Santa Clara University

Fall 2004 - Alumni

Class Action

Alumni

63Sam Lavorato Jr. was honored by the Monterey County Bar Association with its Gibson Award, named after former California Supreme Court Justice Phil Gibson. Lavorato was honored for his legal work and community service. He practices family law in Salinas, with three of his four attorney sons practicing with him.
69Robert R. Barengo was appointed to the Nevada Tax Commission to serve through 2007 by the governor. Barengo has practiced law in Nevada since 1970 and currently has a private practice specializing in general business, municipal bonding and investment banking, government, and administration law. He has previously served as the director of two publicly traded corporations, Riviera Holdings Corp. and American Wagering, Inc.
70Alfred G. Morici has been elected to the board of the directors of the South Palm Beach County Bar Association and the Boca Raton Estate Planning Council in Florida. His law practice focuses on probate, estate planning, guardianships, and elder law.
72Darryl Y. C. Choy retired from the Family Court in Honolulu where he served as a judge for 22 years. He retired as the sixth most senior judge in the state, in his fourth judicial term in office. J. Randolph MacPherson joined Halloran & Sage as a partner in Washington, D.C. He was previously a partner with two other Washington, D.C., firms and served for 16 years as an attorney in the United States Army and Department of Defense. MacPherson practices in the administrative and regulatory, business and commercial, construction, and commercial litigation areas. Steven Siner has joined Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel’s real estate group in San Jose as the firm’s leasing specialist. He comes to the firm after 23 years as a partner in the Siner & Siner Law Group.
76Allen Sumner was appointed to the Sacramento Superior Court by Gov. Gray Davis in November 2003. Sumner was previously the governor’s chief deputy legal affairs secretary and general counsel for the State and Consumer Services Agency. Stephen White was appointed a Sacramento County Superior Court judge by Gov. Gray Davis in November 2003. The former executive director of the California District Attorneys Association and Sacramento County D.A. was California’s inspector general under Davis.
77Mary Lou Fenili is the assistant vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the University of Colorado at Denver. She previously served at the university ombudsman. Her work focuses on policy issues, and she has primary responsibility for drafting new policies, identifying policies needing review and revision, and maintaining a status report on policies. She also works on academic planning. Frederick M. Gonzalez B.S. ’71, MBA ’73, was appointed vice president and general counsel of SonicWall, Inc., a publicly traded Internet security device company located in Sunnyvale. Prior to joining SonicWall, he held similar positions at Extreme Networks in Santa Clara and at Polycom in Milpitas. Gonzalez is a member of the School of Law Alumni Board of Directors, the Board of Visitors, the High-Technology Advisory Board, and the Dean’s Advisory Council.
79Paula Wendell has been an FBI agent since 1980 and is currently the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco Division, which includes the entire Bay Area.
80Murlene Johnson Randle was appointed director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice by the newly elected San Francisco Mayor and SCU graduate Gavin Newsom B.S. ’89 (see Page 21). Rolanda Pierre-Dixon, Deputy District Attorney for Santa Clara County, joined the board of directors of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), Silicon Valley. She is also a team leader of the county’s domestic violence unit. Domestic violence is her field of expertise and she has been committed to these issues for 20 years. Steven R. Smith joined the Chicago office of Bryan Cave as a partner. He was previously with the Chicago office of McGuire Woods.
81Chi-Hung A. Chan, a partner with Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley, was elected president of HongKong-SV.com, a non-profit group based in the Silicon Valley providing a forum for high-tech professionals interested in business development and networking opportunities between Silicon Valley and Hong Kong.
83G. Lynn Thorpe served as panelist for the Environmental Law Society in the spring of 2003. He is a deputy attorney general in the California Attorney General’s office and focuses on toxic and hazardous waste tort litigation.
84Michael Dillon has been appointed general counsel and secretary of Sun Microsystems Inc.
85Jay Russell joined Howard, Rome, Martin & Ridley’s Redwood City office as senior counsel. His practice includes business and insurance defense litigation and business and real estate transactions.
86Richard J. La Fleur is co-founder of La Fleur & Yasin, a San Jose based law firm focusing on property law including both real property and intellectual property. La Fleur is the head of the firm’s real property practice, focusing on real estate purchases and sales, financing, construction, development, land use, property management, leasing, and related litigation.
87Sherri Evans-Stanton was appointed director of Brandywine Conservancy’s Environmental Management Center. She brings the Conservancy more than two decades of experience in environmental law and will manage all aspects of the EMC’s planning and operations, overseeing the three principal programs of municipal assistance, conservation design, and land stewardship.
