Class Notes

FROM THE ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT

In 2016, more than 40% of eligible voters did not fill out a ballot. As a group of people that took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, I hope we will all spend some time thinking about how that figure came to be and what — on both sides of the aisle — we can do to improve that number. What a day it will be for our democracy when we see that number rise to 90% or even 95% for a presidential election. May it be so.

Women have had the right to vote in this country for just 100 years. This important milestone for the women’s suffrage movement has gotten a lot of press this year, but I bet many of us do not know about the very important contributions of our fellow alumnus Eléonore Raoul 1920L 1979H towards achieving this goal. I learned many new and inspiring things from Laura Kuechenmeister’s article on the subject. Staying on the very timely topic of voting, Eric Rangus’s article in this issue on voter suppression in the 21st Century is an excellent examination of how this kind of behavior has played out in our nation and in Georgia.

If you have not already had the chance to learn about Natasha Patel, the new senior director of Emory Law’s Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy, let me be the first to tell you what a major coup it is for the law school to have landed her to head the Career Center. She has already shown herself to be an ingenious, out-of-the-box thinker and problem solver, and that is exactly the kind of strength we need now. Do you have a way to help lift up an Emory Law student for a summer or after graduation? Reach out to Natasha with your ideas and opportunities.

I am thankful to find myself among the ranks of a phenomenal community of graduates of Emory Law, young and old, with a rich array of chosen career paths. I know that my wishes for health, happiness, impact, and prosperity reach you in homes, corporations, law firms, courtrooms, non-profits, and government agencies across the country and around the world. I recognize the daily grind can wear on us all, but my challenge to all of you is the same one I give myself: Look for the ways you can give back to those who need it most and to those who helped you most.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and feedback. I can be reached any time at annalisa.bloodworth@opc.com.

Annalisa M. Bloodworth 04L is senior vice president and general counsel for Oglethorpe Power Corporation. She is president of the Emory Law Alumni Board.

Class Notes

1973:

Joe Newman 73L, a former federal prosecutor, has served as a pro tem judge for the State Court of Chatham County, Georgia, since September 2016.

1974:

Luther J. Battiste III 74L received the National Bar Association’s Civil Trial Advocacy Master Trial Award at the association’s annual convention. Battiste is a founding shareholder of Johnson, Toal & Battiste, in Columbia, South Carolina.

1975:

James R. Kelley 75L 77L has been recognized in the 2020 Chambers USA directory of lawyers, in the category of bankruptcy and restructuring. His firm, Neal and Harwell
in Nashville, Tennessee, was also recognized for general commercial litigation.

Alan E. Lubel 75L was named a 2020 Georgia Super Lawyer and recognized for distinction in the practice of business litigation. No more than 5 percent of Georgia lawyers are selected.

1977:

Pat McKee 77L has published Ariel’s Island, a legal techno-thriller that asks whether artificial intelligence can learn morality. It is loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

1980:

Jess Austin 80B 80L marked his fifth season as a whitewater raft guide with the Nantahala Outdoor Center in western North Carolina. This year, he was a lead guide and trip leader.

1981: 

This summer, Mary Radford 81L retired from Georgia State Law after 36 years of teaching. Radford, Marjorie Fine Knowles Professor of Fiduciary Law, specializes in elder law and wills and trusts.

Mark Shriver 73B 81L, a William and Mary alumnus, has relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia, after spending 48 years in Atlanta. A smaller city and less traffic “makes dealing with my disability due to the rare disease of amyloidosis easier,” he said.

1982: 

Jeffrey Berman 82L has been named among 2020’s “Best Lawyers in America,” for the practice of mergers and acquisitions.

1988: 

Steve Karcher 88L celebrated his first anniversary as priest and rector of an Episcopal parish and preschool in Killeen, Texas, home to the US Army’s Fort Hood.

Michael Sage 88L has joined Sozo Investment Partners as senior partner and general counsel.

1990: 

Jeffrey B. Coopersmith 90L joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe last year as a partner in the firm’s white-collar practice group.

1992: 

In April, Maria Saltiero Doughty 88C 92L became the new president and CEO of The Chicago Network, which represents more than 500 influential women who lead Chicago’s business, professional, cultural, nonprofit, and educational organizations.

Berman Fink Van Horn was ranked the sixth 3 fastest-growing law firm (by revenue) in the 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle Annual Book of Lists. The business law firm was founded by Jeffrey Berman 82L, Benjamin Fink 92L, and Charles Van Horn 94L.

Benjamin I. Fink 92L was named a 2020 Georgia Super Lawyer, included among the top 100 attorneys in the state for business litigation. He was also named as one of 2020’s “Best Lawyers in America,” for the practice of labor and employment law.

Kellye L. Walker 92L joined Eastman Chemical Company on April 13, 2020, as executive vice president, chief legal officer.

1994: 

William Atkins 94L and co-author Zack Greenamyre 09C published an op-ed in the Daily Report that discussed modifying official immunity.

Carrie N. Baker 94G 94L 01G published a second edition of her book, Sexual Harassment Law: History, Cases, and Practice (with co-authors Jennifer Ann Drobac and Rigel C. Oliveri). Baker is professor and chair of the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College.

Charles H. Van Horn 94L was named a 2020 Georgia Super Lawyer and recognized for distinction in the practice of business litigation. No more than 5 percent of Georgia lawyers are selected. He was also named one of 2020’s “Best Lawyers in America,” for the practice of commercial litigation, real estate litigation, and construction litigation.

1995: 

This spring, Donzetta Workman Thomas 95L became the first Black woman to serve in a permanent management position in US Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 3 Office of Regional Counsel in Philadelphia.

