Class Notes Online

Alumni can also keep abreast of the recent activities of their classmates by reading about their information below.

The Magazine is published twice a year for the benefit of alumni and friends of the School of Law. Submissions received between February 1 and June 30 typically will appear in the fall issue and those received between July 1 and January 31 will appear in the spring issue.

Click here to fill out information about fellow classmates.

Please direct any questions or comments about Class Notes to Ann Nicholson, Director of External Affairs, at anicholson@wulaw.wustl.edu.

Class year:

Name: Laura Bentele
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Laura Bentele has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate. She is a member of the Litigation Practice Group, focusing her practice on effective case management through all phases of discovery, trial preparation, and negotiation of settlements with opposing counsel.
Name: Christopher Chen
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Christopher Chen has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate. He is a member of the International Practice Group, assisting clients with general domestic and cross-border transactions as well as outbound investment into Chinese-speaking jurisdictions and Canada.
Name: Patrick J. Coyle
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Patrick J. Coyle has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, focusing on complex intellectual property matters pending in state, federal, and appellate courts throughout the United States.
Name: Danielle DuRousseau
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Danielle DuRousseau has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate. She is a member of the Corporate Services Practice Group, advising on general corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, and general corporate law. Her experience extends to representing banks with regard to FDIC filings and change of control notices.
Name: Michael P. P. Farrell
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Michael P. Farrell has joined Black McCuskey Souers & Arbaugh, LPA, in Canton, Ohio, where he will focus his practice in business, corporate, and real estate law.
Name: Dale Funk
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Dale Funk has joined St. Louis-based Brown & Crouppen, PC, as an associate.
Name: Keith K. Grissom
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Keith K. Grissom (LLM-Taxation ’12) has joined Weiss Attorneys at Law in St. Louis as an associate attorney, concentrating on corporate, real estate, taxation, commercial, and small-business law.
Name: Andrew Kabat
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Andrew Kabat has joined Senniger Powers LLP in St. Louis, focusing on intellectual property law with an emphasis in intellectual property litigation.
Name: Andrew Meyer
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Andrew Meyer has joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s Real Estate & Development Group in St. Louis.
Name: Sandra S. Oh
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Sandra S. Oh has joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s Product Liability Group in St. Louis.
Name: Michael F. Orlowski
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Michael F. Orlowski has joined Polsinelli Shughart PC’s Real Estate Transactions/Development Practice Group in Kansas City.
Name: Mikela T. Sutrina
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Mikela T. Sutrina has joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s Labor & Employment Group in St. Louis.
Name: Kevin Valdez
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Kevin Valdez was assigned to the 15th Judicial District Public Defenders Office in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. Valdez was a fellow of the Public Defender Corps, a national program that trains, mentors, and supports attorneys entering the criminal justice system.
Name: Daniel C. Willingham
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Daniel C. Willingham (LLM-Taxation ’12) has joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate. He joins the Banking & Finance Group from the venture capital firm Advantage Capital Partners, where he was a tax attorney (2012-2013).
Name: Joseph Wilson
Class Year: 2012
Class Note: Joseph Wilson has joined Fisher & Phillips LLP as an associate in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining Fisher & Phillips, Wilson served as an extern with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Name: Justine S. Casselle
Class Year: 2011
Class Note: Justine S. Casselle is an Assistant Attorney General for the Ohio Attorney Generals Office. As chief litigator in over 65 cases pending in various Ohio Courts of Common Pleas, she defends the decisions of the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation and the Ohio Industrial Commission. She has successfully negotiated numerous settlements on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, and has been first and second chair litigator in two jury trials. Her trial practice includes all aspects of discovery, such as taking and defending lay and expert witness depositions. Casselle also defends the Ohio Industrial Commission in mandamus proceedings, including writing briefs and arguing, before Ohio’s Tenth District Court of Appeals.
Name: Samir Mehta
Class Year: 2011
Class Note: Samir Mehta has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office as a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, which prepares and prosecutes U.S and foreign patent applications in the area of high technology, specifically related to computer software and hardware. He is also one of 12 lawyers throughout Missouri selected for the 2012-13 Missouri Bar Leadership Academy, which seeks diversity in gender, race, area of practice, and locality of practice with the goal of including attorneys from underrepresented areas to broaden and strengthen the Missouri Bar.
Name: Heather M. Mehta
Class Year: 2011
Class Note: Heather M. Mehta has joined Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC as an associate in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Mehta will represent clients in general civil and commercial litigation matters.
Name: Rebekah E. Raber
Class Year: 2011
Class Note: Rebekah E. Raber has joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate.
