The University of Virginia School of Law
Fall 2012
The Patent Puzzle
“If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property,
it is the action of the thinking power called an idea …” —THOMAS JEFFERSON
UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS
January 4
New Orleans Breakfast and AALS conference
Hilton New Orleans, Riverside
February 20
Atlanta Luncheon
Four Seasons Hotel
February 20
Birmingham, Ala., Reception
SEC Headquarters
February 27
New York City Luncheon
Yale Club
February 28
Delaware Reception
Wilmington Club
March 7
Northern Virginia Reception
Washington Golf and Country Club
March 14
Salt Lake City, Utah, Reception
Hotel Monaco
May 10 – 12
Law Alumni Weekend
Charlottesville
June 3
Virginia Admissions to the Bar Ceremony
Greater Richmond Convention Center
June 11
Washington, D.C., Luncheon
Mayflower Hotel
FOR LATEST ON ALUMNI EVENTS: www.law.virginia.edu/alumni
from the dean Paul G. Mahoney
…
The Economic Logic of the Patent System
Intellectual property has long been one of the Law School’s strengths.
Professor Edmund Kitch, who has taught at Virginia for the past
three decades, is the author of one of the most insightful and
influential articles ever written on patent law. In “The Nature and
Function of the Patent System,” published in 1977 in the Journal of
Law & Economics, Ed pointed out that the traditional description
of the patent system as a means of rewarding inventors and thus
spurring innovation was seriously incomplete. In order to understand
the details of the system, such as priority and time-bar, one must
recognize that they create strong incentives to file patent applications early—often well before the
use of the new technology is economically viable. This incentive structure, Ed observed, permits
those who “discover” a new technology to publicize their discovery and transfer it to anyone who
can better exploit it, not unlike the system of establishing claims to minerals found on public lands.
To this day the article is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the economic logic of the
patent system. While Ed was the leading patent scholar at the Law School, now-retired Professor
Lillian BeVier coupled her scholarship on the First Amendment with teaching and writing on the
“expressive” areas of intellectual property, copyright and trademark.
In recent years, the Law School has been fortunate to add a new generation of outstanding
intellectual property scholars, several of whom contributed ideas to this issue of the UVA Lawyer.
Professor Chris Sprigman has gained recognition as the principal theorist of intellectual property’s
“negative space”—areas where innovation flourishes despite the absence of effective intellectual
property rights. His scholarship, some of it jointly written with Professor Dotan Oliar, another of
the Law School’s gifted young intellectual property scholars, has studied innovation in industries as
diverse as fashion, cuisine, and stand-up comedy.
The Law School is also fortunate to have added two leading patent scholars to the faculty.
Margo Bagley, who holds a degree in chemical engineering, worked in research and development
with Proctor & Gamble, and is the co-holder of a patent, combines deep practical experience
From the Dean
…
with careful theoretical insights. She is a member of the board of directors of the Public Patent
Foundation and has served on a committee of the National Academy of Sciences focused on how
universities manage their own intellectual property portfolios. John Duffy, who joined the faculty
last year, was named by the American Lawyer as one of the 25 most influential people in the
nation in intellectual property. The U.K. publication Managing Intellectual Property has similarly
named him one of the 50 most influential in the world. Like Margo, John brings deep practical
experience, in his case on the litigation and advisory side, to the legal academy.
This issue showcases our intellectual property faculty and several alumni of the Law
School who are on the front lines, including retired Chief Judge Paul Michel ’66 of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, T.J. Angioletti ’92, Chief IP Officer for Netflix,
Eric Tassone ’98, who followed his JD with a Ph.D. in biostatistics and is now a statistician and
quantitative analyst for Google, and Chris Hockett ’85, a litigation partner with Davis Polk. They
analyze the operation of the patent granting and litigation system in light of an explosion in
innovation and patent volume.
From the perspective of patent-intensive industries, the features of the patent system that
serve the “prospecting” function Ed Kitch described 35 years ago are double-edged swords. The
fact that one can patent a new technology without practicing it leads to early disclosure and
accelerated commercial use of new ideas. But it has also led to the rise of the “patent troll,” who
acquires patents not to create new products, but to look for infringers to sue. At the same time,
the complexity and breadth of new technologies potentially subject to patent has stretched the
resources of the Patent and Trademark Office. I hope you enjoy the discussion of these timely and
important issues.
…
Our graduates followed this summer’s crisis at the University with concern. Many continue
to wonder how the University’s governance structure is functioning in the light of President
Sullivan’s reinstatement. We therefore thought you would be interested in Professor
George Cohen’s recent remarks to the Board of Visitors, which we have edited and present herein.
George, as most of you know, is the chair of the Faculty Senate and as such played a highly visible
role in this summer’s events.
2 UVA Lawyer / spring 2012
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURE STORIES
1
26
from the dean
the Patent PUZZLe:
harneSSInG the aCCeLeratInG
PaCe of InnoVatIon
The Economic Logic of
the Patent System
4
LaW SChooL neWS
40
the VIeW from the BenCh
44
faCULtY neWS
& BrIefS
53
CLaSS noteS
83
In memorIam
84
In PrInt
91
Letter to the edItor
93
oPInIon
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Statement of
George Cohen to
Board of Visitors
September 13, 2012
FALL 2012 VoL. 36, no. 2 |
EDITOR CULLen CoUCh
ASSOCIATE EDITOR denISe forSter
CONTRIBUTING WRITER reBeCCa BarnS
DESIGN roSeBerrIeS
PHOTOGRAPHY tom CoGILL, CULLen CoUCh, Warren CraGhead,
BrIan mCneILL, erIC WILLIamSon, and marY Wood
Law School News
CONSTRUCTION | Mary Wood
New Karsh
Student Services
Debuts
T
he Law School has wrapped major
construction on the new Karsh Student
Services Center and other renovations
designed to improve the student and visitor
experience.
“This summer’s work went remarkably
smoothly,” said Dean Paul G. Mahoney.
“The Karsh Student Services Center will
help us better serve current and prospective
students.” The project was made possible
through a substantial gift from Martha
Lubin Karsh ’81 and Bruce M. Karsh ’80 of
Los Angeles.
“Martha and Bruce Karsh believe that
what sets Virginia apart is the student experience and they were eager to make possible
a project that will enhance that experience,”
said Mahoney. “The Law School community
is deeply grateful for their generosity.”
The renovations, which launched in earnest over spring break, redesigned student
services offices in Slaughter Hall to include
reception areas and expanded the space
allotted to the Law School’s 20 clinics. The
construction involved creating a two-story
atrium that juts out into the Slaughter Hall
courtyard, known as Purcell Garden, and
offers a gathering space that will lead into
the redesigned garden.
Students who participated in ongrounds interviewing enjoyed the natural
light in the new interview rooms, and “it
is exciting to see the whole project come
together,” said second-year student and tour
guide Chelsea Belote. “I can’t wait to take
4 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
prospective students on tours of our new
facilities.”
On the first floor of the center, visitors and students have easier access to the
Admissions, Financial Aid, and Graduate
Studies offices. A staircase in the atrium
leads to new offices for Career Services, the
Public Service Center, and Clerkships Office, all grouped around a central reception
area just around the corner from interview
and videoconference rooms. Clinics have
expanded space on the second floor as well.
“Getting our clinics outfitted properly,
considering their tremendous growth, was
an important part of this project,” said Senior
Associate Dean for Administration Stephen
Parr. “Now, they have additional faculty offices and more shared workspaces.”
Professor Richard Balnave, director
of UVA Law’s clinical programs, said the
clinics are “especially grateful for the conference room spaces. In our old location,
several clinics shared a single conference
room,” he said. “Now we’ll be able to discuss
our clients’ confidential matters within the
confines of our clinic space.”
The renovations required many staff
and faculty members to relocate over the
summer to classrooms and other spaces in
the Law School. “Building Services, Law
ITC, and others worked long and hard to
manage the construction and get us to occupancy on time,” Mahoney said. “Many
departments and individuals had to relocate
temporarily. I am grateful to all of them for
the cooperation and good cheer that they
brought to this project.”
With staff back in their offices in time for
the start of the school year, affected departments are enjoying the renovated spaces.
“The new space is wonderful,” said Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions Anne
Richard. “Having the admissions staff all
together and centrally located on the first
floor is extremely important because we
now are more visible and easily accessible to
our applicants and admitted students.”
Additional changes include a redesigned
staff and alumni lounge that opens onto a
balcony with a view of the garden. The Virginia Law Review and Virginia Journal
of International Law moved to new and
Law School News
…
improved offices on the second floor of the
library.
Other renovations make better use of
existing space. Two new interview rooms
overlooking the Purcell Reading Room
were added, and Purcell, known also as “the
Fishbowl,” is being modified to better serve
as a space for events. The Student Affairs
and Student Records offices were connected
through an interior hallway to provide better workflow between the departments.
FLIPPED | Mary Wood
Prof Models New
Way of Teaching
T
he first-year students in University of
Virginia Law Professor Rip Verkerke’s
Contracts course are concentrating on their
laptops and clicking through content on a
recent Thursday morning, but they’re not
distracted by Facebook or Twitter. They’re
taking a brief online quiz testing their understanding of a concept the class has just
covered.
Verkerke is one of ten University of
Virginia professors to win a $10,000 Hybrid
Challenge Grant to convert a fall-semester
course into a “hybrid technology-enhanced”
offering. Though Verkerke has long been at
the forefront of using technology in class—
he’s built course websites for over a decade
and was the first UVA Law professor to audio record all of his lectures—he has taken a
quantum leap this year in reimagining how
to teach Contracts with online tools and a
new understanding of how students learn.
“I put all my materials and my course
through an atomizer, and now I’m reassembling the bits in a whole new way,” Verkerke
said. “I’ve drawn the guiding principles for
this new approach from research on teaching and learning, and from the insights of
cognitive psychologists. The overriding goal
is to harness the power of ‘doing’ to promote
deeper learning for students.”
Verkerke’s redesigned course uses a
“flipped” classroom model, in which students watch pre-recorded lectures outside
of class and participate in more interactive
learning inside the classroom, a practice now
being touted by many educational experts.
This model has become increasingly popular
in undergraduate classrooms, Verkerke said,
particularly for science and engineering
instruction, but it has not been used widely
in law schools. Paired with team-based peer
instruction, Verkerke believes this method
could transform students’ learning experiences in traditional classes.
“I’ve always taught Contracts in a completely Socratic dialogue,” he said, which
means asking individual students a series of
questions to illuminate a legal concept for
the entire class. “So I have to think very carefully about which parts of the material really
don’t need that Socratic dialogue, that really
are better just presented as a screencast video
lecture so that students can pause, rewind,
view again, easily take notes, and so on.”
Now Verkerke records most of his lectures sitting at his desk in his office while
navigating PowerPoint slides for students
to view at home. Class time is primarily reserved for problem-solving exercises,
small-group discussions, and making sure
students understand the materials and lectures they covered at night. The course is
supported not only by a binder of collected
readings, but also a website that allows
Verkerke to post materials, administer
quizzes and participate in online discussion
forums. It’s a new way of teaching law, and a
new way for students to learn it.
“The instructor is available to provide
guidance and mentorship, to answer questions and to provoke students to think more
deeply about the issues,” Verkerke said,
while admitting, “I am a complete novice at
this approach to teaching. I feel like a firstyear professor again. It’s kind of exciting,
but in a way it’s also quite frightening.”
Verkerke started thinking about changing his teaching model after reading about
flipped classrooms in publications like the
Chronicle of Higher Education. He recognized he was already spending a significant
amount of time guiding students individually or in small groups outside of class. “I
think those individual and small group discussions are often some of the most valuable
teaching I do,” he said.
In May, Verkerke, who was also recently
among the inaugural class of faculty elected
to the University Academy of Teaching,
started to develop ideas about how to run
a flipped course through the UVA Teaching
Resource Center’s weeklong Course Design
Institute.
Over the summer he experimented with
online learning tools and settled on Canvas,
an online learning management system
that is also used by the Darden School of
Business, to serve as a course website. He
integrates other tools as well, including
Learning Catalytics (for in-class surveys
and quizzes), Panopto (for recording lectures) and Piazza (for online discussions).
Applying for UVA’s competitive Hybrid
Challenge Grant cemented Verkerke’s commitment to the new model. Announced
and awarded this summer, the grants are a
new collaboration between UVA President
Teresa Sullivan and the Faculty Senate to
promote creative uses of technology that
enhance on-Grounds courses.
“We tend to get set in our ways,” Verkerke said. Designing a hybrid course “freed
me of the rigid order that I had maintained
before and allowed me to rethink the organization of each class session at a fairly
fundamental level.”
Though the first-years are new to law
school, their Contracts course stands apart.
“It’s really very different from all of my
other first-year classes,” Colin Downes said.
“The classroom experience becomes a lot
more informal and immediate because Rip
has a good sense of where everyone’s at and
what he needs to focus on.”
Classmate Shannon Hayes praised the
amount of work it was apparent Verkerke
has already put into the new course.
“I sent him a message in one of the
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 5
Law School News
…
online resource interfaces at 11:49 [p.m.]
and I had a response at 11:52—I’m not kidding, that’s a three-minute turnaround,” she
said. “That’s absolutely insane.”
Throughout the semester, students take
quizzes at night so Verkerke can gauge their
understanding of the materials. Most are
true/false or multiple-choice, but the final
question is open-ended and the same each
time: “What aspect(s) of the materials in
this module did you find most difficult or
confusing?”
“The student responses are really revealing,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll ask
very subtle and clever questions that raise
interesting issues and provoke more discussion. So I’ve found that dialogue to be
quite rewarding. I feel as though I’m doing
something good for them in focusing on
precisely the point they found confusing.”
Downes said the work at night allows
them to accomplish more in class.
6 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
“[Verkerke will] rework his lecture overnight in response to what he’s seeing in the
quizzes that are coming in,” Downes said.
“He’s making an effort to make that feedback immediately a part of his pedagogy.”
In a typical law school classroom,
Verkerke said, students are reluctant to admit
confusion, and there’s not much time to explore which topics are most problematic, and
whether all students understand a concept.
“They’ll discuss and debate and argue
in their groups much more vigorously than
they ever do early in the semester or maybe
even ever in a conventional class,” Verkerke
said. “They’re going at each other and
they’re making good arguments, interesting
arguments. And I get to listen in and guide
them towards a better understanding of
each question we consider in class.”
Verkerke said he’s noticed that students
feel empowered by reporting the results of
the group’s discussion back to the entire class.
Rip Verkerke received a UVA Hybrid Challenge
Grant to “flip” his course.
“It’s kind of nice to be able to bounce
ideas off each other and come up with our
approach,” Hayes said.
The students’ first exercise was to negotiate their own classroom policies, guided
by a series of surveys whose results could be
viewed real-time on a projector screen.
“It was cool to see this graphical representation of how people’s attitudes changed
really quickly in response to things we were
talking about in class,” Downes said. “His
goal for it was to teach us the difficulty of
consensus-building in multiparty environments. That tool definitely made that
exercise really interesting.”
Orchestrating class in this new environment can also be a challenge—one window
on Verkerke’s podium monitor shows what
Law School News
…
the class sees, another shows survey results,
and still other windows may show PowerPoint or other teaching materials Verkerke
has ready to project at any time.
“And then there’s just the dynamic of
how you move around the classroom, what
you say when you get to a group, [and] how
do you gauge when to cut off group discussion as opposed to giving more time—those
are all things where I feel like I’m at the very
beginning of discovering how best to teach
using these new methods,” Verkerke said.
Unlike most law classes where grades are
based on a single final exam, students’ final
grades will be based on multiple assignments throughout the semester, including
frequent quizzes, written preparation for
class, two midterm essay exams, simulations, and in-class exercises. Instead of the
traditional final exam, students will prepare
a final learning portfolio in which they collect examples of their work throughout the
semester and write an essay that documents
the content, scope, and quality of what they
have learned, along with reflections about
how they have developed as learners.
“A key part of developing the ability to
be a lifelong learner is to develop the capacity for self-reflection,” Verkerke said. “And
the purpose of this part of the course design
is to help students develop that skill.”
Despite the time commitment and work
involved, Verkerke plans to bring his new
teaching method to his Employment Law
classes in the spring as well—perhaps a
greater challenge since it will involve a total
of 100 students instead of the 30 in his current Contracts course.
“I will have to dial back the number of
assignments that I comment on [online],”
he said.
Verkerke said he is transforming his
courses so that students are not simply “observers” in a classroom where a professor is
engaging with only a few students. His goal
is to have “as many students making arguments as much of the time as possible, and
having them listen to their classmates’ arguments, and trying to persuade their peers
and wrestle with difficult legal problems.”
“In a way, I think it might be easier
for someone who’s a first-time teacher to
construct such a class from scratch because
I feel a powerful sense of inertia, a driving
need to do what I did last year, because most
students thought the course was terrific,” he
said. “Why shouldn’t I just do that again?
And I have to keep reminding myself I have
an objective here. I am experimenting, but
I also have some research-based principles
that I’m trying to implement with an eye
to improving the learning experience for
students.”
SUPREME COURT | Brian McNeill
Former Clerks
Explore Pending
Case in Classroom
T
wo former U.S. Supreme Court clerks
recently taught a short course that offered students an in-depth study of a case
being argued this term at the Supreme Court.
The two-week course, Supreme Court
Decision-Making: A Case Study, explored
all aspects of Bailey v. United States, a case
involving the question of whether police officers are allowed to detain someone while
searching the person’s home, even though
the individual has left the premises.
“We thought we could give the students
a unique lens into the Supreme Court based
on our experience of having clerked there,”
said co-instructor Katherine Twomey ’08,
who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia during the 2009–10 term. Twomey now does
appellate work at Latham and Watkins in
Washington, D.C.
Twomey and the course’s other instructor, Daniel Epps—who clerked for Justice
Anthony M. Kennedy and now works at
King & Spalding’s national appellate litigation group in Washington—said that by
studying Bailey, the students will better
understand how the Court operates.
“The idea of the class is to use Bailey as a
way to look at how the Supreme Court works
in general. Part of that involves digging into
Bailey itself, but the idea is to not just learn
about Bailey, but also to learn about the
Court,” Epps said. “We chose Bailey because
although it’s not the most high-profile case in
the world, it’s a neat case. It involves a discrete issue that is pretty easy to understand
without a whole lot of background.”
The course on Bailey is one of two
dozen short courses being offered this year
that delve into an array of topics, including
wrongful convictions, the financial crisis,
Islamic law, negotiations, startup biotechnology, and trade secrets.
“Our short courses offer students the
opportunity to study a distinct topic in
an extraordinary level of detail,” said Vice
Dean George Geis. “They are perfect capstone classes for a student who wants to
focus on a specific legal issue or application.
We are fortunate to attract many renowned
judges, lawyers, executives, and scholars to
teach many of them.”
In their short course on Bailey, Twomey
and Epps started by giving the students a
crash course in Fourth Amendment law,
followed by a discussion of the precedent at
issue in Bailey, and the theoretical backdrop
for the case.
The students then dug into Bailey itself, reading a number of key documents,
including the district court’s motion and
opinion, the court of appeals’ opinion and
the petition for certiorari and opposition
filed with the Supreme Court.
“The cert process is something that we’re
very familiar with,” Twomey said. “One of
your main jobs as a [Supreme Court] clerk
is to read cert petitions and write cert
memos. We can ask the students their views
about whether Bailey was a good candidate
for cert. What are the considerations that
the Court uses? What arguments would you
make on both sides?”
After discussing the cert process, the
course focused on the merits briefs, oral
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 7
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…
arguments, and the procedures by which
the Court votes and assigns opinions. Ultimately, the students were assigned the task
of drafting their own opinion in Bailey.
“It’ll be useful for students who are going
to go on to clerk for judges because they’ll
have to draft opinions,” Epps said. “But
even for students who aren’t, hopefully the
experience will be useful because it forces
you to stake out a position and respond to
counterarguments.”
Eight of the students who took the short
course attended oral arguments in the case
at the Supreme Court.
Second-year Caroline Schmidt said she is
interested in appellate advocacy and was excited for the chance to follow Bailey from the
initial police reports and the warrant, all the
way up to oral arguments before the Court.
“I know I will be eagerly anticipating the
Court’s decision in a few months now that
8 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
I have learned so much about the case and
feel I have a real stake in its outcome,” she
said. “It has been fascinating to study a case,
and the Supreme Court decision-making
process, with two practicing attorneys who
have first-hand experience clerking on the
Court and, now, practicing as appellate attorneys in D.C.”
Schmidt added that the course provided
a chance to hear the instructors’ insider perspectives and to ask them honest questions
about how the Court functions. Secondyear Saverio Romeo said the course allowed
him to put himself in the shoes of Supreme
Court clerks and justices.
“In other classes you typically read cases
and try to learn what the ‘rule’ is; in this
course, we get to determine what that ‘rule’
should be,” he said. “This is a complex consideration that requires an understanding
and balancing of many conflicting interests.”
Third-year Jordan Miller said he took
the course because he is interested in clerking, as well as Fourth Amendment law.
“Although UVA has a wonderful set of
professors with significant practice background, the opportunity to take classes from
lawyers currently engaged in legal practice
who are passionate about a more-focused
topic is something that we all should take
advantage of,” he said. “This is my fourth
semester of taking a short course and so
far I have been able to take a class from a
JAG officer, two federal judges, and now two
former Supreme Court clerks.”
Co-instructors Daniel Epps and Katherine
Twomey ’08 — both former Supreme Court
clerks — taught the short course Supreme Court
Decision-Making: A Case Study.
Law School News
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WORKSHOPS | Eric Williamson
Meeting of Minds
Sparks Ideas
W
illiam & Mary Law Professor Laura
Heymann was presenting her paper
on what makes commodities such as art
and consumer products authentic during
a recent Law and Humanities Workshop at
the Law School when a typical interchange
sparked a not-so-typical idea.
Professor Anne Coughlin, who teaches
criminal law, said the paper inspired her
to think about confessions and evidence
as well. “There are times when a court
is making a decision about a particular
‘production’—a confession by a person to
a crime, or some document someone is
giving—and the court has to decide: Is this
thing authentic?”
“That’s an angle that I would not have
thought deeply about on my own,” Heymann said following the workshop, “and is
great proof of the value of discussing one’s
work with scholars outside of one’s immediate field of research.”
The workshop series, sponsored by the
Law School’s Program in Law & Humanities, is designed to generate just this kind
of creative feedback for scholars presenting
their works in progress, said professor and
program director Charles Barzun. “One
of the points of the workshop is to allow
the speaker to get questions from multiple
disciplinary perspectives,” he said. “This is
not required as a formal matter but rather
tends to happen naturally, as different questions occur to people, depending on their
scholarly focus.”
The workshops are open to any UVA
professors or students interested in reviewing and commenting on the scholarship of
invited speakers, who include scholars from
Laura Heymann of William & Mary Law School,
right, discusses her paper with UVA Law Professor
Kerry Abrams and other faculty members.
across the country in fields such as English,
anthropology, literature, art theory, and film
criticism.
Peter Brooks, a comparative literature
professor now at Princeton University,
helped launch the Program in Law & Humanities and its workshop series in 2004,
during his tenure at UVA as a University
Professor. He was joined in building the
program and its workshop that year by
Law School faculty members Anne Coughlin, Jon Cannon, and Dan Ortiz. Brooks, a
renowned humanities scholar who taught
for decades at Yale, is scheduled to return to
Virginia to present a paper at the March 18
workshop. The workshops take place several
times during the school year.
Law Professor Kerry Abrams joined the
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 9
Law School News
…
faculty in 2005 and began working with
Brooks soon after to help run the workshop. She has been actively involved ever
since and serves on a committee that helps
choose the speakers, along with Barzun
and Coughlin, and professors Molly Bishop
Shadel and Deborah Hellman.
“We try to achieve a balance of methodological approaches” in deciding who will
present, said Abrams. “We also consult with
other faculty to ascertain whether there are
scholars they would like to meet and engage
with and who fit well within the program
parameters.”
Barzun and Abrams said both the workshop and the Program in Law & Humanities
provide a space for students to examine
legal questions through a humanistic lens,
and offer faculty a community that engages
in and understands interdisciplinary law
and humanities scholarship. Apart from
the workshop series, the program also hosts
occasional conferences, including the upcoming March 2014 annual meeting of the
Association for the Study of Law, Culture,
and the Humanities.
Though the workshop features scholars from across the country, Barzun and
Abrams said it also ultimately aims to foster
greater interdisciplinary scholarship at
UVA in particular.
This past spring, Mai-Linh Hong ’08,
a Ph.D. candidate in English at UVA, presented a paper at the workshop focusing on
the intersections of literature, culture, and
the law.
“Having Mai-Linh return to the Law
School as a developing law and humanities scholar really brought the purposes of
the program full-circle,” Abrams said. “We
hope that she is just the first of many students who will start their scholarly careers
in our classrooms, just as we are proud that
we have sent so many lawyers out into the
world of practice with critical and analytical skills honed by studying interpretation
from a variety of perspectives.”
10 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
FACULTY Q&A | Mary Wood
Hellman
Critiques Court’s
Role in Defining
Corruption
in Campaign
Finance
W
hether various campaign finance
laws are constitutional often depends on how the Supreme Court defines
what kinds of political contributions or
spending are corrupting. But the Court
should not be deciding what constitutes
corruption in electoral politics, says Law
Professor Deborah Hellman.
“The main front in the battle over the
constitutionality of campaign finance laws
has long focused on defining corruption,”
Hellman writes in “Defining Corruption
and Constitutionalizing Democracy,” a
forthcoming paper to be published in the
June 2013 issue of Michigan Law Review.
“Over the years, campaign finance cases
have conceived of corruption in both broad
and narrow terms, with the most recent
cases defining it especially narrowly.”
The Supreme Court used just such a
narrow definition of corruption in striking
down restrictions on corporate spending
in Citizens United, which affirmed the right
of corporations to run independent political ads.
Hellman says legislators—not courts—
should determine what amounts to
corruption in campaign finance, since by
doing so they will, at the same time, be defining the elected official’s role in a democracy.
The Court is often reluctant to say what is
required for a well-functioning democracy,
Hellman writes, so “why refrain from constitutionalizing a view of good government in
some cases (e.g., partisan gerrymandering)
while asserting in others (e.g., campaign
finance) that the court knows corruption of
good government when it sees it? The two
are but flip sides of the same coin.” “Where both individual rights and questions of democratic theory are at issue, the
Court should be cautious and careful about
whether judicial intervention is appropriate,” she writes.
How did you become interested in this issue?
I became interested in how the Supreme
Court handles campaign finance issues
because I was struck by the incredible
stretch involved in its landmark case in the
area —Buckley v. Valeo. In that case, the
Court held that both giving and spending
money on politics are protected as “speech”
under the First Amendment and so laws
that limit them must pass very high hurdles.
The main reason the Court found giving
and spending money on politics is a form of
speech was that money facilitates speaking.
How would one buy a TV or newspaper ad
without money? But this argument is far too
quick. While it is true that money facilitates
speaking, this isn’t because of any special
connection between money and speech.
Rather, money makes it easier to speak because money makes it easier to do almost
anything; simply put, money is useful. Yet
not all constitutionally protected rights are
treated by the Court as including the right
to spend money in order to better exercise
them. One has a right to sexual intimacy
following Lawrence v. Texas, but no right
to spend money on a prostitute in order to
facilitate the exercise of that right, for example. So simply noting that money helps
one to speak is insufficient to conclude that
the right to spend money is a part of the
right to speak. I developed this argument in
an article “Money Talks but It Isn’t Speech.”
Writing that article started me thinking
about corruption. So many of the Court’s
campaign finance cases turn on a definition
of corruption, yet the Court nowhere explains why it, rather than Congress or state
legislatures, gets to define this term. Law School News
…
You argue that corruption is special because it
is a derivative concept, meaning its definition
depends on a theory of the institution or
official involved. You write that “what rightly
counts as corruption of one type of institution
or official within it is not the same as what
counts as corruption of another type of
institution or official.” What does that mean
for how the Court should—or shouldn’t—
address the issue of corruption in campaign
finance laws? How does the issue parallel
with other derivative concepts the Court has
addressed?
Deborah Hellman’s authored the
forthcoming paper, “Defining Corruption and
Constitutionalizing Democracy.”
Why is it a mistake for the Supreme Court to
try to define corruption? Isn’t their role to
help clarify what can amount to legal terms?
When the Supreme Court strikes down
a law for conflicting with the Constitution,
it must define the terms that are either in
the Constitution itself or that a good interpretation of the Constitution requires it to
define. In order to determine whether a law
violates the First Amendment’s command
that “Congress shall make no law abridging
the freedom of speech,” the Court must define “speech.” And that is what the Court is
doing when it finds that giving and spending of money in connection with elections
are protected under the First Amendment.
The Court then goes on to say that restrictions on this “speech” are permitted so long
as they serve a compelling governmental
interest and are narrowly tailored to protecting that interest. This is where corruption
comes in. The Court is saying that preventing corruption, as it defines corruption, is
compelling enough to justify restrictions on
the “speech” of giving and spending money
in politics. So “corruption” is not a legal
term that the Court must define in order to
do its job.
Corruption doesn’t have a single definition. Rather, a definition of corruption for a
particular institution depends on a theory
of how a particular institution ought to
function. So, for example, nepotism is considered a classic example of corruption in
government. If I work for the government
and I hire Tom because he is my brother,
even though he is less qualified than other
job applicants, this is corruption. Suppose
instead that I invite Tom to a holiday dinner
because he is my brother, even though he is
a less-talented conversationalist than other
people I might have invited. Here we would
say that I do not act corruptly and the reason we would reach this conclusion is that
the norms of a good family are quite different from the norms of good government.
Once we recognize that corruption is
a derivative concept in this way, we realize
that when the Court defines corruption of
government in its campaign finance cases,
it inevitably defines what constitutes good
government at the same time. Yet this is a
task the Court ought to be cautious about
taking up. In other areas of law, apportionment and gerrymandering especially, the
Court has recognized that there are many
ways for governments to function democratically and, within very broad limits,
balancing these sorts of concerns is best left
to Congress and state legislatures.
Ultimately you suggest that the metric
justices should use when considering
whether campaign finance or election laws
are unconstitutional is “the degree to which
the law at issue infringes on the individual
right,” such as free speech or the right to
vote. How might that play out?
If there are reasons for judicial oversight
and reasons for judicial deference in this
area, then determining which should carry
the day will depend on how clear it is that
an individual right is being affected. So, one
might say that a law forbidding anyone from
spending any money on elections would be
in trouble. While it is for the legislature to
determine what constitutes good government and thus whether restrictions on
money in politics are necessary to prevent
corruption, people still can’t do much speaking without spending some money—even a
pen costs something. At the same time, capping spending at roughly the amount that
contributions are capped would not affect
an individual’s right to speak much at all.
She can still express her support by some
speaking with money or by donating to her
favorite candidate, and can always continue
speaking in ways that do not cost money.
Once she has bought the computer, endless
speaking is practically free.
If the Supreme Court would move to a model
like you are proposing, would key campaign
finance cases in recent years have been
decided differently? How?
Whether the Court has upheld or struck
down campaign finance laws has almost
always turned on how it defines “corruption.” When the Court defines corruption
narrowly as amounting only to bribery
or the appearance of bribery (what it calls
“quid pro quo” corruption), it has struck
down most laws [restricting giving and
spending money in elections]. For example,
it has struck down restrictions on spending
by individuals on their own campaigns and
restrictions on spending that are not coordinated with campaigns, as one cannot bribe
oneself and if spending is truly independent, there can be no quid pro quo involved.
When the Court understands corruption
broadly as encompassing disproportionate
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 11
Law School News
…
access by wealthy individuals or as including the fact that corporations can influence
elections even though the money they are
able to bring to bear has no connection to
actual support for the views they express,
then campaign finance laws are generally
upheld. If the Court were to refrain from
defining corruption at all, most campaign
finance laws would be upheld so long as the
laws were aimed at curbing corruption as
the legislature itself defines it.
You come down on the side of judicial
deference versus judicial oversight. But if
legislators (and the people who elect them)
have more power in this issue, could it lead
to unchecked corruption, where legislators
write rules that favor their own interests?
The Court would still have some role to
play, though it would be far more limited.
The Court should look at campaign finance
laws to make sure that legislators are not
simply trying to ensure their own reelection. You are right that we cannot leave the
fox guarding the hen house completely. But
at the same time we should recognize that
this sort of incumbency protection is of far
greater concern in the context of partisan
gerrymandering and here, as yet, the Court
has been reluctant to intervene precisely
because it is so hard to say what are the
elements of a healthy and well-functioning
democracy.
How does this article fit in with your
scholarship overall?
As I mentioned, this piece grows out
of my previous article—“Money Talks”—
which challenges whether restrictions
on giving and spending money really are
restrictions on “speech” as the First Amendment defines that term. I plan to also write
something about how the Court ought to
think about the “appearance of corruption.” The Court has said that restrictions
on giving and spending money on politics
are justified only in order to prevent corruption or its appearance, but has said very
little about how we ought to understand the
second half of this formulation. That is a
question I would like to take up.
What are you working on next?
At the moment I am working on two
book chapters, neither related to campaign
finance issues. The first is about precedent
and the second is about the moral foundations of discrimination law. I hope to return
to campaign finance—and the appearance
of corruption issue—very soon, as I find the
fact that money is so central to political success deeply disturbing. And there is one ray
of hope in that area worth pursuing. In a lesswell-known unanimous opinion written by
Justice Scalia — Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan [also a case the Law School’s
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic won]—the
Court held that the Nevada legislature did
not violate the freedom of speech of its legislators by requiring them to recuse themselves
from voting on legislation in which they had
a financial interest, as the legislature defined
it. The opinion is written broadly and clearly
holds that the legislator has no personal
right to his vote, as the vote is a share of the
legislature’s power, and thus laws that govern
its use are for the legislature to make. If this
is right, then perhaps legislatures can adopt
laws restricting their members from voting
on issues when they have taken money from
groups or individuals that stand to benefit from the laws under consideration. It is
surely something to think more about.
Find Other Faculty Q&As Online:
Archive: http://bit.ly/faculty_qa
Jim Ryan ’92 on “Poverty as Disability” and Reforming Special
John Morley Named New Director of Law & Business Program
Education Law
David Martin on New U.S. Policy to Defer Deportation of Young
George Yin on the “Greatest Tax Suit in the History of the World” and
Immigrants
Why It Matters Today
Richard Bonnie ’69 on the Need for a Constitutional Right to the
John Jeffries ’73 Makes Case for Reforming Constitutional Torts
Insanity Defense
Lois Shepherd and Margaret Foster Riley Seek to End
Leslie Kendrick ’06 on the Pattern of Supreme Court’s First
Common Conflict of Interest in Clinical Research
Amendment Jurisprudence
A.E. Dick Howard ’61 discusses Emerging Picture of the
Roberts Court
12 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Law School News
…
TRANSACTIONAL LAW CLINIC | Brian McNeill
Giving Startup
Companies at
Darden a Legal
Leg Up
T
hrough a new clinic Law students are
providing free legal services to startup
companies founded by students at UVA’s
Darden School of Business.
In the Transactional Law Clinic, which
launched as a trial course in the spring
and officially began this fall, Law students
work with MBA students who are starting
fledgling companies through the Darden
Business Incubator program. The program
helps graduate business students prepare
their early-stage startups to the point of
receiving support from investors.
“For the Law students, the people going
into the Darden Incubator are the perfect
population for gaining experience in advising companies,” said Russell Schundler,
the clinic’s director. “Many times, these
companies are early stage enough that they
really have not made many decisions yet.
It’s a stage when the Law students can work
with the Darden students on the legal implication of their business model and help the
businesses build a strong legal foundation.”
The Darden students, he added, find it
helpful “because they receive free education
about the legal issues they’re going to run
into with their proposed businesses and
become sensitized to legal issues that small
businesses are likely to encounter.”
In the spring, six Law students participating in the clinic worked with
12 companies in the Darden Business Incubator. After spending time in class covering
some of the subject matter they were likely
to need—namely tax, corporate, and intellectual property law—the Law students then
interviewed the Darden students and started
identifying the companies’ legal needs.
One of the companies, MobilizeArt,
is building a website that will sell original art—by art, design, and architecture
students and others—for less than $100.
“You’ve got a lot of good art that artists
currently don’t think to sell,” said Darden
student Zubin Mehta, the company’s
founder. “And you’ve got a lot of demand
for affordable art that currently is being fed
by generic posters of Monets, of models,
of fast cars. So I’m trying to bring the two
together and actually create a site where
you can buy original art, and where most
of it will be under $100.”
After meeting with the Darden students,
the Law students drew up an initial legal
issues memo, outlining the startup’s needs
and potential future challenges. They also
think that I would have gotten a lot of the
long-term thinking [the Law students] gave
me because I would have been thinking
about the clock and the running bill. I’d be
focused on, ‘These are the five things I need
to cover, as quickly as I can, and then get
out of the office. Let’s not deviate from these
five points.’”
Schundler said the lessons students
learn in the clinic apply to all lawyers who
work with businesses.
“Whether you’re going to be dealing
with startups, or just general corporate
work, it’s a good experience because a lot of
what we’re really doing in the clinic is teaching the Law students how to communicate
about potentially complicated legal issues
[and] allow the clients to make decisions
“The Law students can work with the Darden students on the legal
implication of their business model and help the businesses build a
strong legal foundation.”
provided needed documentation, such as
corporate formation documents and website terms of use.
In Mehta’s case, the students provided
standard contracts and nondisclosure
agreements that he will need as his company
gets off the ground. They also helped Mehta
identify potential legal problems he may
encounter down the road, allowing him to
strengthen his business model for the long
term, he said.
“I was able to work through the pros and
cons with them, [and] find alternatives,” he
said. “I think that’s really where they added
the most value. Long-term thinking about
things I wouldn’t have thought of, and
maybe wouldn’t have affected me in the first
few years. But four or five years out, these
are the things that I could come to regret.”
Had it not been for the Law students’ advice,
Mehta said, he almost certainly would have
needed to hire a professional lawyer.
“That would have been very expensive,”
he said. “And if I’d spoken to a lawyer, I don’t
about what the legal implications of their
actions might be,” he said.
Robert Lynn ’12 said he enjoyed tackling the novel legal challenges that arise
with launching innovative new companies.
“These companies are walking into legal issues that no one has ever looked at before,
no one has ever considered before,” Lynn
said. “It’s been really exciting to walk with
these clients through the research and [to
try to help] set them up with a company that
can succeed.”
Following graduation, Lynn went to
work at a law firm in Northern Virginia that
represents emerging technology-focused
startups. “This clinic has given me a really
awesome opportunity to learn exactly the
kind of trade that I’m going to step into,” he
said. “I know that my firm appreciates it. I
know that my clients I’m going to have in
the future will appreciate it.”
Third-year Britt Eichner said the transactional clinic started giving her the kind of
experience she needed as she headed into
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 13
Law School News
…
a summer job with the Boston office of a
global law firm.
“Having gotten my feet wet, [the clinic]
is something that should help me when I get
a transactional assignment this summer,”
she said. “It’s been really great to have some
hands-on experience.”
