell me, ‘You won’t believe it, but this summer I worked on a motion for summary judgment!’” Shaughnessy recalled. “I would wonder, ‘Did you think I was inventing motions for summary judgment? Did you not believe there was such a thing in the world?’ But procedure takes them that way because procedural law regulates the world of lawyering, and that’s not a world they know.”

Shaughnessy entered the legal world almost by accident. As an undergraduate majoring in anthropology at the State University of New York at Binghamton, she made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take the LSATs.

“My mother wanted me to be a bilingual secretary. I took a lot of French and spent a semester in France. This was a time when people were just starting to think about what careers were open to women,” she said. “My roommate wanted to go to law school but was nervous about the LSATs. I didn’t know what the test was, but I said I’d take them with her. It is still embarrassing to admit how notthought-out that decision was.”

At the University of Chicago Law School Shaughnessy was associate editor of the law review and a member of the Order of the Coif. After gradu-

ating, she joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York and spent five years litigating high-profile financial cases during the era of hostile takeovers.

“If you saw ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ those were the cases. It was interesting enough work,” she said.

came was most of the senior people who were here when I arrived spent the rest of their careers here,” she said. “There was a whole gang of people who were here for the duration, and it was a very closeknit group. I had the great benefit of working with and learning from them.”

Included among that group was the late Roger Groot, whose name is on the professorship Shaughnessy holds. She valued Groot as a true mentor not only for his students but also for herself. Shaughnessy’s inaugural lecture for the Groot professorship addressed the critical role mentoring plays in professional success.

“A good mentor,” she said in her lecture, “is a treasure to be sought and once found to be prized.” She added that W&L has the prerequisites for good mentoring in place because of a tradition of putting a premium on working with students. But, she cautioned, “[S]tudents need to actively seek out mentors and faculty need to keep a lookout for students who are in particular need of guidance.”

One of Shaughnessy’s longtime colleagues, Mary Natkin, Clinical Professor of Law, Emerita, described her as reliable, supportive, selfless, incisive, and “just so damn smart.” Added Natkin: “I don’t think you can name a big thing the university has done that Shaun hasn’t had a role in. She cared about the job. She cared about her students. She is kind of the soul of the place. I honestly don’t know how it will function without her.”

Another former colleague, Mark Grunewald, the James P. Morefield Professor of Law, Emeritus, described Shaughnessy’s service to the institution as boundless. “The impact of Shaun’s career at W&L goes well beyond the Law School. Her extraordinarily good judgment and commitment to effective faculty governance made her a sought-after choice and successful member of many of the most important university committees,” said Grunewald. “At the same time, Shaun has been a leader in developing collaborative curricular arrangements between the Law School and the College through offering courses on a cross-listed basis, as well as taking on a faculty role in the Shepherd Poverty Program.”

“But after five years as a mid-level associate, it was time to leave.”

When she began looking at law school for a teaching position, W&L Law was on her radar partly because her parents, who were living in Frederick, Maryland, had friends who were W&L alumni and spoke highly of their alma mater.

“One great thing about W&L in the years after I

As a core faculty member of the Shepherd Program, Shaughnessy taught a course on child abuse and neglect for both law students and undergraduates. She said she always enjoyed getting to know and to work with faculty on the other side of the ravine.

“The size of the place helps in terms of being part of the entire community of the university,” said Shaughnessy. “But you have to want to be involved in it. I think this is a wonderful place, and I’m proud to have been part of it. I hope it continues to be a wonderful place.”

“One great thing about W&L in the years after I came was most of the senior people who were here when I arrived spent the rest of their careers here. There was a whole gang of people who were here for the duration, and it was a very close-knit group. I had the great benefit of working with and learning from them.”

Professor Shaughnessy during her “clap out” in December 2022.

Moliterno Led Third-Year Curriculum

Jim Moliterno, who retired this year after 14 years at W&L Law, was already an established leader in legal education when he arrived in 2009 as the Vincent Bradford Professor of Law. Then-Dean Rod Smolla had recruited Moliterno to lead the design and implementation of the Law School’s revolutionary third-year curriculum, which consisted entirely of practice-based simulations, real client experiences, and advanced explorations into legal ethics and professionalism.

The school—and Moliterno—made headlines with this reform, the first major evolution of the upper-level curriculum at any law school since the arrival of legal clinics. While the program has evolved in the decade since its launch, the focus on experiential education ushered in by Moliterno remains a key feature of W&L Law, with all students required to complete numerous credits of practice-based instruction in order to graduate.

For 21 years prior to joining W&L, Moliterno was the Tazewell Taylor Professor of Law, Director of the Legal Skills Program, and director of Clinical Programs at the College of William & Mary. He was the architect of William and Mary’s ethics, skills, and professionalism program, which in 1991 won the inaugural American Bar Association Gambrell Professionalism Award.

in Education Award from the Virginia State Bar Section on the Education of Lawyers in Virginia.

“Jim’s passion for improving the legal profession broadly and the ethical administration of law by lawyers and judges know no geographical

ethical manner.”

