Class Notes - 2000s

Class Notes - 2000s

2000

Jason Ayres JD has joined Harrang Long Gary Rudnick as an associate in the firm’s financial services and bankruptcy practice.

Kate Cottrell JD is an assistant attorney general in the Commercial, Condemnation, and Environmental Litigation Section of the Trial Division of the Oregon Department of Justice. She joined the department in 2001.

Gregory Levinson JD  is a continuing director of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

Christopher Lewis JD has been promoted to shareholder of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in the firm’s Portland office. Previously, he worked in Intel Corporation’s corporate licensing group. Lewis is also secretary for the executive committee of the Oregon State Bar Intellectual Property Section.

Karin McKercher JD has joined Ater Wynne as of counsel attorney in the firm’s Portland office. She counsels clients in the emerging business and intellectual property practice groups with intellectual property and corporate transactions. McKercher is an active member of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum and Oregon Software Association.

Captain Sean O’Day JD, First Lieutenant Nick Paulson JD, and Captain Bryan Libel JD ‘02 served together as judge advocates (military lawyers) in Afghanistan. Libel is now back in the States, but O’Day and Paulson are still training and mentoring the fledgling Afghan National Army Legal Corps. When not deployed, O’Day is the deputy city attorney for Salem; Paulson recently closed a private bankruptcy practice to complete the requisite officer and military law training course.

Katie Thomas Winder BA, after finishing graduate school at Johns Hopkins, in 2005 became one of the founding faculty of the University of California at Merced. Her research in economics involves estimating the labor supply effects of parenthood and evaluating policies related to work-life balance. As a more personal investigation of work-life balance, she has a young daughter, Miranda Hazel. Her husband, Michael, a writing instructor at UC Merced, stays home part time with 9-monthold Mira. If anyone is in the Central Valley (which probably means he or she is lost), drop Katie and Michael a line!

2001

Tonya Alexander JD is the principal of Alexander Law Office, which specializes in family law. She is serving on the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation board of directors.

David Bean JD, an attorney with Meyer & Wyse, is president of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

John Belknap JD is a continuing director of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

Shannon Benfield-Blankenship BA taught sixth grade in Harlem, New York, for two years as a Teach for America corps member. He then traveled the world for eight months, building on his love of different cultures. Returning to the States, he taught for two years at KIPP Bridge (part of a network of charter schools) in Oakland, California. He enjoyed success in his classroom and was called on to open his own KIPP academy, which will be up and running in July. Benfield-Blankenship says that as a teacher he closed the achievement gap for his students and truly changed their life prospects. His goal as principal of his new school, named KIPP Impact, is for all of his students to graduate from college and effect larger societal change.

Dale Booth BA completed her master’s degree in marine science in September 2006 from the University of South Alabama in Mobile and is now living in Maryland, working as a research assistant at Horn Point Laboratory. Her group works mainly with sea grasses, looking at how the physical environment affects grass distribution and biology. For her master’s, she did most of her research out of Dauphin Island Sea Lab, which is on a barrier island just south of Mobile.

Brenna Dorrance BA graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a master’s degree in human rights in December 2006.

Rachel Girshick BA is a doctoral degree candidate in political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She recently eloped with fellow graduate student Matt Dull in a small ceremony attended by friends in Madison. They now live in Washington, D.C., where Matt is an assistant professor and Rachel is working on her dissertation.

Lucas Jackson BA was hired as a full-time staff photographer for Reuters News Pictures in New York City. This huge promotion has him covering the entertainment industry in New York and large events around the world.

Stephen Manning JD operates a three-person downtown Portland firm that focuses on immigration law. His firm opened 230 cases last year–21 more than in 2004. Manning attributes the increase to what he thinks are increasingly harsh laws pertaining to would-be residents.

Laura Ireland Moore JD is executive director of the National Center for Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School.

Jungjin Park JD has recently moved from Lee & Ko, a law firm in Seoul, South Korea, to be general counsel at Samsung Total Petrochemicals. Park also teachies corporate and commercial law at Kyunghee University in Seoul as an adjunct faculty member.

2002

Arts & Sciences 5th Reunion  Oct. 18-21, 2007

Joe Collver BA holds the Fire on the Mountain record for number of fiery hot El Jefe buffalo wings consumed at one sitting. He is hopelessly addicted to travel and to Flickr. His travel photography can be viewed here. To date Collver has read 76 of the Modern Library’s 100 best novels of the 20th century.

Shelly Damore JD has joined Cosgrave Vergeer Kester as an associate. Her practice focuses on civil litigation for the insurance, automobile, and trucking industries.

Lauren Donofrio JD has joined O’Reilly Rancilio in Sterling Heights, Michigan, as a litigation associate.

John Fathman BA moved from La Jolla back to San Francisco, where he is pursuing his doctorate in immunology at Stanford University.

Kristin Larson JD, a family law and estate planning attorney with Stahancyk, Kent, Johnson & Hook in Bend, is a member of the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation board of directors.

