Santa Clara University

Spring 2006 - Class Notes - Alumni

class notes

alumni
70 Franklin Bondonno has been appointed a judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Previously, he was an attorney with Popelka Allard, serving as managing partner since 1997. He served as a judge pro tempore and was a deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County from 1972 to 1973. Michael Knapp came out of retirement to become the police chief of Ferndale, Wash. He previously worked as an FBI agent for 25 years, and then was police chief of Medina, Wash., from 1998 to 2003. He and his wife, Nancy, have one daughter.
71 Eric Ivary is a mediator with ADR Services. He has been a full-time mediator since 2001. Previously, he was a partner with the Oakland plaintiff’s firm of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer.
75 Marjorie Cohen is president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild. She received the San Diego County Bar Association’s Service to Legal Education Award in 2005. James LaPorte has been appointed a judge on the Kings County Superior Court. Previously, he was a superior court commissioner. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren joined the board of advisors of the Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal. She represents California’s 16th Congressional District, which includes much of Silicon Valley. She recently sponsored bills in Congress to enhance the public domain and on copyright and patent issues. For more on Lofgren, see this article. Dennis Thelen completed his one-year term as president of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, the nation’s preeminent regional defense organization dedicated to the administration of justice, the preservation of the jury system, and service to the civil trial defense bar.
76 John E. Dooling Jr. is of counsel at Armstrong Teasdale in St. Louis, Mo. He focuses his practice on estate, tax and business planning, and trust and estate administration. He is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is a member of the District Eagle Scout Review Board for the Boy Scouts of America and of the Development Committee for Saint Louis University High School. He also serves as a director for the Lay Family Foundation. William F. Sams has been appointed a member and chair of the E-Tech Ohio Commission by Governor Bob Taft. The commission focuses on promoting access to and use of all forms of educational technology. He is the associate provost for information technology and chief information officer for Ohio University and an executive in residence for the university.
78 Moira Rose Donohue wrote her first book, Alfie the Apostrophe, a picture book for children that will be published in April by Albert Whitman & Company of Chicago. She describes herself on her website as “a reformed lawyer.” She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Rob, and children Peter and Rose. Jim Hartnett was re-elected to the city council of Redwood City in November 2005. He practices law at Hartnett Smith & Associates in Redwood City. David Lively is of counsel at Hopkins & Carley in San Jose, where he is a member of the litigation department. He previously was a partner with Olimpia, Whelan, Lively & Ryan.
79 Jonathan Willis is 2006 president of the Imperial County Deputy District Attorneys Association, the employee organization representing all of the deputy district attorneys in the county.
80 Michael S. Oswald has formed The General Counsel, a business that provides experienced in-house lawyers to small businesses on a part-time, contract basis. Michael and his co-founder, Stuart Blake, have each been general counsel at various companies, from start-ups to giants such as Baskin-Robbins and Kinko’s. Their website is www.thegeneralcounsel.net.
82 Mary Alexander received the American Bar Association’s torts section’s Pursuit of Justice award.
83 Michael Mazza is a special counsel in the IP practice group of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold in San Francisco. Previously, he was a corporate patent counsel for the Clorox Co.
84 Carol Weinstein Overton was appointed a judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She has worked in the San Jose City Attorney’s Office for 19 years, as a deputy city attorney and senior deputy attorney. Previously, she served as a deputy public defender in San Jose.
85 William Klein was re-elected managing partner of Hopkins & Carley in San Jose. He is a member of the firm’s commercial litigation department.
86 Elisa Smith is a partner at Sideman & Bancroft, in the real estate transactions practice. Previously, she was at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro.
87 Mark Connell and his wife, Jan, have lived on the New Jersey shore for the past ten years. Mark works for a nearby law firm and Jan is an administrator coordinating education reform for inner cities. Together with their children, John, Maggie, and Mickey, they race their sailboat “Empty Sea” and enjoy the Barnegat Bay.