Eichner, who worked as a paralegal
at both a mid-sized law firm and in the
in-house legal department of a consulting
firm before entering UVA, is enrolled in the
school’s joint J.D.-MBA program, meaning
she is also pursuing a business degree from
Darden. The clinic, she said, was a natural fit
for her interests in law and business.
“I started over at Darden several years
ago, so for the last three years I’ve had
friends who were in the Incubator and
they’ve always said, ‘I know you were a
paralegal; you’re at the Law School. Can you
help me with my startup this summer?’” she
said. “I’d always have to say no—until this
year, when finally I feel like I can actually
give back a little bit and actually help the
students. I know they’ve been tremendously
appreciative of the help that we’re able to
provide them—because otherwise it’d be
something that’s cost-prohibitive for them
at this stage.”
Third-year Heather Marshall is the first Katherine
and David deWilde ‘67 LGBT Summer Fellow
14 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
CIVIL RIGHTS | Brian McNeill
Marshall
Counsels LowIncome LGBT
New Yorkers
Through New
Fellowship
A
s the inaugural Katherine and David
deWilde ’67 LGBT Summer Fellow,
third-year Heather Marshall gained handson experience working on cutting-edge
legal issues affecting low-income New
Yorkers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender.
The $10,000 fellowship supports students working on behalf of the LGBT
community and allowed Marshall to work
for the LGBT Law Project at the New York
Legal Assistance Group this summer.
“The laws affecting LGBT clients are
interesting, controversial, and constantly
changing, and they arise in many practice
areas in both the public and private sectors,”
Marshall said. “I learned that a lot of people
in the legal profession are unaware of the
unique issues that LGBT clients face and
the dynamics of LGBT relationships—not
because they don’t care, but mostly because
they haven’t had to in the past.”
David deWilde ’67, a San Francisco resident, said he and his wife, Katherine, funded
the grant through the Law School Foundation to attract the best and brightest students
to gain direct, personal experience in legal
and cultural issues involving the LGBT
community, both nationally and locally.
“Our goal is to empower a Virginia
Law student to make an immediate practical contribution in this rapidly changing,
controversial aspect of civil rights,” he said.
“This is an opportunity to advocate and
educate, to help establish new precedent.
We are inspired by the bipartisan efforts
of leading lawyers, judges, and legislators
to bring change to this important area of
civil rights and we hope this fellowship will
inspire young leaders at UVA Law to join
their ranks.”
Marshall recently spoke with UVA
Law about her experience as the inaugural
deWilde Fellow.
What kind of work did you do as part of your
fellowship at the LGBT Law Project?
I was able to work on a variety of projects, but the bulk of my work involved direct
representation of low-income LGBT New
Yorkers. I interviewed clients and witnesses,
assisted in responding to and drafting proposed orders and motions, and supporting
affidavits. I made frequent appearances in
court and was able to successfully advocate
for domestic violence victims in Brooklyn
Family Court. I also participated in several negotiation conferences in housing and
family court.
The majority of my cases were in the
areas of family law and immigration law,
and I was able to do substantive work in a
number of possibly precedent-setting cases.
A typical day could include researching exceptions to the one-year asylum application
deadline, calling up an [assistant district attorney] to ask (read: beg) for a certification
Law School News
…
for a U-visa applicant, meeting with a client
to discuss intimate details of his relationship with his recently deceased partner to
develop a strong case for succession, then
running to family court to respond to a
last-minute order to stay on a temporary
visitation order. A typical day could also
include spending all day in court with a domestic violence victim in order to obtain an
order of protection against her abuser. I was
always busy, but the issues were interesting
and many of my clients had particularly
captivating stories.
I also worked on LGBT advocacy and
education. I assisted in preparing material
for presentations on cultural competency
for family court lawyers in the five boroughs.
I spent time in different courts in the five
boroughs educating community members
about the unique issues facing LGBT youth
and LGBT domestic violence victims; this
also included providing information on
the nonlegal resources available to those
individuals, as well as resources available
to their family members and friends. I also
was an integral part in organizing NYLAG’s
participation in the annual NYC Pride parade and helped in organizing other events
meant to bring supporters of LGBT rights
together. Additionally, many of the cases I
worked on will help pave the road in defining parental rights in LGBT relationships.
What did you learn from working there?
The 2011 legalization of same-sex marriage in New York has raised a number of
unprecedented issues, especially in the area
of family law. Working on these cases really
challenged me to think outside of the box to
develop compelling arguments and to be as
thorough as possible in researching issues,
which often included turning to unlikely
(and unknown) sources of information.
In addition to building upon my legal
research and writing skills, I also developed
a conscious recognition of the differences
between law in theory and law in practice—
learning that some obvious legal points were
just not that important to certain judges, so
make sure to have plenty of back-up arguments, even if they don’t seem strong to
you; if you have a family court appointment
at 9 a.m., you will not be out before noon;
most opposing counsel want to work with
you, but some don’t even show up to court;
and sometimes you can reach an ADA on
the first try. Most importantly, I learned
that a lot of people in the legal profession
are unaware of the unique issues that LGBT
clients face and the dynamics of LGBT relationships—not because they don’t care, but
mostly because they haven’t had to in the
past. As laws around the country change,
it is important that this knowledge become
universal in the legal profession—cultural
competency is an essential component to
diligent representation in all areas of the law.
Do you think this experience will further your
career as a lawyer? In what ways?
Absolutely. The connections I established with legal professionals in a range of
practice areas are invaluable. I was able to
take advantage of CLEs being offered in virtually every major practice area. Of course,
being able to dive head first into real and
exciting legal work with real clients allowed
me to significantly grow all of the skills essential to being a successful attorney.
What advice would you offer other UVA Law
students who might be interested in applying
for this fellowship?
Do it. The laws affecting LGBT clients
are interesting, controversial, and constantly changing, and they arise in many
practice areas in both the public and private
sectors. Find a sponsor organization that will
allow you to do substantive work and you
could have the opportunity to change lives,
help establish new precedents, and to educate
and advocate. Do some research—you might
be surprised to learn how much has been
done and how much still needs to be done
to ensure the rights of LGBT individuals in
America.
ALUMNI Q&A
Justice Department
Lawyer
Andy Mao ’98
on Prosecuting
Health Fraud,
Major Pharma
Settlement
Justice Department attorney Andy Mao ’98
was part of the team that led the federal
government’s health care fraud case against
GlaxoSmithKline, in which the pharmaceutical firm agreed to plead guilty and pay
$3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil
liabilities related to the illegal promotion of
certain drugs, its failure to report certain
safety data, and for alleged false price-reporting practices.
Mao, who serves as senior counsel for
health care fraud and elder justice at the Justice Department, recently discussed the case,
his career and his advice for law students
hoping to work at the DOJ.
What are your responsibilities as the Justice
Department?
I am fortunate to have a position with
a diverse range of responsibilities. I advise
the Civil Division on health care fraud
matters, which often entails working with
our federal and state partners to develop
new strategies and means to identify or
combat health care fraud more effectively.
I also help to coordinate the department’s
elder justice activities, which span from
our investigative and prosecutorial efforts
to helping to fund research and training for
those law enforcement personnel and prosecutors who combat elder abuse, neglect,
and exploitation locally. Lastly, I continue
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 15
Law School News
…
and commitment of the attorneys and sold
on the idea of public service. Following law
school and my clerkship (with Judge John
W. Bissell ’65, another UVA Law alum), I
was hired through the Attorney General’s
Honors Program in 2000 and have worked
here ever since.
to work on actual health care fraud cases,
mostly involving the pharmaceutical and
nursing home industries.
What does your typical day involve?
An upside of having different responsibilities is that my daily activities vary pretty
widely. For example, last week I participated
in a mediation in a False Claims Act matter, worked on a complaint against a health
care provider for providing medically unnecessary services, reviewed several briefs,
held teleconferences with my team on two
nationwide investigations, and coordinated with other DOJ components on an
upcoming elder justice–related event. [The
False Claims Act holds individuals or companies liable for defrauding government
programs.] Then, because I also supervise
certain types of cases, I also meet regularly
with attorneys in my office or speak with
assistant U.S. attorneys to discuss investigative strategy or legal issues. Finally, I am
often called upon to review draft legislation
that has been submitted by Congress to the
[Justice Department] in order to obtain our
views.
What can you tell us about the
GlaxoSmithKline case, and your involvement?
There is a fair amount of publicly available information about the GlaxoSmithKline
matter, including the conduct we investigated, the contours of the resolution,
and the scope of the government’s release.
The [Justice Department] has invested a
tremendous amount of resources in these
types of cases not only because of the financial impact that the alleged conduct has on
the Medicare and Medicaid programs, but
because of the potentially corrosive effect
that the illegal marketing of drugs, the payment of kickbacks, and the withholding of
safety data has on the integrity of a physician’s decision-making process.
I was part of a phenomenal team that
investigated allegations that GlaxoSmithKline had marketed certain of its drugs for
16 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
It’s been reported that both health care
fraud and elder abuse have been on the
rise in recent years. Do you see these trends
from your vantage point at the Justice
Department? What more, if anything, do you
think is needed to address the problems?
Andy Mao ‘98
uses unapproved by the Food and Drug
Administration and thereby caused the government to pay for drugs for non-covered
uses. I also assisted with the settlement process, which requires a surprising amount of
effort and coordination among all the interested parties, including the Department
of Justice, the Department of Health and
Human Services and its Office of Inspector
General, the defendant, the states, all victim
agencies, and the whistleblowers.
Often overlooked when a resolution like
this is announced is how much raw time,
effort, and manpower are consumed by an
investigation into nationwide corporate
conduct. Given that every attorney, agent,
and auditor has dozens of other cases he
or she is juggling, it requires a tremendous
amount of leadership, coordination, and
vision to push an investigation to completion. Fortunately, we had a number of great
leaders on the GlaxoSmithKline case, which
contributed significantly to the ultimate
outcome.
To the extent False Claims Act complaints are a reliable barometer of health
care fraud trends more broadly, there has
been a steady and significant increase in the
number of complaints filed alleging health
care fraud in recent years. While there were
approximately 200 False Claims Act health
care fraud complaints filed in 2007, there
were over 400 such complaints filed in 2011.
As far as elder abuse cases, the [Justice Department] does not track those numbers,
but a New York study conducted last year
found that 7.6 percent of older Americans
experienced some form of elder mistreatment in the year prior, and over half of
those cases involved some form of financial
exploitation.
I think a lot more can and should be
done to stem these two problems. One step
Other Alumni Q&As Online:
ARCHIVE: http://bit.ly/alumni_qa
Shaunik Panse ’09 to Clerk for South
African Constitutional Court
Did you always want to work as a lawyer
for the Justice Department? What was your
career path?
I think so. Before law school, I worked
as a paralegal at DOJ for two years. During
that time, I was impressed by the caliber
Rob Plummer ‘94, Agent for Top
Baseball Prospects From Dominican
Republic, on How He Got in the Game
Law School News
…
would be to increase public awareness and
to educate citizens more about what they
can do to help. For example, in a case that the
department resolved last year, a Medicaid
beneficiary noticed on his billing statement
that his home healthcare provider was billing for services it never performed and so
he reported it to the government. That tip
eventually led to a nationwide investigation
and the provider ultimately paying a $20
million criminal penalty and $130 million
to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations
arising from its conduct. While not every
tip will turn into a resolution like this, this
example does demonstrate the difference
that an individual can make. For similar
reasons, I think providing greater education
to law enforcement personnel, ombudsmen, and the public at large on the potential
signs of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation can make a significant difference in
both preventing these crimes and bringing
perpetrators to justice.
(These are my personal views and not
necessarily the views of the Department of
Justice.)
What advice would you give current UVA Law
students who want to one day work for the
Justice Department?
Because the department hires most of
its attorneys laterally, familiarity with the
relevant subject matter and the ability to hit
the ground running could be deciding factors, especially if there is a competitive pool
of applicants. Along those lines, your work
ethic—regardless of your place of employment—is extremely important. How you
are viewed by current employers is a critical
element in our hiring process. Moreover,
because the department does not hire in
regular intervals, it requires a fair amount
of persistence (and patience) to monitor for
opportunities as they arise. Lastly, I would
tell students that the Department of Justice
is a great place to work and if this is where
they want to be, it is worth hanging in there!
Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal addressed the Class of 2012 on May 20. A total of 357 J.D.
graduates, 35 LL.M. candidates and two S.J.D. recipients walked the Law School lawn.
Commencement 2012
Integrity, Ability to Listen Key to a
Successful Career
I
n his commencement address, former acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal advised
the Law School’s graduating class that being a good lawyer requires an open mind, being
principled, and thinking independently.
Katyal, who is now a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells and a Georgetown law
professor, succeeded U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan as acting solicitor general from
May 2010 to June 2011. He has argued and won a number of the most significant cases before
the Supreme Court in recent years, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, in which he successfully
challenged the policy of military commissions to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Katyal told the graduating law students the stories of three key people involved with the
health care reform case, and described how they embody qualities the students should embrace as lawyers and citizens.
One of the three, Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is a “rock
star of the conservative legal movement” and served on a panel that heard a challenge to
the health care reform law, Katyal said. Sutton, he added, is often mentioned as a potential
Republican nominee to the Supreme Court.
“When the news came out that Judge Sutton was on the health care panel, the media
and blog reports were grim,” he said. “It was thought that Judge Sutton, who had gotten on
the court due to huge amounts of political capital being spent on his behalf by conservative Republicans, could never betray their cause. Not simply out of loyalty to his friends, it
was said, but because a vote for Obamacare would mean Judge Sutton would automatically
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 17
Law School News
…
take himself out of the running to be on the
U.S. Supreme Court.”
Katyal argued that case before Sutton
in 2011.
“He grilled me, backwards, forwards, and
upside down, for a long, long time,” he said.
“I remember coming out, telling the attorney
general, ‘Well, I fear we may lose given the
relentless questions, but boy it was the most
fun I’ve ever had in an oral argument.’
“Well, we didn’t lose,” he continued.
“We won the case, in a 2–1 decision. And
the author of the opinion [was] Judge Sutton.” Sutton, he said, did what he thought
was right, even though it risked jeopardizing his chances at one day serving on the
Supreme Court.
“Judge Sutton in one stroke showed what
judging is all about,” he said. “And in doing
so, he gave himself the most important
credential to be on the high court—true
independence and honesty. I have no doubt
that this is how future presidents, and history, will see him. But Judge Sutton couldn’t
have known it at the time.”
Katyal also told the students about one of
the health care law’s top defenders, Deputy
U.S. Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler ’74,
the lawyer Katyal said he admires most
in government. Katyal praised Kneedler’s
work ethic, integrity, and “commitment to
institutionalism.”
“Too many lawyers see themselves as
solo guns for hire—even in big firms or
big institutions like the U.S. government,”
he said. “I see so many people chasing the
elusive big case that will bring them fame
and glory. And I see so many lawyers who
elbow out others on their team to take the
credit when there is a victory. But if you
are constantly thinking not for the good of
yourself—but for the good of the institution
you are a part—you will often reach the
place of integrity.”
Paul Clement, the former solicitor general who has argued dozens of cases before
the Supreme Court, including the challenge
to the health care law, was the third personality Katyal cited. Clement’s arguments and
briefs are mind-blowing, Katyal said, thanks
18 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
in large part to his ability to listen carefully
to his opponents.
“When we think of a great orator, we
think of a great speaker,” he said. “Paul is
that, but more important, he is a good listener. He tries hard to understand what the
other side is saying. He is not trying to characterize it, nor is he trying to belittle it. He
is seeking to understand it, and to rebut it.”
Katyal also praised Clement’s decision to
resign from his job at a major law firm after
he was instructed to withdraw from a controversial case in which he was defending
the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Clement’s decision to resign over
a matter of principle was a risky one, Katyal
said, though it ultimately worked out in his
favor. He went on to argue nine cases before
the Supreme Court in the current term.
“My point here is that there will be times
in your life when things look bleak,” he said.
“And you can take the easy path or the hard
path. If you stick to your principles, even if
it immediately disadvantages you, you ultimately are more likely to do better.”
Taken together, Katyal said, the stories of
Kneedler, Clement, and Sutton hold the key
to a successful and happy career in the legal
profession. “Law is a profoundly human and
social enterprise,” he said. “And if you want
to live in the law—and live happily—you
have to respect your colleagues, and treat
them with respect. So, in sum, show them
the grace of an Ed Kneedler, show them the
open-mindedness of a Paul Clement, and
show them that you have the integrity of a
Judge Sutton.”
Also at the Law School’s commencement ceremony, Dean Paul Mahoney
announced that the class of 2012 collectively put in more than 14,400 hours of pro
bono service. “That is the highest total of
any graduating class in our history,” he said.
More than 90 members of the class met the
“pro bono challenge” by providing 75 hours
or more of pro bono services while at the
Law School, he added, breaking yet another
school record.
“You did not focus just on yourselves,”
Mahoney said. “You raised money and
donated your time to countless important
causes. Indeed, your engagement with this
community and many others has been remarkable and noteworthy.”
The Law School’s faculty is sending the
class of 2012 on its way with admiration,
affection and congratulations, he said. “You
were trained to be leaders, and you will be
in your careers, your communities and, in
some cases, in elected or appointed public
service,” he said. “I have no doubt that at
some future reunion of the class of 2012
we will all celebrate the ways that you have
succeeded in the intervening years. Your
law school is proud of you and confident in
your future.”
Sanjiv Tata, a member of the class of
2012 and the outgoing president of the
Student Bar Association, announced that
82 percent of the class pledged to support
the Law School. “Without a doubt, our class
faced its share of storms and uncertainties
[such as] the changed economic circumstances that manifested shortly after we
decided to follow law as a career,” he said.
“That makes it all the more amazing that
our class has followed the tradition of support for its alma mater.”
Over the past three years, Tata said,
Virginia Law has instilled in the class
of 2012 the ideals of collegiality and
citizenship. “Virginia has taught us that
an adversarial profession can easily coexist
with a collegial environment and a collegial
attitude with regards to our peers, and it’s
up to us to now serve as an ambassador of
this message,” he said.
Law School News
…
2012 Graduation Awards
Margaret G. Hyde Award
Andrew John Peach
James C. Slaughter Honor Award
Sarah Dearing Johns
Thomas Marshall Miller Prize
Andrew James Bentz
Z Society Shannon Award
Katherine Mims Crocker
Law School Alumni Association Best
Note Award
John Benton Hurst
Robert E. Goldsten Award for
Distinction in the Classroom
Kathleen Shen
Roger and Madeleine Traynor Prizes
Katherine Mims Crocker
Samuel Isaac Levin
Herbert Kramer/Herbert Bangel
Community Service Award
Jesse Cobb Stewart
Mortimer Caplin Public Service Award
Salima Elizabeth Burke
Edwin S. Cohen Tax Prize
Peter Vance Nelson
William Jordan Pergler
Earle K. Shawe Labor Relations Award
Dena Harandi
John M. Olin Prize in Law and
Economics
Steven Yifu Sun
Eppa Hunton IV Memorial Book Award
Amber Glee Williams
Virginia Trial Lawyers Trial Advocacy
Award
Colleen Depman Kukowski
Virginia State Bar
Family Law Book Award
Richard Kent Piacenti
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 19
Law School News
…
Clerkships for the 2012–13 Term
All are members of the class of 2012 unless otherwise noted.
Anthony Arsali ’11
The Hon. John Steele
U.S. District Court,
Middle District of Florida
John Beerbower
The Hon. Robert Payne
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
Samuel Beiderwell ’11
The Hon. Christine Byrd
Los Angeles Superior Court
Lucas Beirne
The Hon. Thomas S. Ellis III
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
Andrew Bentz
The Hon. Alex Kozinski
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Katie Beye
Norfolk (Virginia) Circuit Court
Micki Bloom
The Hon. Maribeth Raffinan
D.C. Superior Court
William Bloom
The Hon. William H. Pryor Jr.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit
Ashley Brown
The Hon. Petrese Tucker
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Salima Burke
The Hon. Alexander P. Waugh Jr.
New Jersey Superior Court
Jessica Boluda
The Hon. Mary Ellen Barbera
Maryland Court of Appeals
Christopher Cariello ’11
The Hon. Robert D. Sack
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Clare Boronow
The Hon. Gregory Wormuth
U.S. District Court for the
District of New Mexico
Kelly Chang
The Hon. Bernard Goodwyn ’86
Virginia Supreme Court
Lindsey Brooker
Arlington Circuit Court
Michael Broome
The Hon. Joseph H. Gale ’80
U.S. Tax Court
Brendan Connors ’11
The Hon. Virginia Emerson Hopkins
U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Alabama
Katherine Mims Crocker
The Hon. J. Harvie Wilkinson III ’72
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Christine D’Elicio ’97
The Hon. James Turk
U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Virginia
Devin DeBacker ’11
The Hon. D. Brooks Smith
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Matthew Dinan
The Hon. Robert Ballou ’87
U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Virginia
Nicholas Dumais
Vermont Superior Court
Leily Faridzadeh
The Hon. William E. Nugent
New Jersey Superior Court
20 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Law School News
…
Andrew Ferguson
The Hon. Karen LeCraft Henderson
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Walker Fults
The Hon. Andrew S. Hanen
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of Texas
Shea Gibbons
The Hon. James Turk
U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Virginia
Jennifer Gimbert
Norfolk (Virginia) Circuit Court
Jason Greene ’11
The Hon. Clark Waddoups
U.S. District Court, District of Utah
M. Blaire Hawkins
The Hon. James Jones ’65
U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Virginia
Jack Herman
The Hon. Mary Beck Briscoe LL.M. ’90
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Lizzie Hinkley
The Hon. Frederick Weisberg
D.C. Superior Court
Thomas Humphrey
The Hon. Robert Doumar ’53, LL.M. ’88
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
John Benton Hurst
The Hon. Duane Benton LL.M. ’95
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Laura Jenkins
The Hon. Jerry E. Smith
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Sarah Johns
The Hon. J. Fred Motz ’67
U.S. District Court for the
District of Maryland
Martha Kidd ’11
The Hon. Thomas Selby Ellis
U.S. District Court,
Eastern District of Virginia
Anna Johnson
The Hon. Rebecca Beach Smith
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
David King
The Hon. Fortunato P. Benavides
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Laura Jolley
The Hon. John Gibney Jr ’76
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
Jacquelyn Jones ’11
The Hon. Irene C. Berger
U.S. District Court, Southern
District of West Virginia
S. Cagle Juhan
The Hon. C. Lynwood Smith, Jr.
U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Alabama
Jamie Kaiser
The Hon. Normal Moon ’62, LL.M. ’88
U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Virginia
Carolyn Kendall
The Hon. Kenneth F. Ripple ’68
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Benjamin Lee ’11
The Hon. Lawrence McKenna
D.C. Superior Court
Alan Lin
The Hon. Andrew Austin
U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Texas
David Locher
The Hon. Louise Flanagan ’88
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of North Carolina
Lena Lockridge ’11
The Hon. William C. Mims
Virginia Supreme Court
Andrea Lucas ’11
The Hon. James Cacheris
U.S. District Court,
Eastern District of Virginia
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 21
Law School News
…
Kent Piacenti
The Hon. Susan Graber
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Samuel Poole ’11
The Hon. Lawrence M. Baskir
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Cory Rand
The Hon. Marie Lihotz
New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate
Division
Michael Robertson ’10
The Hon. Stephanie Thacker
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Anne Malinee
The Hon. Julia Smith Gibbons ’75
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Greg Mokodean ’10
The Hon. Christine O.C. Miller
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Tim Malone
The Hon. Carmen Alvarez
New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate
Division
Saira Najam ’10
The Hon. Barbara Lynn
U.S. District Court, Northern District of
Texas
Robert Manoso
The Hon. Thomas Varlan
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Tennessee
Thomas Perez-Lopez
The Hon. Todd Edelman
D.C. Superior Court
Frances McCorkle
Roanoke (Virginia) Circuit Court
James Petrila
The Hon. Betty Fletcher
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Caitlin McLaughlin
The Hon. James C. Dever III
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of North Carolina
Cathleen Joy Phillips
The Hon. Paul R. Cherry
U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of Indiana
David Metcalf
The Hon. Albert Diaz
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit
Chris Mincher ’11
The Hon. Robert McDonald
Maryland Court of Appeals
22 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Robbie Rogart
The Hon. John Anderson
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
Priya Roy ’11
The Honorable Michael Urbanski ’81
U.S. District Court,
Western District of Virginia
Ashlee Sawyer
The Hon. Myron T. Steele ’70, LL.M. ’04
Delaware Supreme Court
Christopher Schandevel
The Hon. Stephen McCullough
Virginia Court of Appeals
Lauren Simpson
The Hon. Robert S. Vance Jr. ’85
Alabama Court of Appeals
Supreme Court Clerks
E. Rebecca Gantt ’11
The Hon. Stephen G. Breyer
Lauren Willard ’11
The Hon. Anthony Kennedy
Law School News
…
Brendan Staley
The Hon. Henry Hudson
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
Jesse Stewart
The Hon. Beverly B. Martin
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit
Ehsanollah Tabesh ’10
U.S. District Court for the
Middle District of Florida
Aaron Terr
The Hon. Anthony Parrillo
New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate
Division
Christine Tschiderer
Senior Judges
D.C. Superior Court
Wai Wong
The Hon. Danny Boggs
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Max Twine ’11
The Hon. Stanley R. Chesler
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
Joe Wood
The Hon. Michael W. Mosman
U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Aaron Williams
The Hon. Rebecca Connelly
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Western District of Virginia
Tyler Young
The Hon. David Campbell
U.S. District Court for the District of
Arizona
Christopher Wimbush
The Hon. Raymond Jackson ’73
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 23
Law School News
…
Multimedia News Offerings at
www.law.virginia.edu/news
A sample of the video and podcast offerings
found online:
Too Big to Jail?
At a student scholarly lunch, Law Professor
Brandon Garrett discusses a draft chapter
from Too Big to Jail, his forthcoming book
about how corporations are prosecuted.
Human Rights Careers
The Human Rights Program and the Public
Service Center hosted a panel discussion
featuring experienced attorneys using their
JDs in distinct ways to advocate for human
rights, including Erin Houlihan ’11, legal
advisor, Institute for International Law &
Human Rights; Susan Sajadi ’05, attorney
with Burke, specializing in military
contractor liability; Christopher Dunn ’04,
senior international attorney, Millennium
Challenge Corp.; and Jonathan Kaufman,
staff attorney at EarthRights International.
The Role of In-House Counsel
David G. Leitch ’85, general counsel at
Ford Motor Company, spoke about the
role of an in-house counsel at a Fortune
10 company and the impact of regulatory
burdens and adverse litigation on a major
corporation.
24 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Virginia Assistant AG Discusses
Animal Cruelty
Following the Michael Vick dogfighting
case, laws in Virginia—and across the
country—were strengthened to aid
state-level animal cruelty prosecutions.
But it’s still hard to get substantive jail
time for most intentional animal cruelty
cases, said Assistant Attorney General
Michelle Welch.
of the 2011–12 term, including cases
involving the federal health care law and
Arizona’s immigration statute.
Arizona v. United States: Implications
Professors Kerry Abrams, Anne Coughlin,
John Harrison, and David Martin discuss
the implications of the Supreme Court’s
decision on Arizona’s controversial
immigration law.
Becoming a Law Professor
Class of 2015 Orientation Address
University of Virginia School of Law
professors Deena Hurwitz, John Duffy,
Risa Goluboff, and Kerry Abrams discuss
the attributes candidates need to become
law professors in today’s academia.
Rebecca Vallas ’09, a staff attorney with
the nonprofit Community Legal Services
of Philadelphia and a former Skadden
Fellow and PILA president, welcomed
first-year, transfer, and exchange students
to the Law School on August 20. Dean
Paul G. Mahoney, Senior Assistant
Dean for Admission Anne Richard,
and Student Bar Association President
Alex Aurisch ’13 also spoke.
The Knockoff Economy:
How Imitation Sparks Innovation
Copying kills creativity, or so we’ve been
taught. But formal intellectual property
protection isn’t always necessary, as Law
Professor Chris Sprigman and his coauthor, Professor Kal Raustiala of UCLA,
argue in their book, The Knockoff Economy.
Annual Supreme Court Roundup
Before a packed crowd of students and
faculty, a panel of three Law professors,
A.E. Dick Howard ’61, Kerry Abrams,
and Margaret Foster Riley, explained the
most important Supreme Court decisions
Contracts With the Devil
in Pop Culture
WTJU Radio’s Soundboard interviews Law
Professor John Setear about his recent
research into contracts with the devil, as
depicted in movies, TV shows, music,
books, and theater.
Law School News
…
The Nonprofit Clinic
Campaign Finance, Election Law,
and the Colbert Report
Clinic co-directors Allen Hench and
Tara Boyd ’02 and clinic students Pedro
Bermeo and Christina Leaton discuss the
Law School’s Nonprofit Clinic, designed to
offer law students real-world transactional
experience that will also benefit the
nonprofit community.
Trevor Potter ’82 spoke at 2012 Reunions
about campaign finance, the First
Amendment, election law, and his role as
Stephen Colbert’s SuperPAC lawyer on the
Colbert Report.
Dooley, a ‘Master of Corporate Law,’
Retires
The (Sometimes) Constitutional
Point of ‘Pointless Indignity’
Law Professor Michael Dooley, a widely
recognized expert in corporate law and
longtime chair of the Graduate Program
Committee, is retiring after more than four
decades at the Law School. He addressed
alumni and colleagues at Reunions 2012.
Law Professor Josh Bowers looks at arrests
that may be “pointless indignit[ies]” but
also “constitutionally reasonable” during a
faculty workshop at the Law School.
First Amendment Clinic
Clinic co-director Josh Wheeler and
clinic participant Tiffany Rainbolt discuss
the school’s First Amendment Clinic.
Supervised by the legal staff of the Thomas
Jefferson Center and attorneys from the law
firm Baker Hostetler, students in the First
Amendment Clinic conduct legal research,
meet with clients and co-counsel, and draft
legal memoranda and briefs.
Gifts as Potentially Taxable Income
Law Professor George Yin, a leading expert
in tax policy, lectures on gifts and similar
transfers as potentially taxable income.
Alumni Weekend Law School Update
Dean Paul Mahoney discussed the past
school year during the annual meeting of
the Alumni Association at Law Alumni
Weekend 2012.
O’Connell, a Pioneer of Insurance
Law, Retires from Law School
Car insurance looked very different when
Law Professor Jeffrey O’Connell first
began studying it in the 1960s. It was
expensive for policyholders, and 45 percent
of seriously hurt accident victims weren’t
compensated at all. O’Connell addressed
alumni during Law Alumni Weekend 2012.
The Ministerial Exception Case—
And Faculty Arguments in the
Supreme Court
Law Professor Douglas Laycock discussed
his argument before the U.S. Supreme
Court in Hosanna-Tabor and outlined a
history of Virginia faculty members who
have argued before the Supreme Court,
including those who teach the Supreme
Court Litigation Clinic, during a talk to
alumni.
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 25
26 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
The
Patent
Puzzle
Harnessing the accelerating
pace of innovation
By Cullen Couch
For a very long time, intellectual property was mostly an arcane field about intangible
claims that were hard to establish and even harder to value. Information technology
changed all that. Intellectual property may be an esoteric term, but smartphones and
tablets are of enormous popular and commercial interest, and the makers and consumers
of information technology now know that intellectual property law matters a great deal.
What the world learned in Apple v. Samsung was not so much about the iPhone or
Galaxy but instead about what Apple and Samsung claim to own. It came as a surprise
to many, and an outrage to some, that simple commands such as “double tap-to-zoom”
and “swipe to unlock,” and common shapes like “rounded corners” and rectangles, were
patentable features of similar devices. After hearing from software engineers and marketers (and more than a few experts), an American jury determined the provenance of
these claims, awarding Apple $1 billion in damages against Samsung for infringing six of
Apple’s design and utility patents. By contrast, just a week later, a Japanese court found
that Samsung had not infringed several Apple patents on music and video synchronization, underscoring the global nature of these disputes and the role of juries in evaluating
complex technology.
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 27
In mobile technology alone, Samsung owns some 32,000 patents,
Microsoft 14,000, and Apple 1,800. The U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office (PTO) processed more than 500,000 patents last year and can
take as long as six years to issue one. The volume of patent applications already swamps the system, but the demand for better and
faster technology is relentless. That raises the question: Can our
patent system “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” as
contemplated by Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution in today’s world?
The patent puzzle is vastly complex and contains many parts,
from the creative to the technical. To shrink it down, we take a look
at the current influence of the patent process. Our interviews with
alumni and faculty show a patent system that is at once an essential
engine of innovation, a tangled mess, an almost limitless library of
invention and discovery, and an opportunist’s dream.
For insight on these issues, we turned to retired Chief Judge
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,
Paul Michel ’66; Netflix (and former Oracle) Chief IP Officer
T.J. Angioletti ’92; Davis Polk litigation partner Chris Hockett ’85;
Google senior search quality statistician and quantitative analyst
Eric Tassone ’98; and Law School professors Margo Bagley, John
Duffy, and Chris Sprigman.
“People talk about patent thickets and wasteful litigation and excessive
damages and on and on. These become buzzwords that prevent careful
thinking and can lead to poor public policy.”
— Chief Judge Paul Michel ‘66
28 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Systematic neglect of an
overwhelmed Patent Office
All patent applications must wend their way through the PTO. The
PTO’s main campus in Alexandria, Virginia, occupies five buildings
that house almost 9,000 employees, including engineers, scientists,
attorneys, analysts, and computer specialists. Of that number, 7,630
are patent examiners, usually newly graduated engineers and scientists;
another 400 are trademark examiners, all attorneys. President Obama
appointed David Kappos as Director of the PTO in 2009.
Kappos faces serious challenges. A patent filed today will wait
an average of 22.3 months before the PTO notifies the applicant
that the application is under review. From that point, it will take another 10.4 months before the patent is either issued or abandoned.
On average, each application receives about 20 hours of examiner
review during the process. Amazingly, despite the number of applications and the generous attention they receive, the PTO has already
granted over 483,000 patents this year.
Before Kappos took the helm, the PTO, funded entirely by user
fees and no tax dollars, had been gradually doing more with less. In
1999, Congress began siphoning off PTO’s user fees to fund other
government programs. “They decided it was a nice source of extra
cash,” says Chief Judge Michel. “Instead of using those fees to hire new
examiners, it went for somebody’s pet project. They have siphoned
off almost a billion dollars, and it’s the principal cause of the deteriorating performance of the Patent Office.” Fortunately, the America
Invents Act, a patent bill that passed in 2011
after almost seven years of hearings, largely
curtailed the problem by making it difficult
for Congress to continue withholding the
fee money. “But we’ll see,” warns Michel.
“They can also change the law.”
Further, the stakes are higher than ever
in the patent arena because of two events
that have transformed the American competitive landscape, says John Duffy, the
Samuel H. McCoy II and Armistead M.
Dobie Professor of Law. “First, knowledge
and information are becoming increasingly more valuable. The modern cell
phone, for example, uses inexpensive raw
materials and transforms them into the
modern smartphone based on an enormous amount of knowledge. And second,
we have switched from heavily concentrated and regulated industries to a more
competitive marketplace in which intellectual property is all the more important.”
Duffy cites the phone industry as
the classic example. For most of the
20th century, a telephone monopoly was heavily regulated by the
The main campus of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va.
government. AT&T Bell Labs, the monopoly’s storied research
facility—one of its scientists won a Nobel Prize for detechnologically passé, or of little comtecting the background radiation of the Big Bang—had
mercial value. “We’re killing ourselves by
no need for intellectual property rights. “If you are the
“That’s the
failing to maintain the machinery of an
telephone company, a monopoly, you don’t need a patParadox
efficient, well functioning Patent Office,”
ent to protect exclusivity in telephone technology.”
says Michel.
The patent explosion that followed this shift started
of the patent
The guardedly good news is that under
hitting the PTO in the 1970s. Used to processing fewer
system. It can
Kappos’s leadership, the PTO is now beginthan 70,000 patent applications every year, it saw the
be both a
ning to bulk up its capabilities. It has hired
number of patent applications explode. The PTO laspur
to
several thousand additional experienced
bored to keep up, a task made harder when Congress
patent examiners in the last few years,
raided the PTO’s user fees.
competition
and doubled the size of the appeals board,
Michel retired in 2010 after 22 years on the Federal
and innovation,
which was backed up and slow. Michel
Circuit Court, discouraged by the patent reform debate.
and
a
approves. “The quality and the size of the
As a judge, he was reluctant to express his concerns. “I
drag on it.”
examining core and the board is going
was appalled by how incomplete the pursuit of truth
up sharply,” he says. “We’re already seeing
was,” he says. “In all these hearings over a seven-year
much higher quality patent performance.”
period [leading to the America Invents Act], only one
“I think almost everyone in our industry agrees that Kappos has
inventor and only one investor was ever called as a witness, two of
done an excellent job as commissioner of the Patent Office,” says
the key players in the whole system. There wasn’t anyone looking
T.J. Angioletti ’92, Chief IP Officer for Netflix. “He’s instituted a
at the overall needs of the country, of industry, of the system itself.
number of different reforms that have really improved the Patent
Instead, it was always someone trying to get a little more profit for
Office, and it is headed in the right direction. We don’t expect mirhis company, or his industry, or his type of technology, at the exacles from him, but considering the environment he’s working in, I
pense of everybody else.”
believe that he’s doing a lot and the customers of the Patent Office
Thomas Edison got his patent in six weeks. Now it often
are happy with the progress.”
takes six years. By the time a patent is issued, it may be obsolete,
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 29
A Brief History
THE TERM “INTELLECTuAL PROPERTy” first arose in the mid-19th
century, but its origins trace back to patent statutes designed to spur
innovation in 15th century Venice and Florence (perhaps even earlier;
Charles Anthon’s Classical Dictionary published in 1851 credits the
Sybarites in 500 BCE Greece, who gave “great encouragement … to all
who should discover any new refinement in luxury, the profits arising from
which were secured to the inventor by patent for the space of a year”.
Those early laudable efforts later devolved when the monarchies
in both Elizabethan England and pre-revolution France began
granting monopolies to guilds and royal favorites purely as a way
to raise revenue. A post-Elizabethan parliament, chafing under such
restrictions to free trade, passed in 1623 the Statute of Monopolies,
long considered the origin of modern patent law, which repealed all of
those grants and allowed patents only for novel inventions. The Statute
of Anne in 1710 extended the state’s protection to copyright.
“The Framers believed that a strong patent system would be an
engine of growth for this country,” says Chief Judge Michel. “We were a
poor, dependent, agricultural colony when we started, and we became
the most powerful, richest, and technologically creative nation on Earth
over the course of 200 years. A whole lot of that was because we had a
well functioning patent system, and we relied on it.”
Congress passed the nation’s first patent law in 1790 for inventions
“not before known or used … if they shall deem the invention or
discovery sufficiently useful and important.” The act designated that
any two of the Secretary of State, Secretary of War, or the Attorney
General could grant a patent. Under the urging of Thomas Jefferson
looking to narrow the right, Congress in 1793 modified patents to
mean “any new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition
of matter and any new and useful improvement on any art, machine,
manufacture or composition of matter.”