88Mark W. Stone was appointed to the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors, representing San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley. Running a legal practice out of his home, Stone specializes in writing contracts for technology companies, including Borland and Apple.
89Michelle R. Bernard joined Gordon & Rees as a senior counsel in 2001. She is a member of the firm’s Insurance Group, specializing in insurance coverage advice and litigation. Bernard also has extensive experience in the areas of commercial litigation and environmental defense litigation.
91Griffin Bonini and Enrique Colin and are facing a November runoff for a Santa Clara County Superior Court judgeship. Bonini is a deputy district attorney with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and Colin works for the Public Defender’s Office. Brian Harrison was elevated to partner of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold. Working out of the firm’s San Francisco office, he specializes in insurance coverage and bad faith litigation. Kathleen L. Roberts is a managing partner for the San Jose office of Grancell, Lebovitz, Stander, Barnes & Reubens.
92Stephen Ackley is vice president of worldwide sales of Monosphere Inc. in Redwood City. Curtis Leavitt has joined K&R Law Group in its Sacramento office as senior counsel. He represents health care entities in a variety of litigation and regulatory matters. Leavitt was most recently assistant chief counsel at the California Department of Managed Health Care, and previously served as senior counsel with the California Department of Personnel Administration. Larry Sokoloff and his wife, Alison Ginsburg, announce the birth of their daughter, Sasha Rae, on Nov. 28, 2003. Larry practices consumer protection law in Sunnyvale, writes freelance articles for SCU alumni publications, and teaches media law to undergraduates at SCU. Alison is a group marketing manager for Sun Microsystems. Golnar Yazdi was named president of the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. She begins her two-year term after having served on the board of directors for the past three and a half years, most recently as vice president. Yazdi is also a director in Carr McClellan’s estate planning, trusts & wealth transfer group.
93Alice Busching Reynolds served as panelist on the Environmental Law Society’s “Sustaining the Seas and Protecting the Coast” panel in September 2003. She’s currently a deputy attorney general in the California Attorney General’s office and works on issues related to land. Jolie Houston was appointed city attorney for the city of Los Altos. She is currently a partner with Berliner Cohen in the firm’s San Jose office, specializing in the area of land use and public law. Allan Manzagol and his wife, Amanda (Leikam) B.A. ’96, are thrilled to announce the birth of their son, Mason James, on May 26. The couple also has a two-year-old daughter named Madeline (“Maddie”). Allan continues to work as an assistant general counsel for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in Sunnyvale. Jeffrey Raskin joined Morgan, Lewis & Bockius’ San Francisco office as partner. His practice focuses on insurance coverage advice and litigation. Carol Stair was promoted to partner of Cooper, White & Cooper. Employed as a litigator in the firm’s San Francisco office, Stair focuses on complex construction, real estate and product liability law.
94Dan S. Johnston was appointed vice president, legal and general counsel, for Ominicell Inc. He previously was vice president and general counsel of Be Inc., an operating systems company he helped take public in 1999. From 1994 to 1999 he was a senior associate at Cooley Godward and worked as a software programmer at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. Michael McKeeman has been named partner in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw. He practices construction law and represents owners, contractors and design professionals in construction disputes. E. Sean McLoughlin, a litigator in Hill, Farrer & Burrill’s labor and employment group, was promoted to partner. He works out of the firm’s Los Angeles office. McLoughlin was previously an associate with Rogers, Joseph, O’Donnell & Quinn in San Francisco. Walter R. Schneider was elevated from senior counsel to partner with Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy. He works out of the firm’s San Francisco and Larkspur offices and represents policyholders in coverage disputes with insurance companies. Cynthia D. Waddell, internationally recognized for her expertise in accessible designs for facilities and information technology, was appointed executive director of a new division for MCS Education Services. The company, whose clients include most of the school districts of California, handles numerous compliance services. In addition, Waddell was the only American speaker at the March 10 conference in Japan that announced the inclusion of Web Accessibility Guidelines as a part of the Japanese industrial standards. Gabrielle Whelan has joined McDonough Holland & Allen in its Oakland office, and practices in the firm’s redevelopment, public law and land use sections. Previously, she was an assistant city attorney in Tracy and the deputy city attorney in Livermore.