Name: Ramone Reese
Class Year: 2011
Class Note: Ramone Reese (JD ’11; LLM-Taxation and Intellectual Property/Technology Law, ’12) has joined Thompson Coburn LLP as an associate in the Saint Louis office. He is a member of the Business Litigation Practice Group, where he works with clients in diverse industries on a variety of commercial litigation matters. He is also vice president of the Mound City Bar Association and a member of the board of directors for Lafayette Preparatory Academy, a charter school opening in St. Louis in 2013.
Name: Kevin Shih
Class Year: 2011
Class Note: Kevin Shih has joined Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited as senior counsel.
Name: Jessica Mendez
Class Year: 2010
Class Note: Jessica Mendez (JD ’10, LLM ’11) is vice president of the Hispanic Bar Association of St. Louis, an organization she also helped to create.
Name: Jessica Mendez
Class Year: 2010
Class Note: Jessica Mendez (JD ’10, LLM IP ’11) has joined Armstrong Teasdale as an associate. She is a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, where she guides brand owners in matters regarding trademark policing and protection and works to resolve disputes involving infringements of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade dress.
Name: Jessica Mendez
Class Year: 2010
Class Note: Jessica Mendez (JD ’10, LLM-Taxation ’11) has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP as an associate. She is a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, where she guides brand owners in matters regarding trademark policing and protection and works to resolve disputes involving infringements of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. She was also recently selected to attend the Latino Leadership Institute, which was created last year by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce St. Louis Foundation. The institute is sponsored by Centene Corporation.
Name: Ryan Seelke
Class Year: 2010
Class Note: Ryan Seelke has joined Dinsmore & Shohl LLP as an associate in the firm’s Labor & Employment Department. He will practice in the firm’s Morgantown, West Virginia, office.
Name: Yaoyu Liu
Class Year: 2009
Class Note: Yaoyu Liu (LLM-U.S. Law, ’09) is in-house counsel for Toon Express Guangzhou.
Name: Zhenfeng Liu
Class Year: 2009
Class Note: Zhenfeng Liu is working as an associate in the New York and New Jersey offices of Anslow & Jaclin LLP, where he practices international corporate finance with a primary emphasis on China-related securities offerings.
Name: Robert McDonald
Class Year: 2009
Class Note: Robert McDonald, an attorney with Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, was among those honored with the Cincinatti (Ohio) Business Courier’s Forty Under 40 Award for 2012.
Name: Wakaba Y. Tessier
Class Year: 2009
Class Note: Wakaba Y. Tessier has joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate. She will work on the firm’s Healthcare Team.
Name: Russ Blankenship
Class Year: 2008
Class Note: Russ Blankenship has launched StudyHall.com, an online peer-to-peer learning platform that allows students to share notes and documents while providing a forum for students to work collaboratively on a single platform. StudyHall.com is now “live” on the Washington University campus after having been tested at Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, and Cornell.
Name: James E. Daily
Class Year: 2008
Class Note: James E. Daily has published his first book, The Law of Superheroes (co-authored with Ryan Davidson), with Gotham Books.
Name: Roma Desai
Class Year: 2008
Class Note: Roma Desai has joined Bernstein Shur’s Portland, Maine, office as an associate.
Name: Timothy D. Gronewald
Class Year: 2008
Class Note: Timothy D. Gronewald has joined Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC. He will practice out of the firm’s Peoria, Illinois, office.
Name: Roxanna Mason
Class Year: 2008
Class Note: Roxanna Mason received the Missouri Bar Foundation’s 2012 David J. Dixon Award for outstanding appellate advocacy. After graduating from Washington University, she joined the trial division of the Missouri State Public Defender. She transferred to that office’s Appellate and Post-Conviction Relief Division in August 2011.
Name: Robert B. Mueller
Class Year: 2007
Class Note: Matthew T. Nagel and Robert B. Mueller’s law firm, Wuestling & James LC, has been named one of the Best Law Firms in the St. Louis metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report. Wuestling & James was one of four area firms ranked in Tier I for Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants, and received a Tier II ranking in Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants.
Name: Matthew T. Nagel
Class Year: 2007
Class Note: Matthew T. Nagel and Robert B. Mueller’s law firm, Wuestling & James LC, has been named one of the Best Law Firms in the St. Louis metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report. Wuestling & James was one of four area firms ranked in Tier I for Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants, and received a Tier II ranking in Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants.
Name: Zheng Xie
Class Year: 2007
Class Note: Zheng Xie (LLM U.S. Law, '05) was named an associate in Husch Blackwell LLP’s Washington, D.C. office. She will work for the International Practice Group in the firm’s Corporate Department, representing both American and Chinese clients regarding matters of international trade, international transportation, commercial transactions, and corporate regulation.
Name: Harrison A. Lord
Class Year: 2006
Class Note: Harrison A. Lord has joined Bernhardt & Strawser, P.A., in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he will focus his practice on creditors’ rights, commercial litigation, and debt collection.