Jefferson, the nation’s first Secretary of State and thus one of the
nation’s first patent administrators, was of course a prolific inventor in
his own right. He respected inventors and their claims for economic
reward, but also believed they should grant access for others to assess
and improve their work for public benefit. He wrote in an 1813 letter to
Isaac McPherson:
Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property.
Society may give an exclusive right to the profits arising
from them, as an encouragement to men to pursue ideas
which may produce utility, but this may or may not be done,
according to the will and convenience of the society, without
claim or complaint from anybody.
In that same letter, Jefferson captured in an historical analogy
about the Egyptians the tension between public good and
private benefit that has bedeviled patent law up to and including
Apple v. Samsung:
A string of buckets is invented and used for raising water, ore,
etc., can a second have a patent right to the same machine for
raising wheat, a third oats, a fourth rye, a fifth peas, etc.?
In the ensuing 160 years, Congress revised the first patent
act some 50 times as it tried to match patent development to the
shifting political, technological, and cultural winds emanating from
periodic economic depressions, three great wars, and the continuous
innovative genius of a creative people, all the while trying to stay true
to Jefferson’s “new and useful” test.
In 1952 Congress enacted a patent act meant to clarify all that
went before. The explosive growth in technology since then called
for much-needed patent reforms to keep pace with a vastly different
world. Citing the fact that “the laws protecting the technologies of
today are stuck in the past,” Congress passed overwhelmingly the
America Invents Act. The vote in the House was 304–117, and in the
Senate 89–9. The act implements a first-inventor-to-file standard for
patent approval, creates a post-grant review system to weed out bad
patents, and helps the PTO address the backlog of patent applications.
A page of Thomas Jefferson’s 1813 letter to isaac McPherson.
30 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
Patent validity
Once a patent application is filed, it is up to
the PTO examiners and staff to determine
its validity. According to statute, “a person
shall be entitled to a patent unless …” he fails
to show that the invention is non-­obvious,
useful, and novel, the three pillars of patent validity. The PTO has stated publicly
that it sees applicants as “customers” whom
they will help secure a patent. If the PTO
refuses to grant a patent, the applicant can
submit a modified application. Ultimately,
the PTO’s decision can be appealed to the
Supreme Court.
It is easy to see how an over-burdened
office that is inclined to grant patents,
combined with the deference courts give
to their validity, can cause real problems.
Further, the inherent subjectivity of the el“The record companies could have improved their business
model to take advantage of the new peer-to-peer technology,
ements underlying a patent seems to invite
but they relied only on copyright to control their fate. They
refused to bend, and instead they broke.”—Chris Sprigman
infringement and litigation.
“If you have
As the New York Times reported, Apple
somebody who has
initially applied for its “Siri” patent, the
Jefferson, the nation’s first patent administrator (see
iPhone’s voice recognition search engine,
copied something,
sidebar, opposite).
in 2004, before either the iPhone or Siri
somebody who
“If nature has made any one thing less susceptible
existed. The PTO rejected that application,
is lying about
than all others to exclusive property, it is the action of
calling it “an obvious variation” on existing
something,
the thinking power called an idea, which an individual
technology. Apple resubmitted the applimay exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himcation ten times before the Patent Office
somebody who has
self,” Jefferson wrote, “but the moment it is divulged, it
finally approved it in December 2011. Two
broken a contract
focuses itself into the possession of everyone, and the
months later, in February 2012, Apple sued
… lay juries can
receiver can not dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar
Samsung for infringement of that and
relate to them.”
character, too, is that no one possesses the less because
other patents.
every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives
“A dispute over infringement of a patan idea from me, receives instruction himself without
ent that the Patent Office spent 18 hours
lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light
working on will receive hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of
without darkening me.”
attention from experts, lawyers, and judges analyzing whether the
Significant procedural hurdles stand in the way of proving such
Patent Office made a good decision,” says Davis Polk litigation
patents invalid. Samsung attempted to prove at trial that the Apple
partner Chris Hockett ’85. “It comes under very intense scrutiny,
patents were invalid on their face, but they failed because they distypically costing millions of dollars.”
obeyed the court’s discovery orders and were not permitted to use
“The examiners have a tough job,” says Angioletti. “They have
the evidence they wanted at trial.
limited resources, they look at an awful lot of applications, and you
“They buried it in boxes of documents in a way that the magcan’t expect perfection, so there are plenty of patents that shouldn’t
istrate running the discovery process said was unfair to Apple,”
have issued in the first place. That’s something that we all have to
says Chris Sprigman, Class of 1963 Research Professor in Honor of
deal with.”
Graham C. Lilly and Peter W. Low. “He banned Samsung from inThe Apple case highlights the intense debate surrounding what
troducing at trial a lot of this invalidity evidence, and the trial judge
types of innovation can and should receive patent protection.
upheld the magistrate. Samsung’s case on invalidity was truncated
Software applications are especially problematic, as they come close
by that ruling. That was essentially their own fault.”
to claiming ownership of an abstract “idea,” a notion toxic to Thomas
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 31
In Apple v. Samsung, the jury upheld Apple’s patents on the
iPhone’s basic surface and design features—touches, swipes, shapes—
but are those really the kind of protections that spur innovation?
“The Patent Office never should have granted those patents,”
Sprigman says. “Even if they granted them, the jury never should
have found them to be infringed,” he says. “The idea that a rectangular electronic device is owned by any one company is just nuts.
I don’t think a patent like that incentivizes innovation. I think a
patent like that just limits competition.”
“I don’t know that this is going to be terribly good for consumers,” adds Law School Professor Margo Bagley. “One argument is
this is going to encourage competitors to innovate more, but it’s
almost a standard that consumers look for. If Samsung can’t offer
those features it puts them at a huge competitive disadvantage that
seems out of proportion to the value of the innovation that Apple
has actually patented.”
Professor Duffy is not surprised by the launch of a long and bitter
patent fight between Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platforms,
just like earlier patent wars over sewing machines, railroad technology, aircraft technology, cars, and even the refinement processes for
making oil and gasoline for them.
“Patent fights on the cusp of industrial innovation have gone on
“In the next five or ten years, I think the Supreme Court will take a case and
decide that when the Justices said validity is an issue of law in prior cases, they
meant what they said, and they will remove validity issues from the jury. I
think that will lead to a more rational process.”—John Duffy
32 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
throughout this country’s history,” he says. “The idea that there are
fights about cutting-edge technology should not surprise anybody,
especially as knowledge and information are becoming increasingly
more valuable.”
“I don’t understand why people think the end of the world is
coming because Samsung was ordered to pay Apple a lot of money,”
adds Chief Judge Michel. “Lawsuits are the best way anybody’s ever
invented to resolve complex commercial disputes. That’s the way the
system’s supposed to work. If somebody infringed a patent that was
ruled to be a valid patent, and harm was established, the infringer
should pay. What’s wrong with that? That’s the way it’s supposed to
work.”
Patent juries
Traditionally, patent cases were bench trials. According to Duffy, the
law used to be that in a suit with a legal claim for damages and an
equitable claim for injunction, the equity claim dominated, removing the right to a jury. But in the late 1950s, the Supreme Court
reversed the relationship, giving the legal claim dominance. “I think
the change came from a populist intuition during the mid-20th
century that juries bring a more democratic view into the law.”
That change has had a big effect in the patent area, and the number of juries in patent litigation has increased dramatically in the
last 40 years.
A patent claim typically rests on two
questions: Is the patent valid and, if so, has it
been infringed? The validity question often
involves complex legal analysis and, according to Duffy, the Supreme Court has held
repeatedly that validity is a question of law,
but the reality is that in current practice the
lower courts give that question to the jury.
But whether that right has been
infringed is clearly a question of fact
belonging to the jury. “They can be hard
questions,” Duffy acknowledges, “but it’s
hard to see under our legal structure how
you could eliminate the jury from that
question. I think the judges are trying to
get better at explaining to the jury what
is prohibited so it can determine whether
something within the prohibited range did
or didn’t occur.”
Jury verdicts often yield controversy.
The foreman in the Apple case was an
inventor and led the jury to what industry
observers believe was a quick decision
Privatize the
patent process?
Nobody really disputes that a strong patent
system is vitally important, or that the PTO is
overburdened. But instead of expanding the PTO,
Professor John Duffy has proposed giving it a new role
overseeing and certifying private firms that review
applications and issue patents. “The Patent Office gives
us basically an expert opinion about validity, and the
courts give some degree of deference to the opinion,”
he says. “Currently, the government has a monopoly
on that, and it works about as well as any entrenched
monopoly. In our current system, inventors contact
the PTO—essentially a professional office that is in
the business of giving expert opinions—and request
about 20 hours of work to produce an expert opinion.
The agency then tells inventors that they can get that
20 hours of work done in two, three years. That’s insane.
We should not accept that.”
Such a system would need strong government
regulations to maintain strict standards. “You would
have to make sure there’s not a race to the bottom
where firms get more business because they approve
everything,” says Duffy.
Chief Judge Michel has his doubts. “It’s certainly
true that if you bring enough quality resources to bear,
you’ll have faster, better action, but I think the Patent
Office is where it ought to be done. It’s hard enough
to have patent quality monitored there. To have some
government agency certifying a whole bunch of
private companies competing with one another might
be hard to do in practice, and perhaps even more
expensive.”
Duffy’s and Michel’s views reflect differences
on infrastructure, but not about the ultimate goal.
“Everybody agrees that we’d be better off with a
system that is faster and produces higher quality,”
says Duffy. “My point is that if you want speed and
efficiency, a large government bureaucracy should
not be your immediate choice. I think Judge Michel
is being more realistic in thinking that outsourcing is
not now politically possible and the only solution is to
expand the size of the bureaucracy. In the short run, I
think he may be right about that, but I’m an academic
so I get to think about the possibilities for truly novel
long-run reforms.”
The “dashboard” on the PTO website showing current status of patent review
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 33
“We need to be circumspect about the value of broad patents. There are
countervailing issues to be considered.”—Margo Bagley
considering the complexity of the issues. “The technology was very
complicated,” says Bagley. “The jury foreman was an electrical engineer who had two patents and a third on the way. This is someone
who is more likely than most to be very pro-patent and to think that
the patent holder needs to be compensated. How do you control for
those kinds of things on a jury?” Sprigman agrees. “I don’t think the jury really understood
the rules,” he says. “I don’t think they applied them. I think they
looked at these companies and made a decision basically on moral
grounds—things like ‘Apple’s an innovator, Samsung’s a copyist’—
and then they went with their intuition.”
According to Sprigman, patent law “isn’t about being smart.”
Patent law is a set of rules not readily deducible by an intelligent
person. To understand it, you need some experience thinking about
it. “The jury didn’t do anything wrong,” he says. “I think they did
what they could be expected to do and I think that’s a problem for
the system. It relies on juries to do things that juries can’t really do
reliably.”
Duffy thinks the Supreme Court will step in and clarify the rules.
“In the next five or ten years,” he says, “I think the Supreme Court
will take a case and decide that when the Justices said validity is an
issue of law in prior cases, they meant what they said, and they will
remove validity issues from the jury. I think that will lead to a more
rational process.”
In the meantime, for a litigator like Hockett, reducing sophisticated technology to familiar concepts that a jury can grasp is an
34 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
exciting high-wire act. He once worked on a
case involving optical networking technology at the electron level, a stretch for him
to explain and for the jury to understand.
He succeeded by using a visual metaphor.
“We likened the technology to a series
of guard posts. When one of the guards
detected an intrusion, he told all the other
guards in the line so that they could carry
out their functions. It enabled the judge
who was doing the claim construction
hearing to understand what we were getting at and why our story made sense.”
But the strategy has its risks. “If you
come up with an analogy, it can be hazardous to you. If your opponents can turn it
around to their benefit, and it came from
you in the first place, it’s a powerful point
in their hands. We do a lot of pressure testing of our analogies to make sure we’ve
thought of everything.”
Finally, most of the facts in a case are completely remote from
anyone’s experience, so it’s vitally important to bring in broader
themes than just technical testimony about patent claims or expert
opinions on infringement.
“If you have somebody who has copied something, somebody
who is lying about something, somebody who has broken a contract, even though those issues may not be central to the issue of
infringement, lay juries can relate to them. They can be very powerful,” Hockett explains.
Patent evolution and growth
As technologies advance and the focus of invention evolves, the
patent system adjusts. “That’s the beauty of the system,” says Chief
Judge Michel. “It’s so flexible. It works for the needs of real people.
It’s not dictated by some philosophical construct.”
Witness the different pace of development of patent law in two
different industries: biotechnology and computer software. The U.S.
Patent Act of 1952 provided patent protection for “[w]ho[m]ever
invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement
thereof.” When in 1971 a biotech firm applied for a patent on a new
oil-eating bacterium, the Patent Office turned it down, reasoning
that a living organism cannot be patented. But in a 1980 decision,
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the Supreme Court disagreed, holding
that the question was not whether the innovation was living or nonliving, but whether it was made by man.
“They looked at the legislative history that suggested the statute covers anything under the sun made by man,” says Bagley. The
Court agreed that a product of nature cannot be patented, but they
found that the amount of human intervention needed to create the
bacterium made it markedly different from anything that exists in
nature. “That decision by itself opened the flood gates to all of the
biotech patenting on genes, on animals, on plants and crops—all of
that originated with that one decision. “
Patents on computer software followed a more gradual path, in
part because the Patent Office was resistant to computer softwarerelated inventions, and there was potential for protection under the
copyright laws. “Software patents have been a much muddier area
over time,” says Bagley, “but biotech in Chakrabarty from day one
was largely wide open.”
In 1998, a federal court indicated in State Street Bank v. Signature
Financial Group that business methods were patentable just like any
other kind of method. That decision eventually yielded other decisions relating to other types of computer-implemented methods.
“People were patenting all kinds of questionable methods,” says
Bagley. “A method of swinging on a swing, a method of making a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The Patent Office got criticized
for a lot of them,” which created a backlash that ultimately led to
Bilski v. Kappos.
Bilski dealt with business methods, specifically hedging risks
in commodities trading, and the Supreme Court held that the
petitioner’s investment approach was just an abstract idea and not
eligible for protection. The Court affirmed the invalidation of the
patent claim by the Federal Circuit (in an
opinion written by Chief Judge Michel),
but revised the test used by the lower court
to evaluate such claims. In its opinion, the
Supreme Court praised the work of the
Federal Circuit, noting that “students of
patent law would be well-advised to study
these scholarly opinions.”
Patent subject matter keeps expanding, primarily because it’s hard to
challenge patents. Those who have the
most interest in challenging them—competitors—don’t because they want to keep
the subject matter broad. And individuals
often cannot challenge them because of
the prohibitive cost of litigation and difficulty establishing standing to sue. “What
we end up with is, bit-by-bit patent subject
matter increases based on what people file
at the Patent Office,” says Bagley. “If they
push the boundaries, there’s a pretty good
chance the Patent Office will grant the patent because it’s hard for them to objectively
justify saying no. And even if the Patent Office rejects it, applicants
can appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court.” Finding the right balance
Intellectual property rights doctrine has always had to balance the
state’s interest in promoting innovation for the public good with the
individual’s “moral” or “natural” rights to the fruits of his invention.
That dispute remains alive today, though ideally the two go hand in
hand. A patent system protects invention by rewarding innovation.
It is a two-part concept. To get the patent, the inventor has to describe in detail the invention and how it works. That allows the next
innovator to study the patent and design around it to improve it.
As a result, “the system is a repository of technological information of great practical importance,” says Michel. “If people weren’t
getting patents on their inventions, then it would be very difficult to
advance the technology.”
“We’re not protecting property just because it’s property,” says
Duffy. “We’re protecting property to promote innovation. Are we
maximizing the promotion of innovation through the protection
“You usually have a pretty good idea that if you cross a fence on someone’s
land, you’re trespassing, but the costs of figuring that out in the world of high
technology are very high. It’s almost like the ‘no trespassing’ signs are buried
under the ground and you have to dig to find them.”—Chris Hockett ‘85
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 35
Overlay of Microsoft (yellow) and Samsung (Red) patent portfolios in
mobile communications on a “patent thicket” cluster map (courtesy Mark
Summerfield, Journal of Asset Management, Watermark Intellectual Asset
Management)
of property? No, of course we’re not. The world’s imperfect. What
is the right amount of time to reward an innovation and then allow
it to be copied? Society has been trying to figure out that answer for
centuries.”
Some believe that strong patent rights are the only way to promote
innovation. Others believe that too much protection can dampen
innovation. “We need to be circumspect about the value of broad
patents. There are countervailing issues to be considered,” says Bagley. As a policy goal, everyone wants to encourage innovation, traditionally through competition on the merits between a firm and its
industry, and by financial incentives for invention. “But there needs
36 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
to be a balance between the incentives to invent and the fostering of
competition,” says Angioletti. “Understanding what is truly innovative is key to technological growth and job creation.”
Capitalism rewards innovations that replace inefficiencies, but
if patents are used to interrupt or delay that process, society suffers.
“It might be that the Android operating system is a better operating system,” says Sprigman, “but if Apple is mounting an attack on
Android based on patents that never should have been granted in
the first place, that isn’t a happy story about innovation. It is an
unhappy story about a company trying to limit competition. That’s
the paradox of the patent system. It can be both a spur to competition and innovation, and a drag on it.”
For example, the patent system doesn’t require inventors to
make what’s covered by the patent, or to sell it. All they have to do
is disclose what it is and how it works. After that, they can simply
exclude others from practicing that invention.
Open Source and Patent Collaboration
The open source movement, partly a philosophy and partly
a business model, promotes free sharing of technical information for
the benefit of a broader community. Within the larger IP community
in Silicon Valley, there is a great willingness to embrace open source
and to work together on standards. Some technology is simply too
complex for one company to do it alone.
For example, Netflix uses open source software and has licensed a
number of its technologies under open source licenses.
“Participating in open source software projects allows us to
save time and money,” says Angioletti. “I see an open, collaborative
culture in Silicon Valley and software developers are willing to work
together to innovate. There are a lot of similarities with the culture
at UVA. When I was a student, we were always willing to help each
other out.”
“From an IP lawyer’s perspective,” he adds,“you are dealing
with many of the same issues as your peers at other companies and
collaboration makes sense. Your companies may be competitors, but
this doesn’t stop you from working together to figure out a solution to
a common problem.”
Hockett also believes in the patent system’s ability to solve
problems, and in American business and markets that can get around
imperfect government structures. “People find a way, and the debate is
becoming much more nuanced and thoughtful about the problems.
That’s encouraging to me.”
Google engineer and scientist Eric Tassone revels in the freedom
and creativity that open source provides. Indeed, one of the mottos of
Google Scholar, the company’s free index of research and scholarship,
“We stand on the shoulders of giants,” is a quote from Isaac Newton.
“We realize we are building on a lot of research that came before,”
says Tassone. “We’re building on academic papers. We’re building on
each other’s work. That’s part of the culture of shared trust, shared
responsibility.”
Google has leveraged that shared past to become very good at
doing things “at scale,” becoming the world’s dominant search engine.
It has developed networking algorithms that allows it to deliver
queries in about 1/4 of a second (a human eye blink is about 1/10th
of a second), process over 100 billion searches every month, and find
over 30 trillion unique URLs (up from 1 trillion in 2008). About 1/6th of
the searches it sees on a given day are novel to the company, and on
average each answer travels 1500 miles to get back to the user. More
than 1000 person-years have gone into creating these algorithms.
Moreover, instead of building its own hardware to house
its search engine, Google strung together clusters of relatively
cheap computers made by other companies and developed the
technological infrastructure that enabled these machines to talk to
each other. This allowed Google to lessen its reliance on the product
“People are open-minded and intellectually curious. They want to make new
things. So they’re going to do it, and the legal system is just going to have to
adjust.” —Eric Tassone ‘98
“I see an open, collaborative
culture in Silicon Valley and
software developers are willing
to work together to innovate.
There are a lot of similarities
with the culture at UVA. When I
was a student, we were always
willing to help each other
out.”—T.J. Angioletti ‘92
pipeline of other companies while making it easier to distribute
its information, expand applications (add more machines), and fix
hardware failures.
“Idealism is strong here,” says Tassone. “To an outsider, it may
look like we have a robotic master plan. The truth is that Google is a
bunch of idealistic humans. It is a very organized chaos—and I use
that term in a mathematical sense. By design, there is supposed to be
experimentation and risk taking.”
“My personal view is that the system will never be perfect,” he
adds. “But there’s so much innovation here in Silicon Valley that it
is going to happen no matter what. People are open-minded and
intellectually curious. They want to make new things. So they’re going
to do it, and the legal system is just going to have to adjust.” UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 37
illustrations in rock star Edward L. “Eddie” Van Halen’s 1987 patent application
for his Musical instrument Support device, patent number 4,656,917.
Heavy metal indeed.
Thus the rise of non-practicing (NP) entities, derisively called
“patent trolls” by the IP bar, that amass portfolios of inactive patents to harvest licensing fees or patent infringement settlements.
“Large companies are feeling somewhat beleaguered by lawsuits
from non-practicing entities,” says Hockett. “They feel like that’s a
dead-weight loss not benefiting consumers or promoting innovation.” In Silicon Valley, Hockett claims there are many more NP
lawsuits than there are competitor lawsuits. “Companies take very
seriously competitor lawsuits, but look at NP lawsuits as more of an
expensive nuisance.”
“The mobile phone wars have gotten a lot of play,” adds
Angioletti, “but we see a limited amount of competitor litigation
compared to patent troll litigation. Entities that don’t invent anything acquire a patent, and then sue on it.”
Another problem is the sheer numbers of patents and “understanding whose land you might be on,” says Hockett. “It is too
complicated right now. You usually have a pretty good idea that
38 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
if you cross a fence on someone’s land, you’re trespassing, but the
costs of figuring that out in the world of high technology are very
high. It’s almost like the ‘no trespassing’ signs are buried under the
ground and you have to dig to find them.”
Until a “troll” reveals itself by demanding royalties or filing suit,
no one knows exactly what intellectual property it claims. “Trolling”
can be a very profitable business, but one that the patent system
has had trouble reconciling with its mission. “There’s a big debate
underway as to whether the system should be changed to make it
tougher for someone who’s not practicing the patent to assert the
patent rights against someone else,” says Hockett.
In fact, the Supreme Court has hinted, and many district judges
are suggesting, that if a patent owner isn’t itself practicing the patent,
they should not be able to get an injunction when someone infringes.
But Michel thinks this debate has been a distraction caused mainly
by overheated media rhetoric, some of it a deliberate effort by some
companies to fan the flames.
Sprigman cites more industries—comedy, music, football,
“Companies that often lose patent infringement suits and had
cuisine—where patent (and copyright) are at best unnecessary, if
to pay a lot of money would like to see a very weak or slow patnot counter-productive. While some industries need a strong patent system, a patent system where you can’t get injunctions, where
ent system to incentivize investment and innovative effort, “there is
damages are minimal,” he says. “They’ve used PR and the media and
also the opposite story where patents give people bargaining chips
lobbying to influence the Congress.
they use to suppress innovation by others,” he says. “It’s a compli“Of course, they have the right to do that and they should do
cated calculus where in some fields, like pharmaceuticals, it points
that. But is it in perspective? Is it in proportion? Is it in context?
more clearly toward the need for continued protection. In some
Is it based on a broad understanding by these decision-makers, or
other fields, like smartphones, the calculus is not so clear.”
just headlines and sound bites? People talk about patent thickets
Indeed, relying solely on patent and copyright protections as a
and wasteful litigation and excessive damages and on and on. These
business model can be hazardous, if not fatal. When the free music
become buzzwords that prevent careful thinking and can lead to
download website Napster started making
poor public policy. It’s filtered up and affected the
inroads on the recording business, the muthinking of the Supreme Court and Congress. I think
sic industry went into lock-down.
both have been blindly lashing out, trying to solve this
“Lawsuits
are
“The record companies could have
value-perceived problem.”
the best way
improved their business model to take
In patent offices all over the world—Europe,
advantage of the new peer-to-peer techGermany, the UK, China, Japan, and elsewhere—inanybody’s ever
nology, but they relied only on copyright
tellectual property law continues to develop. “It’s
invented to
to control their fate,” says Sprigman. “They
a very slow process, but you can think of the law of
resolve complex
refused to bend, and instead they broke.”
patents or the law of intellectual property as its own
commercial
But the decline of the record labels has not
body of knowledge, its own technology,” says Duffy.
led to the “death of music.” Indeed, the mu“An idea can come from one country and other coundisputes. That’s
sic industry has never been more creative,
tries can decide whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea.
the way the
offered more opportunities for artists, or
Very slowly, the law changes, hopefully towards a betsystem’s supposed
provided listeners with so many choices.
ter system.”
to work.”
The record companies effectively made
Certainly, as Sprigman has spelled out in his
themselves irrelevant.
new book co-authored with UCLA law professor
Michel acknowledges that not every
Kal Raustalia, The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation
business needs the patent system. “The
Sparks Innovation, not every business needs a patent
problem is that vast numbers of businesses do need it,” he says.
system. Indeed, the act of copying in some industries likely has
“Weakening the patent system won’t help the fashion industry, but
driven innovation better than any patent system could.
it can hurt industries like biotech and pharmaceutical and high-tech
Sprigman recounts efforts by fashion designers in the 1930s
machinery and electronics. Some lines of business have no depenwho attempted unsuccessfully to use a related form of intellectual
dence on a patent system. Fine. Let them prosper.”
property, copyright, to protect their designs. That effort failed—the
No one knows what will be the next revolutionary product, idea,
courts held that clothing is functional and therefore not eligible for
or industry. Firms are constantly working to identify promising opcopyright protections. The fashion industry responded by putting
portunities, patenting them, and bringing them to market. “That
together a cartel to restrain department stores from selling cheap
takes enormous amounts of investment,” says Duffy, “and if you don’t
“knockoffs,” which, they claimed, would destroy their incentive to
have the patent system, at least in theory, there will be less of that
create new designs. Eventually, the cartel was ruled to violate the
activity. That’s particularly true in a very competitive marketplace.”
antitrust laws and broken up. And following the cartel’s demise, the
At the same time, some startling innovations may be buried in
industry tried again and, as before, failed to get protection from
the Patent Office’s enormous inbox. A more efficient system would
Congress even as they warned that their industry would implode
protect important innovation while avoiding overly broad patent
and destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs.
protection that might hinder it.
“None of that happened,” says Sprigman. “Instead, the opposite
“I’m actually quite optimistic in the long run,” says Michel. “We
happened. The fashion industry bloomed; they reaped huge profits,
are a resilient country. Our scientists and engineers are creative.
and we have lots of innovation, competition, and new designs every
We’ve got the talent. We’ve got the money. We’ve got the know-how.
season. The industry has gotten richer and more powerful ever since
We just need to put the pieces together, just like we have always done.”
the end of World War II. The theory that copying is inimical to innovation just doesn’t seem to work in the fashion industry. In fact, it
seems to speed up the development cycle.”
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 39
The View from the Bench
A Conversation with Paul Michel ’66,
Retired Chief Judge of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
After graduating from the Law School, Chief Judge Paul Redmond Michel ’66 joined
the Philadelphia district attorney’s office working under then District Attorney Arlen Specter.
He left that office to join the Department of Justice, first as an assistant Watergate special
prosecutor from 1974 to 1975 and then assistant counsel for the U.S. Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence (Church Committee) from 1975 to 1976. He served as deputy chief of the Public
Integrity Section and lead prosecutor in the Koreagate scandal from 1976 to 1978, before
becoming associate deputy U.S. attorney general from 1978 to 1981. In 1981 Michel became
counsel and administrative assistant to Senator Arlen Specter. President Reagan nominated
Michel to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in 1988, and he became Chief Judge in 2004. He
retired from the bench in 2010.
Michel wrote over 800 opinions and is widely recognized as a seminal figure in patent law,
over which the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction. Recognizing that he “helped shape
the landscape of patent law in the U.S. and handed down some of the court’s most important
judgments,” Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine inducted Michel into its
IP Hall of Fame in 2010.
UVAL: You retired in order to speak out some
more on various issues affecting patent law
and regulation in general?
Judge Michel: I left the court in 2010, mainly in order to be free to speak out about
policy issues, political issues, controversial
issues. I loved being a judge, and I originally expected to stay until I became very
ancient and finally expired. But I changed
my mind because there seemed to be a
vacuum of independent discussion that
was neutral and fact-based. All the patent
disputes on Capitol Hill were protecting
some very specific interest, which is legitimate enough, but no one was looking at it
from the standpoint of what’s good for the
system, what’s good for the country, and
what’s good for the future.
So I decided to leave the court in order to
be free to speak out on patent reform issues
and other matters. For example, the courts
are a critical part of the infrastructure of the
40 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
country. They have been badly neglected
for more than a decade. They are severely
over-stressed and understaffed, and that’s
creating huge problems for commercial actors, individuals, and organizations.
I decided it was time to become an advocate again, not for individual clients, but for
institutions, like the courts, and the patent
office, and other agencies of government.
expensive, all of which are entirely doable.
We used to have such a system. We just let it
go. It’s like maintaining roads and bridges
and levies and dams. Eventually, they
degrade and get worse and worse. So we
know how to do it right. It’s a question of
whether we want to make a priority out of
restoring the Patent Office and the courts.
It would do a world of good in ten different ways, and it’s not very expensive or too
hard to do.
So why aren’t we doing it? Well, people
aren’t making a priority out of it. It’s the
same thing with the courts.
Why are the courts always 100 judges
short? Because it’s too low a priority at the
White House to promptly nominate people,
and it’s too low a priority at the Senate to
expeditiously confirm or reject nominees. It
used to be done in a matter of weeks.
UVAL: Like your appointment, for example.
Judge Michel: Well, that’s right. I was
UVAL: Is yours a lonely voice?
nominated in December, had a hearing in
February, and was confirmed in March. If
you go back a few years before that, the
entire process took just about a month,
sometimes weeks.
Judge Michel: Well, I don’t feel lonely, but
it’s difficult to get heard if you don’t represent some huge industry or technology or
some very powerful financial sector.
UVAL: How are you trying to teach the public
about the patent system?
Judge Michel: I’m trying to organize two
UVAL: In a perfect world, how would you
improve the Patent Office?
Judge Michel: We have to make it faster,
more predictable, more careful, and less
different think tanks, one of which will focus primarily on the friction points in the
system and how to change the procedures
to make them more efficient, less expensive, and more predictable. A second one
“
No one was looking at it from the standpoint
of what’s good for the system, what’s good for
the country, and what’s good for the future.”
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 41
at a university will do economic research,
partly to prove the importance to job creation of a well functioning patent system
and court system. Many people intuitively
understand that, but there is not a lot of
economic data to prove it irrefutably.
My goal is to try to break out of the confines of the patent community to engage
the interest of the larger corporate community, investment community, and media.
UVAL: What’s the most persistent challenge
to your efforts? Inertia?
Judge Michel: Yes. People just aren’t focused
on this. There’s a great story told over and
over by many members of Congress. They
say when the chief patent lawyer of XYZ
Company comes in to see them, they say
the Patent Office needs more money and
the patent law needs reform.
When that same company’s CEO comes
to see them, all they talk about is taxes and
regulation. They never say anything about
the court system, the Patent Office, or the
patent system. So there’s just not enough
attention at the higher levels within companies or in the federal government. I’m
trying to raise the consciousness, raise the
awareness, raise the focus.
UVAL: And the Patent Office, as a
government entity, is the ultimate
regulator?
Judge Michel: Yes, of course. [Laughs] It’s
a job-creating, technology-advancing,
export-generating engine. It’s entirely beneficial if it’s run right.
UVAL: How much money is needed to fund a
fully functioning Patent Office?
Judge Michel: About a billion dollars. Same
thing for the courts. It would cost so little,
it’s not even a rounding error, but they don’t
do it. A lot of congressmen resent judges
because they don’t have to run for office.
They don’t have to raise money. They don’t
have to run around doing town meetings
42 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
and other things like that. And, of course,
judges have to decide cases. Sometimes
they invalidate congressional enactments,
and other times they interpret them in a
way that some faction in Congress doesn’t
like, so you’re always making somebody
mad. There’s a lot of resentment as a result
of that, and that makes it very hard to get
Congress to treat the judiciary properly.
It’s not only a question of adequate
staffing. The computer systems in the
Patent Office and in the judiciary are hugely out of date and completely inadequate.
The courts suffer in other ways as well.
For example, I was appointed in 1988, and
retired in 2010, 22 years. During that time,
the purchasing power of my salary went
down 24 percent, so I lost ground every
single year I was a judge. The salary isn’t
adequate to attract the best legal talent in
America, particularly from the private sector. For people already in government, the
salary is okay, but for anybody in the private
sector in a good law firm, it’s a huge pay
cut to become a federal judge. It’s the most
prestigious position a lawyer can get, yet it’s
viewed as unaffordable by a huge portion of
the private sector. I think that’s a disgrace.
In England, judges are paid the equivalent of $380,000, which is more than twice
what American judges are paid.
UVAL: What about the individual inventor
who has a great idea to improve a
smartphone and tries to develop it. Would
Apple make that as hard as possible?
Judge Michel: I don’t think so. I think it
actually works the other way around. It’s
the equalizer, the equivalent of the Colt .45
in the Westerns where the little guy can
compete effectively against the big guy if he
has a valid patent that he can enforce in the
courts in some reasonable timeframe and
at some reasonable cost.
The companies that later became
Apple and Google were tiny, embryonic
things in the beginning, relying on venture
capital and the patent system. Then they
grew like crazy and invented all these new
things, which seems to prove the value of
the patent system.
Same thing with Silicon Valley and the
other giant multinational Silicon Valley
companies. They’re making record profits. The patent system has not strangled
them. Anybody who thinks that is deluded.
They’re making more money than they
ever dreamed of making. They don’t know
what to do with all of it. So I don’t see that
the patent system is strangling innovation
or strangling companies. What it’s doing is
incentivizing more investments, which is
exactly what we need.
UVAL: Have you seen one of those landscape
maps that illustrate patent thickets?
Judge Michel: No, but I don’t agree that
there are thickets, you see. This is one of the
buzzwords meant to prevent careful thinking. You can design around patents, or you
can license patents, or you can do a combination. But the idea that you’re blocked
and helpless is just not true. Another buzzword is royalty stacking, that if some device
potentially involves 100 patents and if they
all get paid so much money, the damages
would be more than the total value of the
product. But there’s no such case. It’s a
theoretical argument made up by people
who want to get quoted in the press or get
something published.
UVAL: Google’s purchase of Motorola
mobility apparently was to buy their 15,000
patents for a defensive position. Does that
sound right to you?
Judge Michel: No, it doesn’t make much
sense to me because most of those suits
aren’t brought by companies that would
be subject to cross-licensing resolutions.
They’re brought by companies that invest in
patents and litigating patents, and aren’t interested in cross licensing. You can have all
the patents you want. It doesn’t do you any
good when you’re sued by a so-called nonpracticing entity. The idea that somebody
won’t sue you because you could counter
sue them doesn’t make any sense to me.
If you’re infringing my patent, I’m going to sue you. The fact that you may have
some patents and you can countersue me
is beside the point. You might sue me. I
might sue you. We might both win, and
the net flow of dollars depends on the details of the case. No one needs to buy vast
portfolios to defend themselves. If you can
show the other patent is invalid, you win.
If you can show there was no real damage,
you win. If you can show that you didn’t
infringe it, you win.
So it’s a very exaggerated idea that
companies are helpless unless they have
vast arrays of patents that they can use
“defensively.” There is something to it, but
like all these other notions, it is hugely
exaggerated and totally out of proportion,
and leads to bad decision making.
UVAL: So the patent system is a flexible,
powerful way to spur innovation?
Judge Michel: It’s sharing of technology.
It’s incentivizing investment. It’s recouping
prior investment. It’s stimulating design
around new technological breakthroughs.
That’s what worked like a charm for more
than a century, until the last 10 or 15 years.
UVAL: You have been a public servant your
entire career?
Judge Michel: I spent 44 consecutive years in
public service, right after graduating from
the University of Virginia Law School until
I retired at the end of May 2010. I never had
a job in the private sector. I never was in a
law firm. I had an unusual series of jobs that
turned into a career. I followed what I think
is a wonderful tradition at the University
that goes all the way back to Thomas
Jefferson. I look more to people like Senator
Robb [’73] or Senator Warner [’53] who
had gone to the Law School and then went
on to extensive public service careers to the
great benefit of the country.
I wanted to do the same thing. And I
felt like I was very much encouraged by
the faculty to move in that direction, even
though it was a little unusual. The faculty
and the whole experience of my three years
in Charlottesville prepared me very well to
undertake that sort of public career. In a
way, I’m still pursuing a public career. I’m
just not on the public payroll.
UVAL: Public servants are often
underappreciated, and you chose a career
that earned a great deal less money than if
you had gone into the private sector.
Judge Michel: I’m the only successful middle-aged lawyer I know who doesn’t own a
home, who doesn’t own any stock, who really doesn’t have any assets at all. And that
was the consequence of 44 straight years
of rather modest government salaries. Not
everybody is prepared to do that, so you do
lose a lot of talent if you have inadequate
compensation.
But it’s what I wanted to do. Everybody
in the country is your client, in a way. I
would not do it differently. I never had a
boring day, and I never had a day when I
felt like I wasn’t working on things of broad
importance to lots of people, whether in
the Watergate investigations, or as a young
prosecutor in Philadelphia, or working on
the Senate Intelligence Committee with
the Church committee, working in the
Department of Justice.
It was a great adventure and a great
journey. I loved every day of it. And as
I say, I would have kept doing it if there
hadn’t been this unusual opportunity to fill
a vacuum of neutral independent voices
about these public controversies.
But you might be interested to know,
and my very alert wife reminded me of
this, that I grew up in Philadelphia. I’m a
Pennsylvania boy. I have three brothers.
I was the first to go to the University of
Virginia and my experience was so good
that both my younger brothers, despite being Pennsylvanians, went to the University
at the graduate school level, one in public
policy. He went directly to the White House
on the recommendation of his dean, and has
been a serial CEO in the private sector ever
since. And the youngest brother went to the
architecture school and, being the smartest
of the four boys, never left Charlottesville.
So the University of Virginia became
a magnet for my whole family. One of my
daughters went there. My sister-in-law
went there. My nephew goes there. We’ve
been adopted by the University and its
various schools.
UVAL: Did you follow the resignation and
reinstatement of President Teresa Sullivan?
Judge Michel: Oh, sure. We followed that
hour by hour.
I think the University of Virginia is very
resilient. I don’t feel pessimistic about the
University any more than the country in
general, or the patent system, or the Patent
Office, or the court system. In the long run,
they will all flourish and radiate immense
good in every direction. That doesn’t mean
we won’t have some hard times in the short
run. People have to get a sense of balance
and proportion and proper priorities.
We can get it right. We’re not stupid
people, and we can learn from mistakes.
