Emory Law educates at the many points in between

I recall when International Law was a class that seemed somewhat exotic (and amorphous). Today, the world platform with its cross-border implications reaches into virtually every class taught at Emory Law on some level.

This issue of Emory Lawyer showcases several of our global course offerings and international student and alumni activities. As you will see, Emory Law professors travel around the world teaching while at the same time taking the opportunity to connect with our international alumni and potential students. From Beijing to Hong Kong to The Hague in the Netherlands and many points in between, Emory Law students, professors, and alumni carry, share, and use our education and legal expertise to further the rule of law.

Last spring, we celebrated Emory Law Alumni Weekend (ELAW). I hope that many of you were able to come to Atlanta to reconnect with classmates and see first- hand the wonderful programs and energy at Emory Law. In 2019, ELAW will be held April 12 to 14. Please make every effort to attend, particularly those alumni in classes ending in 4s and 9s, who will have reunion events.

Finally, I recommend that every Emory Law alum give back to our school in a way that is meaningful to you, whether it be mentoring a current student, helping a recent graduate find employment, reconnecting with members of your class, making a financial commitment, or volunteer- ing in your community on behalf of Emory Law.

I look forward to seeing you at Emory Law soon.

John A. Jordak Jr. 93L, partner in the Atlanta and New York offices of Alston & Bird, is president of the Emory Law Alumni Board.

Findling 84L leads NACDL

Drew Findling 84L was sworn in as president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers at its annual meeting on July 29. He was also the 2018 recipient of NACDL’s Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award, an honor presented annually to the member who best demonstrates the goals and values of the association and of the legal profession.

“Drew Findling’s entire life has been about service and the defense of people against whom the deck is clearly stacked, people who quite literally are oppressed by our criminal justice system” said past president Rick Jones. Findling was sworn by Vernon S. Pitts Jr., who hired Findling as a public defender 33 years ago.

“I will not be able to sleep at night if during the next twelve months I do nothing to lessen the impact of collateral consequences for the men and women who have been arrested, prosecuted and/ or convicted of a crime; especially those who have been sentenced to prison,” Findling said. “I will only be able to sleep better at night after I know I have done something to ease their transition back to society, by helping to restore their right to vote, enhance their opportunity to get jobs that pay living wages and overall reestablish themselves as citizens whose past misdeeds have truly been forgiven and forgotten.”

Class Notes

1970's

Senior Judge Frank M. Hull 73L, US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, received the Lifetime Achievement Award this year at the Daily Report’s 2018 Georgia Legal Awards annual ceremony.

Steven Labovitz 74L was honored by The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival for his dedication to community efforts on behalf of the AJFF. Labovitz has served as the festival’s board president for more than nine years and helped the organization achieve 501(c)(3) status. Labovitz is also chair of the Council for Quality Growth, the largest trade organization in Georgia, which concentrates on smart growth, development and infrastructure improvements in the metro Atlanta area and Georgia.

Walter Jospin 79L, former regional director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Atlanta, is now of counsel with Finch McCranie. He joins the firm’s whistleblower practice.

1980's

Joyce B. Klemmer 81L has joined JAMS, an alternative dispute resolution organization. She is based in Atlanta and available worldwide to serve as a mediator, arbitrator, special master and discovery referee in areas including intellectual property, copyright, patent and trademark infringement, trade secrets and related disputes.

Amy Weil 81L was invited by the US Supreme Court to brief and argue a specific position in an attorneys’ fee dispute in a social security case. Typically, these rare appointments go to former high court clerks. It’s the first time justices have asked a non-former clerk to argue as an amicus in an upcoming case in more than a decade, according to Bloomberg research.

Jeff Williams 81L has been named a 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for the 14th consecutive year. He is a founding member of Williams Family Law, and president of the American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers’ Pennsylvania Chapter as well as a diplomate of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers (whose membership is limited to 100 attorneys nationwide).