Name: Dan O’Connor
Class Year: 2006
Class Note: Dan O’Connor and his wife, Emily, announce the birth of their daughter, Margaret Grace, in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2012.
Name: Amy Sample
Class Year: 2006
Class Note: Amy Sample was recently awarded the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Sun-Times Public Interest Law Fellowship. The Chicago Bar Foundation awards five fellowships annually to legal aid attorneys in Illinois—four who practice in Chicago, and one who practices downstate. The awards are given in recognition of contributions to public interest law, academic excellence in law school, and outstanding character and integrity.
Name: Jeremy Zangara
Class Year: 2006
Class Note: Jeremy Zangara, an associate at Greenberg Traurig LLP in Phoenix, Arizona, was selected as one of the West Region’s top 40 mergers and acquisitions, financing, and turnaround professionals under 40 by the M&A Advisor. Zangara’s practice focuses in corporate and securities law, representing companies in public offerings, private placements, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions.
Name: Jeremy Zangara
Class Year: 2006
Class Note: Jeremy Zangara, an associate at Greenberg Traurig LLP in Phoenix, was selected as one of the west region’s top 40 leading mergers and acquisitions, financing, and turnaround professionals under 40 by the M&A Advisor. Zangara’s practice focuses on corporate and securities law, representing companies in public offerings, private placements, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions.
Name: B. Scott Eidson
Class Year: 2005
Class Note: B. Scott Eidson was named partner at Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office, where he is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group, focusing on complex intellectual property matters pending in state, federal, and appellate courts throughout the United States.
Name: Jason Reinsch
Class Year: 2005
Class Note: Jason and Kristen Reinsch welcomed daughter Ava Finley Reinsch on May 9, 2012. They reside in Dallas, Texas, where Kristen practices commercial litigation at Lackey Hershman LLP, and Jason is a litigation associate with Jackson Walker LLP.
Name: Kristen Reinsch
Class Year: 2005
Class Note: Jason and Kristen Reinsch welcomed daughter, Ava Finley Reinsch, on May 9, 2012. They reside in Dallas, Texas, where Kristen practices commercial litigation at Lackey Hershman LLP, and Jason is a litigation associate with Jackson Walker LLP.
Name: Andrew Scavotto
Class Year: 2005
Class Note: Andrew Scavotto was named partner at the St. Louis office of Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, where he helps clients pursue and defend intellectual property, financial services, and breach of contract claims and defends product liability cases.
Name: Johnny Wang
Class Year: 2005
Class Note: Johnny Wang, an attorney at Polsinelli Shughart PC’s St. Louis office, was selected a Diverse Business Leader 2012 by the St. Louis Business Journal. Wang focuses his practice on advising privately held and publicly held corporations on a variety of employment matters, including labor and employment law, employment litigation defense, and employment policies and procedures.
Name: Christopher Feldmeir
Class Year: 2004
Class Note: Christopher Feldmeir and Elizabeth (Pernoud) Feldmeir (both JD ’04, LLM-Taxation ’05) announce the birth of their son, Conrad. Christopher was elected officer at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC, and Elizabeth was elected partner at Husch Blackwell LLP, both in St. Louis.
Name: Heather Friedman
Class Year: 2004
Class Note: Heather Friedman was named partner at Morris, Manning & Martin LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. She works in the firm’s Environmental, Construction, Hospitality and Sustainability Practices, focusing on transactions and acquisitions of properties throughout the U.S. and representing clients in regulatory and transactional aspects of state and federal hazardous site cleanups, National Environmental Policy Act matters, voluntary cleanup/brownfield programs, underground storage tank programs, and wetland and state water permitting.
Name: Emily T Gardner
Class Year: 2004
Class Note: Emily T. Gardner and her husband, Erin, welcomed new baby Abigail Pope Gardner into their lives on January 5, 2005. They continue to enjoy life in St. Louis.
Name: William H. Joyce
Class Year: 2004
Class Note: William H. Joyce and his wife, Rachelle Joyce, recently welcomed their new daughter, Isabel. Isabel joins three older brothers—Jackson, Thomas, and Henry. Joyce recently joined InterWorks, Inc. as director of operations-business intelligence.
Name: Michael Schroer
Class Year: 2004
Class Note: Michael Schroer was named associate attorney at HeplerBroom LLC’s Edwardsville, Illinois, office.
Name: Nick Williamson
Class Year: 2004
Class Note: Nick Williamson, a partner at Bryan Cave LLP, was appointed to the board of directors of Ranken Jordan, a pediatric specialty hospital in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Name: Christopher D. Castellanos
Class Year: 2003
Class Note: Christopher D. Castellanos (JD, 03, LLM, 07), has joined Lashly & Baer, PC, in St. Louis as of counsel. He concentrates his practice in trusts and estates, including a wide range of estate planning and probate matters, asset protection planning, and estate and trust administration.
