Santa Clara University

Spring 2005 - Class Notes - Alumni

Class Notes

alumni

57 Curtis Cole B.A. ’55 is retiring after 47 years as a workers compensation attorney. “Starting in the field before anyone else wanted the business gave me a leg up on the eventual competition,” he writes. “I feel I was well prepared for life and the practice of law by Santa Clara, and in fact sent six children to Santa Clara,” adds Cole, who has been an active member of the University’s Board of Fellows for 31 years. His daughter, Leah Cole B.S. ’81, is taking over his practice.
59 John Vasconcellos B.A. ’54 retired after serving 38 years in public office, including the past eight as state senator for the 13th district.
60 Hon. William R. Giffen was elected president of the Northern California Golf Association, the largest regional golf association in the nation, with 190,000 members. He has been retired from the bench since 1995.
63 Hon. Leon Panetta B.A. ’60 received the Exemplary Leader Award from the American Leadership Forum-Silicon Valley. Among the reasons cited for the award were his efforts to pass legislation creating the Monterey National Marine Sanctuary.
69 Terrance Stinnett practices bankruptcy law with Goldberg, Stinnett, Meyers and Davis. He is a member of the board of directors of Fremont Bank and Fremont Bancorporation, which has $1.7 billion in assets and 23 branches in the Bay Area. He is also a driver of vintage race cars and member of the Ferrari Club of America.
70 Alfred Morici was elected to the South Palm Beach County, Fla. Board of Directors, and appointed to the Florida Bar Grievence Committee. He practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, elder law and guardianships in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, Fla.
72 J. Randolph MacPherson B.S. ’69 is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Halloran & Sage LLP. He and his wife, Mary, have three daughters: Cheryl Marie, who graduated with a master’s degree in secondary education from George Washington University in August 2004; Meredith Anne, a junior at Villanova University; and AnneMarie, a freshman at Brown University.
73 Cedric Choi is vice president and administrative manager of Choi International, a luxury housing real estate firm in Honolulu. He is co-author of a book, The Complete Guide to Preventing and Resolving Brokerage Disputes for Investors, Advisors, and Attorneys. Gardner Holmes is retired and enjoying living in the redwoods. Hon. Mary Jo Levinger was awarded the John D. Foley Trial Judge of the Year Award by the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association at their Judges’ Night 2004 event in May.
75 Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, executive vice president of the National Lawyers Guild, the U.S. representative to the executive com-mittee of the American Association of Jurists, and a contributing editor to www.truthout.org. Arturo Jaramillo was presented with the 2004 Pioneer Award by the State Bar of New Mexico. The honor recognizes his innovative vision and leadership in developing a continuing legal education program for attorneys, based on the concept of emotional intelligence. Arturo is superintendent of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, and oversees the regulation and licensing of 35 industries and professions around the state. Previously, he was a trial lawyer for 26 years with the Santa Fe law firm of Jones, Snead, Wertheim, Wentworth and Jaramillo. In 1993 he was the first Hispanic to be elected president of the State Bar of New Mexico. (See Page 31.) David B. Samuelson B.A. ’72 and his family live in Telluride, Colo., at 9,000 feet. He is a building official.
77 Alice MacAllister is the chair of the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. The board certifies specialists in eight different areas of law and will soon add a ninth specialty: real estate law. Alice is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law. She and her husband also own a martial arts studio in Sunnyvale, Aikido of Silicon Valley. She is a fourth degree black belt in aikido, and teaches at the school. She is also a member of a band called The Ashiko Orchestra, which plays and sings adapted traditional rhythms from Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. Hon. Gregory Saldivar B.S. ’74 has worked as a commissioner for the Santa Clara County Superior Court for 14 years. He and his wife, Toni, have three children: Matthew, a freshman at SCU; Kevin, a freshman at Loyola Marymount University; and Sarah, an eighth grader in San Jose. M. Dean Sutton practices in San Jose at Sutton Law Firm, emphasizing real property transactions and litigation.
78 Jeff Ferriell has written a new contracts hornbook, Understanding Contracts, published by Lexis/Nexis in November 2004. Jeff is a professor at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, where he teaches contracts, commercial law, and bankruptcy. Barbara Spector was recently elected to the Los Gatos Town Council. She served on the town’s planning commission from 1980 to 1988. She has been a trial attorney in Santa Clara County for 26 years, handling business, employment, and personal injury cases. She earned her mediation and negotiation certifications from Harvard Law School, and also serves as a settlement conference judge pro tem, special master, and judicial arbitrator. For the last decade, her ADR efforts have emphasized the mediation of civil cases, and she has conducted more than 300 mediations, arbitrations, and settlement conferences. In 2003 she received the Byrl Salsman Award, the highest award given by the Santa Clara County Bar Association for a lawyer’s volunteer contributions to law and the community. In 2004, she was named a Super Lawyer, which lists her in the top 5 percent of attorneys in Northern California as ranked by her peers and through independent research. Barbara and her husband, Ira, have lived in Los Gatos since 1973.