Beyond his work at law schools, Moliterno has traveled throughout the world to help countries develop ethics policies and training programs. He has designed new lawyer and judge ethics courses in Serbia, Armenia, Georgia, Czech Republic, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. He has trained law professors in China, Thailand, Georgia, Armenia and Serbia. He has trained judges in Kosovo and both judges and prosecutors in Indonesia. He has worked to revise the lawyer ethics code in Thailand and Georgia and lectured extensively on international lawyer ethics topics in Spain, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

How can a teacher of such complex topics be so effective across that many different languages and cultures? Soledad Atienza, dean of the IE Law School in Madrid, suggests it is due to Moliterno’s ability to adapt across all circumstances, recalling a talk he gave during a panel.

“He was not only brilliant in his speech, but he said he would speak slowly so that all those non-English speakers would understand him,” said Atienza. “His communication skills are such, that some non-English speakers in the audience said, ‘I understood every word, I did not know my English was so good!’’

For evidence of Moliterno’s impact abroad, one need look no further than former Soviet Georgia, where he participated in a number of USAID projects. Irina Lortkipanidze, a regional rule of law advisor, noted that the Georgian translation of his book “Global Issues in Legal Ethics” was the first book on lawyer ethics available in the Georgian language and said Moliterno’s work was instrumental in shaping the future of the legal profession in that country.

“He was able to take a system that was in its infancy and develop it into a model that other bar associations across Europe could look to as an example,” said Lortkipanidze.

No surprise, then, that his work in that country earned him the nickname “Father of Ethics.”

Indeed, he has been recognized throughout his career for his work advancing legal education, both in the U.S. and abroad. In 2012 he received the Rebuilding Justice Award from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System and in 2017 received the William R. Rakes Leadership

Faculty Notes

DAVID BALUARTE has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant that will take him to Iberoamericana University (IBERO) in Mexico City, where he will teach in the Refugee Law Clinic and assist in the development of clinical legal education more broadly at the University.

BRANDON HASBROUCK was among the most downloaded from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) in 2022. His work was downloaded nearly 13,500 times during the year, placing him 16th on a list combining scholars from all categories of legal research. He placed 10th in downloads for U.S. law professors.

Scholarship by SARAH HAAN on sexism in corporate governance was featured

bounds,” said Brant Hellwig, former dean of W&L Law. “I have admired and indeed have often been amazed at his unbridled passion not only for teaching students substantive law, but for doing so in a manner that will allow them to effectively and efficiently serve their clients in a professional and

While Moliterno’s time teaching in Lewis Hall is at an end, his William & Mary colleague Jim Heller believes the work that has defined his career will go on.

“I doubt that ‘retire’ is a word in Jim Moliterno’s vocabulary,” said Heller. “I suspect he will be engaged in training lawyers and judges, if not students, for many years to come.”

recently in a commentary by New York Times business and economic columnist Peter Coy. Coy interviewed Haan and cites extensively from her Stanford Law Review article “Corporate Governance and the Feminization of Capital,” which explores the largely forgotten history women played as corporate shareholders and details their early fights for inclusion on corporate boards.

KISH PARELLA was appointed to Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation as an International Research Fellow. The Centre for Corporate Reputation is an independent research center within Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. Through their international research fellows program, the Centre partners with leading

scholars like Professor Parella to research the role of social evaluations in business and society.

ALAN TRAMMEL’s new article “The False Promise of Jurisdiction Stripping” was accepted for presentation at the Harvard/ Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, regarded as the premier conference for junior and mid-career scholars. The article, coauthored with Dan Epps of Washington University in St. Louis, will be published in the Columbia Law Review in November.

MELANIE WILSON was chosen to serve as president-elect of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) during the AALS annual meeting on January 7, 2023. Wilson has served

the AALS in numerous capacities, including membership on its Executive Committee since 2020.

KAREN WOODY has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA is a government-authorized not-forprofit organization that works to ensure the integrity of financial markets through oversight of the more than 624,000 securities brokers and dealers across the country. Using AI and machine learning, FINRA analyzes billions of market events daily to support investors, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders.

“Jim’s passion for improving the legal profession broadly and the ethical administration of law by lawyers and judges know no geographical bounds. I have admired and indeed have often been amazed at his unbridled passion not only for teaching students substantive law, but for doing so in a manner that will allow them to effectively and efficiently serve their clients in a professional and ethical manner.”

–Brant Hellwig, former dean

Law Alumni Weekend 2023

More

During the awards ceremony on Saturday, Dean Melanie Wilson announced the recipients of the Outstanding Alumnus/a Award, Volunteer of the Year Award and Young Volunteer of the Year Award.

The Outstanding Alumus/a Award was given to David “Freedi” Friedfeld ’83L. Friedfeld is president of ClearVision Optical, one of the largest familyowned eyewear distributors in North America. Based in Hauppauge, New York, ClearVision designs and distributes eyewear and sunwear for 12 distinctive designer brands. ClearVision Optical has been named one of the Best Companies to Work for in New York State for eight years, most recently in 2023.

The Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to two recipients this year, Nan Hannah and Tom Mitchell, both of the Law Class of 1993 celebrating their

30th reunion. Hannah is partner at Hannah Sheridan & Cochran in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose practice focuses on construction law. Mitchell serves as the managing partner and chair of the Management Committee of Moore & Van Allen in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to taking on the role as managing partner in 2018, he served as head of the Financial Services group.