Name: Christine Cochran
Class Year: 2003
Class Note: Christine Cochran has joined Polsinelli Shughart’s Chicago office, where she will counsel clients in securing and preserving their intellectual property rights in life the sciences in the firm’s Science and Technology Practice.
Name: Lofton K. Lauren
Class Year: 2003
Class Note: Lauren K. Lofton has joined the Madison, Wisconsin, firm of Solheim Billing & Grimmer, SC. She practices real estate and business law.
Name: Scott Stone
Class Year: 2003
Class Note: Scott Stone has joined Hunton & Williams LLP’s Environmental Law Practice Group as a counsel. Stone will work in the firm’s in Washington, D.C., office. He was previously Director of Global Environmental Initiatives at Sierra Nevada Corporation.
Name: Khara Coleman Washington
Class Year: 2003
Class Note: Khara Coleman Washington has accepted a position with the Illinois Attorney General's Office in Chicago and is currently assigned to the Consumer Fraud Bureau. She previously spent two years as a prosecuting attorney with the Scott County Attorney's Office in Davenport, Iowa.
Name: Amy Locklear Hertel
Class Year: 2002
Class Note: Amy Locklear Hertel is the director of the American Indian Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Name: James G. Martignon
Class Year: 2002
Class Note: James G. Martignon, an associate with Ulmer & Berner LLP in Chicago, has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer for 2012.
Name: Jason Murata
Class Year: 2002
Class Note: Jason Murata was named of counsel at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP. He works in the firm’s Hartford, Connecticut, office as part of the Intellectual Property Group.
Name: Gary Zhao
Class Year: 2002
Class Note: Gary Zhao has been named one of Chicago Lawyer Magazine’s 40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch for 2011. Zhao is a partner at SmithAmundsen in the Litigation Practice Group in Chicago.
Name: Alex Belotserkovsky
Class Year: 2001
Class Note: Alex Belotserkovsky joined HeplerBroom LLC in Edwardsville, Illinois, as associate attorney.
Name: Heather L. Buchta
Class Year: 2001
Class Note: Heather L. Buchta, Chair of the Electronic Supply Chain Sub-Team for the Technology Law Team in the Phoenix, Arizona, office of Quarles & Brady LLP, was named to the 2012 Southwest Rising Starts.
Name: Melissa Fallah
Class Year: 2001
Class Note: Melissa Fallah, a shareholder with Segal McCambridge Segal & Mahoney Ltd., recently attended the 97th Annual Women’s Bar Association’s Installation Dinner in honor of President-Elect Deane B. Brown. The event was held at the Chicago Hilton. Fallah is a trial attorney who represents corporate clients in all aspects of product liability litigation. Click here to view a photo from the event. Http://law.wustl.edu/alumni/images/classnotes/2001/fallah.jpg
Name: Kristi Lush
Class Year: 2001
Class Note: Kristi Lush has been named partner at Zupkus & Angell, PC in Denver, Colo.
Name: Jonathan L. Pompan
Class Year: 2001
Class Note: Jonathan L. Pompan was elected partner at Venable LLP. He co-chairs the firm’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Task Force in Washington, D.C. His practice focuses on providing comprehensive legal advice and regulatory advocacy to a broad spectrum of clients, such as nonbank financial products and services providers, nonprofit organizations, and trade and professional associations, with a particular focus on consumer protection issues, including advertising and marketing.
Name: Jovita M. Foster
Class Year: 2000
Class Note: Jovita M. Foster has been elected an equity partner at Armstrong Teasdale LLP. Licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois, Foster is an accomplished litigator and trial lawyer working with small- to medium-sized businesses, public utilities, and Fortune 100 and 500 companies in all facets of employment and labor law.
Name: Alex Lee
Class Year: 2000
Class Note: Alex Lee is now director of legal affairs for Centric Group in St. Louis. He was previously with Gonnerman Reinert, LLC in St. Louis.
Name: Laura McNeal
Class Year: 2000
Class Note: Laura McNeal was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the College of Education at Illinois State University. She was one of five inductees recognized for their leadership during a recent ceremony at the university
Name: John C. Crossley
Class Year: 1999
Class Note: John C. Crossley, a partner in Husch Blackwell LLP’s Kansas City office, was named to Ingram’s 40 Under Forty Class of 2012, an honor reserved for the most accomplished business and community leaders in the region under 40 years of age. In 2011, Kansas City Mayor Sly James selected Crossley to his transition team “because of his deep knowledge of community and economic development and because of his passion for promoting a strong metropolitan region.”
Name: John C. Crossley
Class Year: 1999
Class Note: John C. Crossley of Husch Blackwell LLP is one of the 2011 Missouri Lawyers Weekly Up & Coming award winners.