Captain Bryan Libel JD, Captain Sean O’Day JD ‘00, and First Lieutenant Nick Paulson JD ‘00 served together as judge advocates (military lawyers) in Afghanistan. Libel is now back in the States and serves full time with the Oregon National Guard. O’Day and Paulson are still training and mentoring the fledgling Afghan National Army Legal Corps.

Yumi O’Neil JD, a judicial clerk for Dale Koch, presiding judge of the Multnomah County Circuit Court, has joined the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation board of directors.

Graham Sweitzer JD has joined Kilmer Voorhees & Laurick as an associate attorney. Sweitzer was previously with Smith Freed & Eberhard.

Michael Tarrant BA lives in Kyoto, Japan, and manages a small English conversation school. He plans to move back to the States eventually.

Neil Weare BA is in his second year at Yale Law School. After his first year there, he did a legal internship in New York with the Brennan Center for Justice. An Olympic runner from Guam, he returned home last summer for his third consecutive year participating in the Shieh Runners Camp.

2003

Grant Aaker BA and Josh Wallaert BA codirected the documentary feature Arid Lands, which screened on March 31 at the Longbaugh Film Festival in Portland. The film about the Columbia Basin and the Hanford nuclear site in southeastern Washington tells the story of how people changed this landscape over time, and how the landscape affected their lives. The film received awards at its first two festivals. Photos, trailer, and other goodies are at Sidelong Films.

Jodi Antje Garrington BA is in her second year in Taipei, Taiwan, teaching English as a second language to kids aged 4 to 14. Her English grammar has improved dramatically, but her Chinese skills are still very basic. She welcomes e-mails at jodiantje@hotmail.com, subject: LC.

Julian Dautremont-Smith BA is using his environmental studies major to its fullest, becoming a higher education sustainability activist and taking part in a movement called American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, as well as working on the development of a rating system for campus sustainability.

Alexis James JD recently joined the law firm of Kamel & Maxwell, where she practices employment law. James also joined LA Lawyers for Animals, a group that provides referral services to people who need help with animal issues. She and her husband, Adam, recently celebrated their first anniversary and have adopted a feisty Labrador retriever.

J. Riley Lagesen JD has joined Davis Wright Tremaine’s Portland office, where he represents hospitality industry clients on issues including franchising, intellectual property protection, entity formation, securities, and finance. Lagesen was previously an associate with Bullivant Houser Bailey. Before practicing law, he owned and managed multiple restaurants in Los Angeles.

Katie Lane JD, an attorney in the Multnomah County Attorney’s Office, is a new director of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

Jonas Lerman BA lives in Eugene with his girlfriend, Kristin, who is in her final year in the University of Oregon’s master of architecture program. He recently left his graphic design job at the Eugene Register-Guard newspaper to take a position at the UO Law Library. He’s applying to law schools for fall 2007 admission.

Anna Maj Michelson BA is in transition. Get updated visually by visiting her website.

Luis Perez JD has joined the Modesto, California, law firm of Damrell, Nelson, Schrimp, Pallios, Pacher & Silva as an associate. Previously, he taught at Modesto Christian High School. Perez specializes in business transaction and litigation.

Christopher Phan BA is a graduate student and teaching fellow in the math department at the University of Oregon. In May, he passed his preliminary oral examination and was advanced to doctoral degree candidacy. He has two more years to go.

Stephanie Rayburn BA lives and works in the small village of Hitchin, just north of London. She lives with fellow alum Alex Tillson BA ‘04 and a bunch of Americans who are in the London area with an athletics development program (or programme, if you’re British). She is a supply teacher at a handful of schools in Hitchin and the surrounding villages. They love visitors, so shoot them a line if you’re ever in the British Isles! 

Mikal Sherman BA, after graduation, spent about a year and a half in Ukraine learning Ukrainian and Russian, traveling, and doing his best not to get into too much trouble. Now he is back in Colorado working for Amgen. He finds it a great company and really enjoys being back in the Rockies.

Camaron Vallepalli JD has relocated with her family to Bangalore, India, where she now heads the Indian operations of a legal outsourcing company. She helps with training in researching and writing, and with human resources functions. 

Kacy Wiggum BA is pursuing her juris doctor at Rutgers Law School in Newark and lives in Jersey City (across the Hudson from New York City). Look her up if you’re in the area!

2004

Patrick Flanagan JD, formerly of the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, has joined Bodyfelt Mount Stroup & Chamberlain.

Micah Gordon BA is the chief recording engineer for Nugs. He lives in Los Angeles, but spends most of the year on the road working on concert tours, recording live performances.

Serena Hewitt JD is an assistant attorney general in the Government Services and Education Section of the General Counsel Division with the Oregon Department of Justice.

Gregory Mason BA is in law school at George Washington University.

Julie Penry JD has been registered as a patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. An experienced trial attorney, she is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington.

Shannon Hatfield Philpott BA and husband Oliver have purchased their first home in Champaign, Illinois. They both enjoy being self-employed: he owns his own restaurant, and she owns an insurance agency.

