Director of External Relations
nuhler@ku.edu
Sandy Patti
Assistant to the Dean
& Director of Alumni Relations
patti@ku.edu
Alumni News
Recent Alumni Notes
Items were received or collected between Dec. 1, 2008 and March 15, 2009. Alumni news items may be submitted by e-mail to patti@ku.edu or by visiting the law school’s Web site at www.law.ku.edu – click on Alumni and look for Keep in Touch. We rely on our alumni for the accuracy of information submitted.
1960s
William L. Turner, L’60, was elected president of the board of directors of We Tell Stories, a Los Angeles-based theater company, where he has been on the board since 2003. We Tell Stories is a non-for-profit multi-ethnic community of artists dedicated to educating and nurturing young audiences in literature and theater. We Tell Stories brings classic literature and folk tales to life in classrooms, theaters, schools, museums, festivals, special events and libraries. Its goals are to inspire creativity, enhance literacy, cultivate intercultural awareness and harmony, and spark a love of the theater and spoken word.
Peter K. Curran, L’66, was selected for repeat inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Curran practices with Stevens & Brand LLP in Lawrence. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey, with more than 2.5 million lawyers confidentially evaluating other lawyers.
John Smith, L’68, has been elected president of the Lake City, Colo., Community Arts Center. Prior to his retirement, Smith was with Enterprise Products Partners in Houston.
1970s
Robert O. Watchous, L’73, Emporia, retired in June 2003.
Mary Torrence, L’74, serves as the Kansas Revisor of Statutes. Torrence is the first KU graduate and first woman to hold the position. The Office of Revisor of Statutes is the legal staff agency of the Kansas Legislature and currently has a staff of 21 attorneys.
Sheila Bair, L’78, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, received a 2008-09 Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
1980s
Pat Haley, L’80, received the Labette Community College 2008 Van Meter Outstanding Alumni Award from the board of directors of the LCC Foundation and Alumni Association.
Judge Janice Miller Karlin, L’80, a bankruptcy judge for the federal district of Kansas, has been appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the 10th Circuit. Karlin is a member of numerous bankruptcy associations and committees and has contributed chapters to practice manuals on bankruptcy law and civil procedure.
Bruce Mallonee, L’80, has agreed to serve as the 2009 chairman of the Campaign for Justice. The campaign brings together well-known and respected lawyers from around Maine to raise funds on behalf of six civil legal aid providers in the state. Mallonee is a partner at the Bangor law firm of Rudman and Winchell. He was recognized in 2007 by the Volunteer Lawyers Project with the Lew Vafiades Pro Bono Award. During his legal career, Mallonee has donated more than 800 hours to impoverished clients, many of whom were victims of domestic violence.
Sherrie E. Loveland, L’82, was selected for repeat inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Loveland practices with Stevens & Brand LLP in Lawrence. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey, with more than 2.5 million lawyers confidentially evaluating other lawyers.
Neil B. Foth, L’84, has been appointed as a Johnson County District Court judge by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. He replaces Judge John Anderson III, who retired in January 2009 after more than 21 years on the bench.
Grant Burgoyne, L’88, was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in the 2008 general election.
Kevin Kelly, L’89, is an associate development director at the Kansas University Endowment Association, where his responsibilities include development work to support the KU Libraries and KU’s deferred maintenance needs. Kevin served as the director of outreach at KU Law and managed a solo law practice in Lawrence from 1990 to 2006. Kevin, his wife, Christy Kelly, and son, Trey (6), make their home in Lawrence.
1990s
Steve Ariagno, L’90, was recently married to Jessie Prock in Wichita. He is a partner in Ariagno, Kerns, Mank & White LLC, practicing in criminal defense. Ariagno has been named a Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyer. He also has a daughter, Meghan (7).
Melanie (Dick) McMullen, L’90, has joined the National Cable Television Cooperative Inc. in Lenexa as director of business & legal affairs. NCTC is a programming and hardware purchasing organization representing 1,100 cable television operators in the United States and its territories. Melanie and her husband, Keith, live in Kearney, Mo., with their sons Alex (13) and Sean (11).
John E. Hayes III, L’91, is in-house counsel with Coldwater Creek in Colorado.