Name: Jeremy Lowe
Class Year: 1999
Class Note: Jeremy Lowe, a partner in Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP’s Hartford, Connecticut, office, was selected as a Connecticut Law Tribune “New Leaders in the Law” for 2012. The honor recognizes 60 attorneys under the age of 40 who have made significant achievements to the Connecticut legal profession. Lowe, who works in Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider’s intellectual property practice and is a leading trial litigator, was also chosen as one of Connecticut Magazine’s “40 Under 40” honorees for 2013.
Name: Patrick Chavez
Class Year: 1998
Class Note: Patrick Chavez is president of the Hispanic Bar Association of St. Louis, an organization he also helped to create.
Name: Raylene DeWitte Grischow
Class Year: 1998
Class Note: Raylene DeWitte Grischow, a partner in the Springfield, Illinois, office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, was appointed to the Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility. Her term became effective on January 1, 2012, and runs until December 31, 2014. Grischow is also the attorney for the city of Auburn, Illinois.
Name: James W Mathis
Class Year: 1998
Class Note: James Mathis (Law 1998) and Kimberley (Smith) Mathis (Law 1997) announce the birth of their daughter, Jane Marie, on January 24, 2011. Jane Marie is constantly entertained by older siblings Joseph (age 11), Margaret (age 8), Michael (age 6) and Charlie (age 4). James recently joined the St. Louis office of Husch Blackwell LLP as a partner in the area of corporate law. He has extensive experience leading complex commercial transactions and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, James has advised corporate clients on entertainment and advertising law, telecommunications, securities and executive compensation, and risk management/insurance matters. Kimberley is of counsel in the area of labor and employment law at Husch Blackwell LLP.
Name: Nicole Saunders
Class Year: 1998
Class Note: Nicole Saunders and her husband, Dan, welcomed their son, Colton Patrick, on August 30, 2012. The family resides in New Buffalo, Michigan. Saunders recently changed roles within Accenture, joining the company’s Federal Services Group as senior litigation counsel.
Name: John Crossley
Class Year: 1997
Class Note: John Crossley was named a 2011 Up & Coming Missouri Attorney by Missouri Lawyers Weekly. He was among 48 selected to this category out of 130 nominees. Those chosen were cited for their positive influence in the legal industry and in their communities. Nominees had to be under 40 years old or have less than 10 years experience in the field of law. Crossley is a Partner in the Kansas City office of Husch Blackwell LLP.
Name: Jeffrey N. Davis
Class Year: 1997
Class Note: Jeffrey N. Davis was elected to the General Council of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
Name: Thomas G. Huszar
Class Year: 1997
Class Note: Thomas G. Huszar joined Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP as a partner at the New York firm. He concentrates his practice in all facets of corporate law matters, regularly representing public and private companies in a broad spectrum of business transactions and in support of operational matters.
Name: Jonathan Williams
Class Year: 1997
Class Note: Jonathan Williams has been named the chief sustainability officer at the University of Southern Mississippi. Williams is presently a visiting professor in the College of Business. He plans to develop educational programming to prepare Southern Miss students for opportunities in emerging “green industries.” Williams says he welcomes the opportunities to assist Southern Miss in moving beyond “thinking green” to helping graduates develop skills to open and operate “green business” ventures, become employees in existing industries, and attract new technology businesses to the Pine Belt. He is planning to develop a curriculum that mixes the bio-sciences with businesses courses so that graduates will be able to contribute to the state’s bio-diesel industry, as well as to create new partnerships with business and industry.
Name: Joe Yeckel
Class Year: 1997
Class Note: Joe Yeckel, of Joseph F. Yeckel, LLC, was one of four attorneys named a 2011 Lawyer of the Year by Missouri Lawyers Weekly. The awardees were recognized for successfully representing 16 plaintiffs who suffered serious injuries due to exposure to high levels of lead in Herculaneum, Missouri. At the conclusion of the three-month trial, the jury returned verdicts in favor of each plaintiff and against the former owners of the Doe Run lead smelter for a total award of more than $358 million.
Name: Revlynn C. Lawson
Class Year: 1996
Class Note: Revlynn C. Lawson has joined the firm of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP in Austin, Texas.
Name: Mike Bloomquist
Class Year: 1995
Class Note: Mike Bloomquist was named general counsel at the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was previously deputy general counsel after having served as general counsel for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
Name: Kathleen Bilderback
Class Year: 1994
Class Note: Kathleen Bilderback was selected as one of the “2011 Top Small Business Lawyers” by Small Business Monthly (SBM) readers in the magazine’s February issue. Bilderback is a co-founding member of Affinity Law Group LLC.
Name: Kathleen Bilderback
Class Year: 1994
Class Note: Kathleen Bilderback (JD '94, LLM-Taxation '95) was recognized as one of the country’s top estate planning attorneys by 2012 Super Lawyers magazine.