89 Lisa Bodensteiner is executive vice president and general counsel at Calpine Corporation, a San Jose-based supplier of electrical power. She joined the company in 1996 after working as an associate attorney at San Francisco’s Thelen Reid & Priest.
91 John P. Halfpenny and Mary (Bossart) ’92 have nearly completed their renovation and restoration of “Morningwood,” a 28-room Cotswald-style mansion in Mt. Airy, Pa., that they share with their three children: Zach, Sam and Jude; two “ill-mannered dogs;” a plethora of guitars; a groovy vintage 1977 VW microbus, and several 10-year-old Koi fish. John and Mary are pleased to report that they “did not go completely broke or insane in the process, although it was touch and go at times.” John practices law with the Philadelphia firm of Fox Rothschild and Mary does likewise with Klehr Harrison, et al.
92 David Epps is the assistant in charge of the alternate defender’s office in Santa Clara County, which represents defendants in cases which have a conflict with the main public defender’s office. He is the first African-American to reach the rank of assistant in the county district attorney’s office, public defender’s office or county counsel’s office. Epps worked for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the San Francisco civil litigation firm of Walsworth Franklin Bevins & McCall before joining the public defender’s office in 1994. Evelyn J. Herrera and her husband, Adam H. Eigner, announce the birth of their son, Enrique Noam, on Sept. 4, 2005, in Oakland. Evelyn practices immigration and family law in Berkeley, and Adam is a psychologist. The family lives in Emeryville.
93 Maria Celebi has joined a new law firm in Istanbul, Turkey. Joe Hughes is a partner at Klein, DeNatale, Goldner, Cooper, Rosenlieb & Kimball in Bakersfield. He was previously a partner with Kuhs, Parker & Hughes. Allan Manzagol is director of commercial law for Advanced Micro Device’s flash memory subsidiary, Spansion, in Sunnyvale. Spansion’s IPO in December 2005 was the second largest technology IPO of 2005. Allan previously worked for seven years in AMD’s law department. He lives in San Jose with his wife, Amanda (Leikam) B.A. ’96, and children Madeline and Mason. Thomas McCracken is vice president and chief patent counsel of DURECT Corporation in Cupertino, a specialty pharmaceutical company. Previously, he held positions as senior legal counsel and vice president, intellectual property, at PowerJect Pharmaceuticals in Fremont and Oxford, United Kingdom, and at the biotech patent firms of Reed & Robins and Robins & Associates. In addition, he also worked for biotech start-ups in the San Diego area and at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. Katherine Hahn McLain is president of Entrust Administration, a company which handles third-party administration of qualified retirement plans for corporations and individuals. Previously, she was the firm’s chief administrative officer, and had also worked for Providian Financial, Wells Fargo and Bserv (Bankserv).
94 John J. Penny, Jr. is a partner in the Boston office of Edwards & Angell, a 350-attorney national law firm where he works in the intellectual property department. He specializes in representing large Japanese electronics companies and frequently lectures in Japan on recent developments in U.S. patent law. Evelyn (Quezada) and Darrel Cruz ’93 live in Tempe, Ariz., with their two children, Rebecca and Benjamin. Evelyn is a clinical law professor at Arizona State University College of Law, and Darrel works for Wells Fargo Bank. They recently celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. George Yee is a partner at the Palo Alto office of Townsend and Townsend and Crew, where he does patent prosecution work and is a member of the firm’s interdisciplinary Asia group.
95 Jeanine DeBacker is a partner at Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean in Oakland. She is with the employment and business practice groups.
96 Stephanie Barclay and her husband, Max Conn, announce the birth of a daughter, Talia Elle, on Sept. 30, 2005. Stephanie practices business and real estate law at Ogden & Fricks in San Luis Obispo. Matthew Foy is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gordon & Rees. Eric Gladbach is a partner in the New York office of the 350-attorney national law firm of Edwards & Angell. He defends companies in complex litigation, and recently settled a mass consolidation action that involved more than 3,000 plaintiffs. Joanna Maino B.S. ’93 married Scott Whitcher on Oct. 15, 2005, at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. Bridesmaids included law school classmates Katerina Hertzog ’95, Roberta Economidis ’95, and Julie Rankine ’96. Joanna and Scott live in San Francisco. Joanna is a partner with Boornazian, Jensen & Garthe in Oakland, and Scott is managing director of S&Y Asset Management in San Francisco.