The Young Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Kit Thomas ’18L After law school, Thomas clerked in the U.S. Court of Appeals and U.S. District Court of Western Kentucky, and is now an assistant federal public defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender of the Middle District of Tennessee.

than 300 Washington and Lee law school alumni and guests returned for this year’s reunion celebration, held April 14-16 in Lexington.

Brian Buckmire with wife Victoria and son Reid.

The Law Class of 2018 featured Young Volunteer of the Year, Kit Thomas.

Great turnout for the Law Class of 2013 for their ten-year reunion.

New this year at Law Alumni Weekend — a pickleball tournament!

Stanley Sacks ’44, ’48L

Virginia’s, and perhaps the nation’s, oldest practicing lawyer.

BY JEFF HANNA

ou’d think that after 75 years as a practicing attorney, Stanley Sacks ’44, ’48L, would be ready to put up his feet and enjoy a well-earned retirement.

You’d be wrong.

Sacks celebrated his 101st birthday in May, and he’s still working with no intention of stopping yet. The work keeps him going — along with his daily bowl of oatmeal plus the longevity genes passed down from his father, Herman, a 1911 W&L Law graduate who lived to be 97.

Sacks doesn’t go to court these days and hasn’t been to the Sacks & Sacks office in downtown Norfolk since the pandemic began. He has been managing his caseload from the kitchen table of his home.

“I have files piled on both sides of the table and a nearby chair with another stack about a foot and a half high,” Sacks said. “It keeps me challenged. I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

Last year Dee Norman, editor of Virginia Lawyer, the Virginia State Bar Association’s publication, asked other state bar associations if anyone could identify a 100-year-old attorney practicing in their states.

“The only other bar that we heard from was Florida,” Norman said. “But the attorney they identified was younger than Mr. Sacks and had been practicing for a shorter amount of time. Until someone comes forward, Mr. Sacks holds the title!”

Sacks entered W&L as an undergraduate in the fall of 1940 planning to follow his father into the law. As a sophomore, he was living at the ZBT house in December 1941 when news of Pearl Harbor broke. Neither he nor his frat brothers knew where Pearl Harbor was, but they knew their college careers would soon be interrupted.

Sacks enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. He trained as a radio aerial gunner but failed an eye exam just before deploying to Europe. After two years shuttling between 13 U.S. bases, he was shipped to the Pacific where he served until the war’s end.

Once he was back home, Sacks took advantage of a W&L program that permitted returning students to

“I never thought, even for one minute, of doing anything unethical,” Sacks said. “If I told the other side I had a witness, then I had a witness. I never exaggerated. To do that, to cut a corner, would have taken away the joy. It’d be like cheating at golf — you might get a good result, but I’d never want to win that way.”

After W&L, Sacks immediately joined his father’s practice where they handled every type of case that came their way. Then, in the early 1950s, he began specializing in personal injury law and found it was a natural fit because he enjoyed “the dignified scrapping” of outwitting an opposing attorney.

The number and types of cases Sacks handled over three-quarters of a century are vast and varied.

In 1980, Sacks’ son, Andrew, joined the family practice, which meant three generations practiced together for three years until Herman’s death in 1983.

“I can hardly believe how fortunate I’ve been to have my father as a mentor,” Andrew said. “I just followed him around during my first six months. It was like a living law school. He taught me everything.”

That included a refusal to take shortcuts.

“He is by far the most ethical lawyer I’ve ever seen. That is his paramount driving force,” said Andrew. “It’s a difficult profession, especially the criminal defense cases we have. But he’s skilled at being able to push to the limit without going over the line. He’s taught me how to navigate these difficult shoals we come upon.”

apply their undergraduate electives to law school and to finish in two years. Because W&L’s semester had started by the time Sacks got out of the service, he worked in his father’s law office for several months before starting classes.

“Seeing an actual law practice underway was a big advantage for me and contributed so much to my success in law school,” he said. “I think students who don’t have that practical experience may not fully understand what it means to be a lawyer. I’ve read memoirs from people who have recalled their first year of law school as a terrible experience, but it wasn’t hard for me because of those months with my father.”

W&L had slightly more than 200 law students in those immediate post-war years, including 66 in Sacks’ class. He appreciated the advantage of the small classes and remembers how three or four students would crowd around a professor’s desk for additional conversation at the end of every period. He also credits the Honor System and the atmosphere of civility for instilling an ethical foundation, which has been central to his career.

They range from a groundbreaking string of suits against major film distributors to representing heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

The cases against motion picture distributors in the 1970s broke new legal ground. Mom-and-pop movie theaters in the Tidewater area were being denied access to Hollywood blockbusters in favor of big theater chains. Sacks sued the distributors and eventually eliminated the discrimination.

In 1983, a lawyer friend in California recommended the Sacks firm to Ali who was suing the government and the World Boxing Association to recover $50 million in damages he allegedly suffered when he was denied conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War. That case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out.

Sacks discovered that politics offered the same “dignified scrapping” he liked about trial law. In 1966, he won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, campaigning to “Get Virginia Out of the Byrd Cage” in opposition to the Harry Byrd machine. After two successful terms, Sacks chose not to run again because his father asked him to return to the firm.