Richard T. Gieryn Jr. 82L has been chosen to serve on the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors.

Harold B. Yellin 82L has been named a 2018 Georgia “Super Lawyer.” He is an attorney with HunterMaclean.

Nina Hickson 84L has been named Atlanta’s Interim City Attorney by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Hickson has an established career in government, and most recently served as the Atlanta Beltline’s general counsel.

Jane Pyron Manning 82C 86L was elected judge on the State Court of Cobb County and took office in January 2017.

Mark Trigg 86L has joined the Atlanta offices of Dentons US as a partner with the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice.

Della Wells 86L, a 2018 graduate of Yale’s Berkeley Divinity School, has been appointed as Porter Fellow in Jerusalem for 2018–19.

Robin Frazer Clark 88L was elected a member of the International Society of Barristers and to the Board of Directors of the ISOB Foundation. Membership is by invitation only and preceded by a rigorous screening process that considers the lawyer’s ability, experience, accomplishments and ethical standards as assessed by trial lawyers and judges.

David Ossam 88L is chief human resources officer and general counsel at Hanscom Federal Credit Union. He oversees all HR-related issues, and ensures the organization’s rights and responsibilities comply with the law. He served as the company’s senior vice president of human resources since 2012.

Jim Porter 89L has joined Akerman in Tampa, Florida, as land use partner in its Real Estate Practice Group. Porter concentrates on land use, zoning and government relations.

Michael Saber 89L is among this year’s Super Lawyers from North Carolina. He is a partner at Smith Anderson’s Raleigh offices.

1990's

Sally Wagenmaker 90L is founding partner at Chicago’s Wagenmaker & Oberly, which also has a Charleston, South Carolina, office. They serve nonprofit organizations nationwide.

Sarah H. Lamar 91L has been named a 2018 Georgia “Super Lawyer.” She is an attorney with HunterMaclean.

Teresa Tomlinson 91L, mayor of Columbus, Georgia, received the 2018 MLK Jr. Unity Award at the 32nd annual Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity breakfast.

George Choundas 92C 95L has just published a collection of short stories titled The Making Sense of Things. It received the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Robert C. Jones Prize for Short Prose, the St. Lawrence Book Award for Fiction, and the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction.

“Behind the Trial,” a new podcast from the LA/Silicon Valley firm McKool Smith and Benchmark Litigation, is hosted by Courtland Reichman 95L. It features conversations with some of the country’s most well-regarded trial lawyers.

John Maggio 96L, a partner at Condon & Forsyth, was recognized in U.S. Legal 500 as one of five leading lawyers in the United States for transport: aviation and air travel, litigation.

Dara Mann 96L, known for her national class action, product liability and toxic tort practice has joined Squire Patton Boggs in its new Atlanta office, which it opened in February with a three-partner team from global firm Dentons.

Aloke Chakravarty 97L has joined Snell & Wilmer, in the firm’s Denver, Colorado, offices. Chakravarty, the federal prosecutor who prosecuted the Boston Marathon bombing case, joins the firm as a partner and will practice in its White Collar Defense and Investigations group and Cybersecurity, Data Protection and Privacy practice.

Shawn A. Kachmar 97L has been named a 2018 Georgia “Super Lawyer.” He is an attorney with HunterMaclean.

Carlos Kelly 97L has been appointed by the incoming Florida Bar president to continue his service on the Bar’s Eminent Domain Committee. Kelly is a stockholder with Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt in the firm’s Ft. Myers offices.

Christian Torgrimson 97L has been awarded the CRE® (Counselor of Real Estate) designation by The Counselors of Real Estate®, an international group of high profile real estate professionals who provide expert advisory services to clients on complex real property and land-related matters.

Jeff Bjork 98L has joined Latham & Watkins’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Finance Department.

Adam M. Freiman 98L has joined WilmerHale as a partner in New York, bringing 20 years of experience in the New York market, spending the past 10 as a partner at two AmLaw 100 firms.