Name: Don Dorwart
Class Year: 1994
Class Note: Don Dorwart, a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP, was named the St. Louis Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year in the 2013 edition of the Best Lawyers in America.
Name: Chris Quinn
Class Year: 1993
Class Note: Chris Quinn has joined The Driscoll Firm PC in St. Louis after serving six years with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. He will represent private parties in pharmaceutical, medical device, and other product liability litigation, class action lawsuits, and medical negligence matters.
Name: Teresa C Santos
Class Year: 1993
Class Note: Teresa Cotton Santos has joined Career Education Corporation as senior vice president, chief ethics & compliance officer. She was previously assistant general counsel, litigation and legal compliance for Eli Lilly and Company.
Name: James Webb
Class Year: 1993
Class Note: James Webb was named senior vice president-Legal and general counsel of Chesapeake Energy Corporation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Name: Riess Eric
Class Year: 1992
Class Note: Eric Riess received the 2012 Trainer of the Year Gold Award from the Franchise Brokers Association (FBA), a national organization that helps franchise brokers build thriving practices and helps franchisors grow globally. Riess, who was recognized for the legal, business, and sales training he provided to franchisors and franchise consultants throughout 2012, is a franchise law attorney in Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.’s St. Louis office.
Name: Debbie Rush
Class Year: 1991
Class Note: Debbie Rush was named the 2012 St. Louis Public Finance Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America. Rush is co-chair of Thompson Coburn LLP’s Public Finance Group and member of the firm’s 15-person management committee.
Name: Gregory Kirsch
Class Year: 1990
Class Note: Gregory Kirsch was named partner at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, in Atlanta, Georgia. Kirsch is part of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice. He will focus his practice on patent law, with a concentration in electrical and communications technology, software and business methods patents, and medical technology. He is patent counsel to numerous technology companies ranging from large, multinational corporations to small start-ups.
Name: Philip J. Onorato
Class Year: 1990
Class Note: Philip J. Onorato accepted the position of senior vice president and general counsel of Daytop Village, Inc., in New York. Daytop, founded in 1964, is world-renowned for primary medical care, substance abuse, and alcoholism treatment services. He has also established his own law firm, Onorato Law LLC, with offices in New York City and New Jersey.
Name: Robert Bassett
Class Year: 1986
Class Note: Robert Bassett was named by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers as one of the top attorneys in the area for 2011. Bassett is president of the St. Clair County Bar Association and a partner at Williams Venker & Sanders LLC.
Name: Richard Hunsaker
Class Year: 1986
Class Note: Richard Hunsaker was selected to be featured in the 2012 issue of Illinois Super Lawyers.
Name: Brett J. Presston
Class Year: 1986
Class Note: Brett J. Preston was recently named 2013 Tampa Lawyers of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. He is shareholder and general counsel of Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, Fl.
Name: Jeffrey H. Wolf
Class Year: 1986
Class Note: Jeffrey H. Wolf has been named to The International Who's Who of Franchise Lawyers 2011 by Who's Who Legal. Who's Who Legal identifies the leading practitioners in several areas of business law around the world. Nominees are selected based on comprehensive, independent surveys with both general counsel and private practice lawyers. Wolf is an attorney at the Quarles & Brady LLP Phoenix office and is a member of the Franchise and Distribution Group.
Name: Jeffrey H. Wolf
Class Year: 1986
Class Note: Jeffrey H. Wolf was named a Legal Eagle by Franchise Times magazine. He is a partner in the Phoenix office of Quarles & Brady LLP, working in the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Franchise and Distribution Industry Groups. Legal Eagle honorees are attorneys nominated by their peers, clients, and the Franchise Times’ editorial board. Wolf was also named to The International Who's Who of Franchise Lawyers 2012 by Who's Who Legal.
Name: Laurence M. Frazen
Class Year: 1983
Class Note: Laurence M. Frazen was named managing partner of Bryan Cave LLP’s Kansas City office. Frazen practices in the firm’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights Client Service Group. His practice involves representation of debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, and other interested parties in bankruptcy proceedings locally and across the country. His practice also includes commercial workouts and out-of-court restructurings.
Name: Perry Newman
Class Year: 1983
Class Note: Perry Newman’s book, The Ten Commandments of International Business (Atlantica Press, 2012) is now available in French as Les Dix Commandments du Commerce International. The French version has already been purchased throughout Quebec and Atlantic Canada and is in use as a text in one of Quebec’s “Cégeps,” a general and vocational college. Newman also recently spoke to law students on “Israel and its Arab Citizens: Building Civil Society in a Start-up Nation.”
Name: David Rubin
Class Year: 1983
Class Note: David Rubin was named the 2012 St. Louis Financial Services Regulation Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America. Rubin works in banking and commercial finance at Thompson Coburn LLP.