Andrew marvels at the fact that his father has been an eyewitness to history on so many levels. For example, he was stationed on le Shima, a small island in the Pacific, when the Japanese surrender delegation, wearing tuxes and top hats, arrived to refuel on their way to meet General Douglas MacArthur in 1945. Then, in 1968 as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, he had a ringside seat to the craziness in Chicago where delegates fought in the convention hall while protesters and police brawled in the streets.

And when it comes to changes in the way the law is practiced, he’s witnessed dramatic changes, too — from carbon paper to copy machines, from messenger services to faxes. But nothing has had a greater impact than the way legal research is conducted. Where Sacks once spent hours combing through the law books that lined his office walls, today he can find the answers he needs from his kitchen table by using his cell phone to search Google and other databases.

“That’s made it so much easier from a practical standpoint,” he said.

What hasn’t changed, and shouldn’t, Sacks said, are the fundamentals he preaches: hard work and solid preparation.

“Preparation is the watchword for me,” Sacks said. “You must work hard. There’s no easy way to do the job, and I wouldn’t want one. I enjoy the job as much now as when I started, and I’ll keep going as long as I can.”

Stanley Sacks ’44, ’48L managing his caseload from the kitchen table of his home.

“Preparation is the watchword for me. You must work hard. There’s no easy way to do the job, and I wouldn’t want one. I enjoy the job as much now as when I started, and I’ll keep going as long as I can.”

Comfort from His Discomfort

The entrepreneurial spirit of John Henry ’98L

BY JEFF HANNA

ohn Henry ’98L defines himself as a possibilitarian.

Coined by Norman Vincent Peale of positive thinking fame, a “possibilitarian,” as defined by the Urban Dictionary, is someone who possesses “the ability not only to think outside the box but also to blow the box up in order to meet the goal.”

That aptly describes how Henry has maneuvered through a series of seemingly disparate careers over the past 25 years.

He’s been a real estate attorney and the in-house general counsel for a shopping mall developer. He’s developed a major mall on his own and has worked on affordable housing. He’s founded two companies to tackle issues of disparities in telecommunications and energy in low-wealth communities and is using profits from those companies to introduce students from those communities to the latest technologies.

“It takes courage,” said Henry of his career path. “You have to go all in with what you believe. I try not to make dumb bets. But if I think it’s a good bet, I’ll go all in on it. That’s the entrepreneurial life. You get comfort from your discomfort.”

Of course, it also helps if you’re competitive by nature, and Henry is that. The first in his family to attend college and law school, he was all-conference in football as a strong safety for Bucknell University where he majored in history and political science.

Football is what brought him to W&L Law. Before Bucknell, he played at Mercersburg Academy where his coach for two years was Frank Miriello, who left Mercersburg to coach at Washington and Lee. Miriello, the Generals’ head coach for 17 seasons, tried to recruit Henry to play for W&L.

“I wanted a Division I experience, so I chose Bucknell,” said Henry. “But when I was looking for law schools, I remembered Coach Miriello and Washington and Lee. I’d gone to Mercersburg, a small school in a small town, and to Bucknell, a small school in a small town. W&L and Lexington followed that blueprint.”

Henry said the intimacy of the W&L environment led to unique friendships and bonds that continue to this day.

“You can’t hide at W&L,” he said. “It requires you to put your best foot forward and grapple with some of the best and brightest minds. Once you get to a certain point in your career, you’re supposed to be the one with all the answers. But I miss those days of mixing it up in the classroom, the debates and discourse.”

In addition to the bonds with classmates, Henry has lasting memories of the faculty. Torts class with Brian Murchison and Contracts with Sam Calhoun stand out. So do his interactions with the late Roger Groot. “Professor Groot was the GOAT,” said Henry. “He had that steely sort of calm disposition and helped you believe in yourself even when you didn’t. He constantly challenged me be the best version of myself with his unique style.”

Henry entered law school planning to become a real estate developer. After a few years in practice specializing in real estate law with firms in Richmond and Washington, D.C., he disregarded the counsel of his family and friends and took a significant pay cut to join Pyramid Management Group, the largest developer of shopping centers in the Northeast.

“I wanted to get away from the law and get closer to the economics of deals. That was my missing piece,” Henry said.

He considered the Pyramid experience akin to getting an MBA, and his next step was to go out on his own. By the time he was 30 years old, he had a real estate deal of his own —a 400,000-square-foot mall in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He acquired the land, established relationships with the local government,

handled zoning issues, negotiated tenant leases, and dealt with local community opposition.

“It was a huge capital undertaking. There are a lot of barriers to entry, and there’s a lot of luck involved in bringing a project of this size to fruition,” said Henry. “It’s where opportunity meets luck meets hard work.”

Henry subsequently spent several years working on affordable housing issues in Charleston, South Carolina, and Richmond, where he’d seen redlining happening with respect to Internet and broadband availability. The disparities disturbed him because access to reliable internet connections is central to acquiring the skills necessary to compete now.

In 2010, he founded Chariot Companies to create strategies in telecommunications for low-income communities in Philadelphia. Then, in 2015, Henry linked up with top telecommunications manufacturers and told them he wanted to become their exclusive

programming, allowing Henry to expose students from low-wealth areas to “all these cool toys” that his company uses.