79 Robert Boston writes that “life is good in Mount Shasta.” John De Luna B.S. ’76 is president of De Luna Partners, Inc. in Moraga, and a member of the New American Alliance, a group of successful Latino entrepreneurs who work to benefit the community. Previously, he worked for Crocker National Bank. Kenneth Gray works in environmental law with Pierce Atwood, based in Portland, Maine. Wayne Maire was named Pacific regional director of DRI, the voice of the defense bar. DRI is a national organization of defense trial lawyers and corporate counsel. He is founding principal of Maire & Beasley, a law firm in Redding, Calif. Paula (Smith) Wendell is the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco Office of the FBI. She celebrated her 25th anniversary with the FBI in Feb. Her son, Luke, is studying to be a Baptist Minister. Jonathan Woolf-Willis has been prosecuting major felonies in the special prosecutions unit of the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office since March 2004.
80 John F. Schuck is a sole practitioner in Palo Alto, concentrating on appellate practice, civil and criminal. Most of his work involves criminal appeals, including death penalty cases.
81 Susan Kirk McNish retired as vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Michigan Consolidated Gas Company in Michigan, and is now enjoying the sunny south in Raleigh, N.C., near her two grandchildren. In addition to her volunteer work as a guardian ad litem for the state courts, representing the interests of abused and neglected children, she also enjoys traveling, gardening, and reading. Sharon O’Grady has been named president of the Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California chapter for 2004-05. She is a senior associate at Pillsbury Winthrop, where her practice focuses on complex commercial and IP litigation for biotechnology, life sciences, computer, Internet, communications, and other high tech clients.
82 Mary Alexander received the prestigious Edward I. Pollock Award from the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) in November 2004, at the group’s annual convention. Established in 1982, the award is the oldest one given by the CAOC and is named for the former CAOC president and renowned consumer advocate. According to the association, the award was given to Alexander “in recognition of her many years of dedication, outstanding efforts and effectiveness on behalf of the causes and ideals of the Consumer Attorneys Of California.” Alexander is the past president and the current national political action chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. M. Manuel “Manny” Fishman has joined Stoel Rives in San Francisco as a partner, from Bartko Zankel Tarrant & Miller. He has a real estate transactions practice. Roy S. Gordet hosted a small section reunion at his San Francisco office in June 2004. The new Web site for his trademark and copyright law practice is at www.gordetlaw.com. Tracy (Reid) Rambo, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, is the co-author of Legal Writing By Design: A Guide to Great Briefs and Memos (available on Amazon.com).
83 Robert Cruz B.S. ’71 was appointed in April 2004 as head of office for the United Nations civil administration operations in the northern part of Mitrovica. He has served in Kosovo since 1999 as civil affairs officer performing consular work and serving for two years as Municipal Legal Officer in the divided city of Mitrovica. Previously he had served as Guam Public Auditor.
84 Benito Almanza is president of Bank of America’s Arizona operations, and is also in charge of the bank’s national U.S. Small Business Administration lending division.
85 J. Thomas Diepenbrock has a private practice in San Jose, where he focuses on employment law and business litigation. In addition, he is launching a mediation practice, which “I hope will become an ever-increasing part of what I do,” he writes. He and his wife have seven children: one is married and graduated from college, three are currently in college, one is in high school, and two are in elementary school. The family lives in San Jose. He also is very involved in ministry and the community, including serving as pastor of Fellowship Ministries, a small San Jose church; board president of Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ) of Santa Clara County; and president of the Santa Clara County Chapter of the Christian Legal Society.
86 Kathleen (“K.J.”) Williams B.A. ’82 opened her own firm in July 2002. The firm represents public entities and their employees in medical malpractice, civil rights, and employment matters.