Name: Beth Alpert
Class Year: 1982
Class Note: Beth Alpert was featured in Leading Lawyer’s Network magazine. Through her firm, Beth Alpert and Associates in Chicago, she works to help the seriously disabled to receive Social Security benefits.
Name: Mark Ricciardi
Class Year: 1982
Class Note: Mark Ricciardi was installed as a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in Atlanta, Georgia. The founding and managing partner of the Las Vegas, Nevada, office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, he is the first and only management-side attorney from Nevada to be installed.
Name: Vuong Vu-Duc
Class Year: 1981
Class Note: Vu-Duc Vuong is now director of general education at Hoa Sen University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He was among the pioneers of the Washington University Joint Degree Program in Law and Social Work.
Name: Tim Duncan
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: Tim Duncan worked with Elizabeth Warren in the Obama Administration on the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and the launch of the new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. At the beginning of 2012, he returned to Boston to start a new technology company, GoodlyHome. GoodlyHome is a unique effort to solve many of the problems that led to the housing and financial crisis with a private-sector solution that brings together mortgage lenders, consumer groups, and institutional investors.
Name: David M. Harris
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: Dennis M. Harris, Officer in the Litigation and Health Care Practice Group in the St. Louis office of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC, was named to the 2012 Chambers USA’s Best in General Commercial Litigation.
Name: Jennifer Hoekel
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: Jennifer Hoekel, a partner at Armstrong Teasdale LLP in St. Louis, recently passed the Nevada bar exam. Hoekel focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation with an emphasis on patent litigation.
Name: Bradley G. Kafka
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: Bradley G. Kafka was named to lead the growing St. Louis Labor & Employment Practice Group at Polsinelli Shughart PC. The group assists a broad spectrum of employers in a variety of matters such as dispute resolution, crafting policies, handling terminations, and defending lawsuits and administrative claims. Polsinelli Shughart has 10 labor and employment law attorneys in St. Louis and 30 labor and employment lawyers in Missouri.
Name: Tom Newmark
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: Tom Newmark was named to the board of trustees of the American Botanical Council in Austin, Texas. He previously worked for New Chapter, Inc., a dietary supplements company. He helped New Chapter become the first to have its entire line of vitamins certified as “made with organic ingredients.” He has also worked for the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Natural Law Party.
Name: John Wallach
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: John Wallach has received the Stephanie Seleman Award for Outstanding Service from the Anti-Defamation League. He is serving his second term as Board Chair of the Missouri/So. Illinois Region. Wallach was again selected for Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Plaintiff’s Medical Negligence and Personal Injury. He practices in St. Louis at Wallach & Wolff, LLC.
Name: John Wallach
Class Year: 1980
Class Note: John Wallach received the Stephanie Seleman Award for Outstanding Service from the Anti-Defamation League. He is serving his second term as board chair of the Missouri/South Illinois Region. Wallach was again selected for Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Plaintiff’s Medical Negligence and Personal Injury. He practices in St. Louis at Wallach & Wolff, LLC
Name: James E Baker
Class Year: 1979
Class Note: James E. Baker was named city manager for the city of Chesapeake, Virginia. Baker previously worked in St. Louis County.
Name: Mark Kaufman
Class Year: 1979
Class Note: Mark Kaufman was named chairperson of the Department of Social Work at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. A graduate of the Washington University Joint Degree Program in Law and Social Work, he has taught at Washburn since 1998.
Name: Phyllis Schlafly
Class Year: 1978
Class Note: Phyllis Schlafly published a new book, No Higher Power: Obama’s War on Religious Freedom. Schlafly discussed the book at the 19th annual Eagle Forum Collegians Leadership Summit, hosted by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Name: Kayla Vaughan
Class Year: 1976
Class Note: Kayla Vaughan (JD ‘76) received a 2012 Women of Worth Award, given by the Gateway Outstanding Women’s League of St. Louis to women in the community who have made significant differences in their areas of expertise. Vaughan has worked for over 40 years to better economic and social conditions, especially for women and girls, though her professional and volunteer efforts. As a career public interest attorney, she represented thousands of low-income people, primarily women, in court. She was appointed and served four years in the mid-1990s as municipal judge of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Municipal Division, where she presided over the prosecutions of St. Louis City ordinance violation charges. Following this term, she returned to practice at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, where she was the managing attorney for the Family Law Department and the director of the Lasting Solutions Program.
Name: Frederick Baker
Class Year: 1975
Class Note: Frederick Baker, Jr. received the Roberts P. Hudson Award from the State Bar of Michigan. The award, which “is presented periodically to commend one or more lawyers for their unselfish rendering of outstanding and unique service to and on behalf of the State Bar of Michigan, the legal profession, and the public,” is the State Bar of Michigan’s highest award. Baker set the record as the longest-serving chairperson of a State Bar of Michigan committee, having devoted 24 years to overseeing the Bar’s Publications and Website Advisory Committee. According to one of the 23 current and former committee members who wrote words of praise about his work and accomplishments, he provided “hundreds, probably thousands” of hours of editorial guidance to the Michigan Bar Journal and the State Bar’s website. Baker is currently a Michigan Supreme Court commissioner, having worked previously as a partner at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn LLP’s Lansing, Michigan, office. For more information, see http://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article2088.pdf.
