Celebrating the last 100 years; looking to the next 100
The Emory Law Centennial Celebration was a great success! I am pleased that so many alumni were able to join us in Atlanta for class reunions, several school-related events, and of course the gala event honoring Senator Sam Nunn 61L 62L, with keynote speaker President Bill Clinton.
None of the school’s successes would have occurred without leadership, and we have been very lucky to have Dean Robert Schapiro lead our law school over the past six years. The dean’s role is a challenging position - traveling throughout the country and the world promoting the law school, interacting with the faculty and staff, and seeking donations to continue the progress of the law school, all while teaching students. We owe a great deal to Dean Schapiro for his stewardship. As alumni, we must continue to support the law school, and the next dean, as we move forward to the next 100 years. Consider mentoring students as they navigate course selections or career options as well as meeting students or alumni for a coffee or lunch to foster a law school connection. And supporting the law school financially is, of course, crucial to ensuring another successful century for Emory Law. It has been an honor to serve as president of the Alumni Board, and I am confident that Emory Law will continue to build on its outstanding achievements.
John Maggio 96L, partner in the New York office of Condon & Forsyth, is president of the Emory Law Alumni Association.
Class Notes
1960's
Alfred B. Adams III 66C 69L
1970's
Michael Jablonski 74C 77L received the 2017 Best Book Award from the International Communications section of the International Studies Association for The Real Cyber War: The Political Economy of Internet Freedom, coauthored with Shawn Powers. Jablonski is a Presidential Doctoral Fellow at Georgia State University.
1980's
In February, Mark Kreger 77C 80L joined the Chicago-based law firm Tressler LLP as a partner. He is chair of the firm’s Reinsurance Practice Group.
Joel S. Arogeti 82L, president and CEO of the law firm Kitchens Kelley Gaynes, has been appointed to the boards of the National Commerce Corporation and the National Bank of Commerce.
Matthew Gensburg 83L
In March, B-Metro magazine named Sara Ford 84L a “Top Flight Attorney.” Ford is a partner with Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC. Ford’s specialty is complex commercial litigation, ranging from shareholder derivative suits to medical device litigation.
Diane E. Bessen 79C 87L
Lydia M. Hilton 87L
Robert Preston Brown 89L has been elected to the Board of Governors of the American College of Construction Lawyers. Brown is general counsel for McKenney’s Inc. He also is a member of the Georgia Justice Project board of directors and has previously served Emory Law in alumni leadership roles.
1990's
Willie Lovett Jr. 91L
Tracy M. Field 93L has joined Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs as a partner in the Health Law Practice Group. Prior to joining Parker Hudson, Field was a partner at Womble Carlyle.
John M. Neclerio 94B 94L
Lara Roeske Fernandez 93C 96L, a shareholder with Trenam Law, has been appointed to the board of directors for the American Board of Certification, a nonprofit public service organization that works to improve bankruptcy and creditors’ rights law.
W. Wright Mitchell 96L
Kimberli C. Withrow 97L has been named as a partner at Boyd Collar Nolen & Tuggle. She was also recently named a Georgia “Super Lawyer.”
Robert Rearden 98L
Jennifer Meyerowitz 99L has joined Garden City Group as managing director of business development. Her experience includes more than 15 years in business development and bankruptcy and restructuring law. She will create and execute the company’s long-term growth strategy.
2000's
Heidi Hudson Raschke 01L
Peter G. Fischer 00C 03L has been named a partner in BakerHostetler’s Washington, DC, offices. Fischer is a member of the firm’s Employment Group, focusing his labor and employment litigation practice on the hospitality and food service industries.
John M. Nading 03L has been promoted to partner in DLA Piper’s Washington, DC, offices. Nading was among the 46 lawyers promoted to partnership from the firm’s 28 offices in 13 countries.
Lauren E. Schwartzreich 01C 04L
Tammy A. Wilson 05L was elected partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. She specializes in general liability and commercial and entertainment litigation and practices in the firm’s Atlanta offices.
Jonathan M. Robbin 06L
Roshan Shah 06L was named counsel at Scarinci Hollenbeck.
For the first time in its 126-year history, Pepper Hamilton has elected an all- female class of six lawyers to the ranks of partner and of counsel, including Shirley R. Kuhlmann 07L, who practices corporate and securities law in the firm’s Boston offices.
Jonathan Benator 08L, of Lazega & Johanson LLC, has been named a Georgia “Rising Star” for 2017 by Super Lawyers. Benator was recently named partner and specializes in residential real estate law.
Chelsea Dennis 08L has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in the 2017 edition of Georgia Super Lawyers.
Kevin J. Rubin 08L has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Georgia Super Lawyers. Rubin is a partner at Boyd, Collar Nolen & Tuggle.