87 Paul Bernal is a judge in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Gov. Gray Davis appointed him in 2000. Previously, he was a prosecutor for 11 years with the Santa Clara county district attorney’s office, which he joined in 1989. An eighth-generation Bay Area resident, the history buff is involved with the Bench & Bar Historical Society of Santa Clara County. Kimberly Kupferer started her own private criminal defense firm in March 2003 after working for 15 years as an Alameda County Public Defender, where she specialized in handling serious cases and was a member of the office’s murder team for nearly seven years. Her private practice in Berkeley focuses on all aspects of criminal defense—adult and juvenile. Kupferer recently won a 25-count sex case where her client faced 445 years to life if convicted.
88 Elizabeth Gong Landess B.A.’84 and her husband, James, welcomed their second daughter, Amelia Jane, on Nov. 12, 2003. She joins sister Gabrielle at home in Willow Glen. Elizabeth is a litigation attorney with Gavin & Cunningham in San Jose, and serves on the law school alumni association’s board of directors. Jose Guzman B.S. ’83 has been named assistant public defender with the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office. He has been a trial attorney and manager with the office, and was the supervising attorney for the public defender’s South County, misdemeanor, and felony trial units. Taryn Hook is a writer and mental health advocate in San Jose. Taryn’s essay on her struggle with mental illness entitled “My Secret Childhood Existence,” was included in Reflections from a Different Journey, an anthology edited by Stanley Klein and published by McGraw Hill. S. Christine Zanello-Giordano is chairman of the board of directors of GCC Enterprises, Inc. She is the mother of two daughters, Mia, 2, and Cara, 18 months. They live in Hillsborough.
89 Sam Crump and his wife, Colleen, moved to Anthem, Ariz., in 2002 with their four children. He is a partner with Boates & Crump, a general practice law firm there. Jill Apsit Fordyce and her husband, Craig, announce the birth of their daughter, Hope Leah. She joins siblings Jennie, Jack, Daisy, and Will. Jill has an appellate law practice in Los Gatos. Julie Frambach is on the board of directors of the San Jose Sports Authority, a sports marketing agency for the city. She is an attorney for Hopkins & Carley in San Jose, focusing her practice on commercial leasing, financing and real estate transactions. She serves on the board of directors and program committee for Commercial Real Estate Women Silicon Valley and the local operating committee for the Pac-10 women’s basketball tournament. She is also a member of the National Charity League. Jill I. (Goldwasser) Greiner lives in Reno, Nev., where she serves as the associate tribal judge for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. She is also an impartial hearing officer for the Nevada Department of Education. She and her husband, Miles, have three children: Rachel, 9; Jacob, 7; and Adam, 4.
90 Chris Carr received tenure as a full professor in the Orfalea College of Business at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in June 2004. He began teaching business law there in 1998. In September 2004, he was appointed associate dean of graduate programs and faculty development for Orfalea. He lives in San Luis Obispo with his wife and two daughters. Deb (Dimino) Kristensen, a partner with the Boise law firm of Givens Pursley, became president of the Idaho State Bar on January 14. She was elected to the Idaho State Bar’s five-person Board of Commissioners in 2002 and will complete her tenure on the Commission in July. Deb is only the third woman in the history of the Idaho State Bar to hold the office of president. To mark her tenure as president, Deb organized an event to honor the first 50 women admitted in Idaho, which was held in Boise on March 10. 
91 Daniel Stea B.A. ’87, a real estate attorney, has started PBG Real Estate in Berkeley, which specializes in the sale of residential and investment properties. He lives in the Oakland Hills with his wife, Suzanah Jures, and two children, Blanca and Davor. Ellen Wheeler was elected president of the Mountain View-Whisman School Board for the Dec. 2004-Dec. 2005 term. Geoffrey H. Yost is a partner in the commercial litigation practice of Thelen Reid and Priest, a national law firm with more than 440 lawyers in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and Florham Park, N.J. His business litigation practice emphasizes federal court environmental and technology cases. He counsels clients on environmental contamination issues and represents them in litigation under a broad range of state and federal environmental laws. He has substantial experience in environmental cost recovery litigation, disputes arising from the sale of contaminated real estate, and defending against “bounty hunter” claims under California’s Proposition 65 and unfair business practices law. His technology litigation experience includes disputes arising from acquisitions of software and technology companies and antitrust and patent litigation in the memory chip industry.
92 Hurst Arthur has been appointed vice president and corporate counsel of Savi Technology in Sunnyvale. Previously, he was group counsel for Hitachi Data Systems of Santa Clara, where he managed legal affairs for North America sales and operations. Before that, he served as associate general counsel for Emery Worldwide, most recently managing its international legal affairs. Robert John Estko is writing his second political/military suspense thriller. His first novel, Evil Be Gone, was published in 2002. Still an active member of the California bar, he began his writing career after a 26-year career in HR, operations, and law in Silicon Valley corporations. Mark Heyl B.S. ’88, MBA ’92, was appointed to the board of directors of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. He is an attorney with Hopkins & Carley in San Jose, where he is a member of the corporate advice and transaction department. Andrew Stearns is an attorney with Bustamante and O’Hara in San Jose.
