Class Notes - 2000s

2000

Erik Benton ‘00 works as a software engineer at Elite Care Technology. Wife Carrie Uffindell ‘00 still loves her job at Powell’s Books. The couple bought a charming 100-yearold house in Portland.

Kathy Carlson ‘00 and Kevin Finkle ‘98 got married and bought their first home in Portland. Both still perform locally with White Rhino Marimba, and Finkle also plays with Fools in Paradise. 

Kristen David JD ‘00 has become a shareholder in the professional corporation of Donald B. Bowerman.

Román Hernández JD ‘00 is vice president of the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association.

Sierra Hutchinson ‘00 joined the Peace Corps in 2000 and volunteered for three years in Benin, Africa. She stayed in Africa and worked as a volunteer teacher and administrator for a program called Teachers for Africa. She is currently in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, where she is working to improve adult literacy and establish a new resource center within a teacher training college.

Christopher Lewis JD ‘00 has been promoted to shareholder at the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. His practice focuses on two areas: patent prosecution, with expertise in mechanical-, electromechanical-, and chemical-based patents; and intellectual property litigation, with an emphasis on patent litigation. Prior to joining Schwabe, Lewis worked in Intel Corporation’s corporate licensing group. Currently, he is the secretary for the executive committee of the Oregon State Bar’s Intellectual Property Section. He was a law clerk in Sandpoint, Idaho, for Bonner County District Court Judge James R. Michaud, and later for the Oregon Department of Justice.

Amy McCaffrey JD ‘00 has joined Case & Dusterhoff as an associate, returning her general practice to Washington County after three years on Portland’s east side. McCaffrey specializes in personal injury, domestic relations, and general litigation.

Carrie Uffindell ‘00 still loves her job at Powell’s Books. Husband Erik Benton ‘00 works as a software engineer at Elite Care Technology. The couple bought a charming 100-year-old house in Portland.

2001

Sarah Antonelli ‘01 will graduate with a PhD in materials chemistry from the University of Oregon and has accepted a job offer with Intel in Chandler, Arizona. Her husband, Andy, will be transferring from Portland Technology Development (an Oregon Intel site) to an equipment development group in Chandler. 

Caroline Coppock JD ‘01 has become an associate with Hoffman, Hart & Wagner. She is a former associate at Keating Jones Bildstein & Hughes.

Adam Cornell JD ‘01 has been appointed special assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. A Snohomish County deputy prosecuting attorney, he has been assigned to the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force to prosecute drug crimes in his role as a federal prosecutor. Cornell has also been elected chair of the Washington Commission for National and Community Service.

Jason Creasman JD ‘01 has been named partner in the Portland firm of Alleman Hall McCoy Russell & Tuttle. He is a registered patent attorney, whose practice focuses on patent prosecution, licensing, and enforcement.

Dan Dombey ‘01 graduates with a master’s degree in business administration from Cornell University in 2006. He’s moving to Minneapolis with fiancé Yooran Oh ‘01, who recently graduated from Baylor University School of Law.

Rebecca Haynes ‘01 has been accepted at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire. She is pursing a master’s degree in environmental studies with a specialization in education.

Elizabeth Howard JD ‘01 has joined Dunn Carney Allen Higgins & Tongue as an associate. She will focus on natural resources, environmental, agricultural, and real estate law. Before joining Dunn Carney, Howard worked for Churchill Leonard Lodine & Hendrie in Salem. In spring 2005, she taught a course on the evolution of U.S. environmental and natural resources law at Oregon State University.

Kent Hymel ‘01 is a PhD student in economics at the University of California at Irvine. When he is not studying, he is sailing 30-foot keelboats in Newport Harbor or working on his tan at Laguna Beach. 

Cheryl Kringle JD ‘01 is an assistant attorney general with the Washington state Attorney General Consumer Protection Division. She leads the senior and vulnerable consumer protection unit within the division and enforces the Consumer Protection Act through civil litigation.

Christopher Larson ‘01 is first lieutenant and platoon leader in the U.S. Army, serving in Baghdad, Iraq.

John “Adam” Shearer ‘01 is lead singer for the Portland band John Weinland. He also recorded an album titled Your Big Best.

Cameron Sutton ‘01 is a K-12 environmental educator for the Auburn School Department in Maine. She was named the 2004 Environmental Educator of the Year by the local Soil and Water Conservation District.

Jessica Vucelick ‘01 is a fish biologist for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Adam Wiedmann ‘01 is a represented artist at the Belushi Pisano Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard. The gallery is operated by Jessica Pisano ‘99.

2002

Bill Allen ‘02 has been a branch manager at American General Financial Services for the last six months in Oregon City and is now going back to the firm’s Gresham location to manage his old office. He and his wife, Katie, don’t have kids yet, but they do have a dog, Kona.

John Daters ‘02 is the first and only full-time travel writer for Colorado.com, the state’s official tourism website.

Angela Engstrom JD ‘02 has opened her own law firm in Portland focusing on plaintiffs’ personal injury, civil litigation, misdemeanor and traffic ticket defense, and wills.

