Class Notes - 1990s

1990

Michael Baxter JD, of Baxter & Baxter, has expanded his firm’s consumer litigation practice with a newly formed bankruptcy practice group. Baxter & Baxter is a Portland consumer litigation law firm specializing in identity theft, false credit reporting, and debt collection cases. The firm’s Oregon bankruptcy lawyers represent consumers in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies.

Amy Lerich-Masterson BA is “still loving the Pacific Northwest and living with my husband Don and 13-year-old daughter Madeleine in Seattle, where we have been for more than 11 years. I am still working for Starbucks International and trying to satisfy my wanderlust by securing a job in Asia. I would love to get back in touch—let me know if you are in the neighborhood.”

Suze Mullen-Engbretson BA loves being a mom to Lena, 12, and Owen, 7. She enjoys volunteering at their school and in the community. She works at Nike and is planning her third sabbatical. Her husband works across the street at Tektronix. They enjoy spending time with their kids and friends and traveling when possible. Mullen-Engbretson expects to see old friends and make new ones at her 20-year reunion.

1991

Jacilyn Margeson JD  has received one of the Bonneville Power Administration’s highest honors. Margeson, assistant general counsel for BPA’s Corporate Fish and Wildlife organization and BPA’s resident legal expert in contracting and procurement, was recognized with the Exceptional Service Award for legal proficiency and impeccable character. She has served more than 28 years at BPA and is an active member of the Oregon and Washington bar associations. Her expertise spans a range of legal issues, and she has played an integral role in several landmark cases that now serve as legal precedent.

1992

Heidi Brown JD has been named a partner of the firm Bennett, Hartman, Morris & Kaplan. Brown practices in the areas of labor and employment law and domestic relations.

Jonathan Gourlay BA  and Kristin Espeland BA ’94 live in Oak Park, Illinois, with Gourlay’s daughter, Mariana, 8. He completed his MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop and is working toward a second master’s degree, in applied linguistics.

Barbara Smythe JD has joined EdChoices in Clackamas. A nonprofit organization, EdChoices provides children receiving instruction at home with curriculum and technical support.

1993

Jeffrey Renshaw JD has relocated his practice to 15171 S.W. Bangy Road in Lake Oswego.

David Rorden JD, of Longview, Washington, has received the Outstanding Chapter Member of the Year Award from the Washington chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Rorden, chapter president-elect, has served on the Washington NAELA board of directors and has been chair of the chapter legislative committee since 2007. He has also cochaired the group’s annual Unprogram legal education conference. In addition, Rorden is active in community affairs in Longview and Cowlitz County.

Ellen Stier JD has relocated her elder law practice to Lake Oswego Elder Law. A former trial attorney with Metropolitan Public Defender, Stier began practicing elder law along with estate planning and probate in 2001. She takes on complex contested cases involving dementia, self-neglect, undue influence, and financial exploitation.

1994

Kristin Espeland BA and Jonathan Gourlay BA ’92 live in Oak Park, Illinois, with Gourlay’s daughter, Mariana, 8. Espeland received her M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and is a reporter for the Louisville, Kentucky, NPR news affiliate.

Sophia Serghi BA, the ’94 Rena Ratte Award recipient and valedictorian, is now a professor of music at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a composer/performer. In October she was on campus, leading a workshop in rap music for youth who live in the Columbia Housing Project in Portland. The workshop and performance were part of her community engagement proposal to the College Music Society’s national conference, which was taking place in Portland. That same month she gave a concert of her works at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington, D.C.

1995

Jason Alexander BA moved to London in 2001 to take a job in the philosophy department at the London School of Economics, and he’s still there. His first book, The Structural Evolution of Morality, was published in 2007 by Cambridge University Press. As of June 2009, he is also an associate editor for the journal Philosophy of Science.

1996

Michael Weir BA is working toward his master’s degree in landscape architecture at the University of Oregon. (See also Births, p. 43.)

1997

Victoria Blachly JD has been named partner in the Portland law firm of Samuels Yoelin Kantor Seymour & Spinrad. Blachly works on litigation issues with a focus on fiduciary litigation, including trust and estate litigation, for individual trustees, corporate trustees, beneficiaries, and personal representatives. A member of the Oregon and Washington state bars and the Multnomah and federal bar associations, Blachly was previously a shareholder at Lane Powell.

1999

Heather Dittmore BA has earned an MA in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Portland State University. She started the program after working at Lewis & Clark for four years. Dittmore is now teaching English as a second language and German at Portland Community College. In addition she is codirector of the Sylvania Teaching Learning Center at PCC. She is excited to be helping plan her 10th reunion and hopes to see her classmates there.

Maiya Hall JD has joined the law firm of Alan W. Karpinski. Hall has experience with the Indian Child Welfare Act, juvenile dependency and delinquency law, criminal law, domestic relations issues, complex civil litigation, and other civil law areas. In addition to a juvenile law caseload, Hall handles domestic relations and private criminal law cases.

Joshua Husbands JD, a partner in the Portland office of Holland & Knight, received the 2008 Excellence in Writing award for best overall trust and estate article in the American Bar Association’s May/June 2008 edition of Probate & Property magazine. “Split Dollar Life Insurance Funding: You Mean People Still Do That?” was coauthored with Alan Jensen of the same firm. Husbands is a member of Holland & Knight’s private wealth services section and represents clients in business, tax, business succession, and estate planning matters, including business reorganizations, acquisitions, and divestitures.

George Kline BA was recently promoted to principal and is managing a trading desk in London with Barclays Global Investors. Yvonne Muhar Miller BA and Chris Miller BA ’00 live in Los Angeles and are looking forward to their 10th reunion in June. (See also Marriages, p. 43)

Christopher “Cory” Muldoon BA took a one-month sabbatical after five years of community organizing in Chicago. His work involves building community-based power to address access to affordable housing, immigrant rights, and reforming the criminal justice and education systems. He says, “My romantic ally, Laura, and I used the month to catch up on reading and bike around Lake Michigan. Future plans include taking on local slumlords, more biking, and soccer—Brazil 2014!”

Peter G. Scott JD has joined the Montana firm of Gough, Shanahan, Johnson & Waterman as a partner. Scott comes to the firm as regulatory and litigation counsel for governmental, private, nonprofit, and corporate clients throughout the Northwest. He previously worked in the Spokane office of Preston, Gates & Ellis, and he is a member of the state bars of Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. His practice focuses primarily on land use, water rights, and natural resource issues. He serves as secretary to the Northwest Mining Association and as vice chair of the ABA Mining Committee.