We can readjust skewed priorities. We can
change incentives and reward systems of
various kinds. And I think we will. If we do
that collectively, we have a fabulous future.
VIDEO & MP3:
Paul Michel delivered the keynote address at “Copy Right, Patent Wrong? How Special
Interests Are Influencing Intellectual Property Laws,” a symposium hosted by the Virginia
Journal of Law & Technology at the Law School on October 26. His address may be viewed
at bit.ly/judgemichel
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 43
FacUltY news & BrieFs
In May kenneth aBRaham
delivered two lectures at Tel
Aviv University Law School in
Israel: “Long-tail Liability and
Insurance” and “Insurance of
Liability for Offshore Oil Pollution.” Abraham also published
“Strict Liability in Negligence,” in the DePaul Law Review (2012)
(Symposium in honor of Robert L. Rabin).
In June keRRy aBRams presented
an article called “What Makes the
Family Special?” at a University of
Chicago Law Review Symposium
on Immigration and Institutional
Design. It will be published by the
Chicago Law Review. She also
presented an essay, “Recognizing
Polygamy,” at the International
Society of Family Law Annual
Conference.
In July, Abrams presented an
article, “Plenary Power Preemption,” at a Law School faculty
workshop. She presented it again
at the University of Iowa Law
School faculty workshop in
September and will present it
at the University of Baltimore
Law School in October. It will
be published next year by the
44 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
Virginia Law Review.
Also in September Abrams
participated in a panel with
David Martin, Anne Coughlin,
and John Harrison, in which
they discussed the implications
of Supreme Court’s recent
decision in Arizona v. United
States. The panel was sponsored
by the J.B. Moore Society and
the Immigration Law Program.
Abrams discussed the Arizona
decision again in late September
at the Supreme Court Roundup,
sponsored by the Student Legal
Forum. Other panelists were A.E.
Dick Howard and Mimi Riley.
In October Abrams helped
organize a Feminist Legal Network conference at the University
of Baltimore Law School, and presented a paper, “A Legal Home:
Derivative Domicile and Women’s
Citizenship.” She also presented
the same paper in workshops
at Berkeley and University of
Southern California law schools,
and moderated a panel for
students at the Law School called
“Becoming a Law Professor” with
Risa Goluboff, John Duffy, and
Deena Hurwitz.
In March maRGo BaGLey
presented “Changing Tides or a
Drop in the Bucket? Issues in
Plant Patent Litigation in the U.S.
and Abroad,” at the Seyfarth
Shaw – Emory Law School IP
CLE Program in Atlanta.
In May she gave a lecture on
“International Patent Law and
Policy” at Singapore Management University; and in June she
delivered a talk on the “Protection
of Biotechnological Inventions
and Pharmaceuticals and IP” at
the Munich Intellectual Property
Law Center of the Max Planck
Institute.
In September Bagley presented
“Biotech Patent Eligible Subject
Matter in the U.S. and Abroad: A
Moving Target?” at the University
of Leuven in Belgium; and in
October delivered the same
presentation at the University of
Dayton Scholarly Symposia in
Dayton, Ohio.
In November the National
Academy of Sciences released a
report on Juvenile Justice Reform
prepared by a committee chaired
by RichaRd Bonnie ’69. The twoand-a-half-year study, Reforming
Juvenile Justice: A Developmental
Approach, was requested by the
Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, an
agency of the U.S. Department of
Justice. The committee’s charge
was to take stock of the juvenile
justice reforms undertaken over
the past 15 years in light of current knowledge about adolescent
development.
Bonnie made presentations to
the Virginia General Assembly’s
Joint Commission on Health Care
in June and October in support
of legislation recommended
by the Commission on Mental
Health Law Reform and the
Virginia College Mental Health
Study, both of which he directed. In October he spoke to the
FacUltY news and BrieFs
…
American Academy of Neurology
in Minneapolis on impediments
to the use of advance directives in
health care.
Bonnie has been appointed
to an American Bar Association
multidisciplinary task force
charged with updating the
highly influential Criminal Justice
Mental Health Standards approved by the ABA in 1984 after
a after a three-year process in
which Bonnie played a principal
role. The new task force is chaired
by Christopher Slobogin of
Vanderbilt University Law School.
Bonnie co-authored an
amicus brief submitted to the
U.S. Supreme Court in July with
Stephen Morse of the University
of Pennsylvania Law School on
behalf of 53 law professors in
Delling v Idaho. The brief urges
the Court to grant certiorari and
rule that abolition of the defense
of insanity, which four states
have done, violates the due
process clause.
In May whit BRoome was
honored by the Virginia Society
of Certified Public Accountants
with their “2012 Outstanding
Member of the Year” award. This
award is given to just one of the
organization’s 12,000 members
each year, and it is rarely awarded
to an educator.
BRandon GaRRett recently
kevin cope presented his paper,
“The Intermestic Constitution:
Lessons From the World’s Newest
Nation,” at the Law and Society
Association’s annual conference
this summer in Honolulu. The
article will be published in the
Virginia Journal of International
Law. A related piece focusing on
foreign and domestic influences
on South Sudan’s constitutional
drafting process will appear as a
chapter in a volume due out next
year published by Cambridge
University Press.
This summer, Cope began a
project that measures quantitatively the relationship between
the American constitutional text
and its judicial interpretations,
comparing the latter with other
countries’ constitutional provisions. Cope, together with Mila
Versteeg, is now seeking funding
to expand the project to study
the various sources of recognized
rights in national constitutional
systems around the world. They
hope to use the data to learn more
about the role of courts and other
institutions in shaping rights
globally.
Based on data he gathered
from 80 years of federal appeals
court decisions involving the
published “Introduction:
Symposium on ‘Convicting
the Innocent,’” in the New
England Law Review for a
symposium issue discussing
his book, Convicting the
Innocent.
In August Garrett coorganized and co-moderated
a panel on remedies and
constitutional rights at the
Southeastern Association of
Law Schools conference in
Amelia Island, Fla. He presented a paper titled “Aggregation and
Constitutional Rights” which is forthcoming in Notre Dame Law
Review.
In September Garrett presented two chapters on how corporations are prosecuted at a faculty workshop at the University of
Maryland School of Law. The chapters are from a manuscript in
progress to be published by Harvard University Press. He presented additional chapters at a faculty workshop at the Law School
in November. Garrett also wrote a three-part series of short pieces
for the Huffington Post on the importance of proposed federal
legislation to improve forensic science.
In October Garrett gave a talk to the Charlottesville Bar
Association on his wrongful convictions research. In November he
presented a short paper titled “Validating the Right to Counsel” at
a symposium on the 50th anniversary of the Gideon v. Wainwright
decision at Washington & Lee School of Law , and talked to and
the Virginia Capital Defenders Association about his research on
wrongful convictions.
foreign affairs political question
doctrine, Cope is preparing a
paper arguing that circuit courts’
treatment of the doctrine has diverged from the Supreme Court’s
approach. The paper will explore
that phenomenon’s bases and
implications and show how the
trend undercuts the conventional
wisdom that the political question
doctrine is losing clout in federal
jurisprudence.
Cope will participate in the
Law School’s annual Gustave
Sokol Colloquium on Private
International Law next April.
Earlier this year he was appointed
visiting assistant professor of Law
at Washington and Lee University
School of Law. He will teach a
first-year course in transnational
law during the spring semester.
UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012 45
Faculty News and Briefs
…
In November Risa Goluboff
gave a lecture at Yale for their
research initiative on the history
of sexualities, entitled “Sexuality
and the Demise of Vagrancy Law,”
and appeared on a panel on
constitutional history at the
annual meeting of the American
Society for Legal History.
Next March, she will be giving
a faculty workshop at Brooklyn
Law School.
In February Rachel Harmon presented “The Limits of
Liability” at the Saint Louis University School of Law Public
Law Review symposium on Control of Police Misconduct
in a Post-Exclusionary Rule World: Can it Be Done?” The
article will publish later this year as “The Limits of Liability:
Federal Influence on Policing Reform,” 32 St. Louis University Public Law Review (symposium issue).
In August Harmon spoke at the Virginia Chiefs of Police
Annual Conference in Roanoke about best departmental
practices and policies for responding to videotaping and for
managing protests.
In October Harmon presented “Information and Effective Governance of the Police: Wickersham and Beyond,” at
the Marquette Law School Conference on America’s First
National Crime Commission and the Federalization of Law
Enforcement. That talk will be published as an article early
next year in the Marquette Law Review.
Harmon also wrote the entry “Policing the Police,” for the
Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Gerben
Bruinsma & David Weisburd, eds.). A profile of Harmon’s
work entitled “Promoting Policing at Its Best” appears in
this year’s Virginia Journal.
Tom Hafemeister has had three law
review articles accepted for publication
since the beginning of the year. The first,
entitled “The Ninth Circle of Hell: An
Eighth Amendment Analysis of Imposing
Prolonged Supermax Solitary Confinement
on Inmates with a Mental Illness” (with Jeff
George ’13), will appear as the lead article
in volume 90(1) of the Denver Law Review,
with a commissioned response provided by
a pair of faculty members associated with
the University of Denver School of Law. The
second, entitled “Don’t Let Go of the Rope:
Recognizing Hospitals’ Fiduciary Duties to
Their Discharged Patients” (with Joshua
Hinckley Porter ’10), will appear in volume
62(3) of the American University Law
Review. The third, entitled “Parity at a Price:
The Emerging Professional Liability of
Mental Health Providers” (with Leah Gail
McLaughlin ’11 and Jessica Smith ’12),
46 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
will appear in volume
50(1) of the San Diego
Law Review.
Hafemeister
also served as a
contributing editor
for the HealthLawProf
Blog and posted a
number of entries.
He also published
or has had accepted
for publication (with
Shelly L. Jackson) a
series of elder abuse
articles in various peer-reviewed journals
in 2012. They include: “APS Investigation
Across Four Types of Elder Maltreatment”
in the Journal of Adult Protection, “Assessing
the Safety of Elderly Victims After the Close
of an APS Investigation” in the Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, “Elder Financial
Exploitation vs. Hybrid Financial
Exploitation Co-Occurring with
Physical Abuse and/or Neglect”
in Psychology of Violence, “How
Case Characteristics Differ by the
Type of Maltreatment Experienced:
Implications for Intervention” in
the Journal of Applied Gerontology,
“How Do Elderly Persons Who
Have Been Abused and the APS
Caseworkers Who Handle Their
Cases View Law Enforcement
and Criminal Prosecution and
What Impact Do These Views
Have on the Processing of These Cases?”
in the Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect,
and “Research in Brief: New Directions
for Developing Theories of Elder Abuse”
published by the National Institute of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S.
Department of Justice.
Faculty News and Briefs
…
A. E. Dick Howard ’61 spoke on
“Documenting America’s
Constitutional History” to the
board of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. He
identified seminal documents in
Anglo-American history, both
before and after the writing of the
Constitution, that illuminate the
main themes in American
constitutionalism.
In Washington, Howard talked
about “The Emerging Roberts
Court” at the Cosmos Club.
Sponsored by the Club’s Legal
Affairs Committee, Howard highlighted the changes brought about
since President Bush’s appointment of John Roberts and Samuel
Alito and President Obama’s
naming of Sonia Sotomayor and
Elena Kagan to the Court.
In Richmond Howard gave
the inaugural lecture launching
the Library of Virginia’s new
exhibit on Law and Justice.
Howard spoke on “The Earth
Belongs Always to the Living
Generation: The Constitution of
Virginia—Past, Present, and Future.” His theme was the tension
in Virginia’s constitutional history
between continuity, as reflected
in George Mason’s reference to a
“frequent recurrence to fundamental principles,” and change,
as exemplified in Jefferson’s call
for each generation to rewrite
the Constitution. Howard then
moderated a discussion with
Virginia Supreme Court Judge
Elizabeth Lacey and Richmond
attorney Lane Kneedler ’69.
At the Law School,
Howard spoke at and moderated the annual Supreme Court
Roundup. He looked at the
Roberts Court through the lens
of its most recent term. He was
followed by Kerry Abrams and
Mimi Riley, who analyzed the
Arizona immigration case and the
health care decision.
Also in Charlottesville, Howard
addressed the University’s
Thomas Jefferson Society of
Alumni on “The Changing
Face of the Supreme Court.” He
focused on what has changed—
both in the cases and in how the
Court does its business—since the
days of the Warren Court.
During the Law School’s reunion
weekend, Howard spoke at the
Class of 1962’s 50th reunion dinner.
Also, under the auspices of the
National Security Law Institute,
Howard lectured on “Revolutions
and Constitutions,” including a
look at developments since the
Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and
other countries in the region.
Among Howard’s recent
publications is “The Constitution
and the Role of Government,”
in the Charleston Law Review.
In this article, based on his
keynote address at a conference
in Charleston on “The Role of
Government,” Howard explores
the ways in which conservatives
have sought to roll back the
legacy of the Warren Court,
including the emergence of
conservative public interest law
firms, the doctrine of originalism,
and networking through such
groups as the Federalist Society.
Another article, this one on the
Supreme Court’s 2010–11 term
and the emerging Roberts Court,
appears in the online version of
the Virginia Law Review.
In October John Jeffries ’73
served as senior scholar for the
Fifth Annual Federal Courts
Junior Workshop in Williamsburg. Junior federal courts
scholars submit papers and the
senior scholars comment on
them. He also spoke in Washington, D.C., at the presentation of
the Lee Integrity Award to Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor.
Jeffries’ article, “The Liability
Rule for Constitutional Torts,”
has been accepted by the Virginia
Law Review for publication next
spring and is available now
via SSRN.
In May Douglas Laycock spoke
in Washington, D.C., on “No
Exemption to the Rule? A Debate
on Religious Liberty,” cosponsored by the American
Constitution Society and the
American Jewish Committee; on
“Liberty’s Refuge: The Forgotten
Freedom of Assembly,” cosponsored by the Federalist
Society and the American
Enterprise Institute; and on
“Religious Liberty in 2012: Still
the First Freedom?,” sponsored by
Catholic University.
In September Laycock
delivered the Constitution Day
Lecture at Mercer University Law
School on “The Constitution
and the Culture Wars—With
Special Attention to the Religion
MIT Press just published a book
that Edward Klees co-wrote (with
Nobel Prize winning scientist Bob
Horvitz) on biomedical consulting.
Science magazine published in
October an article by Klees and
Horvitz on the same topic.
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 47
Faculty News and Briefs
…
Clauses;” spoke to the UVA
Wesley Foundation on “Religious
Liberty and the Culture Wars;”
and commented for the UVA
Federalist Society on Timothy
Carney’s presentation, “How
Government Intervention
Rewards Lobbyists and Lawyers
and Punishes Entrepreneurs and
Innovators—Thus Hurting the
Whole Economy.”
In October Laycock spoke on
“European and American Models
of Religious Freedom: The Future
of Religious Autonomy” at a
conference in Washington jointly
sponsored by the Georgetown
and Brigham Young Law Schools.
That evening, he received the J.
Reuben Clark Society’s International Religious Liberty Award.
In November Laycock gave the
David C. Baum Memorial Lecture
on Civil Liberties and Civil
Rights, at the University of Illinois
Law School, on “Religious Liberty
Through the Right End of the
Telescope.”
He recently published “Restoring Restitution to the Canon”
in the Michigan Law Review;
“Hosanna-Tabor and the Ministerial Exception” in the Harvard
Journal of Law and Public Policy;
“RLUIPA: Necessary, Modest, and
Under-Enforced” in the Fordham
Urban Law Journal (co-authored
with Luke Goodrich); and
“Clause for Concern” in the
Cavalier Daily. He was on the
brief for the University of Texas in
Fisher v. University of Texas in the
Supreme Court, yet another case
challenging affirmative action in
university admissions.
48 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
David A. Martin completed, with his co-authors, the
seventh edition of Immigration
and Citizenship: Process and
Policy, a leading casebook in
the field. It was published by
West in early 2012.
Martin published a brief
essay titled “Reading Arizona”
in the Virginia Law Review on
the Supreme Court’s decision
that struck down three of the
four challenged provisions of
Arizona’s restrictive immigration legislation. (As principal
deputy general counsel of the
Department of Homeland
Security, while on leave from
the Law School in 2009–10, Martin had been involved in the federal
government’s early decisionmaking on the case.)
Martin also participated in three Law School panels over the
spring and fall semesters regarding the case, and he was invited
to address the ABA’s Winter Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas in
January on similar issues as part of a panel on “Legal Challenges to
State Immigration Legislation.”
In March Martin appeared as an invited speaker at the annual
meeting of the American Society of International Law on a panel
addressing “An Emerging International Law of Migration.” An essay
based on his remarks will be published in the Proceedings as “Human Rights and Migration Management: Of Complexity, Balance,
and Nuance.” In May Martin was the dinner speaker for the Five-Country
Conference, a periodic gathering of government officials who deal
with migration and border security issues from the U.S., Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It was hosted by
the Department of Homeland Security at the Boar’s Head Inn.
In June and July, Martin was often contacted and quoted by
journalists analyzing the Obama Administration’s policy giving
“deferred action,” a quasi-official immigration status, to so-called
Dream Act kids—persons who came to the United States illegally
before age 16 and who have been living here for at least five years.
His analysis of the legal validity of the policy, “A Lawful Step
for the Immigration System,” was published as an op-ed in the
Washington Post.
In August Martin took part in an extended program on the
deferred action policy, hosted in Washington, D.C., by the Migration Policy Institute. Martin also rejoined MPI that month as a
nonresident fellow.
In July Dan Meador addressed
the annual meeting of the
Alabama State Bar on restructuring the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gregory Mitchell is publishing
chapters on the methods and
limitations of behavioral law and
economics in the Oxford
Handbook of Behavioral Economics and Law (Eyal Zamir & Doron
Teichman, eds., forthcoming
2013) and the Research Handbook
on Behavioral Law and Economics
(Joshua C. Teitelbaum & Kathryn
Zeiler, eds., forthcoming 2013). In
addition, Mitchell co-authored
(with Philip Tetlock and Jason
Faculty News and Briefs
…
Anastasopoulos) an article titled
“Detecting and Punishing
Unconscious Bias,” which was
published in the Journal of Legal
Studies.
importance that the Senate give
advice and consent to the Law of
the Sea Convention. His rebuttal
of Donald Rumsfeld’s anti-treaty
statements was published as
“Conservatives and the Law of
the Sea Time Warp,” in the Wall
Street Journal in July; and later
that month in the Huffington Post
his piece “Restoring America’s
Oceans Leadership.”
This fall Tom Nachbar’s second paper on counterinsurgency, “The
Use of Law in Counterinsurgency” will be published in the Military
Law Review. A paper he wrote in conjunction with his service as
an Army Reserve judge advocate, “Executive Branch Policy Meets
International Law in the Evolution of the Domestic Law of Detention,” will be published in the Virginia Journal of International Law.
John Norton Moore announced that the proceedings
volume from the 2011 Sokol
Colloquium, International
Arbitration: Contemporary Issues,
has gone to press. Papers from the
2012 Sokol Colloquium are
currently under preparation and
will be published early next year
under the title Foreign Affairs
Litigation in U.S. Courts. Just
released is Maritime Border
Diplomacy (Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers). Co-edited by Moore
and Myron Nordquist, the
volume contains the papers from
the 35th annual conference
sponsored by the Center for
Oceans Law and Policy which
Moore directs. The papers
examine critical issues in
international maritime boundary
disputes together with the
important global role of Indonesia, whose maritime boundaries
are imperative to its sovereign
status identity.
This summer Moore published
two articles underscoring the
In 2012 John Morley presented
papers at American Law and
Economics Association annual
meeting; Colorado Law School
Junior Business Law Conference;
Columbia Law School Blue Sky
Workshop; Harvard Law School
Law and Economics Seminar;
UCLA Junior Business Law
Faculty Forum; Yale Law School
Weil Gotshal Corporate Law
Roundtable; Yale Law School Law
Economics and Organization
Workshop.
Morley’s “An Empirical Study
of Mutual Fund Excessive Fee
Litigation: Do the Merits Matter?”
(with Quinn Curtis) will be
published in the Journal of Law,
Economics, and Organization
(forthcoming 2014); and “The
Regulation of Mutual Fund Debt”
in the Yale Journal of Regulation
(forthcoming 2013), also featured
in the Financial Times.
Earlier this year Dotan Oliar
published “The CopyrightInnovation Trade-Off: Property
Rules, Liability Rules, and
Intentional Infliction of Harm” in
the Stanford Law Review. The
article studies the recurring
pattern in which new technologies of copying and
dissemination—such as radio, TV,
Xerox machines, VCRs, and the
internet—disrupt preexisting
business models in the entertainment industry, and how copyright
law should deal with it. In June he
presented this paper in the
Interdisciplinary Center in
Herzlia, Israel.
Dan Ortiz will be publishing “El
Procedimiento Administrativo en
los Estados Unidos de América:
una introducción a la Administrative Procedure Act” in Ensayos
sobre el Procedimiento Administrativo: Procedimiento
administrativo en el derecho
comparado (Héctor M. Pozo
Gowland et al. eds. 2013) (with
Juan Cruz Azzarri); “Discrimination in Employment—Description
and Legal Responses” in the Wiley
Encyclopedia of Management
(forthcoming 2013).
Ortiz has also published “The
Informational Interest” in the
Journal of Law & Politics; “Recovering the Individual in Politics”
in the New York University
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 49
Faculty News and Briefs
…
Journal of Legislation and Public
Policy; “Doctrina CHEVRON:
Su Significado en el Derecho
Estadounidense y su aplicabilidad
en la Argentina” (with Juan Cruz
Azzarri) in El Derecho.
Jim Ryan ’92 continues to serve
Saikrishna Prakash published
a book review with Mike Ramsey
called “The Goldilocks Executive”
in the Texas Law Review
reviewing “The Executive
Unbound” by Eric Posner and
Adrivan Vermeule; an article with
Neal Devins, “The Indefensible
Duty to Defend” in the Columbia
Law Review; and has two articles
forthcoming in the Chicago Law
Review, “Missing Links in
President Obama’s Evolution on
Gay Marriage” and “Reverse
Advisory Opinions” in the
Chicago Law Review (with Neal
Devins).
on the Equity and Excellence
Commission, appointed by the
U.S. Secretary of Education,
which is examining ways to make
the nation’s education system
more equitable and efficient. He
also remains a board member on
the Maya Angelou Public Charter
School in Washington, D.C., the
Legal Aid Justice Center in
Charlottesville, and the Tapestry
Project in New York City (the last
is dedicated to promoting
integrated charter schools).
In May Ryan published an oped in the New York Times, entitled
“Romney’s School Surprise,”
which analyzed Mitt Romney’s
education plan; and is publishing an article next year in the
Georgetown Law Journal, entitled
“Poverty as Disability and the
Future of Special Education Law.”
Next March Ryan will
participate in two conferences
at the University of Richmond.
The first addresses the legacy
of San Antonio v. Rodriguez, a
1973 Supreme Court decision
regarding school funding, and
the second addresses school
desegregation in the Richmond
schools in the early 1970s. He is
also giving a talk on Neuroscience
and Special Education Law at the
Florida State University College
of Law.
This marks Ryan’s fourth year
as director of the Law School’s
Program in Law and Public Service.
Gil Siegal is chairing the
organizing committee of the Third
National Conference on Genetics,
Ethics and the Law, to be held at
the Law School next May.
He has also published (with
Mark Rothstein) “The Duty to
Notify” in the Houston Journal
of Health Law & Policy; “JumpStarting Telemedicine” in the Ear,
Nose & Throat Journal; “Enabling
Globalization of Health Care in
George Rutherglen has published a book this fall with Oxford University Press
entitled, Civil Rights in the Shadow of Slavery: The Constitution, Common Law,
and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. A related article of his, “The Thirteenth Amendment, the Power of Congress, and Shifting Sources of Civil Rights Law,” is coming
out at the same time in the Columbia Law Review.
50 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
the Information Technology Era”
in the Virginia Journal of Law
& Technology; and (Richard J.
Bonnie and Paul S. Appelbaum)
“Personalized Disclosure by
Information-on-Demand:
Attending to Patients’ Needs in
the Informed Consent Process”
in the Journal of Law, Medicine
and Ethics.
In September Oxford University
Press published the new book
Chris Sprigman has coauthored with Kal Raustiala of
UCLA—The Knockoff Economy:
How Imitation Sparks Innovation.
The Knockoff Economy has been
covered in the Wall Street Journal,
NPR’s Morning Edition, Marketplace Radio, NPR’s All Things
Considered, the Los Angeles Times,
The Daily Beast, Time Magazine,
the Freakonomics blog, Bloomberg Law, the New York Times
Magazine, NPR’s Planet Money,
ABC News, Fast Company, Wired,
WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show,
Forbes, and a number of other
media outlets. In November Sprigman also
presented a new paper, “What’s
a Name Worth? Experimental
Tests of the Value of Attribution
in Intellectual Property” (coauthored with Chris Buccafusco
and Zach Burns), at the annual
Conference on Empirical Legal
Studies at Stanford.
FacUltY news and BrieFs
…
pieRRe-huGues veRdieR
completed an article entitled “The
Political Economy of International Financial Regulation,”
which will appear in the Indiana
Law Journal in 2013. The article
examines the evolution of the
current system of international
financial regulation, from its
beginnings with informal
meetings of regulators in the
1970s to today’s elaborate
“network of networks” coordinated by the Group of 20 and the
Financial Stability Board. It
argues that despite the adoption
of many new standards after the
recent financial crisis, the current
system remains constrained by
history and politics and its
success varies considerably across
areas of financial regulation.
Verdier also wrote a chapter on
U.S. implementation of the
Basel II international bank capital
accord for a book published by
Oxford University Press,
which will appear in
late 2012.
In addition to his work
on international financial
regulation, Verdier is
also working on other
international law issues. He is
currently working, along with Erik
Voeten of Georgetown University,
on the first systematic empirical
study of customary international
law. The study examines how
the customary rule of foreign
state immunity evolved over the
course of the 20th century, based
on a new survey of the practice
of over 100 states. The article
will propose a novel theory of
compliance with, and change
in, customary international
law that is supported by the
empirical findings. The paper
was accepted for the American
Political Science Association’s 2012
Annual Meeting, and Verdier and
Voeten will be presenting it this
year at conferences sponsored
by the Wharton School, the
University of Colorado, and the
American Society of International
Law, and Brooklyn Law School,
among others.
Over the past year, miLa veRsteeG
has prepared several papers in the
field of comparative constitutional
law, which were published—or
are now forthcoming—in the
NYU Law Review (2012), the
Journal of Legal Studies (2012),
California Law Review (2013),
UCLA Law Review (2013), NYU
Law Review online (2012), and in
three edited volumes (all with
Cambridge University Press). One
article, “The Declining Influence
of the United States Constitution”
(co-authored with David S. Law),
was featured on the front page of
the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and in
other media. At the midyear meeting of the American Society of International Law, hosted by the
University of Georgia Law School, pauL stephan ’77 moderated a panel on new
approaches to international and transnational litigation.
In October Stephan participated in a panel for international law weekend
in New York City, organized by the American Branch of the International Law
Association, on the constitutional issue left open by the Supreme Court’s decision in
Zivotofsky v. Clinton.
At a meeting in November of the International Economic Law Interest Group of the
American Society of International Law, hosted by the George Washington University
Law School, Stephan will be on a panel on the extension of permanent normal trade
relations to Russia. He will also be presenting a paper on international lawmaking by
domestic courts and international tribunals, and will give a talk at Seville University
in Spain on the role of tax policy in addressing a financial crisis.
Over the past year, Versteeg
collaborated with University
of Oxford to host a series of workshops on the “Social and Political
Foundations of Constitutions,”
which culminated in an edited
volume now forthcoming with
Cambridge University Press
(edited with Denis Galligan).
Versteeg organized a conference
hosted at the Law School this
February on “ConstitutionMaking and the Arab Spring.”
Versteeg also presented papers
at the annual Conference for
Empirical Legal Studies, the
International Conference on Law
and Society, the Southeastern
Association of Law Schools,
a workshop on constitutionmaking in authoritarian regimes
at the University of Chicago Law
School, the University of Texas
School of Law’s Workshop on Law
and Economics, the faculty workshop of IMT Lucca (Italy), the
University of Wisconsin’s “Con
Law Schmooze,” and the Heritage
Foundation in Washington, D.C. This year, Versteeg is working
on the issues involving the rise of
populist movements around the
world and how those movements
utilize constitutions to advance
their agendas. She is also working
on a project addressing the relationship between international
human rights law and comparative constitutional law.
Together with Kevin Cope,
Versteeg is exploring funding
options for a new data project
on constitutional interpretation
(both judicial and administrative)
around the world.
UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012 51
Faculty News and Briefs
…
George Yin completed a draft article on the
origins of the Joint Committee on Taxation,
a Congressional committee whose staff has
played a prominent role in the tax legislative
process for over 85 years. The staff, which Yin
headed from 2003-05 while on leave from
the Law School, helps conceive, analyze, and
evaluate many tax policy options for Congress, provides the official revenue estimates
for all proposed tax changes, and assists with
all of the legislative tasks necessary for enactment of a bill. The article shows how creation
of the committee and its staff developed from
a feud between James Couzens (a Republican
Senator from Michigan) and Andrew Mellon
(then Secretary of the Treasury), which
led to an investigation of the tax agency by
Couzens and a tax lawsuit (characterized by one newspaper as the
“greatest tax suit in the history of the world”) filed against Couzens.
The events—filled with political intrigue, backstabbing (real or
imagined), and unintended consequences—antagonized Congress’s
relationship with the executive branch, but improved cooperation
between the House and Senate, and both were instrumental in the
committee’s creation.
In February Ted White’s
book, Law in American
History: From the Colonial Years Through the
Civil War was published
(Oxford University
Press). The Law School
held a panel discussion
of that book, featuring
Tomiko Brown-Nagin,
currently of the Harvard
Law School faculty,
Alfred S. Konefsky of
the Buffalo Law School
faculty, and John Witt of
the Yale Law School faculty. Liz
Magill ’95 served as moderator.
In March and April White was
the Legal Research Foundation
Distinguished Visiting Scholar at
the University of Auckland Law
School in New Zealand. While
52 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
there he gave two public lectures
and a staff seminar. The lectures
were a comparison of the New
Zealand and United States experience with no-fault insurance and
a survey of the historical context
of bicameralism in America. The
This fall Yin presented the draft to a tax
symposium in New York City (jointly sponsored by the NYU and UCLA law schools) on
“The Internal Revenue Code at 100;” and to
a tax policy workshop at Boston College Law
School. Yin presented an earlier draft at Duke
Law School and to the UVA law faculty.
Yin also presented a paper on “Legislative
Gridlock and Nonpartisan Staff ” to a symposium at Notre Dame Law School this fall. His
paper explores a proposal to reduce gridlock
by using nonpartisan staff in Congress (as
one way to diminish the role of the political
parties in the legislature). He explains some
of the theoretical and practical issues that
would arise with such a change.
Yin’s article, “Principles and Practices to
Enhance Compliance and Enforcement of the Personal Income
Tax,” was published in 2012 by the Virginia Tax Review. He
presented a draft of the paper last year to a tax conference in China
involving many representatives of the Chinese government.
Finally, Yin will be participating in a conference early next year
sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
staff seminar was on “Pitfalls for
Judicial Biography.”
In September his article, “West
Coast Hotel’s Place in American
Constitutional History,” appeared
in volume 122 of the Yale Law
Journal Online.
His book, American Legal
History: A Very Short Introduction is scheduled to be published
by Oxford University Press later
this year or in early 2013.
Next January White will be
presenting a paper, “The Origins
of Civil Rights in America,” at
New York University Law School.
Next April he will give a talk
about his Law and American
History volume at Case Western
Reserve Law School.
In January Ethan Yale presented
his paper “Defining ‘Partnership’
for Federal Tax Purposes” at
Northwestern. In September he
presented at a Harvard colloquium on tax law and policy his
work in progress tentatively
entitled “Taxing Market Discount
on Distressed Debt.” Class Notes
We welcome submissions for inclusion in Class Notes.
Online, submit them at www.law.virginia.edu/alumni; E-mail them to lawalum@virginia.edu;
mail them to UVA Lawyer, University of Virginia School of Law, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903; or
fax them to 434/296-4838. Please send your submissions by March 15 for inclusion in the next issue.
G. Kenneth Miller passed
in New Orleans until his
and law student. His
away on November 12,
death in 1967.
education was interrupted by his service to
2010, at the age of 89.
Prior to attending the Law
School, he served in the
1949
of the first Naval ROTC
class at UVA, he was
U.S. Army Air Corps during
1948
his country. A member
World War II, from Africa
When he’s not advis-
commissioned early and
to Italy, France, Belgium,
ing clients on foreign
served in the U.S. Navy
and finally Germany with
trade and investments,
from 1941–46, achieving
General Patton’s 3rd Army.
Frank Warren Swacker
the rank of LTJG, and was
He was a forward radar
enjoys reading and writing
the commanding officer
controller whose job it
full-length plays for the
of the USS Cayuse 8 in
was to guide aircraft to
stage. In May, just in time
the Southern Philippines.
their targets, and for this
for his 90th birthday, an
After graduating from the
Helen Mackler’s children, Vicki, Fred, and
he developed innovative
e-book entitled Murder
Law School he served in
Andrea, wrote with the sad news of Helen’s
techniques. At the end of
Trilogy, which contains
the Central Intelligence
recent passing. They sent an excerpt of a letter
the war and on the way
three of his two-act
Agency for almost 30 years
their mother had written on the occasion of her
home he and his buddies
murder mystery plays—
as an operations officer in
granddaughter’s application to the University,
played a lot of poker, from
Arbitrating Murder, Who
the Far East, Canada, and
“I fell in love with UVA when I was 10 years
which he won $9,000—
Murdered the Chairman?,
the Benelux Countries, as
old, when I first went to visit my brother, Fred
enough to pay his way
and Spreading Murder
well as the chief military
Coleman Mackler, who was an undergradu-
through Law School, buy
and Happiness—was
liaison officer for counter-
ate at the time …” Helen received her own
a car, a house, and get
released. The e-book offers
intelligence operations.
acceptance letter to UVA Law while attending
married to Mary Miller.
synopses of the plays so
Seymour was a civic activ-
He was a regional JAG
producers and directors
ist and an avid sailor, and
open my acceptance letter from the law school
officer during the Korean
can efficiently select the
leaves behind his wife of
and began jumping up and down with joy. At
War, after which he joined
one that most interests
close to 68 years, Marion,
that time, most law schools were not accepting
May, Miller, and Parsons
them. Swacker grants
three children, and eight
women. … I couldn’t get behind the wheel of
in Richmond, Va., where
acting schools royalty-free
grandchildren.
my old Model T Ford and drive cross-country to
he became a partner and
production licenses to his
Charlottesville fast enough.”
completed his law career.
plays until their respective
University of California - Berkeley. “I ripped
Helen spent her career in public service. As
her children so eloquently state, “It is not often
Donald C. Wells has retired
that one has the opportunity to follow their
after serving one year as a
passion, to have a career they enjoy waking
law clerk for the Maryland
copyrights expire.
1953
1950
Judge Lapsley W.
Hamblen Jr. passed away
up to daily for over 60 years, and the chance
Court of Appeals in 1949
to make a profound difference. Our mother
and 55 years at his office in
Seymour R. Young passed
born in Chattanooga,
was fortunate to have had her life encompass
Old Town Alexandria, Va.,
away on October 11 in
Tenn., and served in the
these rare combinations, thanks in large part to
at 123 S. Royal Street. His
Alexandria, Va. Born in
U.S. Navy during World
UVA Law.”
brother, Richard E. Wells,
Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Young
War II. He was a partner
was in his graduating
attended the University
with Caskie, Frost, Hobbs &
class and was an attorney
as both an undergraduate
Hamblen in
on September 10. He was
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 53
Class notes
…
Lynchburg, Va., where he
a Marine for two decades,
In October Sir Harry Ognall LL.M. ‘57
practiced for more than
retiring with the rank of
received the President’s Award at
25 years. He was a fellow in
lieutenant colonel.
the 2012 Yorkshire Lawyer Awards in
the American College of
Beezer practiced with
Leeds, England, for his distinguished
Tax Counsel and the
Schweppe, Doolittle,
contribution to the law. Ognall
American College of
Krug, Tausend & Beezer
became a member of the Queen’s
Probate Counsel and was
in Seattle until he was
Counsel in 1973 and a judge of the
co-director of the annual
appointed to the 9th
High Court in 1986, where he served
Virginia Conference on
Circuit Court of Appeals in
through 2000.
Federal Taxation at UVA. In
1984 by President Reagan.
1982 President Reagan
For nearly 30 years he
appointed him a judge of
served on the nation’s larg-
like many senior judges
four sons to law school
Grumman Corporation
the U.S. Tax Court for a
est federal appeals court,
on the 9th Circuit, he
is paying big dividends.
subsidiary. Gill was a
15-year term. He served as
hearing more than 10,000
continued to hear cases in
They both work with me in
45-year member of the
chief judge for four years,
cases. During that time he
the overwhelmed appeals
the law firm of Crowley &
Bethpage Credit Federal
retiring in 1996, and
wrote landmark decisions
court that serves nine
Crowley.” Noel opened his
Union Board of Trustees,
returned to perform
on capital punishment,
Western states and two
firm two decades ago in
the northeast’s largest
judicial duties as senior
digital media sharing, and
Pacific territories. As Judge
Morristown, N.J.
credit union. He is survived
judge until June 2000.
judicial authority.
Beezer’s eyesight began
Beezer influenced
to fail, he used a com-
by his wife of 47 years and
1959
three children.
judicial standards for deter-
puterized text-to-audio
mining sexual harassment
system to keep up with
by instituting a “reasonable
the reading necessary for
Thomas Gill passed away
is volunteering as a
Judge Robert Beezer
woman” test in place of
each case.
in Huntington, N.Y., in
court appointed special
died in Seattle on March
what he thought was a
June at the age of 78. Gill
advocate for children in
29 at the age of 83. After
male orientation in decid-
took three degrees from
the Hall-Dawson Counties,
the University of Virginia
Georgia, C.A.S.A. Program.
