Items were received or collected between April 1 and June 19, 2008. Alumni news items may be sent by the return postcard attached to the back each KU Law Magazine, 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 "Keeping in Touch."
William P. Coates Jr., L’72, Overland Park, was elected vice president, central region, of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel.
Thomas W. Wagstaff, L’72, received the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s prestigious Deans of the Trial Bar Award, presented May 1 during the 35th Annual Bench-Bar & Boardroom Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort. Wagstaff is a founding partner of Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP.
Linda Legg, L’75, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for AT&T Advertising & Publications in St. Louis, Mo., is the first recipient of the Enterprise Award, one of the Women’s Justice Awards from the St. Louis Daily Record. The award recognizes women in a business setting who have demonstrated leadership, integrity, service, sacrifice and accomplishment in improving the quality of justice and furthering the highest ideals of the legal profession in contributing to the improvement of the justice system. Legg was selected by a committee of lawyers from around the state, including the deans of law schools, judges, elected officials and members of Missouri law firms.
Tyrone C. Means, L’76, has been named by Super Lawyers Magazine as one of Alabama’s Super Lawyers for 2008. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected each year. Means practices with Thomas, Means, Gillis & Seay PC in Birmingham, Ala., in the area of personal injury plaintiff: general.
David L. Davenport, L’77, Stanford, Calif., is counselor to the director for external relations research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Dwight Sutherland, L’77, of counsel for Norton, Hubbard, Ruzicka & Kreamer LC, is a recipient of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s 2008 Robert C. Welch Volunteer Attorney Project Award. The award recognizes attorneys and law firms who, through their participation in the Volunteer Attorney Project (VAP), have demonstrated exemplary commitment to the delivery of pro bono services in the Kansas City metropolitan area community. Sutherland provided outstanding representation on behalf of his VAP client, who was a victim of home improvement fraud. The client was convinced to mortgage her home to pay for desired renovations. Shortly after pocketing the mortgage proceeds, the “remodeler” disappeared. Sutherland sued the remodeler on behalf of his client, successfully obtaining a default judgment. However, the defendant turned out to be judgment proof. Unable to keep up with the mortgage payments, the client was faced with a foreclosure action. After two years of litigation, Sutherland was able to resolve the matter by having the client refinance her house and pay the existing mortgage at about 30 cents on the dollar. Sutherland’s hard work and diligence prevented his client from becoming homeless. He devoted 145 hours of pro bono service on the matter.
KU Law Professor Steve McAllister, L’88, has been selected to receive a Steeples Service to Kansans Award. The award is given to faculty members who provide significant service to the people of Kansas as a purposeful extension of their teaching and research. Before this year, the Steeples Service Award was limited to faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This year, faculty members from the entire university were eligible. During his time at KU, McAllister has served as dean of the law school and interim director of the Dole Institute of Politics. He teaches courses in Constitutional Law, Constitutional Litigation and Torts. He is currently the Solicitor General of Kansas, and is the first and only Solicitor General of Kansas that represents the state in constitutional cases.
Deborah L. Riley, L’89, Lawrence, has been promoted to vice president, HealthPro Claim, CNA Global Specialty Claim. Riley oversees all medical malpractice claims for the United States, Europe and Canada. Her main office is in Chicago.
Tomas K. Pratt, L’92, has been elected president of the intellectual property firm Banner & Witcoff Ltd. Pratt is a senior partner in the Chicago office and concentrates his practice on patent litigation. He is also an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches Patent Trial Practice.
Marc Erickson, L’94, is a member of Kansas City’s business magazine Ingram’s 40 Under Forty 2008 Class. These honorees are made up of busy professionals who contribute to every facet of the Kansas City community. They are also active in community service organizations, schools, churches, little league and scouting troops. Erickson is a partner at Wagstaff & Cartmell, practicing in the areas of commercial litigation and products liability. He is an adjunct professor at KU Law, where he teaches a trial advocacy class. He is also involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Grant Development Committee.