Drones are one of those cool toys. Working with the National Black Empowerment Council and the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania where he’s now a board member, Henry is developing a curriculum that can help students earn their FAA drone licenses.

“These kids who’ve grown up with controllers in their hands are adept at flying drones,” said Henry, who is in the process of getting his license along with his 18-year-old son. “This is also a way of hooking them on science. It’s exciting to see how we’ve been able to sustain a business and do some cool things that can get kids inspired to go into these fields.”

Among the initiatives that Henry’s companies sponsor is the Xtreme 5 Teen Tech Summit in which

minority resale partner in North America. They took a risk on the plan he proposed, and Grace3 Technologies was established as a nationally certified minority business that specializes in providing communications technologies to federal and state law enforcement agencies, first responders, and utility companies.

“We provide internet connectivity in austere and challenging environments,” he said. “For instance, at every kind of event where there’s a safety concern, law enforcement can utilize our technologies to provide real-time communications through video transmission equipment and with reliable connectivity.

“If you’d asked me 30 years ago if my day job would be working with police officers all the time, I would have said a resounding ‘No way!’”

Even as his company expanded and began to manufacture its own equipment, Henry didn’t forget why he’d started the company in the first place, which was to help find solutions to the issue of digital inequity. Consequently, Grace3 donates 20 percent of its net profit to STEM education

kids from all over the city of Philadelphia spend a day at the Science History Institute immersed in robots and drones and body cameras and SWAT vehicles. As Henry observed, the event has multiple benefits. Students who might not otherwise have an opportunity are surrounded not only by the latest technology but also by representatives from the law enforcement agencies that are clients of Grace3.

“Our goal is to create spaces to expose to the technology and hook them. At the same time, kids come away with respect for that police officer they flew drones with,” Henry said. “One of our tacit goals is to help those relationships between African American and minority youth and the law enforcement communities.”

What’s next for Henry? He isn’t sure, but he’ll keep looking for new opportunities.

“That’s how I challenge and push myself,” he said. “I have to squeeze every ounce of ‘oomph’ I have in me.”

After all, there are always possibilities for a possibiliterian.

“You can’t hide at W&L. It requires you to put your best foot forward and grapple with some of the best and brightest minds. Once you get to a certain point in your career, you’re supposed to be the one with all the answers. But I miss those days of mixing it up in the classroom, the debates and discourse.”

CLASS UPDATES AND SUCCESS STORIES

TRANSITIONS:

Elizabeth Branner Preparing to Retire

After 24 years of service to the law school, Elizabeth Outland Branner will step down from her position this summer into a part-time role as she prepares to retire from the University. She joined the Law School in 1999 as assistant director of Law School Relations, and took over the lead role in the Law Advancement office in 2008.

Fundraising and alumni relations have thrived under her leadership, as she oversaw significant growths in annual giving and the endowment. Beyond that, her reputation within the law alumni community contributed greatly to the success of the admissions and career offices. As Dean Wilson said in her message announcing Elizabeth’s decision, “She knows everyone, and they all love her.”

A national search is underway to fill the position of assistant dean of Law School Advancement. Elizabeth will stay on for a year to help the successful candidate acclimate to the job. After that, you will likely find her somewhere in Lexington or near the water in Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In the meantime, she shares below some thoughts about her tenure at W&L Law.

If you could convey one message to alumni, what would it be?

W&L Law is a wonderful institution, worthy of your support. We attract amazing students who want to

70s

1973

Wat Ellerson published “Don’t Read This Book!,” a collection of essays, poems, songs, jokes, and guides initially posted on the author’s blog, beginning in 2007. He encourages Law alumni to check out his essay on the “W&L Country Club” on page 19. You can find his book on Amazon.

1979

make a difference in the world. The faculty are committed to the students, both in and out of the classroom. The community is a collaborative, supportive one. It is amazing what this little law school in the Valley of Virginia accomplishes year in and year out. What will you miss most about W&L Law?

The people – alumni, faculty, and staff. Washington and Lee attracts a special kind of person. I have enjoyed the relationships I have formed with the people connected to W&L. They have inspired me with their generosity of spirit and resources.

Dan Beyer retired from Kerr Russell in Detroit, Michigan, at the end of 2022. His 43 years of practice at the firm included defense of physicians in medical malpractice actions and handling title insurance claims, and other miscellaneous matters.

Kevin Cosgrove joined Willcox Savage in Norfolk. His practice focuses on construction litigation, government contracts, and maritime matters.

80s

1984

On Feb.6, 2023, Kevin Rardin was sworn in as a judge magistrate in the Shelby County Juvenile Court of Memphis, Tennessee. He was an assistant district attorney in Memphis from 1984 to 2016. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps, retiring in 2010 with the rank of lieutenant colonel and earned a Bronze Star Medal

’76L Takes on Sorrento

Favorite place at the Law School?

The Saturday night dance floor on Law Alumni Weekend!

Favorite place in Lexington?

The Southern Inn bar on Friday night.

Share a story that to you conveys what W&L Law is all about?