Amy Edgy 99L has joined Linklaters as partner in the firm’s US Restructuring and Insolvency practice. She is based in Washington, DC.

Jason Lichtstein 99L, a partner at Akerman in Tallahassee, Florida, was included in the 2018 Chambers USA ranking for Florida environmental law. He is a past president of the Florida Brownfields Association and focuses on the cleanup, redevelopment, and reuse of brownfields and other distressed and impacted sites.

Chad Michaelson 99L has been named one of Pittsburgh’s top attorneys for 2018 by Super Lawyers.

2000's

Judge Courtney Johnson 00L was re-elected to DeKalb County Superior Court in May, by a near 2-to-1 margin.

Timothy K. Giordano 01L has been appointed to the executive committee of the American Conference on Diversity, a nonprofit dedicated to building just and inclusive schools, workplaces and communities through awareness, education and advocacy.

Shawn Kalfus 01L and law partner Matt Stone have left Smith Moore Leatherwood to start their own civil litigation firm, Stone Kalfus.

Frazer Rice 01L is the author of Wealth, Actually, published in August by Lioncrest Publishing. “In short, the book helps people make good decisions around their transitions in wealth,” Rice said. He is also president of Wealth Actually, a financial services and legal media company.

Daniel Fliman 03L, one of Turnarounds & Workouts’ Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers and a Benchmark Litigation Future Star, joined Stroock’s Financial Restructuring Group as a partner.

Valerie Kitay 03L was named General Counsel of the Year in June. She is general counsel and chief compliance officer at Savanna in New York City. UK-based Lexology, along with the Association of Corporate Counsel, analyzed more than 4,000 nominations from corporate counsel and law firm partners worldwide to determine recipients of the 12th annual Global Counsel Awards.

Spencer Preis 03L is ethics and compliance officer and chief litigation counsel at Southwire Company, the largest manufacturer of wire and cable products in North America. Its corporate offices are in Carrollton, Georgia.

Kristin L. Davidson 04L, an assistant federal public defender in San Antonio, Texas, argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on February 21, 2018, representing petitioner Florencio Rosales Mireles.

Ryan P. Rivera 04L has been elected to equity partner at Hartman Simons & Wood.

Pam Bettis 05L is new solicitor general for the Henry County State Court, appointed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal in February.

Michael Considine 05L has joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner. The move was part of the firm’s expansion into Dallas, where it opened its ninth US office, and the second in Texas. Considine represents companies and private equity firms in transformative events, including cross-border M&A, carve-out divestitures, co-investments and joint ventures.

Elizabeth Fite 05L was among the 20 recipients recognized this year by the Daily Report as “On the Rise,” or exceptional young talents. Fite is assistant county attorney for DeKalb.

Matthew Rosenkoff 05L, a partner with Taylor English Duma, was sworn in as president of the North Fulton Bar Association in May.

Susan Clare 06L has been included among Law360’s 2018 Rising Stars in transportation, one of only four lawyers nationwide selected in the practice area, after a review of 1,200 submissions. She is a partner at King & Spalding in Atlanta, deputy chair of the Automotive and Transportation Tort Litigation Practice and co-directs the Autonomous and Connected Vehicles initiative. The cross- practice team works with automotive, transportation, technology, ride-sharing and other companies in the development and deployment of autonomous vehicle technologies.

The Atlanta-based Summerville Firm, which includes Kurt Kastorf 02C 06L, was recognized by the Daily Report as the “Small Firm of the Year” for appellate litigation. Kastorf is a member of the Emory Law Alumni Board, sits on the Emory Law Journal Board of Consultants and the Emory Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Project Advisory Board.

Joseph Becker 07L has built upon the premise of his first book for young readers, The Story Of Life, to create a series named Annabelle & Aiden that includes four titles. Becker reports that two years out, they have sold more than 12,000 books and raised more than $60,000 on Kickstarter. The most recent release is titled What Happens When We Die? Read more at www.AnnabelleAndAiden.com.