Molly M. Wood, L’91, was selected for repeat inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Wood practices with Stevens & Brand LLP in Lawrence. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey, with more than 2.5 million lawyers confidentially evaluating other lawyers.
Laura Fey, L’92, is practicing with Daley Crowley LLP in Kansas City, Mo. Fey was formerly with Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP.
Kurt A. Level, L’92, has been named vice president and associate general counsel for Harrah’s Operating Company, Las Vegas.
Gregory Glass, L’93, has been named managing editor of Asia IP, a Hong Kong-based magazine focusing on intellectual property law in Asia and the Pacific.
Evan H. Ice, L’93, was selected for repeat inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Ice practices with Stevens & Brand LLP in Lawrence. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey, with more than 2.5 million lawyers confidentially evaluating other lawyers.
Dan Wiley, L’93, has been selected by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the newest 1st Judicial District judge serving Leavenworth and Atchison counties. Wiley has been practicing with the Leavenworth firm of Murray, Tillotson and Wiley since 1993. He also serves the Leavenworth area as a municipal judge for the city of Leavenworth and as a district judge pro tem for the Leavenworth County District Court. Wiley has more than 11 years of judicial experience in Leavenworth County.
Katherine (Basom) McClendon, L’94, is company counsel at Lineage Power Corporation in Mesquite, Texas.
Nate Muyskens, L’95, is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP. He was previously a partner at Troutman Sanders LLP.
David M. Staker, L’95, is married to Christina Dunn Staker, L’96, with four children, Gabrielle (7), Matthew (5), Joseph (3) and Madeleine (1). Staker is president of Plastic Packaging Technologies, a flexible packaging manufacturer in Kansas City, Kan.
Thomas Tronsdal, L’95, is the owner of Canyon Fence Company in Tucson, Ariz., the largest fence company in southern Arizona.
Geoffrey J. Lysaught, L’98, has been appointed director of the Searle Civil Justice Institute and senior lecturer at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago.
Rachel Smith, L’99, and Chris Vickers welcomed daughter Maya Elizabeth Marie in August 2008.
David C. Kresin, L’97, and Edmundo Robaina started a new firm in Phoenix, Robaina & Kresin PLLC, in January 2009. The firm represents employees in labor and employment matters. Kresin and his wife, Molly, live in Phoenix with their three children.
Shawn Stogsdill, L’97, has joined Van Osdol & Magruder PC as of counsel. Stogsdill has practiced extensively in the areas of business, tax, real estate and real estate planning law for the past 10 years. He serves as an adjunct professor of constitutional law at William Jewell College.
Kevin Fulk, L’98, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer College of Business in December 2008. His dissertation is titled “The Involvement of Multiple Information and Communication Technologies in Complex Information System Project Control: A Longitudinal, Interpretive Study.” Fulk also received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence upon graduating.
Wesley F. Smith, L’98, was selected for repeat inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Smith practices with Stevens & Brand LLP in Lawrence. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey, with more than 2.5 million lawyers confidentially evaluating other lawyers.
Sarah Deer, L’99, has accepted a tenure-track position and will join the law faculty at William Mitchell in the fall of 2009. Sarah is one of the first recipients of the KU School of Law’s Tribal Lawyer Certificate, and she will become the seventh female law professor in the United States who is also a citizen of a federally recognized Indian tribe. Deer delivered the keynote address at KU Law's 14th Annual Diversity in Law Banquet in March.
Kyle N. Roehler, L’99, has become a shareholder in the Kansas City law firm of Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer PC, where he practices in the area of civil litigation and insurance law.
2000s
Jacqueline M. Sexton, L’00, has become a shareholder in the Kansas City law firm of Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer PC, where she practices in the area of civil litigation, with an emphasis on employment, banking and insurance law matters.
Dawn (Cook) Blunda, L’01, St. Louis, Mo., is pleased to announce the birth of daughter Izabelle Taylor in February 2008, and the impending graduation from high school of her daughter Krystol in May 2009.
Jason H. Klein, L’01, is practicing with Latham, Shuker, Eden & Beaudine LLP in Orlando, Fla.
Stefan Padfield, L’01, assistant professor at the University of Akron, C. Blake McDowell Law Center, had his article,” Is Puffery Material to Investors? Maybe We Should Ask Them,” 10 U. Penn. J. Bus. & Emp. L. 339 (2008) selected by the Law Alumni Association for the Thomas G. Byers Memorial Award for Outstanding Faculty Publication.