1956
graduating from UVA in
ing whether a reasonable
1951, he served in the
person would find certain
U.S. Marine Corps for two
behavior offensive.
years before entering the
Law School. He served as
He retired from active
judgeship in 1996, but
1957
Shant Harootunian
before moving to Long
Noel C. Crowley reports,
Island. He practiced as an
“The investment I made
attorney and in corporate
in sending two of my
development with a
1960
Last summer John Corse ’57 fell off a bulkhead and
suffered a compression fracture of a vertebra and
serious cuts to his left arm. That put a serious crimp in
his swimming routine, but after four months in a body
T. Maxfield Bahner
brace, and with the okay from his neurosurgeon, he
recently chaired a
began to swim three times a week in preparation for
Tennessee Bar Association
competing in the Spring Nationals of the U.S. Masters
task force on judicial
Swimming Association in Greensboro, N.C. in April.
conduct. The 13-member
Corse and three friends, who, like him, had been on their varsity swim teams in the 1940s at their respective
group of attorneys and
colleges, broke the longstanding National 200-yard freestyle relay record by over 33 seconds, with a finishing time
judges recommended new
of 3:05:24. That equals finishing more than a length of the pool ahead of past record holders.
ethics rules for state
Corse also did very well in individual events in the 85–89 age group, placing first in the 50-yard freestyle, the 50-
judges, a number of which
yard breaststroke, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, and the 50-yard butterfly. He walked away
were adopted, including a
with seven medals in all. “Despite our advanced ages and many infirmities, through swimming and perseverance
new procedure for
we have been able to recuperate and become competitive again,” Corse says. “What a great sport for all ages!”
pursuing a judge’s recusal
and a new process for
54 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
1958
Erratum Department: My report
By Ted Torrance,
his significant role in Loving v.
possibility of golf at Farmington
Corresponding Secretary
Virginia, the case in which the
Country Club on Saturday
on Michael Kaplan in the last
1955 Windward Way,
Supreme Court struck down
afternoon, will be forthcoming
issue of this magazine errone-
Vero Beach, FL 32963;
Virginia’s so-called miscegena-
from Fred.
ously referred to his status
e-mail: etorr@cox.net
tion laws. If any classmate
upon retirement as “counsel”
would like a copy of Arthur’s
John Merchant’s autobiogra-
to Horizon Blue Cross and
Personal complications
letter, please let me know. It’s
phy, A Journey Worth Taking,
Blue Shield of New Jersey. He
prevented your scribe from
very interesting.
which was in the midst of
was in fact at the time Deputy
printing late last winter, has
General Counsel. My apologies
summer on the class of 1958 for
Fred Goldstein, the inde-
now been published, and I
to Michael for the error (which,
contributions to this column.
fatigable nexus between our
am pleased to say that I am
to be fair to Michael, was
Nevertheless, a few items will
class and the Law School, has
the owner of a copy signed by
considered by him to be de
be of interest:
generously volunteered to take
the author himself. It makes
minimis, but I think he should
charge of the arrangements for
for very interesting reading,
have his due).
I received an entertaining and
our 55th (!) reunion in May. Fred
in particular those portions
informative letter from Arthur
reminds us that, as members
devoted to his years with us in
You will be hearing from me
making an all-court press this
Berney, a retired professor of
of the Lile Society, we are all
Charlottesville. Reflecting on
with a request for contributions
constitutional law (among
welcome at the traditional
those days of 50-plus years ago,
for the spring issue of UVA
other subjects) at Boston
Saturday evening (May 11)
it is, for me at any rate, difficult
Lawyer, but I urge you all not to
College Law School. Arthur
dinner for the 50th reunion
to believe that many of us were
wait until I contact you. Rather,
recounted the circuitous, not
class being introduced into
so blind to the singular difficul-
I would be delighted to receive
to mention serendipitous,
the society. Fred says that, in
ties John faced in securing his
and inventory any and all
route he followed in ending up
addition, plans are being made
law degree with us. The latest
letters and notes, pending their
at Boston College, but all too
for a gathering of our class for
word I had from John was that
publication for the interest of
little mention was made of his
drinks and dinner on Friday
copies of his book are available
our classmates.
outstanding career as a teacher.
evening, May 10. More details
through him at a discount
He did take pride, however, in
on our reunion, including the
price. I recommend it.
seeking expedited appeal
the litigation section. He
the bench, received two
Professionalism Award for
largest, for ten years, as
if a motion for recusal is
focuses his practice mainly
awards at the annual
outstanding contributions
well as president of the
denied. Judges will now
in complex litigation.
meeting of the Alabama
in advancing the profes-
state’s Circuit Judges Asso-
be required to provide in
Bar Association. He
sionalism of the legal
ciation in 2011–12. He has
writing the grounds for
received the Al Vreeland
profession in Alabama.
also received the Alabama
Award from the Volunteer
The award program reads,
State Bar’s Judicial Award
recusal. Where recusal is
Lawyers Program for his
“He is known for his ability
of Merit (2005) and the
granted, the rule describes
contributions to the
to manage and diffuse
Judge Drayton N. James
the procedure for
Birmingham Bar Associa-
difficult situations. His
Award from the Young
designating a new judge
tion’s access to justice
reputation in the Birming-
Lawyer’s section of the
for the case. The revised
initiative. His efforts
ham legal community as
Birmingham Bar Associa-
code of conduct was
directly contributed to the
a fair judge and dedicated
tion (2000 and 2006).
adopted in January and
substantial growth of the
public servant transcends
finalized in June.
program, from 300 cases in
political affiliations and
2009 to more than 1,000
professional networks.”
denying any motion for
1961
Bahner is senior counsel
at Chambliss, Bahner, and
The Honorable John Scott
Stophel in Chattanooga,
Vowell, who is retiring in
where he is a member of
January after 18 years on
in 2011.
Judge Vowell also
received the Chief Justice’s
Vowell has served as
The Honorable Ronnie
A. Yoder spoke to the
Interfaith Conference of
presiding judge of the 10th
Metropolitan Washington
Judicial Circuit, Alabama’s
on “The Need for Civility
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 55
Class notes
…
1966
in American Life,” at the
3,500 and recently won
established by the Virginia
American University
an award from LexisNexis
State Bar section on the
School for International
as one of the top 25
education of lawyers in
Guy O. Farmer II was
Service, Washington,
international blogs on the
Virginia. The award
recently appointed to
D.C., on June 14. Judge
Internet.
recognizes exceptional
serve as the co-chair of the
leadership in developing
American Bar Association’s
Yoder urged the faith
and local government law,
governmental relations,
and civil litigation.
1967
communities represented
G. Marshall Mundy is
and implementing
liaison subcommittee for
to recognize a common
listed in Best Lawyers 2012,
innovative ways to improve
labor & employment law,
philosophical center
as he has been since 1987.
legal education and
as well as a member of
for all world religions,
He is also listed in Virginia
promote relationships and
the executive committee
noting his scholarship
Super Lawyers 2012 in the
professionalism among the
of the Florida Bar’s labor
for students at Virginia
areas of personal injury
academy, the bench, and
& employment section.
Theological Seminary, “to
plaintiff: medical malprac-
the bar in Virginia. Rakes
He has been recognized
advance the study of love
tice, personal injury; and
received the award on April
in Chambers USA 2012
J. Rudy Austin is listed in
as an appropriate center
plaintiff: general. He is
22 at the 20th Anniversary
and Florida Super Lawyers
Virginia Super Lawyers 2012
of Christian theology, life,
with Mundy & Rogers
Conclave on the Education
2012 in the area of labor
in the area of construction
preaching, and practice,
in Roanoke, where he
of Lawyers in Virginia in
and employment and se-
litigation. He is a partner
and an ecumenical theme
focuses his practice in the
Charlottesville. He
lected for inclusion in Best
with Gentry Locke Rakes &
unifying all of humankind’s
areas of personal injury,
developed the idea of the
Lawyers 2013 in employ-
Moore in Roanoke.
religions,” as urged in his
medical malpractice, and
legal education conclave,
ment law-management;
commencement address
wrongful death.
which led to the first such
labor law-management;
Lucius H. Bracey, Jr. is
gathering in Wintergreen
and litigation-labor &
listed in Virginia Super
at Goshen College in 2010.
in 1992.
His speech is available
Ronald Sokol published
employment. He is a
Lawyers 2012 in the area
on YouTube at
http://bit.
the following op-eds in the
Rakes was selected for
shareholder in the labor
of estate planning &
ly/Q8SMYx. In July Judge
International Herald Tribune,
inclusion in Virginia Super
and employment group
probate. His is counsel
Yoder was named to the
the New York Times, or both:
Lawyers 2012 in the area
with GrayRobinson in
with McGuireWoods in
board of directors of the
“Guilt by Birth,” January 15,
of business litigation.
Jacksonville.
Charlottesville, where he
IFCMW.
2010; “Veiled Arguments,”
He is managing partner
focuses his practice on
July 15, 2010; “Two New
of Gentry Locke Rakes &
wealth transfers, estate
French Crimes,” April 1,
Moore in Roanoke.
planning, estate and
1962
We are All Americans,”
James Apple founded
trust administration, and
2011; and “For Tax Purposes,
October 6, 2011.
related tax areas.
1964
the International Judicial
Academy in Washington,
William Cumming
W. Thomas Grimm teaches
continues to operate a
courses on American
think tank in the fields
of 2012, the academy will
government and an intro-
of homeland security,
have trained more than
duction to political science
William M. Slaughter has
emergency management,
4,000 judges, court officers,
at his local community
been selected for inclusion
and crisis management
and ministry of justice
college. “I love it,” he writes.
in Alabama Super Lawyers
and communications,
officials from countries
He was voted adjunct
2012 in the area of bonds/
with special interest in the
around the world. Its Web
professor of the year for
government finance and
civil-military interface in
site is www.ijaworld.org.
2011 for the Hillsborough
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
our democracy (Republic)
Apple also co-founded
Community College
government relations
and the integration of
D.C., in 1999. By the end
1963
the International Judicial
William R. Rakes became
System. “See what a UVA
practice and public finance
technical and scientific
Monitor, an online
the first recipient of an
Law degree does for you!”
law. He is a founding
and legal knowledge into
magazine for judges, court
award created and named
He continues conducting
member of Haskell Slaughter
crisis decision-making.
officers, and rule of law
in his honor, the William R.
Florida court-appointed
in Birmingham, where he
officers around the world.
Rakes Leadership in
mediations and real estate
concentrates his practice
Gene Dahmen is listed in
It has a circulation of over
Education Award
development consulting.
on public finance, state
Best Lawyers 2013 in family
56 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
law. She is senior counsel
Jewish Council for Public
South Africa, China,
on corporate and
with Verrill Dana in Boston,
Affairs. He previously
Sweden, and the length of
securities matters.
Mass., where her practice
served as a vice-chair of
the Pyrenees.
includes a broad range
the executive committee
Delaware Chief Justice
of family law matters. Her
and as a member of the
Myron T. Steele has been
particular focus is on cases
board of directors. Gold is
named president of the
involving complex busi-
a shareholder with Carlton
Thomas G. Slater Jr.
Conference of Chief
ness and financial issues.
Fields in Atlanta, Ga.,
received the Virginia
Justices, which promotes
where he handles
Military Institute
the effectiveness of
Bob Ivey is an active
corporate matters for both
Foundation’s
state judicial systems by
mediator in Los Angeles,
public and private
Distinguished Service
developing policies and
Calif., resolving business
businesses. He has
Award in May for his
educational programs that
and construction disputes,
significant experience in
Donald Zachary was
dedication to VMI and to
improve court operations.
primarily in litigated cases.
mergers and acquisitions,
chosen by the Greater Los
the Foundation. Slater’s
The CCJ is the main
He is regularly listed in Best
arranging corporate
Angeles chapter of the
family has a long VMI
representative of state
Lawyers in construction
financing, and advising
Society of Professional
tradition: An ancestor
courts before Congress
law/commercial litiga-
businesses on succession
Journalists to receive their
graduated in 1859 and was
and federal agencies.
tion, and his firm, Ivey
strategies and strategic
Freedom of Information
killed in action in the Civil
Steele was also named
Mediation, is included in
investments.
Award for 2012. The award
War. Slater’s father
chair of the board of
the “Best Law Firms” listing
was presented on May 8.
graduated in 1932, and his
directors of the National
for construction law and
Earlier in the year, at their
son, Tom Slater III, in 1990.
Center for State Courts, an
litigation-construction. See
annual Golden Mike
Slater is a partner with
organization that provides
www.IveyMediation.com.
Awards banquet, the Radio
Hunton & Williams in
leadership and service to
& Television News
Richmond, where he
the state courts. Both posi-
William H. May has been
Association of Southern
heads the litigation, labor,
tions are one-year terms.
elected vice president of
California recognized him
and competition practices.
In addition he teaches
the San Diego Zoo. He
as a person “making a
His practice focuses on
a course on advising a
also serves as secretary
difference in broadcast
complex litigation matters.
board of directors in a
of the Arnold and Mabel
journalism” in recognition
mergers and acquisitions
world at the University of
Beckman Foundation,
Thomas N. Henderson III is
of his years of service to
which awards grants to
listed in Florida Super
association and the
nonprofit research institu-
Lawyers 2012 and the 2012
broadcast community.
Pepperdine Law School,
tions to promote research
Florida Super Lawyers
Zachary has an intellectual
and UVA Law.
in chemistry and the life
Business Edition. He is a
property practice in
sciences.
founding shareholder with
Glendale, Calif.
1970
1971
Hill Ward Henderson in
1968
Tampa, where he is
vice-chairman of the firm
1969
and practices in the real
estate group.
Pennsylvania Law School,
Timothy E. Hoberg is listed
Gordon E. Schreck is listed
among “Leaders in Their
in South Carolina Super
Field” in corporate mergers
Sean Overend retired as
Lawyers 2012 in trans-
& acquisitions in Chambers
a circuit judge based in
portation and maritime
USA 2012. He was also
Devon, United Kingdom
law. Schreck heads the
recognized in Ohio Super
in 2006. He now divides
admiralty and maritime
Lawyers 2012 in securities
Thomas Bottini will lead
his time between England
practice group at Womble
and corporate finance. He
Armstrong Teasdale’s
and South Africa, pursuing
Carlyle in Charleston.
is of counsel with Taft
expansion of its intellec-
Lawrence M. Gold has
his interests in chamber
Stettinius & Hollister in
tual property, dispute
been elected as the
music (viola) and cycling.
Cincinnati, where he
resolution, and transac-
national chair of the
Last year he cycled in
concentrates his practice
tional and franchising
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 57
Class notes
…
services in Asia. A partner
the Uniform Deployed
Fla., on May 19. Father Tim
Fredrick R. Tulley is listed
on November 3 in Atlanta,
in the firm, Bottini is the
Parent Custody and
is presently serving as the
in Best Lawyers 2013 in the
Ga. He is a member in the
chief representative of
Visitation Act. He spoke
parochial vicar at Our Lady
area of commercial litiga-
labor and practice group
Armstrong Teasdale’s
on military divorce issues
of Lourdes Church, in
tion; litigation–banking
with Eckert Seamans in
office in Shanghai, China,
in March at George Mason
Dunedin, Fla. He retired as
& finance; and litigation–
Philadelphia, Pa., where
and continues to serve his
Law School, and in April at
a United States bankruptcy
bankruptcy and was
he represents employers
U.S.-based clients. He led
the Naval Justice School.
judge for the Middle
designated “Lawyer of the
in all aspects of employee
the creation of the firm’s
District of Florida in 2003
Year 2012” in litigation
relations.
China practice in 1994 and
and received his masters
and bankruptcy in Best
of divinity degree at
Lawyers. He was listed
was chief representative in
1972
Blessed John XXIII National
in Chambers USA 2012 in
Robert C. Gang is listed
Seminary in Weston, Mass.,
litigation: securities. He is a
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
just before his ordination.
the Shanghai office from
2001–03.
1975
partner with Taylor Porter
Tina Swent Byrd is a trial
the area of public finance
in Baton Rouge, La., where
court judge in Los Angeles,
law and was recognized
he focuses his practice in
Calif. Her daughter will be
as Miami’s “Lawyer of the
the areas of commercial
graduating from the Law
Year” for 2013 in public
litigation, securities
School as a member of the
finance law. He was also
litigation, professional
Class of 2013. Mark Evens’
listed in Chambers USA
malpractice, construction,
son is in the same class.
2012. He is a shareholder
antitrust, RICO, commercial
“It has been fun to re-live
with Greenberg Traurig,
bankruptcy, and insurance
law school but without
Carol Duane Olson has
where his areas of
insolvency.
any exams or other stress!,”
been elected chair of the
concentration are public
board of directors of Dress
finance, education, special
G. Frank Flippen is listed in
for Success in Cincinnati,
taxing districts, general
Virginia Super Lawyers 2012
Ohio. She will serve a
municipal, and utilities.
in the area of business and
writes Tina.
1974
William C. Cleveland III
is listed in South Carolina
two-year term. Dress for
corporate law. He is a
Douglas M. Branson is
Super Lawyers 2012 in the
Success provides business
partner with Gentry Locke
the W. Edward Sell Chair
area of business litigation.
Rakes & Moore in Roanoke.
in Law at the University
He is with Womble Carlyle
of Pittsburgh, where he
in Charleston, where he
clothing to disadvantaged
1973
women entering the
workforce, as well as other
Franklin L. Carroll III
Marschall Smith was
teaches business organiza-
concentrates his practice
related services, including
retired in 2005 after 30
appointed senior vice
tions, corporate finance,
in the areas of business
career counseling,
years practicing law,
president, general counsel,
corporate governance, and
break-up, commercial,
financial literacy educa-
almost all of those as a
and secretary of Archer
securities regulation. He
securities, and intellectual
tion, assistance with job
prosecutor. From 1973–79
Daniels Midland in July.
recently published a book,
property litigation.
searches, and help with
he practiced in New York
ADM, headquartered in
Three Tastes of Nuoc Mam,
resume writing and
City and from 1980 to 2005
Decatur, Ill., is one of the
about his combat experi-
interview preparation.
in Orange County, Calif.
largest agricultural proces-
ence in the Vietnam war
Olson is a partner with
sors in the world. Smith
and trips he’s taken there
Peck Shaffer, where she
was previously with 3M
since then as a tourist and
chairs the tax and financial
Company, where he was
consultant (see In Print).
analysis department. She
senior vice president, legal
focuses her practice on tax
affairs, and general coun-
John E. Quinn was recently
law and municipal bonds.
sel. He led the legal affairs
elected a fellow of the
team and was responsible
College of Labor and
W. Stuart Dornette has
for government affairs and
Employment Lawyers.
been named among
Mark E. Sullivan recently
completed a two-year
C. Timothy Corcoran III
ethics and environmental
He was installed at the
“Leaders in Their Field” in
term on the Uniform Law
was ordained a Roman
matters.
American Bar Association’s
Chambers USA 2012 in
Commission, sitting on a
Catholic priest for the
labor and employment
litigation: general
committee that drafted
Diocese of St. Petersburg,
section’s CLE conference
commercial. He was
58 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
1977
named Cincinnati Lawyer
dozen performances of
Henry B. Smythe Jr. is
of the Year in litigation-
symphony, chamber, and
listed in South Carolina
ible, humbling, miraculous
municipal in Best Lawyers
choral music, ballet, jazz,
Super Lawyers 2012 in the
story of Matt’s survival
2012 and was recognized
and visual arts, in addition
area of business litigation.
and recovery. You’ll find
in Ohio Super Lawyers 2012
to promotional concerts
He practices with Womble
the book on Amazon, at
in business litigation. He is
and events throughout
Carlyle in Charleston.
Barnes and Noble, and at
Vitez delivers the incred-
a partner with Taft
the year. The 2011 festival
Stettinius & Hollister,
was book-ended by two of
Susan M. Smythe is listed
where he is co-chair of the
the world’s top violinists,
in South Carolina Super
litigation department.
Hilary Hahn and Joshua
Lawyers 2012 in the area of
Stephen W. Earp received
After practicing law for 25
years in Washington, D.C.,
the author’s site: http://
michaelvitez.com.
Bell. Dan has also joined
real estate. She practices
recognition in Chambers
the board of Concert: Nova
with Womble Carlyle in
USA 2012 in the area of
Carol Rhees has spent the
(www.concertnova.com),
Charleston.
environmental law. He was
past ten years teaching
also listed in Best Lawyers
high school history
part-time and running a
which presents unusual
classical music in offbeat
John Paul Trouche is listed
2013 in environmental law
venues, such as old movie
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
and environmental
small non-profit, Hope for
theaters. A recent concert
public finance law. He was
litigation. He is with Smith
Children U.S., that works
presented the classical
named Charleston Public
Moore Leatherwood in
with AIDS orphans in
compositions of Frank
Finance Law Lawyer of the
Greensboro, N.C., where
Ethiopia. To learn more,
Don P. Martin was named
Zappa, and an upcoming
Year in Best Lawyers 2012.
he advises companies in
see www.hopeforchildre-
in Chambers USA 2012 in
performance will present
He is a shareholder with
mergers and acquisitions,
nus.org.
the area of litigation:
the tango opera, Maria
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd
contracts, and corporate
general commercial and
de Buenos Aires, by Astor
in Charleston, S.C., where
governance. He also
Mike Ross taught a two-
was selected for inclusion
Piazzolla.
he focuses his practice on
handles complex
week seminar in business
in Southwest Super Lawyers
bond issues, underwriting,
environmental litigation
ethics at Dubrovnik
2012 in the area of
and innovative financing
and regulatory matters.
International University in
business litigation. He is a
alternatives.
partner with Quarles &
April, a two-week seminar
Michael Miller writes that
on legal ethics at Peking
Brady in Phoenix, Ariz.,
Donald C. Wright is listed
his son, Matt Miller, is the
University’s School of
where he focuses on
in Florida Super Lawyers
subject of a new book
Transnational Law in May,
commercial litigation,
2012 in the area of estate
entitled The Road Back: A
and another, “Managing
including professional
planning & probate and
Journey of Grace and Grit.
Legal Risk in Business,”
liability, real estate, and
Ann Margaret Pointer is
Best Lawyers 2012 in trusts
From the author’s website,
at the IE Law School in
securities litigation and
listed in Georgia Super
and estates. He is a share-
“Matt had just pedaled
Madrid in June.
administrative hearings.
Lawyers 2012 in the area of
holder with Rogers Towers
up a mountain pass. He
He is the national chair of
employment litigation and
in Jacksonville, where he
was 20, a member of
the firm’s lender liability
Chambers USA 2012 in
heads the probate and
the University of Virginia
task force.
labor and employment.
estate planning section
triathlon club, so fit his
She is a partner with Fisher
of the business and tax
resting pulse was 42! He
Mark Duvall notes that at
& Phillips in Atlanta.
department.
was on top of the world
his last class reunion he
in so many ways, in love,
was considering leaving
Donald J. Shuller is listed
with dreams of attending
an in-house position for
Daniel J. Hoffheimer
in Best Lawyers 2013 in real
medical school. And
a law firm, the opposite
is chair of the board
estate law. He is a partner
then, cycling along the
direction that many in his
of Constella Festival
with Vorys, Sater, Seymour
Blue Ridge Parkway in
class would like to head.
of Music and Fine Arts
and Pease in Columbus,
Virginia, tragedy struck.
“It has worked out well
(www.constellafestival.
Ohio, where he is a mem-
The real story is not what
for me at Beveridge &
org). Constella produces
ber of the commercial and
happened, but what hap-
Diamond in Washington,
a festival each October
real estate group.
pened after.” Pulitzer Prize
D.C.” he writes. Duvall is
winning journalist Michael
a principal, focusing his
1976
featuring more than a
1978
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 59
Class notes
…
practice on occupational
Top Lawyers in Columbus,
& Knight, where he
as counsel to numerous
associate general counsel
safety and health and
Ohio, in 2012 by Columbus
concentrates his practice
public charities and
for Gannett Company, Wall
product regulation at
CEO. She is a partner with
in business litigation,
private foundations.
has “tirelessly led legal
the federal, state, and
Vorys, Sater, Seymour
with particular emphasis
challenges that protect
international levels across
and Pease and a member
in matters involving
the First Amendment
a wide range of programs.
of the litigation practice
education, employment,
rights for all journalists.”
He also co-chairs the
group.
professional liability,
She has been credited
intellectual property, and
with helping “quash” more
unfair competition.
than 1,000 subpoenas
chemicals, products, and
nanotechnology practice
George L. Mahoney has
group.
been elected president
and chief executive officer
of reporters, successfully
defending more than 500
1979
libel suits, and guiding
Michael Haggerty is listed
of Media General, Inc.,
in Best Lawyers 2013 in the
effective January 1. In the
Ely A. Leichtling was
hundreds of information
area of real estate law. He
interim he serves as vice
recognized in Chambers
access suits.
is a partner and co-head of
president and chief op-
USA 2012 in the area of
the Jackson Walker finance
erating officer. He joined
labor & employment. He is
practice group in Dallas,
Media General in 1993
a partner with Quarles &
Tex., where he represents
as general counsel and
Brady in Milwaukee, Wisc.,
financial institutions
corporate secretary and
with an employment and
John F. Brenner is
including banks, credit and
was elected a corporate
labor law practice
included on the New
insurance companies, and
vice president in 2006. His
Jerry W. Cox has been
representing
York-Metro Super Lawyers
other entities in real estate,
most recent position, held
elected trustee of the
management.
2012 list. He is a partner in
commercial, and corporate
since October of last year,
Woodrow Wilson
lending transactions.
has been vice president–
Presidential Library and
David B. McCormack is
practice group with
growth and performance.
Museum in Staunton, Va.
listed among the Top
Pepper Hamilton and is
Peter S. Kaufman
Media General’s corporate
He is an attorney and
10 Attorneys in South
resident in the Princeton,
was named Boutique
headquarters is in
public affairs advisor in
Carolina Super Lawyers
N.J., and New York City
Restructuring Investment
Richmond, Va.
Washington, D.C.
2012 in the area of labor
offices. He focuses his
Banker of the Year at the
& employment. He was
practice on the defense
Global M & A Network’s
George N. Meros Jr. is
Michael Kuhn is listed in
also honored in Chambers
of complex products
Turnaround Atlas Awards
listed in Florida Super
Best Lawyers 2013 in the
USA 2012 in this area.
liability and mass tort
in June. He is president
Lawyers 2012 in the area
area of real estate law. He
Best Lawyers 2012 named
cases against pharmaceu-
and head of restructuring
of civil litigation defense.
is a partner with Jackson
him Employment Law
tical and medical device
and distressed M & A
He is with GrayRobinson
Walker in Houston, Tex.,
Management Lawyer
manufacturers.
1980
the health effects litigation
with The Gordian Group,
in Tallahassee, where
where he focuses his
of the Year. He is in the
an investment bank
he focuses his practice
practice on commercial
Charleston office of
Martha Ellett’s husband,
in New York City that
on matters involving
real estate with particular
Womble Carlyle, where he
William A. Ragland, died
provides financial advisory
regulatory compliance,
emphasis on office and
focuses his practice on em-
on July 20, in Alexandria,
services in distressed and
complex civil litigation,
retail leasing within the
ployment law, alternative
Va., after a brief illness.
complicated situations.
and government affairs.
real estate group.
dispute resolution, and
He retired several years
business litigation.
ago from work in the
Turnarounds & Workouts recently named The Gordian
James D. Smeallie took
David L. Kyger is listed
Group an outstanding
office as president of the
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
Barbara Wartelle Wall
tion, and public affairs
investment banking firm
Boston Bar Association
non-profit and charities
was honored at the
offices of the Interstate
for the fifth straight year.
for a one-year term on
law and tax law. He is with
Reporter’s Committee
Commerce Commission,
September 1. He is listed
Smith Moore Leatherwood
for the Freedom of the
the Resolution Trust
Laura G. Kuykendall is
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
in Greensboro, N.C., where
Press Annual Dinner
Corporation, and the
listed in Best Lawyers 2013
education and com-
he focuses his practice on
with a 2012 First
Federal Deposit Insurance
in antitrust law. She also
mercial litigation. He is
non-profit and tax-exempt
Amendment Award. As
Corporation. They were
was named among the
a partner with Holland
organizations and serves
vice president and senior
married in 1994.
60 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
research, administra-
Class notes
…
Mary Gayle (Ashley) Holden ‘80 writes that a
president and chief
few years ago, her husband asked her what
executive officer of the
she wanted to do for their 25th wedding
strategic public relations
anniversary. Expecting her to say a cruise,
firm Burson-Marsteller,
he was shocked when she told him that she
which has 73 offices
wanted to go to the top of Africa, but he
worldwide. Baer will be
agreed. After lots of hiking in preparation,
based in Washington,
on February 1 last year they made it to the
D.C. He joined Burson-
Charles D. Fox IV was listed
top of Africa—Mt. Kilimanjaro. “UVA Law was
Marsteller in 2008, serving
in Virginia Super Lawyers
with me all the way to the top!” she writes.
as vice chairman and chief
2012 in estate planning &
“Next on our list—Machu Picchu!”
strategy officer while
probate and was named a
leading major engage-
Leading Lawyer in
ments with companies in
Chambers USA 2012 for his
communications, media,
and technology. He has
work in wealth
management. He is a
probate, planned giving,
group with Ballard Spahr
Association and the Dallas
also been chairman
partner in the tax and
and nonprofit
in Baltimore. He represents
Bar Foundation since 1999
of Burson-Marsteller’s
employee benefits
organizations.
financing transactions in
and 2007, respectively.
research firm, Penn
department with
affordable housing and
He is with Locke Lord,
Schoen Berland, a role
McGuireWoods in
has considerable experi-
where his practice
he will maintain. Before
Charlottesville, where his
ence in the areas of public
focuses on administrative,
joining Burson-Marsteller,
practice focuses on estate
finance and economic
transportation, real estate,
Baer was senior executive
planning, estate and trust
development.
and finance law. He is
vice president for strategy
administration, and work
also a member of the
and development and
with charitable
firm’s administrative and
an executive committee
organizations.
regulatory, public law,
member at Discovery
governmental and public
Communications, home
Norman E. Parker, Jr. has
affairs, and real estate and
of the Discovery Channel
been elected chair of the
finance practices.
and other major media
platforms. He also served
board of directors of the
Benton D. Williamson
as a senior White House
Program in Israel. The
W. David Paxton is listed in
is listed in Best Lawyers
advisor to President Bill
program prepares teens
Virginia Super Lawyers 2012
2013 in real estate law.
Clinton, White House di-
from Maryland’s 7th
in the area of employment
He is a shareholder with
rector of communications
Elijah Cummings Youth
Congressional District to
& labor. He is a partner
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd
and strategic planning,
Leonard C. Martin has
serve as open-minded
with Gentry Locke Rakes &
in Columbia, S.C., where
and chief speechwriter/
been appointed state chair
leaders through community
Moore in Roanoke.
his practice includes
director of speechwriting
of Mississippi for the
service, leadership
commercial and lending
and research.
American College of Trust
workshops, and a month-
Frank E. Stevenson has
transactions, corporate
and Estate Counsel. His
long residence in Israel. The
been elected chair of
and business, project
W. David Harless was
chair appointment is a
program promotes
the State Bar of Texas
finance and commercial
sworn in as president of
one-year term with
understanding and positive
board of directors. His
lending, and real
the Virginia State Bar for
presumptive appoint-
interaction among ethnic
chairmanship took effect
estate and commercial
the 2012–13 term on June
ments for a total of five
communities and fosters
in June. Stevenson served
development.
15 at the annual meeting
years. Martin is a share-
civic involvement.
as president of the Dallas
in Virginia Beach. He has
Bar Association in 2008
chaired the bench-bar
holder with Baker
Parker is of counsel in
1981
Donelson in Jackson,
the public finance depart-
and has been on the State
where he focuses his
ment and a member of
Bar’s board of directors
practice in the areas of
the housing group and
since 2010 and on the
Donald A. Baer has
budget and finance com-
taxation, trusts and
transactional finance
boards of the Dallas Bar
been named worldwide
mittee, and as a member
relations committee,
served as a member of the
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 61
Class notes
…
Following his installation as
Virginia State Bar President,
W. David Harless ‘81was
surrounded by bow-tied
UVA classmates (from left):
Matthew L. Jacobs, John A.
Anderson, Michael Urbanski,
William R. Van Buren III,
T. Mark Flanagan Jr., Terence
Murphy, and Steve Pearson.
failures, and other viola-
than 30 state and local
tions relating to subprime
bar associations and law
residential mortgage-
schools.
backed securitizations.
The fine imposed was $3.5
Kevin M. Doyle ac-
million. He also worked on
cepted the Norman
other settlements relating
Redlich Capital Defense
to subprime mortgage vio-
Distinguished Service
lations reached by FINRA
Award, presented by
Boyer’s 2003 biography,
the New York City Bar
Sir Edward Coke and the
Association in July. After
Elizabethan Age, sold
more than five years de-
out its first edition and
fending death row inmates
of the task force that
member of the energy and
is now in paperback.
and capital defendants in
established the diversity
natural resources
He continues to work
Alabama, Kevin founded
conference. He is a fellow
development group with
on volume two, which
and headed New York
of the American College
Babst Calland.
he writes mainly while
State’s Capital Defender
commuting on the Staten
Office. Through its trial and
of Trial Lawyers and the
Virginia Law Foundation
1982
and is a member of
Island ferry. He lives on the
appellate advocacy, the
North Shore of the island
Capital Defender Office
the Lewis F. Powell Jr.
Michael S. Hooker has
with his wife, Kathleen,
brought an end to New
American Inn of Court, the
joined Phelps Dunbar as
In July 2011 Alma
and sons Declan (17) and
York’s death penalty.
Virginia Bar Association,
partner in the commercial
Angotti joined Navigant
Thomas (9).
and its Boyd-Graves
litigation practice in
Consulting’s Global
Conference, the Virginia
Tampa, Fla. He was
Investigations and
James P. Cooney III was
listed as one of the Top
Trial Lawyers Association,
previously a name
Compliance Practice
recently named practice
25 Attorneys in South
and the Bar Association of
shareholder at Glenn
as a director in the
group leader of the
Carolina in 2012 South
the City of Richmond. He
Rasmussen Fogarty &
Washington, D.C., office.
business litigation practice
Carolina Super Lawyers. He
has lectured on a range
Hooker.
She is a widely recognized
for Womble Carlyle
is with Womble Carlyle in
of business, employment,
anti–money laundering
Sandridge & Rice. The
Charleston, where he leads
and products liability
expert.
group encompasses all
the construction practice
areas of business litigation
group.
litigation subjects and
Allen Gibson is
has taught in the National
Allen D. Boyer is senior
including governmental
Trial Advocacy College at
appellate counsel with
investigations and white-
the Law School. Harless
the Department of
collar criminal defense.
is with Christian & Barton
Enforcement of the
Cooney is a fellow in the
in Richmond, where
Financial Industry
American College of Trial
he is a partner in the
Regulatory Authority
Lawyers and a permanent
litigation department and
Blaine A. Lucas is listed in
(FINRA), and previ-
member of the Fourth
leads the employment
Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
ously held the same
Circuit Judicial Conference.
practice group. He is also a
2012 as one of the top
position at the Division of
He has been named to
member of the executive
lawyers in Pennsylvania in
Enforcement of the New
Best Lawyers since 2000,
Charles F. Hudson is listed
committee.
the area of land use and
York Stock Exchange. He
was recently named as the
in Best Lawyers 2012 in the
zoning. He was also listed
worked on a settlement
“Bet-Your-Company” Best
area of eminent domain
as one of the Top 50
reached by FINRA with the
Lawyer for North Carolina,
and condemnation. He
lawyers in Pittsburgh Super
broker-dealer Citigroup
and has consistently been
was also named in Oregon
Lawyers 2012. He is a
Global Markets, Inc. for
named as one of the top
Super Lawyers 2012 in the
shareholder and chairman
providing inaccurate
criminal and civil lawyers
area of business litigation.
of the public sector
mortgage performance
in the state. He has given
He is a shareholder with
services group and a
information, supervisory
invited lectures to more
Lane Powell in Portland,
62 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
where he represents
broad range of business-
and raise a family. He and
Father’s Reflections and
Committee of the
individual and corporate
related litigation, including
Jane travel to Massachu-
Letters to His Daughter
American College of Trial
clients in a broad range of
antitrust litigation and
setts regularly to visit his
on Life, Love and Hope,
Lawyers. He is president
commercial litigation and
counseling, complex and
family and to open and
was published this fall by
and shareholder with
alternative dispute
class action litigation, and
close their beach house
Imbue Press, an imprint of
Campbell, Campbell,
resolution, including real
securities litigation.
on Cape Cod. He patiently
Morgan James Publishing.
Edwards & Conroy
He was listed in Best
awaits the third Red Sox
(See In Print.) The book was
in Boston, where he
securities, and eminent
Lawyers 2012 in the areas
World Series champion-
borne of Don’s search for
focuses his practice on civil
domain matters.
of litigation, commercial
ship of his lifetime.
understanding in the midst
litigation and the defense
of his now 24-year-old
of catastrophic product
estate, administrative law,
litigation, eminent domain
Charles J. Johnson has
and condemnation,
Julie A. Petruzzelli joined
daughter’s life-and-death
liability, toxic tort, medical
been recognized in The
litigation-antitrust, and
Baker & McKenzie as a
struggle with anorexia.
device, pharmaceutical,
Legal 500 as a leading
litigation-securities; was
partner in the intellectual
Don is a partner at Seipp
professional liability, and
lawyer for middle-market
Charlotte Bet-the Com-
property practice group
& Flick in Miami, where he
negligence matters.
mergers and acquisi-
pany Litigation Lawyer
in Washington, D.C.
specializes in product liabil-
tions and private equity
of the Year for 2012; and
She has developed and
ity defense. This year also
by Chambers USA 2012
buyouts. He is a partner
Charlotte Litigation-Secu-
implemented IP strategies
marks the year that Don
in products liability &
with Choate Hall & Stewart
rities Lawyer of the Year
for both large and small
had his 5th peer-reviewed
mass torts nationwide
in Boston, Mass., where
2012. He was recognized
corporations and in recent
feature article published
and as a “star individual”
he focuses his practice
as a Top 10 North Carolina
years has represented a
in The Florida Bar Journal,
in products liability:
on mergers and acquisi-
Super Lawyer 2012 in busi-
number of companies in
“Mandatory Injunctions—
automotive. The Legal 500
tions, private equity, and
ness litigation; listed in
Asia, especially Japan. She
The Forgotten Art of
named him one of eight
corporate finance.
Chambers USA 2012 in
was recently recognized as
Putting the Horse Back in
leading lawyers nation-
litigation and antitrust;
the 2012 Washington, D.C.
the Proverbial Barn” (May,
wide for 2012. He is listed
and noted as the state’s
Technology Law Lawyer of
2012).
in Best Lawyers 2012 and
leading litigation attorney
the Year by Best Lawyers.
in antitrust, class actions,
She was previously a
Mark A. Bradley received
litigation–defendants,
and securities in Bench-
partner with Venable.
a 2012 Attorney General’s
and Massachusetts Super
Award for his work in
Lawyers 2012 in the areas
James S. Ryan III has been
the U.S. Department
of personal injury defense:
Thomas Nolan remains
selected for inclusion in
of Justice’s National
products; personal
a sole practitioner in
Best Lawyers 2013 in the
Security Division. Bradley
injury defense: general;
Mark W. Merritt received
Charlottesville. His law
area of corporate law and
is a member of the
and professional liability:
the 2012 H. Brent
firm, Virginia Wills, Trusts
mergers & acquisitions
federal government’s
defense.
McKnight Renaissance
& Estates (www.vawills.
law. He is a partner with
Senior Executive Service.
Lawyer Award given by
com), focuses on estate
Jackson Walker in Dallas,
Before joining the DOJ
the North Carolina Bar
planning, estate admin-
Tex., where his practice
in 2000 as an attorney,
Life Financial in Wellesley,
Association. The McKnight
istration, and adoptions.
focuses on mergers,
he served as U.S. Senator
Mass., as an assistant
mark Litigation 2012.