Sapana Kishore Shah 08L, a principal at the Shah Grossi law firm in Los Angeles, California, has been named a 2017 “Southern California Rising Star” by Super Lawyers for a second consecutive year. Voted as a Top Woman Attorney in Southern California by Los Angeles magazine, Shah is the founder of the Shah Grossi law firm.
Thea Pitzen 09L has joined Goodman Allen Donnelly as an associate in the firm’s Norfolk, Virginia, offices. She focuses her practice on the defense of hospitals, physicians, dentists, nurses, nursing homes, and other healthcare providers.
Leslie Powell 09L
2010's
Ivie Guobadia 12L has joined the New York office of Littler Mendelson. Her practice focuses on representing and counseling employers in all aspects of employment discrimination litigation as well as emerging issues in Title IX compliance and litigation.
Trevor E. Brice 13L has been hired by Gaslowitz Frankel LLC as an associate. He will focus on fiduciary, commercial, and business litigation.
Lauren M. Simons 10C 13L has joined Berman Fink Van Horn as an associate. Simons’s areas of concentration include business litigation, non-compete/trade secrets, and real estate litigation.
Nate Juster 14L was awarded the annual Henry J. Sommer Legal Aid Scholarship, granted by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Juster is an attorney with the Home Defense Program at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society.
You did what? Send your updates to lawcommunications@emory.edu. Class notes are submitted by alumni and are not verified by the editor. Read more about Emory Law alumni at law.emory.edu/ alumni.
In memoriam
The Hon. James C. Hill 48L of Stuart, Florida, on March 31, 2017.
Thomas Robertson 49L of Carrollton, Georgia, on April 2, 2017.
Edward Brinson 52L of Kissimmee, Florida, on December 20, 2016.
Samuel Lippitt Jr. 45OX 54L of Atlanta, Georgia, on December 7, 2016.
Eric Holmes 57L of Duluth, Georgia, on February 5, 2017.
Robert Lewis 58L of Mountain Bark, Alabama, on March 26, 2017.
John Bacheller Jr. 59L of Atlanta, Georgia, on March 24, 2017.
Sylvia S. Griffin 63L of Charlottesville, Virginia, on April 2, 2017.
William Hall 62C 64L of Atlanta, Georgia, on January 17, 2017.
Nicholas McDaniel 65L of Clarksville, Tennessee, on April 1, 2017.
David B. Poythress 62OX 64C 67L of Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 2017. A Georgia native, Poythress served as the state’s attorney general, commissioner of labor, and commander of the Georgia Army and Air National Guard. He volunteered for four years of active duty as an assistant staff judge advocate with the US Air Force, which included a year in Vietnam.
Charney Berger 68L of Atlanta, Georgia, on March 27, 2017.
Jerry Capes 70L of Covington, Georgia, on March 30, 2017.
Harvey Goldberg 73L of Savannah, Georgia, on February 2, 2017.
David Langford 74OX 76B 86L of Winder, Georgia, on March 21, 2017.
Donahue Scott Silvis 89L of Milner, Georgia, on April 12, 2017.
The Hon. Willie Lovett Jr. 91L of Savannah, Georgia, on January 30, 2017.
Death of alumna stuns Emory Law, Atlanta communities
Trinh Huynh 04L, 40 years old, was shot and killed in Atlanta during her morning commute this past April. Huynh was on her way to her job as an in-house attorney for the United Parcel Service. The Emory Law alumna was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and grew up in Gainesville, Georgia. She graduated from Princeton University in 1998 before joining Emory Law’s class of 2004. A resident of midtown Atlanta, she was an in-house attorney at UPS, after beginning her career at Powell Goldstein and Alston & Bird. She was an avid traveler and active in pro bono and other volunteer work. She was also a “proud refugee,” as she wrote in a Facebook post in January, posting a 1979 sepia photo of herself at a refugee camp on Galang Island, Indonesia. “I am thankful for the opportunities this wonderful country has afforded me and my family,” Huynh wrote. “I would not be here if the State of Georgia and this country had closed their doors and hearts to my family. I think this great state and the US have more love to give.” In addition to her involvement with GAPABA (the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association), Huynh served as president of the Princeton Club of Georgia for several years and was an attorney coach for the Grady High School Mock Trial Team for the past 10 years. She also was a member of the advisory board of the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network, which provides pro bono legal services to immigrant victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes. The Emory Law community mourns this untimely loss.
Emory community mourns the loss of beloved alumnus
O’Kelley received Emory Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the Significant Sig Award from the national Sigma Chi Fraternity. The Judge William C. O’Kelley Endowed Scholarship Fund was created in his honor, an effort led by Emory alumni who were former law clerks. He has served on the Law Advisory Board, the Emory Board of Trustees, and many university committees.
Please consider donations in memory of Judge O’Kelley to support The Judge William C. O’Kelley Endowed Scholarship Fund at Emory University School of Law c/o Office of Gift Records, 1762 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322 or online at www.engage.emory.edu/JudgeOKelley.