We found ourselves in a challenging financial situation in 2014-15, when the 2008 market collapse finally made its way to law schools. Knowing we couldn’t tackle this on our own, we turned to the law alumni, sending a letter in February 2015 from Law Council president (now Trustee) William Toles ’92 ‘95L which asked for three things: recommend W&L Law to prospective students, assist our current students with their job search, and support the Law Annual Fund. The response we received from that letter was tremendous. The alumni stepped up and we were able to work our way out of that hole, ahead of schedule. It was, and continues to be, a testament to the experience the majority of our alumni had while at W&L Law and the resulting dedication and commitment they feel.

My favorite quote from those days came from then Dean Brant Hellwig: “We have a lot to accomplish, but there’s no reason we can’t have a lot fun while we’re at it!”

for his service in Afghanistan. In 2016, he joined the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office, representing children in juvenile court. He lives in Germantown, Tennessee, with his wife, Ellen. 90s

1990

Scot Duvall joined the firm Stites & Harbison in the Louisville, Kentucky office. He joins the firm as a partner in the Intellectual Property & Technology Service Group.

Mary Fran Ebersole rejoined Tydings and Rosenberg LLP, in Baltimore, as counsel in its business, bankruptcy/ creditors’ rights, and litigation departments.

1993

William L. Callahan was appointed by Maryland Governor Hogan as a judge for the Maryland Tax Court.

John P. Shea was elevated to principal with the firm Jackson Lewis. He is an attorney in the firm’s Hartford office and represents public and private employers in labor and employment law matters.

Jon Spear, Steve Rosenthal, Hal Clarke, Nan Clarke, Dick Hooker, Steve McGraw, and Hiram Ely gathered during an Alumni College trip on the Amalfi Coast wearing replicas of their intramural t-shirts from the 1975-76 season, which they won after amassing more points than any other undergraduate or law team in various sports. They even won wrestling after the group put Nan in the competition and all the boys refused to wrestle her. Victory!

Hon. Robert Payne ’63, ’67L Receives Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award

The Honorable Robert E. Payne ’63, ’67L, senior United States district court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), has been awarded the prestigious Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award for 2023 by the Virginia State Bar Section on Criminal Law.

The award, established in 1991, recognizes “an individual (judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, clerk or other citizen) who has made a singular and unique contribution to the improvement of the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Judge Payne received the Carrico Award at the 53rd annual Criminal Law Seminar on Feb. 10 in Williamsburg.

Judge Payne began his legal career in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps before joining McGuireWoods in Richmond, where he worked from 1977 to 1992. Payne was nominated to the bench by President George H.W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 1992, with his nomination reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Jacqueline M. Reiner, chair of the VSB Criminal Law Section, nominated Judge Payne for the Carrico Award, writing, “His hallmark trait is his mentorship of his colleagues on the bench, his clerks, and the attorneys who appear before him. He values common sense, compassion, and

1994

Todd A. Rodriguez has been named Fox Rothschild’s next firmwide managing partner, effective April 1, 2023. Rodriguez has served as co-chair of the firm’s nationwide Health Care Department since 2008 and previously served as the Exton (Pa.) office managing partner. In his legal practice, he has more than two decades of experience representing health care providers.

1999

David Leshner was appointed as a United States magistrate judge in the Southern District of California.

00s

2000

Andrea Short was named chief litigation counsel at Verizon.

2001

Melissa O’Boyle joined Gentry Locke’s Criminal & Government Investigations practice group in Roanoke as a partner.

2002

Duncan Byers is the owner and principal at Byers Law in Virginia Beach, focusing on intellectual property law and complex civil litigation throughout the United States.

Dave Michnal joined Clifford Chance in Washington, D.C., as an antitrust attorney.

2003

Carrie Freed joined Omni Bridgeway in New York City as investment manager and legal counsel.

Adam Packer joined PrizePicks in Atlanta as senior vice president. He works remotely from Indianapolis.

2006

Tammy Graham joined the United States District Court for the Northern District of California as a death penalty law clerk.

Katie Markeson was promoted to chief operations counsel at The AES Corporation in Los Angeles.

2007

Michael Germano joined Allied World as associate vice president, North American Claims Group.

2008

Lisa Goldman joined Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas in Washington, D.C., as a principal.

Josh Payne formed Campbell Miller Payne with fellow W&L alum Jordan Campbell ’08 whom he met while they both served on the EC. The firm represents individuals in the detransitioner community pursuing claims for health care related injuries.

2009

Ryan Germany, who served as general counsel to the Georgia Secretary of State for the past nine years, joined Gilbert Harrell Sumerford & Martin in Atlanta as a partner. His practice focuses on election law and regulatory and government investigations.

Bradley Henson opened Henson Immigration Law in Washington, D.C.

Nerissa Rouzer joined the University of Virginia as associate university counsel.

10s

2010

civility both in the courtroom as well as the community.”

Reiner also wrote that Judge Payne has been influential in clarifying the Eastern District’s criminal discovery disclosure obligations as set forth in Beckford and its progeny, and she noted that in her interactions with him, “His intellect and compassion is apparent in each and every proceeding.”