Name: Earon Davis
Class Year: 1975
Class Note: Earon Davis recently married Martha M. Foster, and they have moved from the Chicago area to Bloomington, Indiana. Earon continues to work as an online adjunct professor for Kaplan University’s School of Health Sciences.
Name: John w. Kozyak
Class Year: 1975
Class Note: John W. Kozyak received the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s Honorable Theodore “Ted” Klein Special Recognition Award and the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organization’s Judicial Bridge Builder Award in January and February, respectively. He has been promoting diversity in the law in South Florida for more than 30 years and has established a minority mentoring program which attracts more than 3,500 law students, judges, and guests to its annual mentoring picnic in November.
Name: Donald G. Tye
Class Year: 1975
Class Note: Donald G. Tye completed the second edition of How to Try Divorce Cases in Massachusetts for MCLE, Inc. He was also recently appointed to “A Child’s Voice,” a statewide task force chaired by the Chief Judge of Probate and Family Courts in Massachusetts, and he just returned from five years of service on the Judicial Nominating Commission, which reviews applications for all state judicial appointments for Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick.
Name: Gus Bauman
Class Year: 1974
Class Note: Gus Bauman has been appointed to the Blue Ribbon Committee on Transportation by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. Bauman will be a representative from the business community and has been designated as chair. He is an attorney at Beveridge & Diamond PC.
Name: Joseph D. Lehrer
Class Year: 1973
Class Note: Joseph D. Lehrer, Officer and Chair of the Corporate Practice Group in the St. Louis office of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC, was named to the 2012 Chambers USA’s Best in Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions category.
Name: Jay A Summerville
Class Year: 1973
Class Note: Jay A. Summerville has been named to the new position of general counsel at Armstrong Teasdale LLP in St. Louis. Summerville’s practice focuses in the area of litigation, including commercial, banking, antitrust, and intellectual property law. He previously served as co-leader of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group. Summerville also has served as the City of Lake Saint Louis’ city attorney since 1986, and he is an officer and director of MERS/Goodwill Industries, Project C.O.P.E., and the Second Presbyterian Church.
Name: Jay Summerville
Class Year: 1973
Class Note: Jay Summerville, a litigation partner and general counsel at Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s St. Louis office, was elected the chairman of MERS/ Missouri Goodwill Industries, Inc., the largest social service agency in Missouri. Having already worked with the organization for about seventeen years, he began a one-year term January 1, 2013.
Name: Richard B. Teitelman
Class Year: 1973
Class Note: Chief Justice Richard B. Teitelman of the Supreme Court of Missouri was elected 2nd vice-president of the Conference of Chief Justices. Founded in 1949, the Conference of Chief Justices provides opportunities for the highest judicial officers of the states to meet and discuss matters of importance in improving the administration of justice, rules and methods of procedure, and the organization and operation of state courts and judicial systems.
Name: Thomas L. Story
Class Year: 1972
Class Note: Thomas L. Story, officer of the Real Estate Practice Group in the St. Louis office of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC, was named to the 2012 Chambers USA’s Best in Real Estate Law.
Name: Leonard D. Vines
Class Year: 1972
Class Note: Leonard D. Vines was named the 2012 St. Louis Franchise Law Lawyer of the Year by the peer-reviewed publication Best Lawyers.
Name: Leonard D. Vines
Class Year: 1972
Class Note: Chambers USA 2012 recognized Leonard D. Vines as being among the nation’s best in franchise law. Vines is an officer in the Corporate Practice Group of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC in St. Louis.
Name: Joan Dillon
Class Year: 1966
Class Note: Joan Dillon was named for the 16th year in a row to appear in The Best Lawyers in America, and is one of only six attorneys in Georgia to be listed in The International Who’s Who of Trademark Lawyers.
Name: Leonard J. Frankel
Class Year: 1965
Class Note: Leonard J. Frankel was recently recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in two categories, mediation and family law mediation. Frankel was also named Family Law Mediator of the year for 2012. He is at Frankel, Rubin, Bond, Dubin, Siegel & Klein, P.C., in St. Louis.
Name: Alan C. Kohn
Class Year: 1955
Class Note: Alan C. Kohn was named a 2012 Distinguished Alumnus by the Washington University School of Law. Dean Kent Syverud recognized Kohn’s many accomplishments as a lawyer, serving both his clients and the profession, including his many years of service to the law school. He is partner at Kohn, Shands, Elbert, Gianoulakis & Giljum, LLP, in St. Louis.