93 Ken Barovsky is vice president of intellectual property at Quantum Dots. Amy Hobbs Iannone is assistant general counsel at the Barton Malow Company, a national construction services firm in Southfield, Mich. She has worked there four years. She earned her LL.M. in corporate finance law from Wayne State University School of Law in December 2004. She lives with her husband, Tony, and daughters Mary, 11, and Sophia, 6, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
94 Patrick Black B.A. ’91 has been recently elected to the board of directors for the Arizona Asian American Bar Association (AAABA). Patrick, who is an attorney with Fennemore Craig in Phoenix, also chairs the selection committee for AAABA’s annual Thomas Tang Scholarship Committee. He lives in Phoenix with his wife, Laura, and children Jacob, 14; Madison, 12; and Sierra, 3. Melinda Van der Reis married Richard Yurich on Oct. 23, 2004, in San Francisco. Melinda is the manager of recruitment and professional development for Townsend and Townsend and Crew.
95 G. Michelle Ferreira has joined Greenberg Traurig as an of counsel attorney in its East Palo Alto office. She is a former IRS litigator, and while at the IRS, litigated tax issues including unreported income, bank deposits analysis, abusive trust transactions, business and personal expenses, oil and gas partnerships, and estate and business evaluations. She also has extensive experience in estate planning and wealth preservation. Charito (Mancha) and her husband, David Mittelman, announce the birth of their daughter, Dénia Evangeline, on Aug. 3, 2004. Charito and David are both attorneys with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Michelle McClure joined Landye Bennett Blumstein as a partner in Portland, Ore. Previously she worked for Foster Pepper Tooze. She focuses her practice on products liability, construction defects, health care, and personal injury litigation. Arik Michelson ’92 and his wife, Kimberly (Smoker) B.A. ’93, announce the birth of their third child, Sean Philip, who joins big brothers Jack and Ian at home in Phoenix, Ariz. Arik is an attorney at Bryan Cave, and Kimberly is a stay-at-home mom. Daniel B. Myers was named partner at Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean. A member of the firm’s real estate and land use groups, Myers represents a wide range of clients including developers, retail, fitness and food companies, office tenants, small businesses and individuals in preparing and negotiating real estate leases and purchase and sale agreements. In addition to his real estate work, Myers counsels clients on their advertising and promotional practices, including review and advice on print, radio and television commercials, promotions and contests. Myers is a member of the Bay Planning Coalition, where he has served on the transportation committee and the decisionmakers conference committee, and he serves as a member of the real estate section of the Alameda County Bar Association. He has written articles on real estate leasing, utilities and finance, and legal issues in advertising for California Continuing Education of the Bar and the Oakland Business Review. Shawn Wright has been named a partner at Blank Rome’s Washington, D.C., office. She focuses on white-collar criminal and complex civil litigation.
96 Craig Bristol has been named a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop in San Francisco. He is an intellectual property and business attorney. Amanda Groves has joined Winston & Strawn’s San Francisco office. She previously was at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenreich’s East Palo Alto office. Her practice is devoted to complex commercial and real estate litigation. Patrick Premo B.S. ’89 has been named partner at Fenwick & West’s Mountain View office.
97 Ignacio Hernandez and Alfred Buzo ’93 opened a law firm, Buzo & Hernandez. The firm specializes in civil rights, employment law, criminal defense, and family law. The firm has offices in Sacramento, San Jose, and Visalia. The Sacramento office employs a lobbyist that works on legislative matters. Before opening the firm, Ignacio spent several years working in Sacramento politics. In 2001, he married Cathryn, who is an alumna of Boalt and is currently a member of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Ernest Isola has been named a partner at Gordon & Rees. He practices in construction and business litigation. Sujit Kotwal has been named a partner in the Palo Alto office of Townsend and Townsend and Crew. Jason Lee has joined Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg’s securities enforcement defense group. Previously, he was senior counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement. He earned an LL.M. in securities and financial regulations from Georgetown University Law Center in 1998.