Campbell was listed
2013 for products liability
Joyce Elden works at Sun
Award recognizes
He and his wife, Jane,
roll-up transactions, se-
Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s
vice president and senior
intellectual achievement,
“have been blessed with
curities, divestitures, joint
legislative director, and as
counsel. She manages the
integrity, commitment to
two great kids.” Grace
venture formations, and
an intelligence officer in
legal team dealing with
civility, and pursuit of
will graduate from the
liquidations of business
the CIA.
commercial mortgage
excellence and service.
EKU Nursing School in
assets inside and outside
Merritt is currently a
December and John is an
bankruptcy.
councilor of the state bar
and chair of its Lawyers
Assistance Program. He is
lending and real estate
Jim Campbell finished his
investment acquisitions
undergraduate at UVA
term as president of the
across the United States.
(Class of 2015).
International Association
In connection with this
of Defense Counsel
job, she and her husband,
Tom is glad they made
with Robinson Bradshaw &
the decision to remain in
Hinson in Charlotte, where
Charlottesville, which has
his practice includes a
been a great place to work
1983
and was appointed to
Dana, relocated to
Don Blackwell’s book,
a five-year term on the
Wellesley after 17 years
“Dear Ashley …” — A
Massachusetts State
in West Palm Beach, Fla.
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 63
Class notes
…
She has been selected as
Super Lawyers 2012. He
partner with Ulmer &
Edition in the areas of
incoming co-chair of the
was also listed in the area
Berne in Cincinnati, Ohio,
business litigation and
corporate counsel com-
of personal injury: medical
where he focuses his
intellectual property
mittee of the American
malpractice. Knopik is with
practice on product
litigation. He is of counsel
College of Mortgage
Knopik Deskins Law Group
liability and mass tort/
with Hill Ward and
Attorneys.
in Tampa, where he
occupational exposure.
Henderson in Tampa.
Harry “Hal” J. Hicks III
focuses his practice on
Neil L. Rose has been
Patrick Gottschalk has
personal injury, wrongful
elected a Fellow of the
Kurt J. Krueger is listed in
been appointed to the
death, medical negligence,
American College of Trust
Virginia Super Lawyers 2012
has been a partner at
executive committee of
and commercial litigation.
and Estate Counsel. He is a
in the area of mergers &
Skadden, Arps, resident
member with Willcox
acquisitions. He is a part-
in the Washington, D.C.,
Chamber of Commerce.
Greg L. Musil has been
Savage in Virginia Beach,
ner with McGuireWoods
office since he left the U.S.
the Greater Richmond
He is currently chair of the
named by Best Lawyers
Va., where he focuses his
in Charlottesville, where
Treasury in 2007. He is
economic development
2013 as the land use &
practice on federal and
he focuses his practice
global chair of Skadden’s
team at Williams Mullen,
zoning law Lawyer of
local taxation, estate
on working with public
international tax practice.
and previously served
the Year in Kansas City.
planning and administra-
and private closely held
He has been included
as Virginia’s Secretary of
He is a shareholder with
tion, and real estate and
corporations, as well as
repeatedly as a leading
Commerce and Trade
Polsinelli Shughart, where
corporate law.
partnerships and limited
tax lawyer in Chambers
under Governor Tim Kaine
he focuses his practice
liability companies.
USA, Chambers Global,
from January 2006 to
in construction, energy,
January 2010.
and real estate litigation;
1984
commercial litigation; and
Stan M. Haynes has
zoning and land use.
written a book about the
Best Lawyers, and similar
John Ragosta, currently
a resident fellow at the
publications.
Hal and his wife, Nancy,
Sam D. Eggleston III was
Virginia Foundation for
of 27 years (“clearly the
appointed general district
the Humanities, will be
woman is a saint”) live
origin and development
John E. Osborn was
court judge of the Twenty
spending the 2012-13
in McLean, Va. Their
of American political
recently appointed senior
Fourth Judicial District
academic year as a visiting
oldest son, Josh, recently
conventions entitled The
vice president, global
and began serving the
assistant professor of his-
graduated from Dickinson
First American Political
corporate affairs at Onyx
City of Lynchburg and
tory at Hamilton College
College and is a teacher
Conventions: Transforming
Pharmaceuticals, a global
Campbell County, Va., in
in Clinton, N.Y. His second
(“much more noble
Presidential Nominations,
company engaged in
that capacity on July 1. He
book, Religious Freedom:
than tax lawyer”). Their
1832–1872. (See his
the development and
previously practiced law in
Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s
middle son, Matthew,
website www.ameri-
commercialization of
Nelson County, Va.
Creed, will be published by
is a sophomore at the
canpoliticalconventions.
innovative therapies for
the University of Virginia
University of Richmond
com and In Print.) He is
improving the lives of
Press early in 2013.
and is on the lacrosse
with Semmes, Bowen &
cancer patients. He is
Semmes in Baltimore,
responsible for public
Md., where he focuses his
and government affairs
practice in litigation.
activities of the company
Their youngest son, Billy, is
as well as maintaining
in 10th grade. “Maybe he
key stakeholder relation-
will decide to go to college
ships. Onyx is based in
at UVA,” says Hal. “Our dog,
San Francisco, Calif. Prior
Maggie, has no plans on
team. They hope he will
1985
school at The University.
attending UVA.”
to joining Onyx, he was
executive vice president
K.C. Green is listed in Best
& general counsel with
Lawyers 2013 in mass tort
Dendreon Corporation, a
litigation and class
biotechnology company
actions–defendants and
William C. Guerrant Jr. is
Christopher Knopik has
that developed and com-
mass tort litigation and
listed in Florida Super
been named one of the
mercialized the first cancer
class actions–product
Lawyers 2012 and the 2012
Top 100 Lawyers in Florida
immunotherapy.
liability litigation. He is a
Super Lawyers Business
64 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
at least consider graduate
Class notes
…
involves defense of toxic
1986
tort and asbestos suits.
Gordon Brown ’75 is on
with Coca-Cola Co., where
the board of governors,
she provides employ-
Debbie Holloman is a
Neal Ellis ’75 is a former
ment counseling for the
career law clerk in the
member of the BOG,
company and spends
Eastern District of Virginia.
Norfleet Pruden ’73 is a
much of her time serving
She had the honor of
past NCBA president, and
on nonprofit boards and
providing pro bono work.
clerking for the Honorable
Mark Merritt ’82 received
Stephen M. Hudoba is listed
United States District
this year’s McKnight
She was instrumental in
in Florida Super Lawyers
Judge Richard L. Williams
Professionalism Award.
establishing the pro bono
2012 and Super Lawyers
’51 for 15 years. In 2005
Kutrow is a partner with
program at Coca-Cola
more than a decade ago.
Debbie was instrumental
McGuireWoods in Char-
a shareholder with Hill
Michael Regier has been
in establishing the Judge
lotte, where he focuses his
As chair of Coca-Cola’s
Ward Henderson in Tampa,
named Atlantic Health
Richard L. Williams ’51
practice in complex litiga-
pro bono committee she
where he practices in the
System’s vice president,
and Eugenia K. Williams
tion with emphasis on
accepted the American
real estate group.
legal affairs, and chief legal
Scholarship in honor of
business torts, securities,
Bar Association’s 2012
officer. Atlantic Health
Judge and Mrs. Williams,
and products liability.
National Public Service
System is one of the
and all of the Judge’s
largest non-profit health
law clerks contributed
care systems in New
to the scholarship. Upon
Jersey, and includes the
Judge Williams’s death in
Morristown, Overlook,
February 2011, his family
Elizabeth Finn Johnson
reappointed to a second
Newton Medical Centers,
requested that contribu-
was a finalist in the
eight-year term as U.S.
and Goryeb Children’s
tions to the scholarship
community champion
Magistrate Judge for
Hospital. Regier oversees
be made in his memory.
category for the Atlanta
the Western District of
Brad Marrs has formed
the system’s legal,
Debbie now clerks for the
Business Chronicle’s
North Carolina. Judge
the Marrs Law Firm in
compliance, risk and
Honorable U.S. District
corporate counsel awards.
Keesler hears federal
Richmond. He previously
claims management,
Judge Robert E. Payne.
She is senior litigation
civil and criminal matters
co-founded and led civil
internal audit teams, and
and employment counsel
arising in the 32 counties
litigation at Meyer,
insurance matters.
2012 Business Edition. He is
Debbie’s daughter,
Award.
1987
The Honorable David
C. Keesler has been
Rebecca Walker, an Echols
Scholar and college
Goergen & Marrs. He will
continue practicing civil
Judge Robert Vance is
science scholar, is in her
litigation with emphasis
the Alabama Democratic
second year in the College
on complex business and
party’s candidate for chief
of Arts and Sciences at Vir-
personal cases, construc-
justice in November. He
ginia. Debbie’s son, Robby
tion law, and
has served as a Jefferson
Walker, currently works in
business-to-business
County Circuit Court
Yeosu, South Korea.
collections.
judge in Birmingham’s
civil division since he was
Bradley R. Kutrow
Moffatt G. “Mott”
McDonald is listed in Best
appointed in 2002. He was
organized a reception for
elected in 2004 and again
Law School graduates at
Lawyers 2013 in bet-the-
in 2010.
the North Carolina Annual
Vance stepped in as
Bar Meeting in Wilmington
litigation-environmental.
the Democratic candidate
in June. A number of UVA
He is a shareholder with
when the previous
Law School graduates hold
John Mitnick ’87 and his wife, Carol Deane,
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd
candidate was taken out
or have held key positions
welcomed their daughter, Hadley Palmer Mitnick, on
in Greenville, S.C. where he
of the running in August
in the NCBA. Kutrow is
April 30. Carol is a rheumatology fellow at
represents clients in a vari-
for making inflammatory
chair of the appellate rules
Georgetown University Hospital, and John is vice
ety of complex contractual
statements. He will con-
committee, Judge Bob
president and general counsel of Raytheon Technical
and property disputes.
tinue his duties as circuit
Conrad ’83 is on the board
Services Company in Dulles, Va. They reside in
Much of his recent work
judge while campaigning.
of governors, the wife of
McLean.
company litigation and
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 65
Class notes
…
comprising the Western
Geoff S. Mearns became
District. He lives in
president of Northern
Charlotte with his wife,
Kentucky University
Susan, and their two
in August. He previ-
daughters, Amelia and
ously served as dean and
Caroline.
professor of law, then
Andrew Langhoff has
University’s Cleveland-
recently joined Burford
Marshall College of Law.
provost, at Cleveland State
Group as chief operating
Following Law School,
officer. Burford is the
Mearns practiced
world’s largest provider
law for more than 15
of investment capital and
years and served as a
risk solutions for litigation.
federal prosecutor in the
Burford has operations in
Department of Justice. As
New York and London, and
special assistant to the U.S.
is publicly traded on the
Attorney General he took
London Stock Exchange
part in the prosecution of
(ticker symbol: BUR).
Terry Nichols, one of the
Andrew, his wife, Katy,
defendants in the 1995
and their children William,
Oklahoma City bombing.
Caroline, and Elizabeth,
He also taught at Case
live in London.
Western Reserve University School of Law and
New York Law School.
European LL.M. Reunion
Keith Munson serves on
the Research Universities
The UVA LL.M. Reunion European Chapter met in Vienna, Austria July 5–8, and
Centers of Excellence
a good time was had by all.
Board and the South
Carolina Upstate Alliance
Economic Development
A guided tour of the Palace of Justice by two Supreme Court Justices and
a presentation on the Austrian Judiciary system was followed by academic
Steve McIntosh’s new
Board. He is with Womble
sessions on data protection and privacy and central Europe from 1918–2018. A
book, Evolution’s Purpose:
Carlyle in Greenville, where
visit to the Augarten Porcelain Museum was followed by wine tasting, a cellar
An Integral Interpretation of
he focuses his practice in
tour, and a Heurigen buffet dinner.
the Scientific Story of Our
product liability, medical
Origins, was published in
device, and business litiga-
A guided tour of the Museum Leopold was followed by coffee and streudel at
October. It presents a fresh
tion cases. Recently, Keith
one of Vienna’s finest restaurants, and an extraordinary formal dinner at the
perspective on the
and his wife, Suzanne,
Hotel Sacher. The next day, a High Mass and Gregorian chant at St. Augustine
intersection of evolution-
matriculated their last
Church was followed by an outstanding lunch at Restaurant Albertina.
ary science and
daughter into college, and
philosophy and delves into
Keith completed the Bike
At the business meeting which followed, it was decided the next reunion will
the very meaning of
Ride Across Nebraska with
be held in Ghent in two years and it is hoped many of our European alumni
evolution. (See In Print.)
his WWII veteran uncle.
will plan to attend. For information email Bart Goossens LL.M. ’87 at bg@gsj.
McIntosh is a founding
be or Christel Vergauwen Goossens LL.M. ’87 at cv@gsj.be, who will organize
partner of the Institute for
the 2014 reunions, or Detlev Oelfke LL.M. ’86 at detlev.oelfke@advopat.de, who
Cultural Evolution, a
Paxson was elected by the
oversees the European Alumni Association.
foundation involved in
Virginia General Assembly
social policy.
to her third term as a
In January Deborah
juvenile and domestic
66 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
relations district court
Norfolk, Va., where he
injury law. He was recently
2012 Legal Elite in health
Rutgers University in May.
judge. She has served on
routinely handles mergers
elected to chair the federal
care law. Snyder is with
She attended Douglass
the Virginia Beach JDRC for
and acquisitions, com-
employers liability act
Davis & Snyder, where he
College, which is now part
the past 12 years and was
mercial real estate
litigation group for the
specializes in representing
of Rutgers’ School of Arts
chief judge from 2005–06.
transactions, and estate
American Association of
physicians and hospitals in
and Sciences, before at-
From 2007–11 she served
planning matters. He and
Justice for the second
medical negligence litiga-
tending UVA Law. In 1997
on the Virginia Supreme
his wife, Denise, have a son
consecutive year. The FELA
tion and risk management.
Lewis founded a group
Court commission for
who is a sophomore at
litigation group brings
He lives with his wife and
called Sister Mentors that
mental health law reform,
Baylor University in Texas,
together lawyers from
their three teenagers on
offers support to women
where she was co-chair for
and another son who is a
across the country who
a small, non-working,
of color who aim to attend
the task force on children
junior in high school.
specialize in FELA/railroad
hillside “farm” in upstate
college and earn advanced
and adolescents. Recently
worker accidents. Cooper
South Carolina that is
degrees.
she was appointed to the
has represented injured
“reminiscent of the beauty
railroad workers in FELA
of Central Virginia.”
Virginia Wesleyan College
1988
claims against railroad
board of trustees.
Matthew McElhiney
moved his corporate and
Since 2007 Garry Carneal
companies since 1997.
John J. Rice has joined
has served as president
Cooper started a new firm,
Ballard Spahr as of counsel
and CEO of Schooner
Cooper Hurley, in Norfolk
in the litigation depart-
Healthcare Services,
that exclusively handles
Carol J. Bernick recently
Rock’s Denver offices. He
ment in San Diego, Calif.
a consulting firm that
plaintiff-side personal
made a month-long trip to
was recently elected as
He is also a member of the
focuses on promoting
injury law.
Africa, during which she
chairman of the board of
securities litigation and
and managing companies
spent two weeks working
directors of the University
white collar/investigations
with innovative products
on a Habitat for Humanity
of Colorado, Boulder
groups, focusing his
in the health care field. He
project in Zambia. She
Alumni Association. He
practice on white-collar
also continues to serve
and her 17-year-old son,
resides in Denver with his
criminal defense and com-
on several non-profit
Austin, worked with other
wife, Colleen, and son,
plex securities litigation.
boards promoting quality
Habitat participants from
Max (10).
Before joining Ballard
standards in medicine. In
North America to build
Spahr, Rice was with the
June he received the Case
two 400-square-foot
U.S. Attorney’s Office as
Management Advocate
houses and most of an
Assistant U.S. Attorney in
Award recognizing his
In May Wesley G. Marshall
outhouse during their
the Southern District of
contributions to the Case
was appointed commis-
stay. Bernick made her first
James Barker is the
California specializing in
Management Society of
sioner of the Virginia
Habitat trip three years
deputy office managing
public corruption cases.
America. In his spare time,
Workers’ Compensation
ago to Honduras. She
partner and head of the
He also served in the U.S.
he continues to restore
Commission by the
appreciates how this work
communications industry
Attorney’s office for the
and sail his classic sailboat
Virginia General Assembly.
provides the opportunity
group in the Washington,
Southern District of New
named Compass Rose. He
He serves as one of three
to interact with people
D.C., office of Latham &
York in the organized
lives in Annapolis, Md.,
commissioners who are
in a meaningful way and
Watkins. He writes, “I’m in
crime and terrorism
with his wife, Traci, and
appellate judges for the
directly impact people’s
touch with many impres-
section.
their three children.
workers’ compensation
lives. Bernick is partner-in-
sive UVA grads!”
system and share
charge with Davis Wright
responsibility for adminis-
Tremaine in Portland, Ore.,
Carolyn Ells Cheverine is
tering the system and its
where she represents
now the general coun-
266-person independent
employers in complex
sel–corporate affairs and
state agency.
employment cases, includ-
secretary for Cliffs Natural
ing numerous wage and
Resources, Inc., a Fortune
hour class actions.
500 international mining
Steven A. Snyder has been
1989
transactional practice,
along with three of his
other partners, to Kutak
1990
and natural resources
John Cooper is listed in
recognized by Greenville
Jeff Tinkham has opened
Virginia Super Lawyers 2012
Business Magazine as
Shireen Lewis received
company. Cliffs is head-
the Tinkham Law Group in
in the area of personal
one of South Carolina’s
an honorary degree from
quartered in Cleveland,
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 67
Class notes
…
Ohio, and operates iron
Lawyers 2012 and the 2012
focuses on projects
area of government
ore and metallurgical coal
Super Lawyers Business
concerning women and di-
relations. He is a founding
mines.
Edition in the area of real
versity. Several projects are
partner with Macaulay &
estate. He is a shareholder
already in development.
Burtch in Richmond,
Brian FitzGerald joined
with Hill Ward Henderson
Her 17-year-old daughter
where he has represented
Cullen and Dykman as
in Tampa.
is a senior in high school
corporations, associations,
and her 15-year-old is a
and local governments as
sophomore.
a lawyer and lobbyist since
partner-in-charge in the
newly opened office in
Susan M. Kennedy is
Albany, N.Y. He focuses his
counsel in the litigation
Jane Paulson has become
practice on representing
department and the
a Fellow of the American
energy, telecommunica-
white-collar defense,
College of Trial Lawyers
tions, and water clients
investigations, and corpo-
during the 2012 annual
before state public util-
rate compliance practice
meeting of the college in
ity commissions, federal
group with Wiggin and
New York, N.Y. She
Nate Finch is listed in
agencies, and in federal
Dana in Philadelphia, Pa.
becomes the fifth woman
Washington, D.C. Super
and state court. FitzGerald
She focuses her practice
from Oregon to become a
Lawyers 2012 in the areas
is listed in Upstate New
on securities and complex
fellow in the college. Jane
of personal injury plaintiff:
York Super Lawyers 2012
commercial litigation.
continues to work at
Alexander M. Macaulay is
products; personal injury
plaintiff: general; and se-
in the areas of energy and
he graduated.
1992
Paulson Coletti Trial
listed in Virginia Super
natural resources, com-
Ronald V. Minionis, who
Attorneys with her father,
Lawyers 2012 and listed in
curities litigation. He is a
munications, and utilities.
is with Legal Services of
Chuck Paulson, and her
Best Lawyers 2012 in the
member with Motley Rice.
He was previously with
Northern Virginia, has
law partner, John Coletti.
Dewey & LeBoeuf.
also been teaching trial
advocacy at the George
Dan Renberg continues
Sarah A. Good has joined
Washington School of Law
to serve as practice group
Pillsbury as a litigation
for the past two years. On
leader for the government
partner in San Francisco,
teaching he reports, “It has
relations group at Arent
Calif., where she focuses
been challenging but fun!”
Fox in Washington, D.C.,
handling federal relations
her practice on securities
and consumer class action
Timothy J. Nagle LL.M.
for hospitals, universities,
litigation and complex
has joined Reed Smith as
medical device manu-
general commercial
counsel in Washington,
facturers, and various
disputes. Before joining
D.C. He is a member of
companies and associa-
Pillsbury, Good was a
the data security, privacy
tions. “I’m using my Con
partner at Arnold & Porter
& management practice
Law knowledge from A.E.
and served as chair of the
group. He was previously
Dick Howard ’61 on a
Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain LL.M ’92 was honored
litigation department at
with Bank of America,
daily basis,” he writes.
at a special session of judges of the U.S. Court of
Howard Rice Nemerovski
where he was assistant
Canady Falk & Rabkin
general counsel and
before those firms merged.
advised the chief informa-
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that convened in
1991
tion security officer and
Jonathan P. Jennewein is
listed in Florida Super
68 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Portland, Ore., on May 10. The proceedings included
the presentation and hanging of an oil portrait of
Judge O’Scannlain that was commissioned with
business units such as
This year Tonya Lewis Lee
contributions from more than 70 former law clerks.
online banking, credit card
launched Healthyyounow.
The judge, nominated to the bench by President
issuing, and corporate
com, a women’s online
Ronald Reagan in 1986, has served on the Ninth
banking on matters re-
health magazine. She
Circuit Court of Appeals for more than 25 years. In
lated to network security,
also joined forces with
addition to his duties on the bench, O’Scannlain
procurement, background
her producing partner
currently serves as chair of the international judicial
screening, privacy and
and formed a new
relations committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference,
business continuity.
production company,
the national governing body for federal courts.
ToniK Productions, which
Class notes
…
Jeffrey N. Naness “stays
judge advocate with the
counsel at Analog Devices,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” he
previously a partner with
busy practicing labor and
82nd Airborne Division
where he provides legal
writes.
Bowman and Brooke.
employment law on behalf
at Fort Bragg, N.C., was
counsel in several areas,
of management, bringing
selected for promotion to
including intellectual
T. Maria Lam is Intel’s
up his boys, and playing
the rank of Colonel.
property, manufacturing,
director of China patent
information technology,
strategy after spending
keyboards in his charity
band.” He is a partner with
Robert J. Schmidt Jr.
cloud computing, environ-
five years as licensing
Naness, Chaiet & Naness in
has been recognized in
ment health and safety,
counsel. She will continue
Jericho, N.Y.
Chambers USA 2012 as
marketing, social media,
to live in California with
one of Ohio’s “Leaders in
and corporate social
her husband and two
Patricia M. Tereskerz
Their Field” in the area
responsibility.
children, but will travel
recently published Clinical
of natural resources and
Research and the Law, a
the environment. He is a
Leezie Kim has been
practical guide to the legal
partner with Porter Wright
named to DiversityMBA
implications of conduct-
in Columbus, where he
ing clinical research and
represents clients in all
trials (see In Print). She is
major environmental
Jonathan T. Blank is
leaders list for 2012. She
director of the Program
programs involving the
listed in Virginia Super
was honored at the
in Ethics and Policy at the
Clean Air Act, Clean
Lawyers 2012 in the area
magazine’s awards gala in
UVA School of Medicine
Water Act, Superfund,
of energy and natural
Chicago, Ill., in September.
Center for Biomedical
solid and hazardous waste,
Brian Booker is listed in
resources. He is a partner
Kim is a partner in the
Ethics and Humanities
emergency planning, and
Southwest Super Lawyers
with McGuireWoods in
corporate services group
and chairs the conflicts of
agricultural issues.
2012 in the area of
Charlottesville, where he
with Quarles & Brady in
business litigation. He is a
is co-chair of the energy
Phoenix, Ariz., where she
Dana Young was re-elected
partner with Quarles &
litigation group.
focuses her practice on
to her second term in
Brady in Phoenix, Ariz.,
the Florida House of
where he focuses his
Jeff Cottle lives in
the laws of national
Representatives. Her
practice on commercial
London, England, where
security and international
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Gregory
district includes the City
litigation with emphasis
he is in charge of the
business transactions, as
L. Bowman, legislative
of Tampa and portions of
on commercial and
legal team responsible for
well as health care and
counsel and strategic mili-
Hillsborough County. Dana
professional liability, real
anti-corruption and trade
restaurant business
tary law/policy advisor to
is married to Matt Young
estate, securities fraud,
compliance at the world’s
transactions. She returned
the Secretary of the Army
and has two daughters.
and products liability.
largest mining company,
to Quarles & Brady after
BHP Billiton.
four years as White House
currently nine months
Wanda L. Wright is
Department of Homeland
into a one-year, boots-
an administrative law
Security and as general
judge with the Social
counsel to then Arizona
interest committee at UVA.
1993
frequently to Asia.
1995
50 diverse executive
in Washington, D.C. was
selected for promotion to
the rank of colonel.
1994
Magazine’s Top 100 Under
helping clients navigate
appointee to the U.S.
Maj. Michael Gould is
J. Brian Jackson is
Earlier this year, Anil
on-ground deployment
listed in Virginia Super
Adyanthaya was elected
to Camp Phoenix,
Security Administration in
Governor Janet
Lawyers 2012 in the area
president of the Newton
Afghanistan, where he is
Fayetteville, N.C.
Napolitano ’83.
of transportation and
Upper Falls Area Council.
chief of detainee opera-
maritime law. He is a part-
Newton Upper Falls is one
tions in the office of the
ner with McGuireWoods in
of the villages that com-
staff judge advocate for
1996
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
Charlottesville, where he
prise the city of Newton,
Task Force 435. He gives
maintains a diverse practice
Mass. In November, Anil
advice to the commanding
Candace Blydenburgh
ment, and litigation–labor
and coordinates the
will be debuting a new
general on operational law
joined McGuireWoods
& employment. He is a
transportation law group.
column for ACC Docket, the
and military justice issues.
as partner in the toxic
partner with Vorys, Sater,
journal of the Association
“I look forward to going
tort and environmental
Seymour and Pease in
of Corporate Counsel.
back to my wife and three
litigation department in
Columbus, Ohio, and a
He is senior corporate
kids (16, 14, and 12) in
Richmond, Va. She was
member of the labor and
U.S. Army Lt. Col. John P.
“Jack” Ohlweiler, staff
Mark A. Knueve is listed
employment law–manage-
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 69
Class notes
…
Law Alum Co-Founds the Cloverleaf School in Atlanta
by Jennifer Murphy Romig ‘98
Joy Taylor ‘98 enters the doors of the school, eyes shining and heels click-
of tasks, such as forming a 501(c)(3) organization for tax purposes and
ing, and quickly spots a bright eight-year-old face at the helm of a big-kid
applying to be the recipient of state funds for disabled students enter-
tricycle. That is Oscar, Joy’s son and the motivating force behind her new
ing private schools. Founding parent Julie Smith manages the school’s IT
role as co-founder of the Cloverleaf School. Along with two other families
and human-resources needs. Another founding family, Mark Ledden and
and an experienced teacher, Joy and her husband, Greg Dobrasz, opened
Susan Anderson, brought strength in the accreditation process through
the Cloverleaf School in Atlanta in January. It admits students with neuro-
Susan’s work at Spelman College. The Cloverleaf School is fully accredited
divergent or neuro-behavioral issues, the most common diagnoses being
by the Georgia Accrediting Commission.
ADHD or high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.
Joy and Greg had been working with Oscar since he was two years
One of the Cloverleaf School’s ultimate goals is to have a 3:1 or 4:1
student-teacher ratio; for the founding semester, that ratio is lower. Each
old, exploring a variety of therapies
student will have the opportunity to
and school options. “I know Oscar and I
participate in classwide goals as well as
know he’s capable, but he needs a lot of
to progress on an individualized plan.
social and emotional support or he just
Teachers have been thrilled with the
shuts down,” Joy said. Each expert and
opportunity to pick and choose among
each school they encountered offered
teaching resources to individualize the
something, but they wanted a place for
curriculum to each child. “We want to
Oscar that added academic ambitions
keep them engaged, whether they are
alongside sensory-integration work and
inflecting inward, which is common with
social skills development. Along the way
autism, or outward, which is common
in Joy and Greg’s quest, they met a hand-
with ADHD,” Joy said. Teachers noted that
ful of other families with similar goals
the Cloverleaf School’s multidisciplinary
and ultimately decided to “hold hands
approach gives teachers the flexibility
and jump into the abyss together” by
to respond to each individual student’s
founding a new school.
areas of struggle and strength.
The Cloverleaf School’s motto is “quo
A typical school day at the Clover-
vadis,” Latin for “where are you going?”
leaf School includes the “morning
This motto reflects the school’s premise
meeting” with the kids, individual and
that children with learning differences
explicit social skills instruction, a student
do not have fixed destinies; rather, their
inquiry-based class period called “Buddy
outcomes can be influenced by their
Time.” An hour of language and an hour
of math are integrated throughout the
social and academic environments. Joy
is passionate about this motto: “More than with typically developing kids,
school day, as well as coverage of other elementary subject areas such as
no one can guarantee how things will turn out. The only sure bet is that
social studies and science. Teachers also add in enrichment classes such
every day will look different and we will always try our best. We don’t know
as hiking, yoga, cooking, soccer, and sewing, which help with motor skills
where we are going, but we are on the road to somewhere. But you can’t
and social skills.
get very far without teachers who passionately believe that these kids
The school’s current location is in two comfortable classrooms within
have academic potential. The reality is often that challenging kids who
Sensations Therafun, a facility for sensory and occupational therapy just
struggle with classroom behavior can present difficulties and sometimes
outside the Atlanta city limits. While it has been a welcoming home for
even meltdowns. As parents, we need teachers who believe that the prog-
the school’s first year, the need for green space and room to grow will lead
ress is worth the behavior, worth the ‘hassle.’”
the Cloverleaf School to sublease new space in a Buckhead-area church
Beyond a palpable love for Oscar, Joy brought her legal and manage-
for the 2012–2013 school year. Walking around the current location, Joy
ment skills to founding the Cloverleaf School, incorporating it and hiring
beams at the school and at Oscar, “I never thought I’d start a school, yet
the first faculty members. Joy also works full time as the administrator at
now I can’t imagine my son’s life without it.”
Peachtree Neurosurgery. Her training and background left her unafraid
70 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
employment practice
USA 2012 in the area of real
and individuals in need of
Department of Justice’s
Amy E. Davis is lead author
group.
estate. He was also listed
legal help. He was recently
environment division.
of the Guide to Protecting
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
senior counsel and is now
Justin and Jason Dunn ’98
and Litigating Trade Secrets,
land use & zoning law and
interim chief counsel
focus on Clean Air Act
published by the American
real estate law. He is with
of the American Cancer
enforcement against
Bar Association and
Smith Moore Leatherwood
Society. In addition to his
coal-fired power plants.
available at americanbar.
in Greensboro, N.C., where
demanding work with
org. The guide provides
he focuses his practice in
ACS, he volunteers with
an academic look at trade
real estate development
the Pro Bono Partnership
secret law and offers
and finance, representing
of Atlanta, through which
current, real-life examples
Scott Orchard has joined
lenders, developers, and
he has advised more than
of trade secret nightmares
Duffy & Sweeney as a
operating companies.
30 non-profits on legal
drawing on the litigation
partner in Providence, R.I.
issues related to their
experience of Davis and
He focuses his practice on
Laura Deddish Burton is
tax-exempt status. His pro
her co-authors to provide
mergers & acquisitions,
listed in Best Lawyers 2013
bono work extends to the
private equity and venture
in the area of immigration
Atlanta Legal Aid Society,
Colby Walton has been
business owner, small legal
capital, and securities law.
law. She is with Smith
the Atlanta Volunteer
appointed to the board of
department or firm, and
Moore Leatherwood in
Lawyers Foundation, and
directors of Leadership
solo practitioner (see In
Greensboro, N.C., where
the Probate Information
Fort Worth, one of the
Print).
she focuses her practice
Center, where he
oldest community
on immigration and
offers free counsel to
leadership development
important move, recently
international law.
low-income citizens. He
programs in the U.S., for a
joining Christiansen Davis
also mentors volunteers
one-year term. Walton
and trains other volunteer
recently graduated from
partner. Davis is a trial
attorneys in pro bono
the organization’s 2011-12
attorney in the areas of
service.
leadership class. He is a
business and employment
Eric Perkins co-authored a
practical advice to the
Davis has also made an
Bullock as a named
senior vice president with
law. CDB is a Dallas-based
modern history of tennis
Glenn Saks recently
Cooksey Communications,
law firm providing busi-
in Richmond, Va.
helped launch United
a marketing communica-
ness, litigation, and family
Richmond—One of
Disability Lawyers Group,
tions agency that
law services to individuals
and businesses worldwide.
new book chronicling the
which serves clients in
specializes in working with
features a foreword by
Ted Hollifield has joined
all 50 states and U.S.
professional services firms.
John McEnroe and many
Alston & Bird as partner in
territories, as well as locally
He lives in Colleyville, Tex.,
Gary Gansle recently
stories of the people,
the Silicon Valley office,
in the San Fernando Valley
with his wife, Kim.
celebrated a highlight in
places, and events that
where he focuses on
and Los Angeles area of
have made Richmond a
corporate and securities
Southern California. His
great tennis town for over
law with emphasis on
practice is exclusively de-
a century (See In Print).
public equity and debt
voted to helping its clients
offerings, venture capital
obtain Social Security
John A. Chiocca and his
directors of Yahoo to take
financings, mergers and
Disability and benefits
wife and law partner,
the helm of the technol-
acquisitions, and general
from the government.
Rochelle Birnbaum
ogy giant. Mayer, at 37, is
Chiocca, celebrated
one of the youngest CEOs
America’s Best Tennis Towns
1997
representation of
his legal career when he
1998
was called on by Marissa
Mayer to help her reach
a deal with the board of
emerging growth
Justin Savage recently
their law firm’s tenth
of a Fortune 500 and one
companies.
spoke at Yale Law
anniversary with the
of a small group of women
School’s Conference
purchase of a new office
CEOs in that arena. “It was
Tim Phillips won a com-
on New Directions in
and a move into Chiocca
a genuine pleasure help-
munity champion award
Environmental Law.
& Chiocca’s permanent
ing add a significant crack
from the Atlanta Business
He is a senior counsel
home in Wellington, Fla., in
to the glass ceiling facing
Brian W. Byrd received
Chronicle in June for his
in the environmental
September.
many women executives,
recognition in Chambers
work with non-profits
enforcement section of the
especially given that
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 71
Class notes
…
Ms. Mayer was pregnant
entertainment, intellec-
at Baker & Hostetler in
during the negotiations
Bill MacDonald,
tual property, and art law
Washington, D.C., and as a
and recently gave birth to
his wife, Deirdre,
practice, The Moore Firm,
law clerk to the Honorable
a healthy baby boy.”
and their son, Jack
is based in Atlanta, where
Henry E. Frye, Sr., a former
Gansle is the head of
(“2½ going on 18”),
she lives with her husband
chief justice of the North
the labor and employment
recently welcomed
and three children.
Carolina Supreme Court.
department with Dorsey &
the addition of
Whitney in Palo Alto, Calif.
twins, William
James F. Neale is listed
Josh Waxman is a
In addition to representing
Grayson and Quinn
in Virginia Super Lawyers
shareholder in Littler
Mendelson’s Washington,
Mayer, he represents the
Alexa. “None have slept since July,” writes Bill, a
2012 in the area of
revolutionary electric
partner in the advertising, marketing, and promo-
personal injury defense:
D.C., office, where his
carmaker Tesla Motors and
tions group, and the intellectual property and
general. He is a partner
practice focuses on wage
many other technology
corporate practice groups with Olshan Frome
with McGuireWoods in
and hour and employment
companies in Silicon
Wolosky in New York City.
Charlottesville, where
class action litigation, as
Valley, and has successfully
he serves as co-chair of
well as traditional labor
litigated a wide variety
the food-borne illness
work, for clients across
of employment cases
professor on Widener
agreed to plead guilty and
litigation practice group.
the country. He lives in
that involve issues of
Law’s Delaware campus.
pay $3 billion to resolve its
His trial practice focuses
Maryland with his wife,
liabilities.
on high-exposure cases in
Alicia, and sons, Andrew
courts across the country.
(11) and Christopher (7),
race, sex, disability, age
discrimination, and wage
Soye Kim continues her
and hour disputes. Gansle
work as a senior counsel
Stan McCoy and Nathalie
has also established a
at the National Labor
Collard-McCoy LL.M. ’00
In September India
training practice in which
Relations Board. In March
are pleased to announce
Pinkney was appointed
he conducts programs for
2011, then-chairman
the birth of their son,
general counsel for the
managers and employees
Wilma Liebman hired Kim
Benjamin Kenneth McCoy,
National Endowment for
nationwide on topics
as a senior counsel. After
on May 27 in Washington,
the Arts, becoming the
and daughter, Grace (4).
relating to employment.
Liebman’s term ended,
D.C. Stan continues to
first African-American
His presentations include
Kim worked for the current
serve as assistant U.S.
general counsel in the
“Managing Within the
chair, Mark Pearce, and
trade representative
NEA’s history. She has
Law” and “Preventing
member Craig Becker. As of
for intellectual prop-
been at the NEA since
In May Erica Y. Williams
Harassment and
January Kim is on member
erty and innovation in
March 2011 and previously
was named deputy chief
Discrimination in the
Sharon Block’s staff.
the office of the U.S. Trade
served as acting general
of staff of the Securities
Representative. Nathalie
counsel and assistant
and Exchange
Andy Mao, senior counsel
started a new job as a staff
general counsel.
Commission. She has been
Delaware Supreme Court
for health care fraud and
attorney at Arnold & Porter
Justice Randy J. Holland
elder justice at the U.S.
in December. They reside
NEA, Pinkney worked
Mary Schapiro’s staff since
LL.M. was recently
Department of Justice,
in Bethesda, Md.
at the Federal Aviation
February 2011, with a
honored with the First
was on the team that
Administration for many
focus on enforcement and
State Distinguished
successfully led the
Tara L. Mehrbach has
years, where she served as
regulatory issues. Williams
Service Award given
federal government’s
joined McManus Darden
legal counsel to the Safe
joined the SEC in 2004 as
by the Delaware State
health care fraud case
& Felsen, a construc-
Skies for Africa Program.
assistant chief litigation
Bar Association at the
against GlaxoSmithKline
tion litigation firm in
During a fellowship she
counsel in the enforce-
Washington, D.C.
became the first American
ment division’s trial unit,
to work in the legal bureau
where she led trial teams
Workplace.”