Dusty Hoesly ‘02 graduated from Yale in 2004 with a master of arts degree in religion. He started the master of arts in teaching program at Lewis & Clark in 2005 and did his student teaching in Wilsonville.

Erin MacDonald JD ‘02 has established her own law office in Portland. She provides professional legal services on a contract basis to lawyers and law firms, including legal research and writing, drafting pleadings, document review, pretrial preparation, and trial support. Most recently, MacDonald worked as an associate in the Law Offices of Jeffrey B. Wihtol, in Portland, where she represented plaintiffs in medical negligence and product liability cases.

Matthew “Buzzy” Nielsen ‘02 now checks “married” on his tax forms, wears a ring on his finger, and wakes up every day next to the love of his life. He is blissfully happy. He and his wife, Jamie, and their ever-so-lovable cat, Miep, are comfortably settled in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “If anyone cares to visit us crazy pinko bleedingheart Ann Arbor commies, we have a lovely apartment with a futon for guests.” 

Yumi O’Neil JD ‘02 has joined Hoffman, Hart & Wagner as an associate in the firm’s Portland office. She formerly clerked for Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Marilyn Litzenberger JD ‘88. 

Jitesh Panchal JD ‘02 has joined AIG Insurance in San Ramon, California, as in-house counsel in the construction litigation department. 

Derek Simmons JD ‘02 has become a shareholder in the Eugene law firm of Watkinson Laird Rubenstein Baldwin & Burgess. He practices in the areas of health law, business organizations and transactions, limited liability companies, and emerging business.

Lakin Soldate ‘02 “took a tour in hell as a mortgage loan processor” before joining Polyserve as a software sales representative for the West Coast. “Free from the shackles of student loans since 2004 (praise Jesus!),” he carefully ponders the pros and cons of attending grad school for a master’s degree in business administration.

Sarah Stohr ‘02 received her master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Kentucky. She challenges anyone to a Dewey Decimal duel.

Melissa Waer ‘02 is finishing up a master’s degree in business administration at Norwich University and is gainfully unemployed at the moment. She sends a salute to Christopher Larson ‘01 for serving in the U.S. Army: “Godspeed to you, sir.” 

Neil Weare ‘02 recently moved on from his job in the U.S. House of Representatives and is now in his first year at Yale Law School. “There aren’t many Pioneers in New England, but I’ve found a few!”

Brad Wiley JD ‘02 is a foreign affairs specialist for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Silver Spring, Maryland. He serves as the NMFS headquarters coordinator for the United States’ participation in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the International Dolphin Conservation Program.

2003

Amy Collinge ‘03 is currently Teaching for America in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. She teaches first-grade Spanish immersion at a dual-language charter school. She reports that she loves her students and loves what she’s learning.

Kathleen Doll JD ‘03, a Stoel Rives environmental attorney based in Portland, spent a week in Mississippi providing free legal advice to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The volunteer team was organized by the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar and worked out of FEMA disaster relief centers (often makeshift tent facilities) in the state’s hardest-hit areas. 

Indigo Erickson ‘03 was unwilling to get a normal job, so she set off for Latin America and spent eight months in Guatemala. In December 2004, she moved to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, where she now, more or less, feels at home. She works, or volunteers (depending on your frame of reference), for a small human rights and environmental nongovernmental organization called Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste. “Life is challenging and beautiful and filled with greens and blues, and the sky is full of stars.” 

Kristopher “K.C.” Fike ‘03 works for the Systems and Process Assurance group at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Scott Jerger JD ‘03 is a partner with Field & Jerger. His nationwide environmental practice and Oregon construction practice complement the firm’s emphasis on bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Before joining the firm, Jerger practiced environmental and regulatory law for five years for the state of Texas and the city of El Paso.

Emily Kropf JD ‘03 is a program manager with the Classroom Law Project, a nonprofit organization of educators, lawyers, and civic leaders devoted to building strong communities by teaching students to participate as informed, active citizens.

Justin Leonard JD ‘03 has joined the Portland office of Ball Janik as an associate. He specializes in bankruptcy, creditors’ rights law, and commercial litigation. Leonard was formerly an associate at Parsons Farnell & Grein.

Porsche McGovern ‘03 is a professional theatre lighting designer. She says, “Drop me a line if you remember me!”

Anna Maj Michelson ‘03 headed toward Barcelona via London and Prague. She posts her travels online on Flickr and her website.

Joshua Ross JD ‘03 has joined Stoll Stoll Berne Lokting & Shlachter as an associate. He focuses on complex business and securities. Ross joined the firm after clerking for Oregon Court of Appeals Judge Rick Haselton.

Brenda Sanchez ‘03 is a Peace Corps volunteer in Villarrica, Paraguay. As an urban youth development volunteer, she spends most of her days at the high school in her barrio. She enjoys helping teachers find ways to use the school’s small library and spends many days giving lessons to students on reproductive health and planning for life after high school. With just six months left, she’s come to realize what a great learning experience this has been. 