95Richard S. Baum was elevated to partner of Coddington, Hicks & Danforth in Redwood City, where he specializes in insurance and business litigation. He and his wife, Betsy, are the proud parents of 2-year old toddlers, Joe and Hannah. Audrey A. Gee was promoted to principal of the East Bay firm of Morgan Miller Blair. She is a lawyer in the firm’s business and technology group, where she handles a wide range of complex business and employment litigation matters. William Harmon III is a patent attorney for Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was a founding partner of Vierra Magen Marcus Harmon & Deniro in San Francisco. Sean M. Kneafsey was elevated to name partner of Palmer & Lombardi, which, in recognition of the new partnership, changed the firm name to Palmer, Lombardi, Kneafsey & Donohue. Traci S. Lagasse is senior counsel with Gordon & Rees, working out of the San Diego office. Her practice focuses on complex toxic tort and product liability litigation and she has written several articles on issues pertinent to mold litigation for the Defense Research Institute and other legal publications.
96J. Dominic Campodonico was appointed partner of Gordon & Rees’ San Francisco office, focusing on pharmaceutical and medical device defense as well as unfair business practices. He is also a member of the firm’s business and technology practice group where he has assisted with the formation of start-up companies. Amanda Groves joined Winston & Strawn’s litigation practice as a partner. She focuses her practice on complex commercial and real estate litigation, as well as contract disputes related to high technology. She serves on the board of trustees and the executive committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and is chair of the amicus committee of the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services. Alicia Guerra was named partner of Morrison & Foerster’s Walnut Creek office where she is a land use and environmental attorney. Douglas Lumish was elevated to partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Lumish works as a patents litigator at the firm’s Redwood Shores office. John V. Picone III was elevated to partner of Fish and Richardson. Picone works as a litigator in the firm’s Redwood City office.
97Barmak Sani was promoted to partner of Townsend and Townsend and Crew’s Palo Alto office. Michelle Leu Zaccone was named director of Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn in Burlingame, where she is an attorney with the firm’s real estate group and civil litigation and dispute resolution group. She has substantial experience in both transactional real estate and litigation, with a heavy emphasis on alternative dispute resolution. Zaccone also serves on the board of directors of the Shelter Network, a non-profit organization providing housing and services to the homeless.
98Robyn Lynne Robinson married Daryl Langdon Joseffer of Washington, D.C. They recently returned from traveling to the Dominican Republic and St. John’s. She is a tax associate with KPMG.
99Melinda Garcia opened Garcia & Haskett, Attorneys at Law, in Pleasanton. Birgit Millauer joined Dorsey & Whitney’s San Francisco office as an of-counsel attorney. With her strong background as a patent attorney, she will strengthen the firm’s patent practice. Millauer also brings experience in life sciences, holding several patents in her groundbreaking research on inhibiting angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels) in cancerous tumors. Nader R. Yasin B.S. ’95 is co-founder of La Fleur & Yasin, a San Jose based law firm focusing on property law including both real property and intellectual property. Yasin is the head of the firm’s intellectual property practice, focusing on patent trademark ADR and litigation and related business counseling.
00Steve Daheb was appointed vice president of sales and marketing of Tasman Networks, a leading provider of intelligent platforms for WAN access. Daheb has extensive experience in the marketing of Internet/WAN technology and will manage the company’s expansion into new markets. Damon Fisk, formerly with Lanahan & Reilly, joined Coudert Brothers as an associate in the firm’s litigation group in the Palo Alto office. Robert D. Hayden returned to Carr & Ferrell as an associate after serving as inside counsel for a Silicon Valley-based technology company. He specializes in all aspects of patent prosecution, concentrating in the fields of magnetic recording, semiconductor processing, and medical devices. Reed Minkin is an associate attorney for the firm of Juge, Napolitano, Guilbeau, Ruli & Frieman in New Orleans, La. He practices in the areas of workers’ compensation defense and general business liability.
01Brian Boyer has joined Squire, Sanders & Dempsey’s intellectual property practice in San Francisco. He previously worked for Pennie & Edmonds. JoAnne Yamani married John Huang on Nov.15, 2003, at the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino.
02Christine Carlson has joined the Sacramento law firm of Bartholomew, Wasznicky & Molinaro, practicing family law. She is also the associate editor of the Family Law Counselor, a monthly publication of the Sacramento County Bar Association.
03Robert J. Artuz became an associate with Townsend and Townsend and Crew. A member of the firm’s litigation practice group, Artuz focuses on patent related litigation. Doris Chen was added as an associate of Fernandez & Associates. She specializes in IP and patents. Nicholas Hua was appointed a judicial law clerk in the Los Angeles superior court where he is working with civil litigation. Erik P. Khoobyarian joined the litigation department of Downey Brand as an associate. He previously worked as an extern for Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California.
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