Before going to the
a member of SEC chairman
Delaware bench and bar
for promoting off-
conference. The award is
label unapproved uses of
the highest honor given by
prescription drugs, failure
Lisa Moore was recently
of the International Civil
in a number of successful
the DSBA. Justice Holland
to report some safety data,
featured as one of 12
Aviation Organization, the
prosecutions.
was appointed to the
and for alleged false price
lawyers under 40 and
United Nations’ organiza-
Delaware Supreme Court
reporting. In a record-
on the rise in Georgia by
tion governing civil
Senator Ted Kaufman
in 1986. Since 1991 he
setting settlement, the
the Fulton County Daily
aviation worldwide. Prior
of Delaware recognized
has taught as an adjunct
pharmaceutical company
Report. Her boutique
to that, Pinkney worked
Williams on the Senate
72 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
In October 2009,
Class notes
…
floor as among “the
of counsel at Lewis and
innovative solutions to
M.L. Saylor, welcomed the
unsung heroes who work
Roca, and in June was
ensure that their assets,
birth of their son, Thomas
every day on behalf of
elected to the board
products, infrastructure,
Thor Olai Peterson, on
the Nation with great
of directors of the San
and processes meet
August 2. George is hope-
effort and often with great
Francisco Shakespeare
standards and regulations
ful that “he grows up with
sacrifice.” By that time she
Festival and the San
in terms of quality, health
Tania’s looks, brains, and
had distinguished herself
Francisco Friends of Music.
and safety, environmental
as a trial lawyer involving
Both groups work to
protection, and social
In July Jonathan C.C. Day
several important cases
further the spread of arts
responsibility.
celebrated the fifth
concerning accounting
and arts-based education
and fraud. One case
in the Bay Area.
Catherine’s son,
pretty much every other
essential characteristic.”
anniversary of his law firm
Hadrien (2), was joined
in Houston, Tex. Day PLLC
fought in federal court
in late September by a
focuses on litigation,
involved insider trading
sister, Clémence. “They
business counseling, and
are doing great and keep
community development.
mately $3 million in illegal
us busy! Needless to say
Jonathan and
profits. SEC v. Nothern was
we are delighted and feel
Kate Day ’97, a partner at
highly unusual in that it
blessed, although our
Bracewell & Giuliani, live in
Anthony M. Russell was
focused on U.S. Treasury
nights are rather short…!
the Houston Heights with
named a rising star in
bonds. Williams and
Last year we were able to
their two children, Molly
Virginia Super Lawyers 2012
her team had to prove
see a few classmates in
and Charlie.
in the area of personal
that the defendant used
Paris or abroad and had
insider knowledge from
Whitney Calvert has
a great time. Classmates
someone in the Treasury
joined Dinsmore as a
Department. With fewer
partner in the corporate
resources than are usually
department in Lexington,
available to private sector
Ky., where she is a member
Heath Henderson (USMC),
James E. Weatherholtz
litigators, Williams and
of the mergers & acquisi-
and their six-year-old
was recognized as a rising
her colleagues spent
tions and natural resources
triplet girls, has “finally
star in South Carolina Super
long hours building their
practice groups. She
settled down in a practice.”
Lawyers 2012 in the area
case, argued their points
concentrates her practice
Marissa is a partner with
of construction litigation.
effectively, and won.
on m & a and general
Ventker and Warman in
He is with Womble Carlyle
corporate law with an
Norfolk, Va., where she’ll
in Charleston, where he
Williams will continue
emphasis on mineral and
practice admiralty and
focuses his practice on
to protect investors and
energy law.
maritime law, with an em-
the representation of
that generated approxi-
As deputy chief of staff,
1999
work to ensure that U.S.
injury plaintiff: medical. He
is a partner with Gentry
are invited to contact me
Marissa Marriott
Henderson, after
Locke Rakes & Moore in
should they have a chance
numerous military moves
Roanoke.
to come to Paris!”
with her husband, M.
Stephanie L. Chandler is
phasis on federal litigation
construction products
markets function in a fair
Olivier Catherine LL.M.
listed in S.A. Scene’s San
and other defense-related
manufacturers, contrac-
and efficient manner.
was promoted to vice
Antonio Lawyers Best of
litigation.
tors, homebuilders, and
“It’s really exciting to be
president, general counsel
2012 list in the area of
working on some of the
& compliance officer for
business & corporate law.
Benjamin S. Martin is a
most cutting-edge issues
both a division (govern-
She is a partner with
partner with Epstein Becker
in the financial world,”
ment services) and a zone
Jackson Walker, where she
& Green in Washington,
says Williams. “And that’s
(Middle East, India, Russia,
focuses her practice on
D.C., where his practice
exactly what I get to do in
Africa) of Bureau Veritas,
securities transactions,
focuses on governmental
my new position.”
a leader in conformity
reporting and compliance,
regulation of the pharma-
Nathalie Collard-McCoy
LL.M. and Stan McCoy ’98
assessment and certifica-
mergers and acquisitions,
ceutical and medical device
are pleased to announce
Jeff Wutzke and his
tion services with offices
technology licensing and
industries. He joined the
the birth of their son,
husband relocated to the
and labs in 140 countries.
commercialization, and
firm in July 2007.
Benjamin Kenneth McCoy,
San Francisco Bay Area in
The group helps its clients
general corporate work.
May 2011 after working
improve their performance
She also leads the
George O. Peterson and his
D.C. Nathalie joined
a year in Vermont. He is
by offering services and
technology section.
wife and law partner, Tania
Arnold & Porter as a staff
sureties.
2000
on May 27, in Washington,
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 73
Class notes
…
Law Alumni Weekend 2012
REUNION 2012
1200+
Alumni and guests in
attendance
22
lanterns hung in the
Caplin Tent
2
retiring Law Professors
300+
tours of Monticello taken
by alumni and guests
650+
Virginia ham biscuits
enjoyed at the Saturday
breakfast
275+
omelets made to order at
the Sunday Brunch
74 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
Coonerty also is the
attorney in December.
so recognized. He has
Division (EPD) of the
criminologist to launch
Stan continues to serve as
brought cases against
Georgia Department
PredPol.com (Predictive
co-founder and chief
assistant U.S. trade repre-
giant biotech companies,
of Natural Resources
Policing), a startup that
strategist of NextSpace
sentative for intellectual
including Myriad and
effective January 1, 2012.
gives police departments
Coworking + Innova-
property and Innovation
Monsanto (Organic
As the state agency
real time predictions on
tion, which provides
in the office of the U.S.
Seed Growers and Trade
charged with protecting
where and when crime will
physical space and
Trade Representative. They
Association v. Monsanto)
Georgia’s air, land, and
occur. PredPol uses
virtual infrastructure for
reside in Bethesda, Md.
and drugmakers like
water resources through
cloud-based analytics to
creative collaboration
Johnson & Johnson (Public
the authority of state and
tell police departments
among freelancers,
Patent Foundation v.
federal environmental
the 500 square foot
entrepreneurs, and other
McNeil-PPC).
statutes, EPD regulates
locations where they
professionals. NextSpace
public and private facilities
should focus resources
has six locations across
law class from the Honor-
in the areas of air quality,
during a shift to cut down
California. PredPol used
able Randall Rader while
hazardous waste, water
on crime, particularly
the NextSpace platform
at the Law School, a class
supply, solid waste, surface
property crime, gangs, and
to develop its product.
so interesting that he says
mining, underground
assaults. A handful of
“NextSpace and PredPol
Michael P. Elkon has been
that before it was over
storage tanks, and others.
California cities already use
are a lot of fun because
recognized as a rising star
he knew that patent law
The director of EPD issues
the software, and 150
both are re-envisioning
in Georgia Super Lawyers
was what he wanted to
and enforces all state
police agencies around
how you do traditional
2012 in the area of
pursue. In private practice
permits in these areas
the world have expressed
city functions—economic
employment litigation. He
he focused on defense and
and has full delegation
interest as well. Studies
development and public
is of counsel with Fisher &
transactional work and
for federal environmental
have shown the software
safety—in a new, more
Phillips in Atlanta.
counseled clients in how
permits except Section
to reduce crime 12–20
innovative way,” notes
they could pursue technol-
404 (wetlands) permits.
percent, and it was chosen
Coonerty.
Ravicher took a patent
ogy without getting in
by Time magazine as one
the way of others’ rights.
of the top 50 inventions
Gary M. Farmer Sr. LL.M.
of 2011.
is listed in Best Lawyers
Currently he is executive
2001
director of the Public
Patent Foundation, where
Dave Bell and his wife,
he represents the public
Elizabeth, welcomed
interest in patent cases.
their third child, Zachary
Douglas Bell, in November
Jon Davidson Levin has
joined Maynard, Cooper &
Tonya Sulia Goodman
2011. In addition, Dave
Gale in Huntsville, Ala., as a
has returned to federal
recently started a new job
member of the general
prosecution and is an as-
as corporate counsel at
corporate and govern-
sistant U.S. Attorney in
Marriott International in
ment contracts and bid
the U.S. Attorney’s Office
their dispute resolution/
protests practice groups.
for the Western District of
litigation department.
He previously practiced
Pennsylvania, assigned to
announce the birth of their daughter and first child,
government contracts law
the fraud-public corrup-
Anneliese. She was born on December 30, 2011, in
within the intelligence
tion section.
Durham, N.C. “We are so blessed by her arrival!” In
community in
Washington, D.C.
Andrew Bell ’01 and Betsy Jordan-Bell are pleased to
August, Andrew and Betsy moved to Washington,
In December 2011 Judson
D.C., where Andrew continues his Ph.D. in political
H. Turner was nominated
science (international relations) as a predoctoral
In July Dan Ravicher was
by Georgia Governor
fellow at the Institute for Security and Conflict
named one of the “Most
Nathan Deal and later
Studies at the Elliott School for International Affairs,
Influential People in IP”
approved by the Board
Ryan Coonerty, former
George Washington University. His research focuses
by Managing Intellectual
of Natural Resources to
mayor of Santa Cruz, Cal.,
on the intersection of international humanitarian
Property magazine. He was
become director of the
teamed up with a math
law, military training, and military operations.
one of only 15 Americans
Environmental Protection
professor and a
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 75
Class notes
…
2013 in the area of
go unfilled for longer
he focuses his practice on
2011 as International
Elections and Referenda”
appellate practice. He is
and longer periods, and
appellate advocacy and
Trade Counsel for ranking
with the German Law
of counsel with Farmer,
the nomination process
insurance coverage. He
member Orrin Hatch
Journal, the other on the
Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards,
is bogged down by
teaches a course on the
and the committee
“Alignment of National
Fistos & Lehrman in Fort
politization, even down to
history of the Supreme
Republicans, after having
Government Liability Law
Lauderdale, Fla., where
the district court level. He
Court at Goucher College.
spent three years setting
in Europe after Francovich”
he provides litigation
proposes one way to give
up a new FedEx office in
with Springer’s ERA Forum.
support and appellate
some practical relief: “Only
representation in both civil
and criminal cases. Before
joining the firm he served
as appellate judge for the
Washington, D.C., working
a large volume of consen-
Monica M. Welt and
Babak Djourabchi were
sus nominations, coupled
overjoyed at the birth
commercial advocacy. He
with a more efficient
of their daughter, Leah
handles trade, internation-
process for confirming
Maxine Djourabchi, on
al economic policy, and
Fourth District Court of
consensus nominees,
October 17, 2011. “She is
investment matters for the
Appeal from 1991 to 2010.
can alleviate the crisis of
happy, healthy, and a joy,”
committee. He surprised
judicial vacancies.” He cites
Monica writes. “We could
his wife, Meg, by propos-
Jason Gabbard reor-
one example, in which
not feel more blessed!”
ing on the Speaker’s
ganized his boutique
Fourth Circuit Judge James
balcony in the Capitol
law firm in 2011 and
Wynn’s nomination was
Afi Johnson-Parris has
rebranded it as the
unanimously reported by
2002
on May 20, 2011. They
were married on April 14
been named chair of the
Forefront Law Group. The
the Judiciary Committee,
at the Little Sanctuary at
North Carolina Bar
firm employs 12 attorneys
but it took more than six
Carter Burwell has joined
St. Albans School on the
Association law practice
exclusively focused on
months for the Senate to
the national security &
Cathedral grounds. They
management section for
growth stage companies
confirm him by unanimous
international crime unit at
live in Washington, D.C.
2012–13. Last year she
and the institutions and
consent. Wynn’s seat had
the U.S. Attorney’s Office
investors that capitalize
been unfilled for 16 years.
for the Eastern District of
on international trade and
participated in the
American Bar Association’s
them, ranging from MBOs
Klepper suggests a
Virginia. He was previously
Bernd J. Hartmann
LL.M. just finished his
to venture capital deals to
way to help de-politicize
an assistant U.S. Attorney
second book on public
leadership program.
traditional private equity
the judicial confirmation
in New York.
liability law. Last year he
Johnson-Parris has a solo
plays. Forefront currently
process and clear Senate
was a visiting professor
practice in Greensboro
has offices in New York
schedules for matters of
Drew Cannady joined the
to Heidelberg University
specializing in divorce and
City and Greenwich, Conn.,
real public controversy. He
office of chief counsel,
School of Law. He has
family law.
and is in the process of
proposes the Senate adopt
United States Secret
been teaching classes on
opening a third office
a rule that whenever the
Service, in 2009, where he
German constitutional
In July Ryan M. Malone re-
in San Francisco, where
Judiciary Committee
practices employment,
history and European
ceived a champion award
Gabbard hopes to recruit
reports a nominee without
tort, and constitutional law.
a partner-level attorney
opposition, a voice vote
to build the Bay Area
be taken within 48 hours.
business.
national diversity
Union law at the University
from the National Law
of Muenster School of
Journal. The award honors
Paul DeLaney joined
Law. Two of his recent
attorneys who uphold the
Such a rule, he argues,
the Senate Finance
articles are forthcoming
profession’s core values
would encourage the
Committee at the
in an English translation,
through public service,
Steven M. Klepper’s
President to choose
beginning of the 112th
one on “Self-Interest and
pro bono efforts, and
commentary, “Confirming
nonpartisan nominees
Congress in February
the Common Good in
advocacy for civil liberties.
Consensus Nominees
with excellent credentials.
Quickly,” appeared in the
Ultimately people would
September issue of The
have more confidence in
Federal Lawyer. Klepper
the federal judiciary and
Lesley Pate Marlin ’02 and her husband, Harry,
notes in his piece how
swifter justice would be
welcomed twin boys, Hunter Peyton and Colby
the federal judiciary is
served by the courts.
Lyon, on June 5. She is a labor and employment
increasingly overworked,
vacancies on the bench
76 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Klepper is a principal
lawyer for General Dynamics Information
with Kramon & Graham
Technology in Fairfax, Va., and the family resides in
in Baltimore, Md., where
Arlington.
Class notes
…
National Law Journal
specifically highlighted
officers on a daily basis.
De Pontes advocates a
Stefan Teichert writes
largest jury verdict ever
that after nearly a decade
rendered in the jurisdic-
cap-and-trade proposals.
his involvement in the
series of improvements to
of BigLaw life, he has left
tion. Beshear is a member
West Memphis Three case
the law aimed at making
the billable hours behind
with Stites & Harbison
that resulted in freedom
the Conselho Fiscal more
and is splitting his time
in Louisville, where his
for his client, Damien
effective: independence
as an advisor with career
practice includes litigation,
Echols, and the other two
of members, enhanced
services at the University
business and finance,
defendants, and his recent
qualifications and a
of San Diego School of
non-profit, environmental,
victory before U.S. Court
liability regime are among
Law and as a trip leader for
and economic develop-
of Appeals for the Fourth
the changes discussed
Backroads, an active travel
ment matters. He was
Circuit, in which the court
by the author. The book
company focusing on
selected for inclusion
J. Dalton Courson was
held that voter registration
may be found at www.
cycling, hiking, and other
in Best Lawyers 2013 in
named one of the best
records must be disclosed
almedina.com.br.
outdoor adventures.
commercial law.
to the public under the
De Pontes is Professor
LGBT litigators under 40 in
2012 by the National LGBT
National Voter Registration
of Law at the Insper School
Amy Trueblood and
Rachel Brewster
Bar Association. The award,
Act. Also in July, Ryan and
of Law in Sao Paulo and at
her husband, Andrew,
recently joined the faculty
given at the annual
a team from Ropes & Gray
the Mackenzie Univer-
welcomed a second little
at Duke Law School in
Lavender Law Conference
received the Mid-Atlantic
sity in Sao Paulo, and vice
boy to the family, Thomas
Durham, N.C., where
and Career Fair held in
Innocence Project’s
president at the Legal
Hillman Trueblood, on
she will also serve as
Washington, D.C., in
Champion of Justice
Department of Barclays in
January 6.
co-director of Duke’s
August, goes to outstand-
Award for their work on
Brazil.
Center for International
ing lawyers who have
William J. Zawrotny has
and Comparative Law. Her
demonstrated a profound
the West Memphis Three
case. Ryan has practiced in
Beth Richardson and
been promoted to partner
academic focus includes
commitment to LGBT
the government enforce-
her husband, Michael
at Jones Day in Atlanta,
international trade,
equality. He was also
ment group with Ropes
O’Rourke, welcomed
Ga., where he focuses his
international relations
honored as a Leader in the
& Gray in Washington,
a second son, William
practice on mergers and
theory, and global eco-
Law for 2012 by New
D.C., since 2002. He and
Erlander O’Rourke on
acquisitions, cross-border
nomic integration. She was
Orleans CityBusiness. At
his wife, Elizabeth, live
October 4, 2011. “Lan” is
transactions, and general
a visiting faculty member
this year’s ABA meeting,
in Washington, D.C., and
named after Beth’s father.
corporate counseling. He
at Duke Law during the
Courson was reappointed
Dewey Beach, Del.
Big brother Jack enjoys his
was married to Alene
fall 2011 semester, when
to serve as co-chair of the
new playmate.
Zawrotny on July 16, 2011.
she taught international
American Bar Association
Former visiting scholar,
trade and a seminar on
section of litigation LGBT
Evandro de Pontes,
international law and
litigator committee. He
international relations
was also appointed as the
2003
published O Conselho
theory. She served as an
section of litigation’s
abertas Brasileiras. In Brazil,
Andrew G. Beshear was
assistant professor of law
liaison to the ABA
the oversight authority for
lead counsel in a success-
and an affiliated member
commission on sexual
corporations falls within
ful suit his clients, the
of the Weatherford Center
orientation and gender
the duties and responsi-
owners of a truck school in
for International Affairs at
identity. Courson is a
bilities of the Conselho
Kentucky, brought against
Harvard University since
member with Stone
Fiscal, a kind of separate
the city of Hillview. The
2006 and previously was
Pigman, where he has a
Fiscal nas Companhias
board of directors ap-
George P. “Trey” Sibley III
judge ruled that the city
a Bigelow Fellow at the
litigation and trial practice
pointed by shareholders.
has made partner with
breached its contract with
University of Chicago Law
with a focus on insurance
Brazilian law on corpora-
Hunton & Williams in
Truck America Training
School. In 2008 she was
coverage, creditors’ rights,
tions ensures segregation
Richmond, Va., where he is
over the purchase of land
legal counsel in the office
and bankruptcy and
from the classic board of
a member of the litigation
adjacent to the school, and
of the United States Trade
business litigation.
directors, or Conselho de
and intellectual property
the jury determined that
Representative, where she
Administração, which is
team, focusing his practice
the city had damaged the
worked on legal issues
Timothy Howell has been
responsible for the busi-
on complex environmental
business in the amount of
relating to U.S. agriculture
elected partner at Cahill
ness activities managed by
litigation.
$11.4 million. It was the
subsidies and domestic
Gordon & Reindel in New
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 77
Class notes
…
York City, where his prac-
He is a partner with
hiring committee for VLP.
tice focuses on finance and
Hunton & Williams in
He has vowed that UVA
Fraser Reid ’04 and
capital markets. He and his
Washington, D.C., where
will overtake Stanford and
his wife, Christy,
wife, Liz, live in Brooklyn
he focuses his practice on
the University of Chicago
welcomed their
with their daughter, Mary
antitrust, intellectual
as the most represented
daughter, Celia
(5), and son, Grover (4).
property, and other
law school in the firm, and
Frances, on April 8.
complex commercial
is interested in bringing in
litigation.
a few more partner-level
less, but is much happier.” He and his family have
UVA Law attorneys.
moved to Mobile, Ala., where he has joined
Nick Landau and Blair
Lanier ’05 are living happily
Fraser is “sleeping
McDowell Knight Roedder & Sledge.
in Birmingham, Ala., with
Andrew Toebben has
their 3-year-old daughter,
been named a “Fast Track”
Indira, and their newborn
lawyer by The Recorder, a
son, Wyatt. Nick is a patent
California provider of legal
attorney with Bradley
news. All honored attor-
Meghan M. Cloud has
Michael Signer mar-
Arant Boult Cummings.
neys practice in California
been named a Virginia
ried Emily Lorraine
Blair is an IP valuation and
and are in their first ten
Super Lawyers Rising
Blout at the Clifton Inn
licensing consultant to the
years out of law school.
Star for 2012 in the
in Charlottesville on
Medici Portfolio.
Toebben is a partner with
area of civil litigation
March 30. A.E. Dick
2004
VLP Law Group, where he
defense. She is counsel
Howard ’61 led the
Aaron Lawlor and Hiren
Patel are celebrating
chairs the corporate, secu-
with McGuireWoods in
ceremony. Emily is
rities, and M & A groups.
Charlottesville.
studying for a master’s in
the five-year anniver-
His practice focuses on
sary of the company they
counseling high-tech
Nuala E. Droney has been
Steven M. Haas is a partner
founded, Aphelion Legal
startups, venture capital-
appointed by Connecticut
with Hunton & Williams in
University at Fort McNair in
Solutions. Aphelion
ists, entrepreneurs, and
Governor Dannel P. Malloy
Richmond, Va., where he is
Washington, D.C. Michael
provides e-discovery con-
angel investors. He has
to the board of directors of
a member of the corporate
owns Madison Law and
sulting, document review,
structured more than
the Connecticut Housing
team. He focuses his
Strategy Group, a law firm
contracts management,
40 emerging technol-
Finance Authority. The
practice on mergers and
in Arlington, Va., and is a
and legal staffing services
ogy businesses and has
CHFA is a quasi-public
acquisitions, corporate
visiting professor of gov-
domestically and offshore.
handled more than 100
housing agency that works
law, and corporate
ernment and international
The company has offices in
company and investor-
to expand affordable
governance.
affairs at Virginia Tech.
Ashburn, Va., where Lawlor
side transactions.
housing opportunities for
works, Houston, Tex.,
In addition to his leader-
strategic security studies
Connecticut’s low- and
Bryan Rhode has been
ship role at VLP, Toebben
moderate-income families
appointed a commissioner
Chennai, India. Learn more
maintains a commitment
and individuals. Droney
to the Virginia Department
at www.aphelionlegal.com.
to community service and
is with Robinson & Cole
of the Alcoholic Beverage
pro bono work. In 2008 he
in Hartford, Conn., where
Control Board.
took a leave of absence to
she is a member of the
serve as deputy director
litigation section. She
Christopher Richardson
of voter protection in
focuses her practice on
is moving back to the
Virginia for Barack Obama’s
complex litigation in
Houston, Tex., office of
presidential campaign.
federal courts, including
Vinson & Elkins after
where Patel works, and
at the National Defense
He sits on a number of
antitrust, patent, trade
almost six years in the
non-profit boards and
secret, trademark, unfair
firm’s Hong Kong office.
traveled through India on
trade practices, fraud,
He focuses his practice
Kathryn Morrison
Sneade ’04 and Brad
an economic development
and contract disputes.
on international energy
Sneade welcomed
transactions.
Dylan Michael on
Ryan Shores was named
tour with the Los Angeles
Connecticut Super Lawyers
one of five Rising Stars by
Chamber of Commerce
has named her a rising star
February 11. Dylan
Law360 in the field of
in April.
in business litigation for
joins his big sister,
the past two years.
Cayley (3).
competition law in 2012.
78 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Toebben is head of the
Class notes
…
Tigerron A. “Tiger” Wells
Republican, has a five-year
Scott Carr and his
term that expires June 30,
wife, Sarah Waziruddin,
Trevor McFadden ’06
2016. Meidhof previously
welcomed their first
and Kelly McFadden
served for three years as a
son, Zain Patrick Noor
’08 joyfully announce
prosecutor in FERC’s Office
Carr, who was born on
the birth of their
of Enforcement.
Christmas Day 2011. Scott
daughter, Kathryn Rose
is an associate at Carroll
(“Katie”), on July 17.
2005
Burdick & McDonough in
San Francisco.
graduated from the Riley
Institute’s Midlands
Katie Bagley and her
Blair Lanier and Nick
Diversity Leadership
husband, John Glenn,
Landau ’03 are living
who knew him, Clinton
by the Diplomatic Courier
Initiative, a statewide
welcomed their first
happily in Birmingham,
expressed his spirituality
and Young Professionals
leadership program in
child, Magdalena Marie,
Ala., with their 3-year-old
as a truly kind, loving, and
in Foreign Policy. He was
South Carolina, in June. His
on September 26. They
daughter, Indira, and
giving young man. He felt
noted as a practitioner
group created a Web-
live in Washington, D.C.,
their newborn son, Wyatt.
a strong affinity for nature
who “changes foreign
based resource for
where Katie works as an
Blair is an IP valuation
and spent as much time as
policy from the inside
companies targeting and
appellate attorney for the
and licensing consultant
possible engaged in out-
through extraordinary
recruiting diverse
U.S. Department of Justice
to the Medici Portfolio.
door activity—bicycling,
professionalism and skill.”
candidates to the state’s
tax division.
Nick is a patent attorney
hiking, kayaking, swim-
with Bradley Arant Boult
ming, and photography.
Midlands region. The new
Mitre is a foreign affairs
specialist in the office of
the Secretary of Defense,
Web site provides links to
Travis Batty and Jasmine
organizations, activities,
Mitchell were married
Daniel V. Shapiro has
where he is responsible
and resources that show
on July 28 at King Family
Clinton S. McHugh
joined the United States
for defense strategy and
how the area has
Vineyards in Crozet,
passed away suddenly
Attorney’s Office for the
strategic analysis. He has
embraced diversity. Wells
Va. The groom’s “crew”
on July 17 while hiking
District of New Jersey as
been at OSD since 2007,
is also a graduate of the
included fellow classmates
in the Colorado Rocky
an assistant U.S. Attorney
working on the U.S. global
Leadership Columbia class
Peter Patterson and
Mountains. He was in the
in the criminal division.
defense position and
of 2011. He is a share-
David Thomas. Batty is
process of completing a
strategic guidance docu-
holder with Haynsworth
an associate with Sidley
master’s of Public Policy/
ments. Mitre has toured
Sinkler Boyd, where he is a
Austin in New York City,
Public Administration at
member of the public
where he focuses his
Northwestern University.
finance team. He advises
practice on capital markets
Following Law School,
Jim Mitre has been hon-
the Presidential Manage-
clients, including towns,
and other commercial
he was an associate
ored as one of the 99 most
ment Fellowship Program
cities, counties, and school
transactions.
at Kirkland & Ellis and
influential foreign policy
and graduated from the
Skadden, Arps, Slate,
leaders under the age
Department of Defense
of 33, or the “99 Under 33,”
Executive Leadership
districts, on how to issue
Cummings.
2006
the U.S. embassies in
Nairobi and Kabul through
bonds as a way to finance
Brett A. Bush has joined
Meagher & Flom in
capital projects.
Iseman, Cunningham,
Chicago. He served as
Riester & Hyde as associate
general counsel for the
In June Robin Zimmerly
attorney in Albany, N.Y.,
Rapid Transit Authority in
Meidhof accepted a posi-
where he focuses his
Chicago until June, when
Ilana Yergin-Doniger ’06
tion as a legal and policy
practice in the areas of
he and his wife, Susan,
and her husband, David,
advisor for Commissioner
health care law and busi-
relocated to Greenwood
welcomed their son, Harrison
Tony Clark, who is in his
ness transactions. He also
Village, Colo., to begin a
Asher Yergin-Doniger, in
first term on the Federal
advises clients regarding
new chapter in their lives
April. “Harrison is a complete
Energy Regulatory
liquor licensing matters
together. He is survived
joy, and we couldn’t be any
Commission, having been
before the New York
by his wife; his parents, Dr.
more grateful that he is a
nominated by President
State Liquor Authority.
Carl and Linda McHugh;
part of our lives,” she writes.
Obama and sworn in
Previously he was with
and his brother, Colin
on June 15. Clark, a
Drinker, Biddle & Reath.
(Amber) McHugh. To all
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 79
Class notes
…
Nimer Sultany LL.M.
Based in Falls Church, Va.,
Adam B. Schwartz has
since graduation, Edward
OSD, he co-founded and
graduated from Harvard
K4 Solutions provides
joined the major crimes
Huff Mullen II (“Huff”) and
worked as an analyst
Law School last May
contract administrative,
and narcotics section of
Davis Cole Mullen.
at the SITE Institute, a
with a doctor of juridical
financial, and information
the U.S. Attorney’s Office
counter-terrorism research
science degree. During
technology services and
for the Eastern District of
Natalie Shonka recently
organization.
2012–13 he will be the
expertise to departments
Virginia in Alexandria. He
received the Spirit of
Volunteerism Award given
Program. Before joining
Baldy Postdoctoral Fellow
and agencies throughout
was previously with the
John Sherman recently
in Interdisciplinary Legal
the federal government.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for
by the Downtown Evening
published his first novel,
Studies at the Baldy Center
the District of Columbia.
Soup Kitchen in New
Before the Flood, in which
for Law & Social Policy,
Chris Nasson is prosecut-
a young man claims to
SUNY Buffalo Law School.
Haven, Conn. The award
ing white-collar crime as
Anika Steffen and her hus-
recognizes businesses,
be the Second Coming
an Assistant United States
band, Justin, welcomed
groups, and individuals
of Christ and begins to
Attorney for the Eastern
their daughter, Arianna,
who lead effective work-
District of Kentucky.
in February. Anika has
place volunteer efforts
convince the skeptical
2007
opened a photography
linked to their business
his story (see In Print).
Everton E. Morris
Aaron Peskin and his wife,
business, Anika Steffen
objectives. Once a month
Sherman is an investment
assumed the role of
Lexi, welcomed their first
Photography, anikastef-
Shonka leads lawyers
banker with Edgeview
general counsel of K4
child, Charlotte Temple
fenphotography.com.
and staff from Wiggin
Partners in Charlotte, N.C.
Solutions, Inc. on May 1.
Peskin, on February 17.
journalist covering
and Dana in preparing
Jackie Wernz and her
and serving free meals
husband, Matt, welcomed
for the community at the
their first son, Isaiah David,
soup kitchen. Shonka is
on January 30.
an associate in the firm’s
litigation department.
2008
Reginald Wiliamson
Kelly McFadden and
proud to report the birth
Trevor McFadden ’06 joy-
of our first son, Reginald
fully announce the birth
Ashton Williamson, Jr. ‘Ash,’
writes, “Patricia and I are
of their daughter, Kathryn
who was born August 20.
Rose (“Katie”), on July 17.
We are both enjoying
practicing in Atlanta.”
Edward A. Mullen is an
associate with Reed Smith
atricia Williamson is
in Richmond, Va., where he
practicing real estate
has an administrative and
with Schreeder, Wheeler
legislative practice before
& Flint, while Reginald is
Virginia state agencies and
in the construction and
Matthew Sait LL.M. ‘06 co-presented a three-day training course on legislative
the general assembly. He
infrastructure group at
drafting for lawyers of the Royal Bhutanese Government in Thimphu in April.
was named a rising star
Kilpatrick, Townsend &
Bhutan is located in the Himalayas, bordered in the north by China (Tibet) and in
by Virginia Super Lawyers
Stockton. “We are looking
the east, south, and west by India. It has been a monarchy since the start of the last
2010–12 in administrative
forward to seeing our
century and recently became a democracy, with its first elections held in 2008 and
law and was recognized by
friends and classmates at
its next elections due this year. The training was part of an Australian Agency for
Virginia Business Magazine
our 5th this spring.”
International Development project aimed at developing various aspects of the law
as a Legal Elite for
and justice sector in Bhutan.
legislative, regulatory, and
Sait has been drafting legislation with the Australian Government’s Office of
Parliamentary Counsel in Canberra since 2004.
administrative law in 2011.
He and his wife, Jennifer,
have had two children
80 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
Class notes
…
Young Alumni
Washington D.C. 2012
Washington, D.C.-area young alumni gathered at the W Hotel’s Studio 1 in September.
Above, left to right: Christina Valencia ’09, Jennifer Jessie ’09, and James Billings-Kang ’08
Top right, left to right: Libbie Canter ’08, Laura Holland ’08, and Allison Barra Nicholson ’09
Bottom right: Anna Markham Sanders ’07, left, and Alissa Ardito ’07
2009
researches and drafts
community service project
memoranda to settled
that benefits the Dallas
parties, settlement
area. Eason is with Bell
neutrals, and courts; and
Nunnally, where she is a
interfaces with counsel for
member of the bankruptcy
settled parties.
and financial restructuring
and litigation practice
Jacob S. Woody has joined
Sarah Copeland will marry
Nicole Eason has been
groups. She focuses her
Brown Greer as senior
Ryan O. Dean on May 25,
selected to participate in
practice on bankruptcy
counsel in Richmond, Va.,
2013. She is with Carr
the 2012 Dallas Association
and business related
where he interprets and
Orran L. Brown Jr. has
McClellan in Burlingame,
of Young Lawyers
litigation, including
applies complex settle-
joined Brown Greer as
Calif., where she focuses
Leadership Program.
representation of banks,
ment agreement
senior counsel in
her practice on estate
Participants learn about
debtors, secured and
provisions and creates and
Richmond, Va., where he
planning and trusts &
the city of Dallas, its
unsecured creditors, DIP
maintains systems that
designs mass claims
wealth transfer.
politics, and service
lenders and equity holders
ensure quick and accurate
programs; interprets
opportunities with local
in bankruptcy cases in a
claim determinations.
complex settlement
non-profit organizations.
range of contested matters
agreement provisions;
They also take part in a
and adversary proceedings.
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 81
Class notes
…
David John Madgett is cur-
in facilitating the needs of
well as employee
Counsel in its annual
the Virginia. Polillo is with
rently serving as a judge
the criminal justice reform
compensation and
writing competition. She
Veirano Advogados (www.
advocate for the U.S. Air
council.
benefits matters.
was honored for her
veirano.com.br), where
Force and was appointed
winning article, “‘Equitable’
he focuses his practice on
chief of justice for the 319
Relief Under ERISA: Where
international and domestic
the Court’s Interpretation
arbitration.
Air Base Wing at Grand
2011
2012
Stands and the Need to
Forks Air Force Base in
North Dakota.
2010
Elizabeth W. Chan is an as-
Redefine Its Analysis to
sociate with Hollingsworth
Reflect the Trust-Law Basis
joined Bradley Arant Boult
in Washington, D.C., where
of ERISA” at the college’s
Cummings in Birmingham,
she practices in the toxic
annual dinner in Boston,
Ala., where he will serve
torts and products liability
Mass., on September 15.
as a member of the
Sean Michael Solomon has
Saira K. Najam clerks with
groups. She was a summer
federal district judge
Lynzi Archibald has joined
associate with the firm.
Barbara M.G. Lynn in
Miller & Martin as an
the Northern District of
associate in the litigation
Elizabeth C. Josephs has
in Sao Paulo this summer.
as an intern for Judge
Texas. Saira and Samir
department in
joined Bradley Arant Boult
Among them was Ivon
Thomas A. Varlan of the
celebrated the birth of
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Cummings in Birmingham,
Pires ’82, S.J.D. ’86, (the
Federal District Court in
Ala., where she will serve
Law School’s first Brazilian
the Eastern District of
Anna L. Craft is an
as a member of the
LL.M. student). The next
Tennessee.
associate with Bradley
litigation and intellectual
alumni meeting was set
Corrie Sirkin and her
Arant Boult Cummings in
property practice groups.
to take place in Rio de
husband, David, are
Birmingham, Ala., where
She was a summer associ-
Janeiro in November.
pleased to announce the
she is a member of the
ate with the firm during
Polillo has become a “UVA
birth of their first children,
litigation practice group.
Law School.
ambassador” in Brazil. He
twin boys, Cole and Chase
Previously a summer
Sirkin, on May 11.
associate at the firm, she
Emily C. Lechner won the
also served as a clerk
2012 Sidney M. Perstadt
at the University of
Nick Timmons and his
with the Shelby County
Memorial Award given
Sao Paulo Law School and
wife, Megan, welcomed
District Attorney’s Office in
by the American College
at another, FAAP, about
a daughter, Harper Ann,
Columbiana, Ala.
of Employee Benefits
getting an LL.M. degree at
their daughter, Inaya Sufi
Najam, on January 25.
bankruptcy, restructuring,
Renato Polillo LL.M. and
and distressed investing
14 other LL.M.s gathered
practice group. He served
was recently invited to
speak to Brazilian students
on April 7. Timmons is an
associate in the corporate
finance division with
Stinson Morrison Hecker in
Kansas City, Mo.
W. Thomas Worthy was
promoted to deputy
executive counsel in the
Daniel J. Gocek has joined
office of Governor Nathan
Jaeckle Fleischmann &
Deal of Georgia. Worthy
Mugel in Buffalo, N.Y.,
practiced law for a year in
where he is an associate in
Birmingham, Ala., before
the tax and employee
joining Deal’s in-house legal
benefits property practice
staff as public safety policy
groups. He will focus his
advisor in September 2011.
practice in tax planning
Among other responsi-
and consulting, including
bilities in his new position,
federal, state, partnership,
Worthy will have a large role
and corporate taxation, as
82 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
International alumni in Brazil, from left to right: Cláudia Politanski; Carmen Tiburcio;
Ramom Rotta; Luís De Chiara; Pedro Paulo Barreto (crouched); Renato Polillo (center);
Fernanda Nardy; Bruno Furiati; Ivon Pires; Fabio Rezende ; and Leonardo Cruz
In Memoriam
John F. Catterton ‘39
Henrico, Va.
May 17, 2012
Henry H. Whiting ‘49
Winchester, Va.
September 17, 2012
Leland Victor McFall ‘53
Roanoke, Va.
June 30, 2012
Alan Bentley Comess ‘61
Virginia Beach, Va.
September 6, 2012
Michael R. Hollis ‘78
Atlanta, Ga.
June 18, 2012
Vance M. Fry ‘40
Orange, Va.
August 10, 2012
George V. Lauder ‘50
Washington, D.C.
July 25, 2012
Kent D. Thorup ‘53
Centreville, Va.
February 29, 2008
Daniel Hartnett ‘61
Accomac, Va.
April 20, 2012
George R. Reinhardt, Jr. ‘78
Tifton, Ga.
June 27, 2012
L. Harvey Poe, Jr. ‘41
Annapolis, Md.
March 30, 2012
Robert Earl Parr ‘50
Louisville, Ky.
June 6, 2012
Herbert Charles Harper ‘54
Clifton, Va.
September 13, 2012
John J. Hamilton ‘62
Miami Beach, Fla.
September 19, 2012
Barbara A. Beans
Herrman ‘82
Fort Washington, Pa.
June 9, 2012
Guy Rutherfurd ‘42
New York, N.Y.
May 27, 2012
Richard Taplitz ‘50
Greenbrae, Calif.
August 30, 2012
Richard P. Tillack ‘54
Eugene, Ore.
June 6, 2012
John Latane Lewis III ‘62
Powhatan, Va.
May 8, 2012
Roane Waring, Jr. ‘47
Memphis, Tenn.