98 Landon Edmond and his wife, Cathy, announce the birth of a son, Landon II, on Oct. 21, 2004. He joins sisters Amber, 11, and Gabriella, 5. The family lives in Antioch. Landon is senior counsel at Ariba, Inc., and was appointed to the SCU Law Alumni Board. Previously, he worked for Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. Dominique Minaberrigai works for his family’s Diamond Sheep Co. in Bakersfield. Previously, he practiced law in Sacramento. Nicole Ryan practices criminal defense at Nolan, Armstrong & Barton in Palo Alto. She lives in San Francisco.
99 Lisa Buccino married Perry J. Monroe on Sept. 18, 2004, in Portland, Ore., and honeymooned in Thailand. The couple lives in San Francisco. Tanya (Montano) B.A. ’96 and Dennis O’Malley B.S. ’95, MBA ’00, announce the birth of a daughter, Selma Grace, on June 12, 2004. Tanya has been a deputy district attorney for San Mateo County for three years, and Dennis is a global relationship manager for Gartner, Inc., in San Jose. They live in San Carlos. Joanne Pasternack and Robert Bardin MBA ’01 were married on Sept. 5, 2004, in Atherton, California, and honeymooned in India. The couple lives in Mountain View, where Joanne works for the city of Mountain View and Rob is the marketing manager for Printroom.com. Coulter Richardson lives in New Jersey, where he has a solo practice focusing on general practice and civil litigation.
00 Larry T. Harris joined Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness, an intellectual property firm, as an associate in the software, electrical, and Internet practice group. His practice involves the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and international patent applications, legal opinion work, and patent litigation. Curtis Kaiser left a public interest position with the Drug Policy Alliance and has been working for the past year as general counsel and vice president of operations for DISCover PC Gaming, a start-up software company in Long Beach, California. Raymond P. Sheffield earned his LLM in estate planning from the University of Miami in 2004. He works at Ferrari Ottoboni in San Jose doing tax and estate planning. Heather Signore married Greg Mondelli on April 18, 2004, in Woodbury, N.Y. Heather is an attorney with Congdon, Flaherty, O’Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis and Fishlinger in Uniondale, N.Y., and Greg is an attorney with Kanterman and Traub in Manhattan. Gary Sloboda is an associate at Allen Matkins Keck Gamble & Mallory, where he works in land use, environmental and natural resources and real estate. He previously worked for Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold.
01 Patrick Strader and Dana Brady were married on May 15, 2004, at Mission Santa Clara. After returning from their honeymoon in Maui, they relocated to Orange County. Dana is currently an associate at the law firm of Bonne Bridges Mueller O’Keefe and Nichols, where she works on medical malpractice defense matters. Patrick started his own practice in Irvine and also serves as the vice president of Starpointe Ventures, a real estate development and entitlement consulting firm.
02 Cassie Langemo married Christopher Tostenson on Aug. 20, 2004, at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Bismarck, N.D. Cassie works for the law firm of Sawl and Netzer in Fresno, and Christopher is employed by a dive shop. Norik Naraghi has joined the Modesto law office of Curtis & Arata. Priya (Bahl) Sen is a staff attorney with Sacramento Child Advocates, representing abused and neglected children in the foster care system. In April 2003, she married Aparajito Sen. Aparajito is an associate with Corfee Stone and Associates in the field of civil rights litigation. Elizabeth Warner joined the firm of Humphrey & Petersen in Tucson, Ariz. as an associate practicing insurance defense. She was previously an attorney with Rudloff, Wood and Barrows in Emeryville.
03 Shirley Micek B.A. ’00 married Joshua White in September 2003. She has her own law firm in Fremont, the Law Office of Shirley M. White, which focuses on estate planning. Amanda ( Berlin) Ramm is a litigation associate with Mayall, Hurley, Knutsen, Smith & Green in Stockton. She was married in September 2004. Susan Rothschild works in juvenile court in San Mateo County on the private defender panel. “It is extremely gratifying to be able to work with excellent social workers, probation officers, attorneys, and judges who are committed to helping kids and families,” she writes. Wendy Unland married Jeffrey Swanson B.S. ’98 on Aug. 30, 2003, at Mission Santa Clara. Jennifer Wendell joined the Stockton law firm of Parish & Small as an associate.
04 Myvan Khuu has received the first annual Shartis, Friese & Ginsburg Public Interest Fellowship, working in the East Bay Community Law Center’s employment and income support unit. Christopher Buchko practices with McAndrews, Held & Malloy in Chicago. Prior to working for the firm, he was a patent agent, legal associate and engineer at the Guidant Corporation. He also worked at the Affymax Research Institute. Jon V. Swenson has joined Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi as an associate in IP litigation.
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