Travis L. Salmon, L’01, has become a shareholder in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Polsinelli Shughart PC. Salmon practices in business litigation with an emphasis in complex commercial litigation.
Christopher P. Sobba, L’01, has become a shareholder in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Polsinelli Shughart PC. Sobba practices in construction and business litigation.
Elizabeth A. Srp, L’01, and her husband, Dan, welcomed their daughter, Josephine Julia, in February 2009.
Crystal Nesheim Johnson, L’02, and husband Chad welcomed daughter, Sydney Marie, in October 2008. Johnson is a deputy state’s attorney for Minnehaha County in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Bradley C. Friesen, L’02, an attorney at Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, has been named a director of the Winston-Salem based law firm. His practice concentrates in bank litigation, commercial litigation, uniform commercial code, business litigation, condemnation/eminent domain, civil litigation, landlord/tenant-commercial, and landlord/tenant-residential disputes.
Maria Macoubrie, L’02, and her husband, Brad, are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Brynna Claire Macoubrie, in September 2008. Brynna joins big brother Brody (3). Macoubrie is an associate in the Kansas City office of Bryan Cave LLP.
Jamie Huffman Jones, L’03, was named a 2008 Mid-South Rising Star by Super Lawyer Magazine. She is practicing with Friday, Eldredge & Clark LLP in Little Rock, Ark.
Barbara Privat, L’03, joined the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office in February 2008. Barbara and husband, Todd, are expecting their second child in April 2009. They have a son, Kyle (2).
Jeffrey M. Schwartz, L’03, has started the law firm of Schwartz & Waible LLC in Fort Collins, Colo. It is a general practice specializing in criminal defense representation. Schwartz previously practiced as a Colorado Public Defender for more than five years.
Carly Farrell, L’06, is practicing with Edward C. Gillette in Mission in the area of domestic relations.
Ben Reed, L’06, has joined the Wichita office of Joseph & Hollander PA. His practice will focus primarily on domestic law.
Ambriel Renn-Scanlan, L’06, recently concluded her two-year clerkship with U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Gary Sebelius and is now an attorney in the Honors Program for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Kansas City Regional Solicitor’s Office.
Michael Payne, L’07, has joined the Greeley, Colo., law firm of Otis, Coan & Peters LLC. His practice emphasizes all areas of real estate, business and commercial law, both litigation and transactional matters.
Bobby Pineda, L’07, has opened his own practice, The Law Office of Bobby W. Pineda, in Rock Springs, Wyo.
Christi Pribula, L’07, is a trust officer at The Commerce Trust Company in Leawood.
Ashley K. (Schellpeper) Adrianse, L’08, is an associate at Cramer, Alissi & Fontaine PC in Hartford, Conn., specializing in insurance and business litigation defense.
Katie Cheney, L’08, joined the firm of Frasier & Johnson LLP in Beloit in January 2009.
Abigail Grantstein, L’08, Indianapolis, accepted a position as assistant director of enforcement at the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Tyler Hibler, L’08, has joined the Overland Park office of Wallace Saunders Austin Brown & Enochs Chartered. His practice focuses on insurance defense litigation.
Lisa (Brown) Nieman, L’08, has been working as counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in Washington, D.C., since May 2008.
Wakil Oyedemi, L’08, became the newest assistant Reno County district attorney on March 2, 2009.
In Memoriam
Frederick G. Apt Jr., L’56, Iola, Kan., December 11, 2008
Judith Emick DuChateau, L’85, St. Louis, Mo., November 25, 2008
Jason B. Harper Sr., L’86, Germantown, Md./New York, February 16, 2009
Bill House, L’39, Arkansas City/Cedar Vale, Kan., March 8, 2009
Ervin G. Johnston, L’51, Overland Park, Kan., February 16, 2009
Robert B. Lester, L’77, Rocklin, Calif., January 7, 2009
Howard L. Lydick, L’56, Richardson, Texas, August 5, 2008
Donald E. Schrag, L’78, Wichita, Kan., December 14, 2008
Robert C. Wooton, L’66, Kansas City, Kan., February 13, 2009