August 28, 2012
Seymour R. Young ‘50
Alexandria, Va.
October 11, 2012
Robert R. Beezer ‘56
Seattle, Wash.
March 30, 2012
James Reinhardt McKenry
‘62
Virginia Beach, Va.
July 10, 2012
Christopher J. Powers ‘82
El Paso, Texas
June 21, 2012
R. Baird Cabell ‘48
Franklin, Va.
July 21, 2012
Jack N. Kegley ‘51
Charlottesville, Va.
May 18, 2012
Robert F. McCulloch ‘56
Washington, D.C.
September 15, 2012
Charles D. Bradley ‘63
Hamden, Conn.
November 30, 2011
Amy E. Harte ‘84
Surry, Va.
June 9, 2012
Nathaniel R.
Coleman, Jr. ‘48
Norfolk, Va.
August 13, 2012
William H. Martin ‘51
Roanoke, Va.
September 26, 2010
Ernest H. Lorch ‘57
Ardsley, N.Y.
May 13, 2012
William B. Noonkester ‘64
Bristol, Va.
August 22, 2012
Edith H. Hull ‘84
Salisbury, Md.
July 9, 2012
William C. Wampler ‘51
Bristol, Va.
May 23, 2012
John B. Rees, Jr. ‘57
Athens, Ga.
September 26, 2012
Bruce A. Sikora ‘66
Lee, Mass.
July 31, 2012
Robert A. Gammage ‘86
Llano, Texas
September 10, 2012
William F. Watkins, Jr. ‘51
Farmville, Va.
August 15, 2012
Clarence W. Sharp, Jr. ‘57
Berlin, Md.
September 30, 2012
Steven R. Belasco ‘70
Scarsdale, N.Y.
May 8, 2012
Brett I. Miller ‘95
West River, Md.
April 14, 2012
Joseph Albert Ellett ‘52
Roanoke, Va.
July 19, 2010
William Craig Haus ‘58
Mesa, Ariz.
October 4, 2012
John H. Cassady III ‘70
Alexandria, Va.
June 21, 2012
Robert M. McLeod ‘52
San Francisco, Calif.
February 7, 2012
Bayard Z. Hochberg ‘58
Charlottesville, Va.
May 2, 2012
Clinton Samelson
McHugh ‘05
Englewood, Colo.
July 17, 2012
Robert H. Patterson, Jr. ‘52
Richmond, Va.
July 12, 2012
W. D. Reams, Jr. ‘58
Culpeper, Va.
March 19, 2012
Lapsley W. Hamblen, Jr. ‘53
Falls Church, Va.
September 10, 2012
Thomas D. Gill ‘59
Huntington, N.Y.
June 5, 2012
J. Madison Macon ‘48
Richmond, Va.
August 31, 2012
G. Kenneth Miller ‘48
Glen Allen, Va.
November 12, 2010
Henry E. Nichols ‘48
Chevy Chase, Md.
July 20, 2012
David P. H. Watson ‘48
Ridgefield, Conn.
June 5, 2012
Richard M. White ‘48
Jacksonville, Fla.
June 28, 2012
Nancy K. Oremland ‘82
Santa Barbara, Calif.
July 24, 2012
Frank S. Anthony ‘71
Norfolk, Mass.
May 13, 2012
Clarence H. Ridley ‘71
Atlanta, Ga.
May 10, 2012
John E. Schmutzer ‘77
Sevierville, Tenn.
March 31, 2012
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 83
in print
Non-Fiction
Dear Ashley: A Father’s
Reflections and Letters to His
Daughter on Life, Love and Hope
Don Blackwell ’83
Imbue Publishing
At the beginning of Dear Ashley, Don
Blackwell recalls in a letter to his daughter
the pride he felt at her accomplishments
the day she graduated from high school.
Her academic achievements and success in
the arts were exceptional, and she had been
accepted at some of the best schools in the
country. His heartfelt letter expressed his
love and excitement for her future. Then,
less than three months later, she stopped
eating.
For the next five years Ashley was
in a life and death struggle with anorexia
nervosa. This book tells the story of a
father’s unconditional love for his daughter
and their family’s courageous journey of
healing from a
life-threatening
illness. With
candor,
Blackwell
looks back on
his parenting,
rediscovering
the joys and
missed opportunities, aware
that no one
will ever know
the true cause
of a devastating eating disorder. But he explains what
he knows from hard-won experience:
During times of personal crisis, if we can
get beyond our heartbreak to consider
84 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
the matters of the heart that are involved,
then we’ll gain a deeper understanding of
ourselves, the people we are closest to, and
on a larger scale, even the human
condition.
Each chapter of Dear Ashley
focuses on a character whose
story was important to the author
in his journey of self-reflection
and growth and also includes
a letter to his daughter written
either during the course of her
treatment or when he was writing
this book. For anyone faced with
a personal crisis, Dear Ashley
could become a source of inspiration, healing, and hope.
Donald Blackwell is a trial
attorney in South Florida.
Three Tastes of Nuoc Mam: The
Brown Water Navy & Visits to
Vietnam
Douglas M. Branson ’74
Hellgate Press
During the war in Vietnam, more than a
1,000 miles of coastline had to be patrolled
to curtail gun running, smuggling, ambush, and movement of war supplies by the
Viet Cong. The waterways were too narrow
and shallow for cruisers and destroyers, so
the “brown water Navy” of faster and more
nimble Coast Guard cutters, minesweepers,
and Vietnamese junks took on the dangerous patrol. The men regularly boarded and
searched junks and sampans and endured
constant threat of ambush.
Douglas Branson has traveled extensively through Vietnam. He made his first
trip there in 1966 at the age of 22, serving
as a “brown water Navy” lieutenant, junior
grade. The first half of Three Tastes of Nuoc
Mam is his gripping firsthand account of
service in this little-known Navy in the
conflict the Vietnamese people refer to as
“the American War.”
Branson returned in
1995 and 2011 as a
consultant and tourist.
He gives travelers valuable advice on where to
go and how to get there,
as well as background
on the country, its
cultural history, and
its emergence as a
nation. He recounts his
adventures in Vietnam
with humor and insight.
“[The book] is a most
valuable addition to the literature of the
Vietnam War—and its aftermath,” writes
Karl Lindholm, Professor of American
Studies, Middlebury College.
Douglas Branson is the W. Edward Sell
Chair in Law at the University of Pittsburgh
School of Law. www.tastesofnuocmam.com.
Younger
Next Year for
Women
Chris Crowley ’65 and
Henry Lodge, M.D.
workman Publishing
This book,
specifically
geared toward
women, builds
on the ideas and
success of Younger Next Year, the New York
Times bestseller written with men in mind.
As a woman enters her fifties, she is, in
many respects, coming into the peak of her
life. The program set forth in Younger Next
in print
…
Year for Women offers the opportunity to
become stronger, healthier, and more alert
in the next third of life. The authors tell it
straight: If you sit on a couch or in a desk
chair all day, your cells get the signal that
there is no need to grow, and your body
actually begins to decay. Fortunately, the
reverse is true, too: bike, swim, walk or do
yoga and your muscles and bones get the
signal to grow.
Recommendations in this book are
specific, and could at first seem daunting—
in particular the exhortation to exercise
vigorously six times a week for the rest of
your life. But such recommendations, and
the precise science behind each one, are
presented along with Crowley’s irresistible
enthusiasm. He is an avid practitioner of
the seven rules that enable people to take
better control of their bodies and their lives.
“It’s hard to imagine a more fun, smart and
compelling book on the subject of women
and aging,” notes a reviewer. “If implementing the wisdom in Younger Next Year for
Women is half as entertaining as reading it,
getting older is about to get a lot easier.”
Chris Crowley was a litigator and partner with a New York City law firm before
he retired to live, as he declares, “more than
one life.” www.youngernextyear.com.
Guide to Protecting and
Litigating Trade Secrets
Amy E. Davis ’98, Paula M. Bagger, Joanna H. Kim, and
Jeffrey K. Riffer
American Bar Association
Trade secrets
are extremely
important to
the U.S. economy. Research
shows that billions of dollars
are lost each
year as a result
of the theft of
trade secrets,
and in turn,
corporations spend billions of
dollars trying to prevent such
theft. In 2002, the Office of the
National Counterintelligence
Executive reported $300
billion in losses resulting
from industrial espionage.
The Guide to Protecting and
Litigating Trade Secrets is an
invaluable source for anyone
involved in this fascinating and important
area of law.
In addition to providing a broad,
academic view, Guide to Protecting and
Litigating Trade Secrets covers the fields in
which trade secrets are heavily litigated to
illustrate important concepts, and includes
litigation approaches in other areas as
well. The book draws on current, real-life
examples of trade secret cases and the
litigation experience of Davis and her coauthors to provide practical and invaluable
advice to the business owner, small legal
department or firm, and solo practitioner.
The authors explain exactly what trade
secrets are, why it’s important to protect
them, and how to protect them. They also
detail what misappropriation of trade
secrets involves, remedies for that problem,
and the roles of restrictive covenants and
civil action.
Davis is a trial attorney in business
and employment law in Dallas, Texas.
Governor’s Travels: How I Left
Politics, Learned to Back Up a Bus,
and Found America
Angus King ’69
Down east
When Angus King was elected Governor
of Maine in 1994 in his first campaign
for public office, he had a law practice, a
family, and a successful alternative energy
business. He had also been the host of a
TV talk show for 15 years. He never saw
himself as a career politician; he thought
public service was something he would do
“in between stints at real life.”
So at the
end of his
second term as
Governor, he
set out with his
wife, Mary, and
children, Ben
(12) and Molly
(9), on a sixmonth-long,
real-life adventure across the United States
in a 40-foot RV. Governor’s Travels: How I
Left Politics, Learned to Back Up a Bus, and
Found America traces their 15,000-mile
journey through 33 states. The challenges
of life on the road and discoveries made
along the way offered him a refreshing new
perspective. He describes his book as “part
travelogue, part executive transition manual,
and mostly a celebration of family and the
fun of seeing our fabulous country.”
From the sweeping vistas that
seemed to stretch forever to the overpass
heights that challenged the size of his rig,
Governor’s Travels gives readers a sense
of being along on a wonderful road trip.
Crisp, full-color photographs illustrate
the narrative, which is rendered with
descriptive details and touches of humor.
First-time RVers will find a lot of practical
tips for their own journeys; travelers with
smaller vehicles will enjoy the trip, too.
Angus King was elected to the U.S.
Senate in November, as an independent
representing Maine.
The First American Political
Conventions:
Transforming Presidential
Nominations, 1832-1872
Stan M. Haynes ’83
McFarland & Company
Modern American conventions, political
spectacles bar none, echo many of the
rules and the traditions developed in the
first conventions that date from the 1830s.
The First American Political Conventions:
Transforming Presidential Nominations,
UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012 85
in print
…
1832-1872 traces the first four decades
of development of this quintessential
American experience and includes the
campaigns of leading political figures,
including Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay,
and Abraham Lincoln.
Stan Haynes describes the events, the
candidates,
and the most
important
issues,
speeches, and
events from
the period.
He conveys
the suspense
surrounding the
dark-horse
candidates,
deals made
behind closed doors, the celebratory
parades, and traces the origins of some of
the most colorful traditions on the convention floor, including the roll call of the
states. The author explains subtle changes
that occurred from one election to the next
and the more dynamic changes brought
about with technology—the railroad and
telegraph, for example.
H.L. Mencken, whose hometown,
Baltimore, was the site of the
first national conventions with
a monopoly for a dozen of them
between 1832 and 1864, once wrote
that political conventions offered
“… a show so gaudy and hilarious,
so melodramatic and obscene,
so unimaginable, exhilarating
and preposterous that one lives a
glorious year in an hour.” A lot can
be learned in that hour, it turns
out, about the dynamic nature of
American politics.
“A richly detailed analysis of
the origins of the American national
nominating convention process,” writes one
reviewer. “[A] fascinating and entertaining
look at the way these quadrennial gatherings used to be—before primaries and
86 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
caucuses took all the drama and fun out of
them,” notes a review in the Baltimore Sun.
Stan Haynes is a practicing
attorney in Baltimore with a lifelong
interest in American political history,
especially presidential history.
www.americanpoliticalconventions.com
Winners & Losers:
Rants, Riffs & Reflections
on the World of Sports
Bob Latham ’83
Greenleaf Book Group Press
Lawyer and sports writer Bob Latham is a
serious sports fan—much more comfortable outside the press box or VIP section
than in it, because he wants to feel the game,
not just watch it and analyze it. Winners
& Losers: Rants, Riffs & Reflections on the
World of Sports, a compilation of 58 essays
and articles that capture the author’s experience on pilgrimages he’s made to sporting
cathedrals and sports events around the
world. His courtside observations allow
us to witness the triumphs, the losses, the
drama, and the personalities of sports and
those who dedicate their lives to it.
There are anecdotes here to delight
fans of all sports. In addition to his keen
observations,
Latham includes
a humorous
critique of the
Secretariat statue
at Belmont, a
witty commentary on the
NCAA policy
on mascots, and
an eyewitness
account of
Mohammed Ali’s
70th birthday
party. “At one
point when I pulled out my camera to
capture a particular scene, I realized that
in one frame I had the unlikely trio of Ali,
Snoop Dogg and Buzz Aldrin,” he writes.
U.S. tennis great Jim Courier notes,
“The real stories in sport are located
somewhere beyond the box scores. This
collection of essays enlightens, entertains,
and spotlights the reason we care so much
about sports—the people involved.”
Bob Latham is a litigation attorney
in Dallas, Texas, and a columnist for
SportsTravel magazine. He has been an
International Rugby Board executive
committee member, chairman of USA
Rugby, and a member of the board of
directors of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
www.lathamsports.com.
Evolution’s Purpose:
An Integral Interpretation of the
Scientific Story of Our Origins
Steve McIntosh ’87
SelectBooks
What is the purpose of evolution?
Everything, including life, matter, and
culture, is subject to the process, and science has shown evolution to be progressive
through time. What if evolution was a way
to bring science
and spirituality
together? This
intriguing idea
is at the heart
of Evolution’s
Purpose.
Steve
McIntosh takes
readers from
pre-biotic life
forms through
modern
civilization and
presents a new interconnected understanding of philosophy and science. “The
philosophical recognition of evolution’s
purpose uplifts science and spirituality by
better integrating and harmonizing these
two indispensable approaches to truth,” he
writes.
McIntosh, an integral philosopher and
member of Deepak Chopra’s “Evolutionary
in print
…
Leaders” group, explains how the real
meaning of evolution is to gradually open
into greater understanding of beauty, truth
and goodness. We experience evolution
and are a part of it every time we make an
effort to improve our own lives or the lives
of others; in a sense, to understand evolution’s purpose we need only to look within
ourselves. The author makes a compelling
case for how a deeper understanding of
evolution can lead to a more evolved world.
He explains how the science behind the
story of our origins is compatible with
ideas in contemporary spirituality.
McIntosh is a founding partner of the
Institute for Cultural Evolution, a think
tank and social policy foundation. www.
stevemcintosh.com.
Richmond: One of America’s Best
Tennis Towns
Eric C. Perkins ’96, Tom Hood, and John Packett
Dementi Milestone Publishing
Richmond: One of America’s Best Tennis
Towns traces more than a century of tennis
history in Richmond, Virginia. Many
people know that tennis great Arthur Ashe
grew up in Richmond; he started playing
tennis at a segregated playground at the
age of 7. Ashe
led the U.S.
tennis team
to victory in
a Davis Cup
tie that took
place in 1968
at Richmond’s
Byrd Park—
the same
public courts
he was turned
away from as
a child. But
Ashe wasn’t the first Richmond tennis
player to make it into the U.S. Top 10—
that was Penelope Anderson, who played
the women’s tennis circuit in the 1920s.
This book includes her story and
the stories of other great players, teams,
and organizations that have secured
Richmond’s place as an important tennis
town. The Southeast’s first indoor tennis courts opened in Richmond in the
mid-’60s and several world records were
set here in a women’s pro tournament in
1984, including the longest point played in
a professional tennis match—a 29-minute,
643-shot rally.
Nearly 200 color and blackand-white photographs, many never
before published, grace the pages
of Richmond: One of America’s Best
Tennis Towns. John McEnroe, one of
the game’s most talented and colorful players, wrote the foreword. He
won tournaments in Richmond on
both professional and senior tours
during his competitive career.
Eric Perkins has played competitive tennis for more than three
decades. Since 1996 he has served as
president of the Richmond Tennis
Association, a public charity that promotes
tennis and good sportsmanship throughout
the Richmond metropolitan area. He
practices business law in Richmond. www.
richmondtennis.org/book.
Clinical Research and the Law
Patricia M. Tereskerz ’92
wiley-Blackwell
As Clinical Research and the Law makes
clear, the legal implications of conducting
clinical research and clinical trials have
become increasingly complex in recent
years. Everyone involved in the work of
clinical research and trials should be aware
of the ethical issues involved and how the
law affects medical practice and research.
Much of the law and litigation involved
in this field is relatively recent, and it is
important to make sure that compliance
is up-to-date on a range of key issues,
including informed consent, conflict of
interest, research contracts, standards and
duty of care, establishment of clinical trials,
and the disclosure and withholding of the
results of clinical trials.
Clinical Research and the Law
discusses each of these topics thoroughly
and provides answers to the legal questions
and potential legal challenges in medical
research. This book is a practical guide for
clinical investigators, their institutional
administrators, health care administrators, and members of institutional review
boards, and is an
excellent resource
for medical students,
postgraduate
research students,
practicing attorneys,
and counselors for
teaching hospitals
and institutions
undertaking
clinical research and
contract research organizations. “Clinical
Research and the Law
provides thoughtful and practical information on a broad range of legal topics related
to clinical research, with an emphasis on
subject injury liability,” notes a reviewer in
Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices.
Tereskerz is director of the Program
in Ethics and Policy at the University of
Virginia’s School of Medicine Center for
Biomedical Ethics and Humanities and
chairs the Conflicts of Interest Committee
for UVA.
The American Ideology:
Taking Back Our Country
with the Philosophy of
Our Founding Fathers
Brian Vanyo ’10
Liberty Publishing
At a time when many Americans are
frustrated with the scope and power of
federal government, Brian Vanyo explains
how they can make their voices heard in
The American Ideology. He describes the
fundamental principles upon which the
UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012 87
in print
…
nation was
founded, details
how the federal
government has
strayed from
those ideals,
then outlines
how American
liberty can be
restored and
sustained.
Vanyo
draws on
quotes by the Founding Fathers and
the philosophers that influenced them,
including John Locke, Charles
de Montesquieu, and William
Blackstone. He cites observations
made by Alexis de Tocqueville
in Democracy in America and
relevant excerpts from speeches,
laws, studies, and Supreme Court
decisions, including the recent
ruling on health care.
The author describes what
he sees as the Constitution’s true
intent and warns of the dangers
of departing from that original
design. “In The American Ideology,
Brian Vanyo pinpoints the fundamental
values that made the United States the
greatest nation in the history of the world,”
writes Rick Santorum, Republican 2012
presidential candidate. “Anyone who cares
about the future of America must read this
book.”
Brian Vanyo served in the Afghanistan
and Iraq wars and recently worked as an
analyst at the Office of Naval Intelligence
and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
www.brianvanyo.com.
The Road Back:
A Journey of Grace and Grit
by Michael Vitez
CreateSpace
The remarkable recovery of Matthew
Miller, the son of Michael S. Miller ’77, is
88 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
the subject of a new book by Pulitzer Prize
winning author Michael Vitez. The story
begins as Matthew, a member of the UVA
triathlon club, lost control of his bicycle on
the Blue Ridge Parkway and crossed the
center line in the path of a Porsche. He hit
the car, flipped into the air, and landed on
the pavement. His faced was shattered and
he lay motionless and unable to breathe.
Seconds later, Dr. Mark Harris, an
anesthesiologist traveling in a car behind
the Porsche, ran to the scene, and with an
unusual maneuver few would have known
to use, was able to get Matt to breathe
again. That stroke of luck—having such a
skilled physician at the
scene in seconds—gave
the young man a
chance. The rest of the
story is the gripping
account of Matt’s
survival, his iron will to
not only get a life back,
but the life he was aiming for before his fate
took a tragic turn that
day on the parkway.
Fiction
The Innocent
David Baldacci ’86
Grand Central Publishing
On the verge of turning 40, Will Robie was
lean, muscular, cold-blooded, and at the
peak of his powers. He was a hit man who
never missed his target. He made a mistake
once and suffered a broken nose, but he
left it unset to remind him never to make
that kind of mistake again. He traveled
light when it came to emotions; they were a
hazard in his trade.
When the police, the military,
and even the FBI failed to eliminate a
number-one enemy, Robie was the man
to call. The latest target was located near
Washington, D.C., which was highly unusual in this clandestine business. Robie’s
instincts told him that something was off
about his directive in this
mission, and
he decides not
to kill when
he has the
chance. In the
sinister realm
in which he
operates, his
hesitation
makes him a
target himself,
and now he’s
on the run from those who hired him.
As he flees the scene, he crosses paths
with a 14-year-old runaway from a foster
home. Her parents have been murdered,
and she herself is in danger. At great risk to
himself, and going against every survival
instinct he possesses, Robie decides to do
what he can to protect her. Something tells
him that she’s a target at the center of a
cover-up that involved her parents’ deaths,
a plot that leads back to the highest levels
of power. “Baldacci catches you from the
very first page and grabs your attention
until the last word,” writes a reviewer for
the Lincoln Journal Star.
David Baldacci and his wife, Michelle,
started the Wish You Well Foundation,
which promotes literacy. Visit his website at
www.davidbaldacci.com.
Night Watch
Linda Fairstein ’72
Dutton
In this latest thriller in Linda Fairstein’s
best-selling Alexandra Cooper series,
Cooper travels to France for a romantic
vacation with her boyfriend, the famous
chef Luc Rouget. Their time together is
interrupted by the murder of a woman,
in print
…
and the only clue to the crime is a matchbox from Lutece, the famed Manhattan
restaurant Luc plans to reopen.
Did the dead woman, who
worked as a bookkeeper for Luc, have
any closer connection to him? Alex
wondered, but only briefly, before she
was called back to New York to work
on another pressing case, in which
a maid at the Eurotel has accused
Mohammed Gil-Darsin, chief of the
World Economic Bureau, of rape—an
eerie echo of the recent high-profile
incident in which a housekeeper in
a Manhattan hotel made a similar
accusation against Dominique
Strauss-Kahn, then head of the
International Monetary Fund.
As Alex works her way through
developments in the Eurotel case, another Lutece
matchbox is
discovered
on the
corpse of an
unemployed
waiter
found in
Brooklyn’s
Gowanus
Canal.
Alex’s earlier doubts
about Luc
and the young bookkeeper come back to
haunt her—until she puts clues together to
make sense of it all.
The author’s deft descriptions of the
New York and France scenes always lend a
fascinating backdrop for sleuthing. In Night
Watch, Fairstein gives details of legendary
New York restaurants and a look at the
fast-paced, highly competitive dealings that
go on behind the scenes.
Linda Fairstein is a legal expert
on crimes involving sexual assault and
domestic violence, having served for more
than two decades as chief of the sex crimes
unit for the Manhattan District Attorney’s
office. In this, her 14th novel, she returns
to describe intriguing places in the city she
knows so well. www.lindafairstein.com.
Guilty Knowledge:
A Legal Thriller
Michael Monhollon ’84
reflection Publishing
Where We
Belong
Emily Giffin ’97
St. Martin’s Press
At the age of 36,
Marian Caldwell
is a television
producer living the
high life in New
York City. She has
an exciting career
and a relationship
with a dashing and sophisticated man. It’s
a life she’d always dreamed of,
and everything seems to be
falling into place. One night
an 18-year-old girl named
Kirby Rose arrives at her
doorstep, and her knock on
the door shakes the foundations of Marian’s carefully
orchestrated life.
When you keep a secret
from people you love, how
will it affect your relationships? Giffin explores that
compelling theme through the
alternating perspectives of the characters
in Where We Belong. Marian and Kirby are
about to discover things about themselves
that will make them reconsider their lives
and their choices and help them figure out
where they really belong—in the end that
could be where they least expected.
“In another surefire hit, the Something
Borrowed author serves up pathos,
humor and one doozy of a twist,” notes
Entertainment Weekly in its “Summer
Must” list. “Where We Belong is a literary
Rorschach test,” notes a review in the
Miami Herald. “The book, while thoroughly entertaining, will also prod readers
to examine choices they’ve made in their
lives.” This is Giffin’s sixth novel. www.
emilygiffin.com.
Alan Dougherty was a 27-year-old
attorney when he had an affair with his
boss’s daughter, Tracey Coleman. She was
only 17. Her father found them out and
Dougherty lost his job, though he managed to avoid going to prison. Plagued by
guilt for his reckless behavior, he muddles
through his days trying to put his life back
together.
Then one night, Tracey arrived at his
place in a thunderstorm, armed with a gun
and running from drug dealers who are
looking for her. She needs a place to hide,
and soon will need a lawyer
to defend her on a murder
charge. Getting entangled
in her life again would
be crazy. Can Dougherty
believe her story? Will
he be able to see past her
dark-eyed beauty? The
passion he once felt for her
comes back as soon as she
steps back into his life, and
he may not have a choice.
Michael Monhollon is
fean of the Kelley College
of Business at Hardin-Simmons University
in Abilene, Texas. www.literaryclippings.com.
Before the Flood
John Sherman ’06
Telemachus Press, LLC
In Before the Flood, a journalist receives an
assignment that challenges his own beliefs
to the very core. The son of an Episcopal
minister, he knew the Bible well, but he
had turned into an atheist and was deeply
cynical about organized religion and all
of its trappings. He wrote articles about
religion for a San Francisco newspaper,
and now an Episcopal minister wants him
to write about her adopted son, Manny,
UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012 89
in print
…
who she believes is the Second Coming
of Christ. The reporter prides himself on
his objectivity, and though at the outset
he’s full of misgivings, he pitches in to
learn as much as possible about the young
man’s life.
Despite his initial doubts, he slowly
begins to believe the young man’s sincerity.
The deeper he digs, the more unsettling his
work becomes. He’s trained to pull together
the strands of a story, and he’s good at his
job, but every question seems to lead to a
deeper one. The Bible verses he learned as a
boy came back to haunt him. “… Therefore
be ye also ready,
for in such an hour
as ye think not,
the Son of Man
cometh.” (Matthew
24:36–44) Has the
young man been
sent to Earth by
a higher power?
Will he save us
from our transgressions or punish
us for them? Such
questions underpin
the narrative.
John Sherman is an investment
banker in Charlotte, N.C. His book
is available in e-book format through
Amazon and iTunes.
90 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
Husband in Waiting
Robert J. Woolsey ’67
Xlibris
There are lots of ways to prove your love
is true.
In Husband in Waiting, Kurt
Hanrahan, a political reporter working
in Vienna, meets Toni, the love
of his life, at the office. Young
and vivacious, she captures his
imagination and his heart. He’s
told other women he loved them,
but he realizes he never really
meant it until he met
Toni. He takes the leap
and proposes, and to
his delight she accepts.
There’s one condition,
though—his bride
demands they have a
“test year” in which they
keep their marriage absolutely
secret from friends, family, and
casual acquaintances. She wants
Kurt to get used to being married
before they share the news with
the rest of the world.
“I want to save you from the torture of
suddenly having to help me pick out drapes
for the living room,” she tells him, “and
the shock of seeing my pantyhose hanging
from the shower bar in the bathroom.”
An extended period of adjustment would
bolster their marriage, she thinks, and help
them beat the odds of divorce over the long
haul. “After this first year of marriage,” she
declares, “you’ll think that the remaining
ones are a vacation!”
Hanrahan protests, but what can he
do? Besides, he realizes that Toni’s headstrong nature is one
of the things he loves
about her. Reluctantly,
he agrees. After tying
the knot they did their
best to keep it a secret
and set out on an
adventure that would
test their patience,
their love, and their
wits.
Robert Woolsey
recently retired from
his practice as a trusts
and estates attorney in New York and New
Jersey. His first book, No Fighting in the
War Room, describes his experience as a
briefing officer for Army intelligence at the
Pentagon during the Vietnam war.
Letter to the editor
Re: Articles on Campaign Finance Laws
in the Spring 2012 Issue
July 5, 2012
Dear Editor:
May a classmate and personal friend of Trevor Potter [’82]
weigh in from the libertarian side?*
The articles explore the fine points of the campaign finance
laws. But the campaign finance laws are problematic precisely
because they have fine points. The First Amendment is a blunt
instrument.
If we believe that the motives of the promoters of campaign
finance reform are pure, it is fair to ask why the promoters think
United States citizens have changed and are no longer able to resist
blindly accepting stupid ideas which happened to be repeated over
and over.
If we deny that the motives of campaign finance reform are
pure, and I do, it is fair to acknowledge that it was politicians
who wrote these laws, and their natural inclination was surely to
protect themselves from challengers. Pious pronouncements about
the danger of “too much money in campaigns” are nothing but
rhetorical maneuvering by the establishment to justify stopping
challengers from getting traction.
I view the handwringing about limiting speech to avoid the
“appearance of corruption” as acquiescence to fashion. Judges
should look at the real world. If and when they do, they will figure
out that campaign contributions are speech, and then conclude
that restrictions and limitations on contributions violate the
First Amendment.
Benefits of that brighter world will include, at least:
1. Citizens will be able to participate in political campaigns by
giving as much as they want to their preferred candidates, and
citizens will thereby be able to fully participate in the most
basic function of American life—electing people to office.
2. Challengers who are able to attract contributions from any and
all sources will get their message out.
3. Candidates will be released from the charade that coordinated
expenditures are uncoordinated expenditures.
4. Incumbents with fancy campaign finance lawyers will stop
being able to use complicated laws to play “gotcha” against their
opponents.
5. The voters will (maybe) focus a little more on the message and
a little less on who is paying for the message.
6. The great American traditions of anonymous promotion of
ideas and anonymous participation in politics will be given
their rightful protected place in the process, and future James
Madison type graduates of our law school will fearlessly
promote their ideas under the name “Publius”.
7. The press will hound candidates for their funding sources anyway.
8. The fog of the “appearance of corruption” standard will lift.
9. The exception for newspapers—a la the New York Times–which
exception seems to me to violate equal protection and undermine the system anyway—will blissfully go away.
10. Knucklehead rich guys will no longer have to run for office
themselves in order to spend as much as they want to spread
their message.
11. Lawyers will be out of work—perhaps giving them time to do
something productive.
Lawyers always seem to want to solve problems by enacting
rules. That mindset, however, only demonstrates a foolish conceit.
Ever more complicated rules do not solve problems. Ever more
complicated rules bog the nation down in quicksand.
I hope America’s historic run of good luck will continue, and
we will reinvigorate our trust in ourselves to hear all ideas and to
incrementally adopt the good and reject the bad.
Sincerely,
W. Bevis Schock ’82
Saint Louis, Missouri
*I was the party representative in a campaign finance law challenge
which went all the way up, Shrink Missouri Government v. Nixon,
528 U.S. 366 (2000). We lost.
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 91
Opinion
Statement of George Cohen to Board of Visitors
September 13, 2012
[Ed. Note: On June 1 of this year, George Cohen, the Brokaw Professor
of Corporate Law, became Chair of the UVA Faculty Senate. Nine days
later, Rector Helen Dragas announced the resignation of UVA President
Teresa Sullivan. As the new leader of the Senate, Cohen’s expertise on
corporate governance principles helped manage the faculty’s response
to the ensuing controversy. The Board of Visitors ultimately reinstated
Sullivan, and Governor Bob McDonnell reappointed Dragas as Rector.
Since then the faculty has requested a “clear and satisfactory explanation” about what led the Board to ask for Sullivan’s resignation. The
Board has not yet responded. Cohen’s statement to the Board at its
September retreat is an example of the steadying influence he brought
to the crisis. We have reprinted it below (edited for length).]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
I
appreciate the opportunity once again
to address the Board on behalf of the
Faculty Senate. When I last spoke to you,
in May, we were all in a very different
place. … I do not need to recount what
has happened since then. The question
is, where are we now, and where are we
headed?
My understanding is that the Board
as a group believes that for all practical
purposes we are where we were on June 9.
We have just pressed the reset button.
President Sullivan is back, the Board is
behind her, and they are ready to work
together. Having achieved our goal, the
faculty should be ready to abandon our no-confidence vote from June
and affirm our confidence in the Board. Not to do so seems ungrateful
and uncooperative, and potentially harmful to the University. Let me
say up front and most emphatically that the faculty is extremely appreciative of the courage and good judgment the Board demonstrated
by reinstating President Sullivan. I pledge to do all I can as Chair of the
Senate to ensure that the faculty offer the Board our full cooperation
and that we do our best to act in the best interests of the University. …
To date, the Board has not provided a clear and satisfactory
explanation to the University community of why it asked President
Sullivan to resign. Yesterday at the Miller Center, President Sullivan
stated that she still does not understand what the “philosophical
differences” were between her and the Board. Why does this matter?
Because the “reset” view is a fantasy: the Board and President Sullivan
were in fact not united on June 9 but had differences that were great
enough to motivate the Board to take drastic action. A true reset is
therefore possible only if those differences have been resolved in a
mutually acceptable way. But we are not clear what the differences
were, so how can we know if they have been resolved? And if they
have not been resolved, how can we have confidence that the Board
and President Sullivan can work together effectively?
During the crisis, the concern most frequently and prominently
mentioned was the absence of a strategic
plan for the University, in particular a
strategic plan that was bold rather than
incremental. At the reinstatement meeting,
the Rector stated: “Prior to these events,
there seemed to be a roadblock between
the Board’s sense of urgency around our
future in a number of critical areas, and
the Administration’s response to that urgency. Also, many of our concerns about
the direction of the University remained
unknown to all but a few.”
These contentions raise a number of
concerns. First, when President Sullivan
arrived here she said that she was told not
to do another strategic plan, but rather
to implement the plans that had been
developed. If circumstances changed after that, creating a new sense
of urgency, why did the Board not publicly discuss these changes or
the need for a new strategic plan? Why did the Board not formally
request a new strategic plan as it did for the Medical Center and as
it has now done with the formation of the new committee? Second,
the suggestion that President Sullivan was putting up a “roadblock”
to the Board’s goal of an effective strategic plan is in some tension
with the fact that President Sullivan wrote a memo on this very topic
and sent it to the Rector and Vice Rector in May. The New York Times
Magazine article says this memo was “disappointing.” Is that the Board’s
UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012 93
Opinion
…
That should not happen. Although the Rector has stated “there was
view? If so, why? We do not know. Third, when faculty learned of the
an ongoing dialogue with the President over an extended period of
Board’s desire for “bold” rather than “incremental” change and the
time,” that is not the same thing as giving the President fair warning
need for speedy action, we were naturally concerned about excessive
that her job would be in jeopardy if agreed-upon goals were not met
Board control over the strategic planning process. After all, faculty
by a certain time. …
input and buy-in, both of which are necessary if strategic planning
With respect to Board-Faculty communication, the Board’s posiis to succeed, could potentially result in incremental change as well
tion is apparently that the faculty have no role to play in evaluating the
as a slower pace.
President for possible termination, non-renewal, or reappointment.
Since the reinstatement, the Board has created a special comFor example, the Rector in her June 14 statement endorsed the “central
mittee on Strategic Planning, which is meeting tomorrow. The Board
role of faculty governance in matters of academic programming
discussed this committee and its work at its retreat in August. The
and curriculum,” omitting any mention of faculty consultation on
committee is headed by two new Board members with extensive
presidential review or retention decisions….
experience in planning efforts, Linwood Rose and Frank Atkinson.
In light of these concerns, the Faculty Senate wrote to the Board in
These co-chairs have written a letter outlining an approach to strategic
advance of the retreat, asking the Board to consider a self-assessment.
planning that includes a strong role for faculty and the Faculty Senate
We hoped that the Board would take the opportunity to discuss the
and appropriately recognizes the primary responsibility of the faculty
flaws in the process and potential changes to the Board
and administration in planning efforts. The
manual or other Board policies concerning the appropriate
co-chairs also participated in a working sesprocess for reviewing and terminating or declining to renew
sion called by President Sullivan, which I
“… President Sullivan
presidents, as [BOV member] Heywood Fralin suggested
attended, and which addressed a number
reiterated her view that
at the reinstatement meeting. These changes could include
of issues including the problems with past
the proper role of the Rector and Executive Committee,
strategic efforts. We applaud all of these
the University is not in
guidelines on compliance with the Open Meeting law and
developments and the Faculty Senate stands
crisis by any measure
when individual Board member conversations are appropriready to participate fully and productively
ate, clarification on when full Board meetings are required,
in the strategic planning effort.
and has proudly
and the need for consulting faculty and other University
Nevertheless, questions remain. Before
constituents… Perhaps the Board’s new Governance and
the Board’s retreat, the Provost and deans
declared herself to
Engagement Committee will address these issues. I hope
wrote a detailed letter to the Board outlining
be an unrepentant
so. But we must wait and see.
their approach to strategic planning. Yet, like
I want to close with a few words about Faculty-Board
President Sullivan’s May memo on which it
incrementalist …”
relations. Despite all I have said, I want to reiterate in
builds, the Provost and deans’ letter was not
the strongest possible terms that the Faculty Senate is
discussed at the retreat or mentioned in the
committed to moving forward and to reconciliation. We will work
Atkinson-Rose letter. What are we to make of these omissions? Just
in partnership with both the administration and the Board to make
yesterday, President Sullivan reiterated her view that the University
meaningful progress toward meeting our many challenges. To that
is not in crisis by any measure and has proudly declared herself to be
end, I have met with or had phone conversations with Rector Dragas,
an unrepentant incrementalist, while the New York Times Magazine
[Vice Rector] George Martin, [and BOV members] Stephen Long,
article reports that the Rector still “feels her warnings of an existential
Hunter Craig, and Hillary Hurd. These conversations were productive
crisis will be vindicated.” Will the Board reject a strategic plan if it is
and cordial, and I hope and expect to have further conversations with
excessively “incrementalist” rather than “bold”? It could be, of course,
these and other Board members in the coming year.
that these issues are minor, never really amounted to much, will be
The Rector mentioned to me the possibility that she or other
addressed and adequately debated during the planning process, or
Board members might participate in one of our meetings this year
have been resolved. But at this point, it is hard to know.
and several faculty members have conveyed the same wish. Perhaps
In addition to the lack of information about why the Board made
at such a meeting, some of the concerns I have outlined here could
its initial judgment to seek President Sullivan’s resignation and then
be addressed and finally put to bed. We look forward to the day when
changed course, there remain concerns about how the Board reached
not only our beloved Rotunda, but trust between faculty and Board
its initial decision. The process leading to the decision appears to have
is fully restored, and I hope with all my heart that day comes soon.
involved inadequate communication between the Board and President
The future of the University depends on it. n
Sullivan, inadequate communication among Board members, and
inadequate consultation with University constituent groups, including
faculty. As for Board-President communication, President Sullivan
has said she had no idea that the Board was going to ask her to resign.
94 UVA Lawyer / Fall 2012
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