Richard Cullen, counselor to Governor Glenn Youngkin, has known Judge Payne for 45 years since their early days together at McGuireWoods. Cullen expressed his deep admiration for Judge Payne’s court, writing, “First, litigants know that he will be so well prepared that they better leave nothing to chance. Second, he teaches trial combatants to be civil with each other — conduct that is desperately needed in today’s world.”

Judge Payne was a litigator at McGuireWoods for many years becoming a judge in 1992. He took senior status in 2007 but continues to hear cases in the Eastern District. During his career, Judge Payne has heard many significant cases, and his decisions often set the parameters of criminal litigation in the district. For example, one of his decisions is cited in the discovery order used in every single case heard in the Eastern District.

for the new House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Jeff Wieand joined Wilmer Hale in Washington, D.C., as a public policy advisor.

2014

2015

Lauren Brown joined Stanley Black & Decker in Nashville as corporate counsel.

Chris Fetzer joined the British-American Business Association as president. This is in addition to his role at Dentons, where he is a partner and leader of the National Security and Foreign Policy Team.

Courtney Gahm-Oldham, an attorney with Frost Brown Todd in Houston, serves as an adjunct professor of the animal law clinic at South Texas College of Law Houston. She credits Beth Belmont for creating the spark.

2012

Jack Headland joined Mills & Cahill in New Haven, Connecticut, as an associate.

2013

Rockwell Bower joined DLA Piper as Of Counsel in the firm’s Dallas office.

Andrew Cronauer joined Longboard Pharmaceuticals in San Diego as assistant general counsel.

Callie Hale joined ACOUSTI in Orlando as vice president, Legal/Corporate Counsel.

Daniel Howell was promoted to partner at McGuireWoods in Richmond.

Anthony D. Raucci was promoted to special counsel by the Delaware law firm Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP. He is an intellectual property litigator, focused on district court patent litigation.

After a decade on Capitol Hill, and nearly six years working

Tyler Black was named partner at Thompson Coburn in Washington, D.C. His practice focuses on comprehensive trade compliance advice.

Greg Crapanzano joined Huth Reynolds in Richmond as counsel.

Randall Miller joined Munsch in Dallas as a shareholder.

Priscilla Williams was named partner with Christian and Small in Birmingham, where she focuses her civil defense litigation practice on construction defect matters, insurance, premises liability, and transportation.

Stephen Hall joined King, Campbell, Poretz & Mitchell in Alexandria, Virginia.

Morgan Kinney joined Littler Mendelson in Washington, D.C., as an associate.

Garrett Rice was promoted to partner with Ross Aronstam & Morit in Wilmington, Delaware. His practice focuses on corporate litigation.

Steven Schrader joined LoTempio P.C. Law Group in Buffalo as an attorney.

R. Chandler Wilson joined Auburn University as a contract administrator III.

Kat Statman ’14L, Linda Klein ’83L, and Buckner Welford ’81L attended a shareholder retreat in Washington, D.C., for their firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Statman, from the firm’s Houston office, was elevated to Shareholder earlier this year. Interesting side note: Welford, from the Memphis office, was Klein’s Burks Scholar when she was a 1L. Klein, a former ABA president, is managing shareholder of the firm’s Atlanta office. In attendance (but not pictured) also was Charles Grant ’91L of the Nashville Office.

Lisa Hedrick ’08L Named 2022 Mergers and Acquisitions Legal Advisor of the Year

Lisa J. Hedrick, a member of the law class of 2008 and a partner in the firm of Hirschler Fleischer, was named the 2022 Mergers and Acquisitions Legal Advisor of the Year by the M&A Advisor, an industry publication and professional network.

Hedrick, a summa cum laude graduate of the law school, developed an interest in business law while at W&L Law thanks to classes with Professor Lyman Johnson. But she was several years into her practice career before she began working in M&A.

“About two years into my career, I sat down and reflected about what type of projects I liked and what I wanted to do and M&A was the answer,” said Hedrick. “So I took a deep dive and really became intentional about pursuing M&A as a career path.”

In 2014, she founded Richmond Women in M&A, a networking organization for women deal professionals, including lawyers, bankers, private equity investors, and accountants. In 2016, she was named Young Lawyer of the Year by the Richmond Bar Association. She is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Mergers and Acquisi-

2016

Trevor Becton joined personal injury firm Miller & Miller in Atlanta as an attorney.

Paul Judge joined the U.S. Department of Commerce as an employment and labor law attorney.

Claire Leonard joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Washington, D.C., as a senior associate.

2018

Alan Carrillo joined Brown Fox PLLC, a business boutique law firm in Dallas and Frisco, Texas, as a civil litigation and corporate bankruptcy associate in Dallas.

Mark Dewyea joined Shield AI in Washington, D.C., as assistant to the president.

Ali Hakusui was named business development manager at Capital One where she will help grow the reach of Capital One’s Trade Credit and Strategic Card Partnership divisions.

Katie Sheild joined Brooklyn Defender Services in New York as an immigration staff attorney.

Kit Thomas joined the Federal Public Defender Office, Middle District of Tennessee, in Nashville, as an assistant federal public defender, Capital Habeas Unit.

2019

Timur Dikec joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Pittsburgh as an associate.

Arman Nikkhoo joined Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons in Houston as an associate.

2000

Jacqueline Bontjes joined Slayton Law, PLC in Charlottesville as an attorney.