97 Thomas Fitzpatrick is a partner at Townsend and Townsend and Crew in Palo Alto, where he does intellectual property litigation. Clare Frank is the first female fire chief in Milpitas. Previously, she worked as an assistant chief with the California Department of Forestry. She has also worked as a deputy attorney general with the state attorney general’s office and a staff attorney with the U.S. District Court, and has been an adjunct law professor at SCU. Donna (Tsifrin) Gibbs and her husband, Calvin, announce the birth of a son, David, on March 28, 2005. David joins sister Zoe, 3. Donna is a partner at Blum, Braz & Gibbs in Oakland, and is a certified family law specialist. Todd Nelson is vice president of legal and general counsel of Fortinet, a provider of ASIC-accelerated, network-based multi-threat security systems in Sunnyvale. Previously, he worked for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and also held engineering and engineering management positions with high tech companies. He has an LL.M. degree from Yale Law School. Laura Lee Mikkola Norris is vice president of the legal department at Cypress Semiconductor Corp., managing legal matters relating to patents, intellectual property, licensing, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, securities law, corporate governance, employment law, real estate, loans, nondisclosure agreements, and commercial contracts. Previously, she worked at Arnold, White & Durkee and at the Intel Corporation. Daniel Wainwright and his wife, Tiffany, announce the birth of their fourth child, son B.J., on Nov. 1, 2005. Daniel is a partner at McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth in Fresno.
99 Alison Morr married Bryan Kolozsi in Menlo Park on Aug. 6, 2005. They live in Menlo Park. Alison is on the development team at Stanford University’s School of Engineering. Tanya (Montano) B.S. ’96 and Dennis O’Malley B.S. ’95, MBA ’00 welcomed daughter Mila Moemi, on Oct. 31, 2005, in Redwood City. Ardeshir Tabibi is a partner at the Palo Alto office of Townsend and Townsend and Crew, where he works on intellectual property matters.
00 Jason Alexander married Amy Gilliam on Aug. 27, 2005, in Napa. The couple lives in Belmont. Jason is an intellectual property litigator with Carr & Ferrell in Palo Alto, and Amy is a pediatric dermatologist in San Francisco.
01 Edward “Ned” J. Mathes is an associate in the Oakland office of McDonough, Holland & Allen.
02 Matthew Ellis is an associate in the real estate practice of Downey Brand in Sacramento. Previously he worked for Weintraub Genshlea Chediak Sproul.
03 Rebecca Winder Gutierrez is an associate with the Los Angeles office of Tucker Ellis & West. She focuses on general litigation and pharmaceutical and medical products liability. Previously, she served as a research attorney to two judges, the Hon. Jane Johnson and the Hon. Andria Richey. Tara Kaushik was honored as the pro bono attorney of the year by the Santa Clara County Bar Association. She has been working closely with the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley’s Public Interest Law Firm on a major federal case, Batchelder v. Geary, that concerns the constitutional rights of county jail inmates. Tara is an associate with McManis Faulkner & Morgan in San Jose. Carolyn Lees practices law in the Chicago area at the firm of Raysa & Zimmerman. Cyril Vidergar and his wife, Stephanie, announce the birth of a daughter, Amelia Mary, on Dec. 4, 2005. They live in Granby, Colo., where Cyril is the assistant county attorney for Grand County and Stephanie is a freelance graphic designer.
04 Stephen Benedict is director of IT Strategic Sourcing for the president’s office at the University of California.
05 Alaric Degrafinried has a two-year fellowship with Equal Justice Works, formerly the National Association for Public Interest Law. He is working for the National Housing Law Project in Oakland. Karen Kaufman works for Fernandez & Associates in Menlo Park in the firm’s technology licensing advisory group.
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