Katherine (Basom) McClendon, L’94, Plano, Texas, is pleased to announce the birth of son, Cole Alexander, in December 2007. He joins big brother, Drake Alan (2).
Tricia M. (Smith) Knoll, L’95, and husband, Christopher, proudly announce the birth of their daughter, Lola MacKenzie, in February 2008. The Knolls live in Kechi.
Charles Casassa, L’96, has been named a new partner in the capital markets practice in the Milan, Italy, office of Clifford Chance.
Michael Mohlman, L’98, has been named a shareholder at the Sly James Firm in Kansas City, Mo. Mohlman has been with the firm since it was founded by Sly James in 2002. His practice focuses on the areas of plaintiff’s nursing home negligence, medical malpractice and personal injury litigation. Mohlman is the president of Missouri Watch, a consumer rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals from wealthy special-interest lobbies, and is the former vice chair of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Nursing Home Negligence Committee.
Jean Block, L’99, has been appointed the head of the newly created Health Care Bureau in the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office.
Ryan Dixon, L’99, has been named director of governmental & legal affairs for the Kansas Bar Association. Dixon was in a solo practice for the past eight years. He also served as a part-time municipal court judge in Olathe.
Brian Gaffney, L’01, and his wife, Kerry, welcomed a daughter, Ashlynn Corrine, born in April 2007. She joins big brother, Connor (5). Brian is an IP Attorney for Baker Botts LLP in Dallas.
Chris Sherman and Melissa Hoag Sherman (both L’01), Leawood, are pleased to announce the birth of daughter, Zoe Jean Sherman, in March 2008. She joins big sister, Audrey (2 1/2).
Jason H. Klein, L’02, has accepted an in-house counsel position with Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc. in Orlando, Fla. He is Counsel in Resort Management.
Ellen Sexton Wingenter, L’02, married Steve Wingenter in October 2007. Ellen graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law with an LL.M. in Taxation in December 2007. She joined the Decatur, Ala., office of Wilmer & Lee PA in January 2008.
James Belshe, L’03, was named a shareholder at the Salt Lake City law firm of Workman Nydegger. Belshe is a member of the firm’s patent litigation group and focuses his practice on the representation of plaintiffs in patent litigation matters.
Heber Gonzalez, L’03, and his wife, Diane, are pleased to announce the birth of their son, Adrian Oscar Gonzalez, on June 12, 2008.
Christy Jensen Rosensteel, L’03, is the assistant general counsel for the Van Tuyl Group Inc., in Phoenix, Ariz. She previously worked at Snell & Wilmer LLP.
Emily (Schutte) Vijayakirthi, L’04, is an in-house attorney at Terracon Consultants Inc. in Lenexa.
Heath Hawk, L’05, has joined Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP in Kansas City, Mo., with a practice focused in the areas of business and commercial litigation with an emphasis in the construction industry. He represents contractors and other clients on a broad range of contract, insurance and litigation issues and disputes.
Lacy J. Gilmour, L’06, has been accepted to attend the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Ga., for the summer of 2008. Only 124 participants are accepted nationally each year.
Jay McLaughlin, L’06, received his LL.M. in international economic law from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2007. He is currently working as a corporate counsel at Envestnet Asset Management in Chicago.
Richard Cook, L’07, is practicing with Spencer Fane Britt & Browne in Kansas City, Mo.
Aimee Minnich, L’07, is an associate at Seigfreid, Bingham, Levy, Selzer & Gee in Kansas City, Mo., where she is practicing in the areas of estate planning, general business law and tax.
Tucker Poling, L’07, is practicing with Hite, Fanning & Honeyman LLP in Wichita.
Sarah Preston, L’07, is an associate at Seigfreid, Bingham, Levy, Selzer & Gee in Kansas City, Mo., where she is practicing in the areas of employment law and commercial litigation.
Angela Angotti, L’08, has accepted an associate position with Coates & Logan, Overland Park. Her practice will focus on civil defense litigation.