Sara Snyder JD ‘03 has become the new deputy district attorney for Columbia County after working for a year for the Jackson County district attorney’s office in Medford. She is experienced in misdemeanor case law, which was her primary focus in Jackson County, and has served as the lead prosecuting attorney in 20 trial proceedings.

Courtney Winkfield ‘03 is finishing the last year of her MEd She plans to help open a new school in the Bronx next fall, which will be a combination high school and college. The students will also focus on service learning through internships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the United Nations, and Amnesty International. Her husband, David, is preparing to direct his first major film. They have both fallen in love with New York and look forward to raising children there.

2004

Karina Bull JD ‘04 has accepted a position as the civil rights investigator for the Seattle Office for Civil Rights.

Michal Dvir ‘04 lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He is a software developer for Epic Systems Corporation, a company that produces medical software.

Deva Gatica ‘04 is preparing to begin her master’s in business administration at Berkeley, marry her high school crush (the beautiful and talented artist Richard Sheeler), and attend her first Burning Man celebration. “La dolce vita.” 

April Lapotre Hein ‘04 and Lukas Hein ‘04 are still in Northern California. April is a family worker for Head Start, and Lukas gives saxophone lessons and plays in town regularly. They are both happy and well.

Jennifer Lin JD ‘04 has joined MotoCzysz, a small Portland company, as corporate counsel, focusing primarily on patent work.

Melissa Luna JD ‘04 is a staff attorney at the Center for Student Legal Services, a program affiliated with Ohio University at Athens. Her work involves criminal, landlord-tenant, and consumer matters, as well as legal education programs for the OU community.

Justin McCloskey ‘04 moved to New York City after an amazing year in London working with Cantor Fitzgerald. He accepted a position with Lehman Brothers and is looking forward to exploring the city. Give him a shout if you are ever in the city.

Keith West ‘04 and Paul Bingham ‘05 were chosen by the International Debate Association to be the U.S. representatives on the 2006 British Debate Tour. They toured Britain, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, debating British teams from Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of London. Bingham and West were formerly champion debaters at Lewis & Clark. Read more about them in the summer 2005 Chronicle, which is available online here.

2005

Jennifer Ash JD ‘05 has joined the products liability group in the St. Louis office of Rabbitt, Pitzer & Snodgrass. She specializes in general litigation defense and personal injury defense. 

Paul Bingham ‘05 and Keith West ‘04 were chosen by the International Debate Association to be the U.S. representatives on the 2006 British Debate Tour. They toured Britain, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, debating British teams from Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of London. West and Bingham were formerly champion debaters at Lewis & Clark. Read more about them in the summer 2005 Chronicle, which is available online here. 

Ben Buhayar JD ‘05 has joined the Portland office of Landye Bennett Blumstein as an associate. He focuses on real estate transactions, taxation, and corporate law.

Jesse Davis JD ‘05 has been appointed honors attorney with the Oregon Department of Justice.

Jennifer Durham JD ‘05 has joined Bodyfelt Mount Stroup & Chamberlain as an associate.

Michael Gibson JD ‘05 is spending a year as a judicial clerk for Multnomah County Circuit Judge Linda Bergman.

Marcia Harris ‘05 interned at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco before being accepted into a special education credential program at San Francisco State University beginning this fall. She was also named an Oakland (California) Teaching Fellow and has been offered a teaching position in an Oakland public school, where she will work full time as an intern teacher during the day while attending college at night.

Josh Hodes JD ‘05 has joined the Anchorage office of Landye Bennett Blumstein as an associate. He specializes in corporate, business and commercial transactions, real estate, debtor-creditor, and Alaska native law.

Amie Jamieson JD ‘05 has joined Ater Wynne as an associate in the regulated industries and business departments. She works with utilities in Oregon and Alaska on regulatory compliance and with tribal enterprises on utility-related matters. Jamieson also advises businesses on entity formation and financing.

Nathan Klein JD ‘05 is serving as a judicial clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn L. Huff of the Southern District of California.

Sara Kobak JD ‘05 has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt as an associate. She previously served for three years as a judicial law clerk to Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson Jr.

Karl Lukhaup ‘05 rode his bicycle from Oregon to Maine to satisfy a lust for life.

Erin Nomiyama ‘05 is working on a master’s degree in interaction design and information architecture at the University of Baltimore.

Tristan Nunez ‘05 has received a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Peru. Nunez, who has been working as a research assistant at the Wild Salmon Center in Portland, says he is excited to be “diving into the debate surrounding strategies of infrastructure development in my country of birth.”

Christopher Parnell JD ‘05 has joined the Portland firm Farleigh Witt as an associate. Before joining the firm, he worked for a corporate in-house counsel and a sole practitioner. His practice emphasizes employment law and litigation.

Kimberlee Stafford JD ‘05 has joined Tonkon Torp as an associate in the real estate and land-use practice areas. She formerly worked as a research associate at a small biotechnology firm, where she performed drug discovery research for neurological diseases.