among other areas. Most recently, he represented Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, in a libel suit against Washington City Paper.
1999L
Justin D. Flamm, a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister L.L.P., will participate in the 2012-2013 class of Leadership Cincinnati. Carrie M. Risatti, of the Much
Shelist real estate law practice group, was elected to the executive committee of the International Alliance of Law Firms. She will also chair the organization’s marketing committee and oversee Alliance marketing and business development efforts. The International Alliance of Law Firms provides member firms and their clients with carefully vetted resources for legal services in major metropolitan areas worldwide.
2000L
2001L
W. Ryan Snow was elected managing partner of Crenshaw, Ware & Martin P.L.C in Norfolk, Va. Snow chairs the firm’s business disputes and construction law practice groups. He handles complex litigation in state and federal courts, with a focus on business litigation, construction law, railroad law and maritime law. He is listed as a Legal Elite in Virginia Business Magazine in the area of alternative dispute resolution.
Class Notes
As the Richmond Times-Dispatch observed in a recent feature story, Lynn Tavenner ’89L, has been deeply involved in some of the highest-profile bankruptcy cases in the Richmond area in recent years. Tavenner and her law partner, Paula Beran, run Tavenner & Beran P.L.C., which one retired bankruptcy judge called “the very definition of a quality boutique firm” in the Times-Dispatch piece. According to the paper, Tavenner & Beran “have played some role in nearly every major bankruptcy case to hit the Richmond region in the past five years.” Some of the names will be familiar: Circuit City, LandAmerica and the State Fair of Virginia. Both Tavenner and her partner were specializing in bankruptcy and restructuring cases at the Richmond firm LeClairRyan when they decided to join forces and strike out on their own. They believe their model has worked because they have specialized in one area. As Tavenner told the T-D, a firm of their size has flexibility. In larger firms, she noted, “if you spend a gazillion hours on a case and then at the end of the day, for whatever reason, it doesn’t pan out, that could be a huge issue somewhere else, but here it’s not.” Tavenner said that she had wanted to be a lawyer since seventh grade, but that it was only when a W&L professor suggested that she apply for a clerkship in the bankruptcy court that she began heading in that direction. And while some of their cases have involved major companies, their work runs the gamut, with some of their smaller clients dealing with more difficult circumstances. “In many instances, some of our most successful cases have been small mom and pops because you can actually see the results at the end of the day,” Tavenner said. “That is gratifying.”
2002L
Ryan A. Becker was promoted to
counsel in the New York office of Hunton & Williams L.L.P. in its complex commercial litigation practice group. Becker is a commercial litigator who focuses on structured finance, complex consumer finance and business litigation. He has significant experience in federal and state trial courts around the country, with particular emphasis on effective discovery, fact development and trial work. He also counsels and works with clients on litigation risk management, including conducting internal investigations and jury research. Becker joined the firm in 2002.
Steven L. Brinker joined the Wil-
Michael G. Abelow, of Sherrard
and Roe P.L.C., in Nashville, Tenn., is a board member of the Tennessee Justice Center. Abelow represents clients in business disputes, including breach of contract, Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, real property and broker-dealer cases. Abelow is a member of the executive committee of the litigation section of the Tennessee Bar Association and a member of the board of the Nashville chapter of the American Constitution Society. In 2009, Abelow received the Tennessee Bar Association’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award for his work on the Crabtree case, helping people with disabilities stay in their homes and communities and out of institutions.
Amy Burden Pocklington is
senior counsel at McGuireWoods in the area of business and securities litigation. She is based in Richmond.
liams Mullen corporate team as a partner. He will practice out of the firm’s Virginia Beach office and will focus on small to mid-sized businesses, assisting with a broad range of corporate, tax, alternative energy and commercial real estate matters. Brinker’s business practice includes client assistance with the formation, financing and development of business entities, including limited liability companies, C-corporations, S-corporations and partnerships, the representation of business entities and their owners in business acquisitions and sales transactions, and advice with respect to business structure issues and succession planning. Prior to joining Williams Mullen, Brinker was an attorney at McDermottWard in Hampton, Va.
John S. Buford was elected chair of
the North Carolina Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division for 2012-13. He has been named a North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star in business Winter
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