Maggie Reilly BA is an asset development services program officer for Mercy Corps in Portland.

Diana Wiener Rosengard BA entered law school at the University of Oregon after two years working as a hall director at the University of Portland. She and husband David still have two ferrets, and have now acquired a second cat.

Robert Sholars Jr. BA thoroughly enjoyed a two-year stay in Washington, D.C., where he provided communications counsel for corporate clients engaged in litigation or facing a crisis. In August, he began working toward a master’s degree in international economic policy and international media and communication at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York City.

Karen Smith BA and Drake Durham BA recently moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where she is working on a master’s degree in occupational therapy at Colorado State University. She enjoys being back in school, and she likes the idea of being able to get an enjoyable job easily when she is done!

Elizabeth Taylor JD has joined the environmental division of Daley & Heft in Solana Beach, California. Her practice focuses primarily on ocean and coastal issues.

Sheila Taylor BA is a research assistant in a cancer lab at Oregon Health & Science University, getting ready to move into some animal studies. She plans to finish up her veterinary school prerequisites by taking one class each term at Portland State University–kinda living the quiet life, but enjoying it.

Alexander Tillson BA is in England, north of London, teaching lacrosse in schools and promoting it among soccer-oriented youth. His job includes teaching some 25 physical education class sessions per week, coaching clubs, and playing on the men’s team in the town where he lives. It is quite possibly the perfect job. To make matters better, he is there with fellow alum Stephanie Rayburn BA ‘03 on this magnificent adventure.

Alejandro Tosi JD ‘04, LLM ‘01 is a member of the board of the Hacienda Community Development Corporation, an organization that helps Latinos find housing, and of the Portland Hispanic Chamber and the Hispanic National Bar Association. Tosi also provides pro bono legal services to low-income members of the Latino community through the Oregon Law Center. He is a member of the Oregon State Bar and the Buenos Aires Bar.

Christi Turner BA is doing good deeds in the Peace Corps in northern Madagascar, including mounting a big effort to raise funds to set up a radio station there. Finally feeling that she is making great progress, she has re-upped for a third year in the Peace Corps there. 

Beate Weiss-Krull JD has opened a solo practice focusing on advising small businesses, nonprofits, and estate planning, and has founded a nonprofit group to support those affected by galactosemia, Galactosemia Support Northwest. She has two daughters, Mia Rose Elizabeth and Alena. 

2005

Sharl Azar BA is a first-year medical student at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine.

Danielle Beasley-Johnston BA left December 12 for two months of backpacking in Europe with friends. From there she went to Alexandria, Egypt, for an Arabic immersion program, then met up with some fellow L&C alumni in Kenya. Next she plans to attend graduate school in the Washington, D.C., area for conflict resolution and analysis/peace studies.

Diana Bob JD is living in Spokane, working as a staff attorney for Northwest Justice Project, the statewide legal service provider in Washington. Bob is a generalist with cases in state and tribal courts that concern housing, family law, education advocacy, public benefits, and Indian law. Last year, she married attorney Brian McClatchey. 

Amy Chesbrough BA works in a refugee resettlement, but is looking to go into nursing (perhaps nurse-midwifery) in the future. She is open to talking to any current L&C folk about searching for a job after college, the nonprofit world in Portland, nursing, or the public health field.

Rahna Epting JD was interviewed for the Oregonian’s “In Portland” section of October 12, 2006, saying she believes in paying taxes for equitable government programs.

Alexis Georgeff BA feels her Lewis & Clark training prepared her well for her new challenge: earning a master’s degree in the management of nongovernmental organizations at the London School of Economics. She ran into some L&C study-abroad students in a London café.

Dimitri Gurkins BA completed his graduate program in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton. He is completing his master’s degree in the spring and has accepted a job at Dean & Company, a boutique strategy consulting firm in the Washington, D.C., area.

Liv Halvorsen BA earned a master of arts in teaching at Bard College. She lives and teaches English in Seoul, South Korea.

Ethan Hasenstein JD, after a one-year clerkship with the Nevada Supreme Court, is now assistant attorney general in the General Counsel Division of the Oregon Department of Justice. He represents the Oregon University System and other state government clients.

Devesh Khanal BA got an honorable mention in 2005 and 2006 for his application to the National Science Foundation for a graduate research fellowship. He is pursuing a doctorate in materials science at the University of California at Berkeley.

Phaedra Paul JD has joined Kolisch Hartwell as an intellectual property attorney.

Kristen West JD has joined the Metropolitan Public Defender, working in the Multnomah County office.

2006

Sharon Bolesky JD joins Lane Powell as an associate in the firm’s labor and employment practice group. Previously, she worked as a law clerk at the Oregon Department of Justice and was a judicial extern for the Honorable Robert E. Jones.

Marion Haynes JD, as government relations director for the Portland Business Alliance, is the alliance’s chief lobbyist, responsible for maintaining relationships with all local governments in Portland.

Shawn Kolitch JD has joined Kolisch Hartwell as an intellectual property attorney.