Natey Ndlovu joined Blankingship & Keith in Fredericksburg, Virginia, as a litigation associate.

Mary Kate Nicholson joined Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C., as an associate.

Kat Phillips joined the U.S. Department of Justice as an attorney advisor.

2021

Harper Lanier joined Butler Snow in Huntsville, Alabama, as an associate.

2022

Evanthea Hammer was admitted to the Deleware Bar.

Katie Turk joined Harrison, Turk & Turk in Blacksburg, Virginia, as an attorney.

WEDDINGS

Claire (Flowers) Healy ’19L to Daniel Healy on October 22, 2022, in Raleigh, North Carolina. W&L alumni in attendance (pictured from left to right) were Michael Lehr ’19L, Trav Clark 19L, Thomas Griffin 18L, Sally Griffin ’19L, Dory Rigney ’19L, Michael Brown ’19L, Quentin Becker ’19L, Danielle Novelly ’19L, Michael Cruz ’19L, Pierce Rigney ’19L, Matthew Bass ’19L, Michael DiBiagio ’19L, Katie Beaver ’19L, Hugh Brown ’19L. The couple resides in Raleigh.

tions Committee.

Hedrick is the chair of Hirschler’s M&A and Finance practices and handles transaction sizes ranging from $1 million to over $1 billion. In a recent interview with Virginia Lawyer magazine, she said she has made a name for herself with the number of transactions she is able to close — often three to four a month.

“Really, I think my number one role is to get the deal done,” Hedrick said. “And the thing I like about mergers and acquisitions as opposed to, say, litigation, is although there’s a counterparty, and there can be points that are adversarial where I certainly negotiate and advocate on behalf of my clients, at the end of the day, the goal is the same for both sides, which is: let’s get this transaction completed.”

Hedrick added that her attraction to M&A was rooted in the complexity of bringing two sides together, showing them the pros and the cons of the deal, and then negotiating the transaction so that the parties still like each other when the negotiation is closed.

BIRTHS AND ADOPTIONS

James F. “Jim” Douthat ’67L of Roanoke, Virginia, died Jan. 12, 2023.

Robert W. “Bob” Spessard Jr. ’66, ’69L of Floyd, Virginia, died on Oct. 5, 2022. He served in the United States Army during Vietnam and held a successful career as the only attorney in Floyd. He belonged to Delta Tau Delta.

Kat Phillips ’20L and her husband, Luke Nicastro, a daughter, Beatrice Noelle Nicastro, on July 11, 2022.

DEATHS

Frederick Mahan ’57L of San Fransisco, California, died Aug. 13, 2021.

Harold C. Craig Jr. ’58L of Emmitsburg, Maryland, died on March 6, 2021. Harold served in the U.S. Army, Company “B” 759th Military Police Battalion in Germany. He worked for the IRS for 42 years until his retirement.

Lawson “Brother” W. Turner ’72L of Little Rock, Arkansas, died on Sept. 2, 2022. Along with practicing law in both Lynchburg, Virginia, and Arkansas, he worked as a life skills teacher for prisoners at the Arkansas Department of Corrections, helping to prepare them for life after incarceration. He belonged to Sigma Chi.

Gregory W. Smith ’73, ’76L of Madison Heights, Virginia, died Dec. 7, 2022. He was in partnership with the law firm of Smith and Mays.

Eric M. Sevdy ’81L of Lexington, Kentucky, died Nov. 21, 2022.

Anna Moir ’18L to Mitchell Diles ’17L on April 30, 2022, in Richmond, Virginia. W&L alumni in attendance included Leanna Minix ’17L, Elizabeth Ellington Kemp ’18L, Jake Bolinger ’17L, Mason Williams ’17L, Abby Mulugeta ’17L, and John P. Fishwick, Jr. ’83L. The couple resides in Richmond.

Leilani Bartell ’20L to Chris Messersmith in Round Hill, Virginia, on Aug. 15, 2020. The couple resides in Richmond.

Frank W. “Bill” Ling ’53, ’60L of Springfield, Mississippi, died on Feb. 11, 2022. He belonged to Pi Kappa Phi.

Francis “Frank” Bell Blackmore ’63L of Staunton, Virginia, died on January 19, 2023.

Bruce R. Walker ’81L of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, died Jan. 21, 2023.

Megan A. Fairlie ’96L of Weston, Florida, died Dec. 29, 2022. She worked as a professor of law specializing in human rights.

Katie Ferguson ’23L to Blair Corbin on September 17 in Charlottesville. Katie Ferguson is shown with her parents Jim Ferguson ’88L, Alisa Hurley ’88L, and her husband Blair Corbin

The Honorable James “Jim” Sebrell Farmer Sr. ’65L of Lynchburg, Virginia, died on June 12, 2022. He served in the United States Air Force and was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to the General District Court Bench, where he served for 15 years. Following his retirement, he was awarded the Liberty Bell Award by the Lynchburg Bar Association.

Phillip H. Miller ’66L of Staunton, Virginia, died on Dec. 1, 2022.

2022-2023 Law Annual Fund is down more than 10% from last year.

The Law Annual Fund goal for 2022-2023 is $1,600,000 — an amount alumni giving surpassed in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

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