1996: 

In March, Julie Mayfield 96L won the Democratic primary for Buncombe County North Carolina’s 49th Senate seat. She is an Asheville City Council member and co-director of MountainTrue. A Woodruff Scholar, Mayfield is former director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic.

1997: 

Loraine DiSalvo 97L, a partner with Morgan & DiSalvo, has been named a 2020 Georgia Super Lawyer for estate planning.

Michael A. Morse 97L, a partner at Pietragallo Gordon, was published in the April 2020 issue of Compliance Today, an article titled “Best Practices for Responding to Internal Whistleblowers.”

William J. Piercy 97L was named a 2020 Georgia Super Lawyer and recognized for distinction in the practice of business litigation. No more than 5 percent of Georgia lawyers are selected.

Angela M. Playle 97L has joined Nashville’s Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, in the firm’s Healthcare Department. As counsel, she will represent REITs, hospitals and health systems, healthcare investors, and other healthcare organizations.

2000: 

Scot Burton 00L joined Phoenix Senior Living as general counsel two months before the coronavirus surfaced nationally, which affected many nursing homes. In addition to monitoring pandemic legal issues, Burton directs other aspects of the 1,500-employee company.

2005: 

Gwendolyn “Wendy” J. Godfrey 05L joined Polsinelli in March as a shareholder, part of the firm’s expanded financial services litigation team. Based in Atlanta, she focuses on financial services and creditors’ rights, business bankruptcies, commercial transactions, and workouts.

Chad Slieper 05L has joined the faculty of Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy and directs a program in Law, Science, and Technology. He also oversees Tech’s pre-law initiatives and teaches undergraduate courses in constitutional issues, tech law, internet law, and judicial process.

2006: 

Kurt Kastorf 02C 06L launched Kastorf Law, a boutique litigation firm that assists organizations and other attorneys with litigation, appellate, and regulatory problems.

Deidré Keller 06L was named dean of Florida A & M University College of Law in Orlando this spring and began work in July.

Neal F. Weinrich 06L has been named a Georgia 2020 Super Lawyers Rising Star for business litigation. The recognition goes to no more than 2.5 percent of the state’s attorneys who are 40 and under or have practiced 10 years or less.

2007: 

Mathew Titus 07L 07T and partner Brandon Smith formed Titus Smith earlier this year. They were featured in a Daily Report story on employing technology to keep cases moving forward during the coronavirus pandemic.

2008: 

Daniel McNamara 08L joined A10 Associates this April as a partner and serves as general counsel and senior vice president. He was previously at BGR Group in Washington, DC.

2009: 

Lynsey Barron 09L has joined Miller & Martin in Atlanta as a member in its litigation department. She previously served as a federal prosecutor with the US Attorney’s Office in Atlanta.

Ashley Edwards 09L, a partner at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, has been elected to the leadership team of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section.

Joanna Jang 04C 09L, a partner at Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, has joined the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta board of directors, and also, the Korean-American Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta, Georgia.

Sonette T. Magnus 09L has joined Lewis Rice in St. Louis as a member. She counsels corporate clients in commercial litigation and also practices in the Governmental Solutions and Administrative Law Department.

In February, Christine Norstadt 09L was elected shareholder at Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams and Aughtry. She practices commercial real estate law in Atlanta, representing owners, managers, and users of office, retail and industrial properties, apartments and land.

2011: 

Oderah C. Nwaeze 11L has been promoted to partner at Duane Morris. As a trial lawyer
in the firm’s Wilmington, Delaware, offices, he litigates complex corporate and commercial matters involving state and federal law.

Katherine Silverman 11L has been named a Georgia 2020 Super Lawyers Rising Star for civil litigation (plaintiff). The recognition goes to no more than 2.5 percent of the state’s attorneys who are 40 and under or have practiced 10 years or less.

2012: 

Stephen Alicanti 12L 12B was promoted to partner at DLA Piper in New York City on April 1, 2020. A corporate and securities lawyer, he focuses on representing issuers and underwriters in domestic and international capital markets transactions.

2013: 

Lauren S. Frisch 10C 13L has been named a Georgia 2020 Super Lawyers Rising Star for business litigation. The recognition goes to no more than 2.5 percent of the state’s attorneys who are 40 and under or have practiced 10 years or less.

Casson Wen 08Ox 10C 13L is Oxford College’s 2019–2020 “Outstanding Young Alumnus.” He is a shareholder in the real estate practice of Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey, in Houston, Texas.

  

In Memoriam

John H. David 57C 58L on April 10, 2020.

Steve Hood Finch 61L on May 30, 2020.

Robert W. Walker 63L on February 9, 2020.

Benjamin Landey 62C 65L on April 7, 2020.

Charles “Brett” Merrill Jr. 66L on February 12, 2020.

Barry Earl Billington 68L on April 28, 2020.

Edward A. Crudup 68L on April 8, 2020.

Wayne J. Moulton 64C 68Lon April 20, 2020.

Richard Lee Mullins 70L on March 4, 2020.

Jack B. Albanese 72L on February 24, 2020.

Francis Earl Wiggers Jr. 72L on February 9, 2020.

Robert Steven “Bobby” Horowitz 73L on June 9, 2020.

John Lansing Kimmey III 74L on February 13, 2020.

Barbara Vaughn Tinsley 71C 75L on May 6, 2020.

Nancy Becker Hewes Bevan 76L on June 23, 2020.

Kenneth Raymond Carlson 76Lon March 2, 2020.

Cheryl B. Kragh 76L on May 8, 2020.

Arnold William Umbach Jr. 76L on May 30, 2020.

Gerhardt M. Hoff 82L on April 22, 2020.

Davis Kingsley Loftin 96L on June 13, 2020.