Mary Frances Callis 07L has joined Diversified Trust’s Atlanta office as a senior vice president, where she is responsible for client relationship management and the development and implementation of comprehensive estate and financial plans.

Caeden Drayton 07L is group patent counsel for Stanley Black & Decker and lead IP counsel for Stanley Black & Decker subsidiaries Mac Tools-US, Lista Intl., Stanley Vidmar, Stanley InnerSpace, Proto Industrial Tools, and Stanley Access Technologies.

Britt-Marie K. Cole- Johnson 03C 08L has been appointed to the board of directors of The Association of Workplace Investigators, a professional membership association for attorneys and others who conduct, manage, or have a professional interest in workplace investigations. She was also recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the Connecticut Labor & Employment category of its 2018 edition.

Alyson Pirio 05C 08L was among the 20 recipients recognized this year by the Daily Report as “On the Rise,” or exceptional young talents. She is corporate counsel at GSMA.

Kevin Rubin 08L has joined Atlanta’s Marple Law Firm as partner, where his focus continues to be family law.

Dorothy Cornwell 09L was a member of Smith Moore Leatherwood’s new, all-female class of partners. She practices in Atlanta, is a member of the firm’s health care group, and focuses on litigation and regulatory compliance.

Michael Eber 09L has been elected partner at Rogers & Hardin. His practice there focuses on complex business litigation and appeals.

David S. Hirsch 09L is among five attorneys who were promoted to partner at Hinckley Allen, effective January 1, 2018.

Andrea L. Pollak 09L has been promoted to special counsel in Fried Frank’s Executive Compensation & ERISA Department, resident in New York.

R. Travis Santos 09L was recently elected shareholder at Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, Florida, where he has practiced in the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights and Commercial Litigation Groups for nine years.

2010's

Sean Milani-Nia 10L has been promoted to partner at Fox Rothschild. His practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, offices, focuses on construction law and government contracts.

Nathan Brill 11L has joined Blank Rome as an associate in the firm’s Corporate, M&A, and Securities Group. He is based in the Washington, DC, office.

Jacqueline Lembeck 12L has joined Fox Rothschild in the firm’s Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, office as an associate in the Labor & Employment Department and the Education Practice Group.

Audrey Bergeson 13L, an associate with Smith & Lake in Decatur, has been named among the 2018 Super Lawyers Rising Stars for Georgia. She was also installed as co-editor of The YLD Review, the newsletter of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia, during the organization’s annual meeting in June.

D. Barret Broussard 13L has joined Carlton Fields as an associate in the firm’s Atlanta office, where he will practice in the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group.

Marcus Brown 14L has joined Turner Padget Graham & Laney in the firm’s Columbia, South Carolina, offices. His practice focuses on insurance defense, including personal injury and premises liability matters.

Ariel Fenster 15L has joined Seyfarth Shaw as an associate in the firm’s Atlanta office, where she practices in the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group.

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 

Dennis Fletcher Jones Sr. 46C 49L on May 13, 2018.

John Alfred Blackmon Jr. 61L on April 14, 2018.

John Pilcher Cowart Jr. 65L on July 7, 2018.

Gray Skelton 68L on January 5, 2018.

Retired Delaware Superior Court Judge Norman A. Barron 71L on February 13, 2018

John L. Taylor 66Ox 68C 71L on April 22, 2018.

James Earl “Jimmy” Bennett Jr. 86L on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.

Barbara Lee Portman 88L on November 25, 2017.

Regina Benton Reid 88L on February 16, 2018.

Han Choi 93L on March 26, 2018. In February, the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association established the Han C. Choi Mentor Award, to recognize members of the bar who demonstrate a commitment to mentor next-generation Asian Pacific American attorneys. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Law Foundation and the Choi family created the Han C. Choi Scholarship to benefit Asian Pacific American 1L or 2L law students who exhibit academic excellence, social conscience and an interest in APA issues.