Class Notes, Fall 2024
Includes news received August 1, 2023, through July 31, 2024.
’70s
Sherry Smith JD ’72 having served as president of the League of Women Voters of the Bay Area (California), Smith was appointed as one of 13 citizens on the Berkeley Independent Redistricting Commission that developed a new set of City Council district boundaries after the 2020 Census. Smith wrote, “This is Berkeley, and no one petitioned or protested when we completed our task. It took a year, and we did this completely virtually, during the COVID pandemic shut-down.”
’80s
Debra Jenks JD ’83 has been named a Super Lawyer for 2024 in the securities litigation and alternative dispute resolution category. Jenks’ law practice in Florida includes securities arbitration and litigation, regulatory representation and enforcement, representation of registered persons, member firms, and investment advisers, and business advice.
Kathy Root BS ’80, JD ’84 is a senior shareholder/family law attorney at Gevurtz Menashe in Portland, Oregon, where currently serves as the American Bar Association’s advisor to the Uniform Law Commission’s Drafting Committee on Judicial Interview Procedures for Children in Family Court Proceedings. The committee is charged with drafting a uniform or model act addressing procedures to be followed when the child’s views are to be heard in such cases.
Kate Brown JD ’85, former governor of Oregon, spoke with the Harvard Political Review in August 2023 about her time in office, her support of progressive policies such as the commutation of death row sentences and pardons for marijuana convictions, and her ideas about the issues Oregon still faces.
Robyn Frankel JD ’85 has been tapped to lead the Michigan Assistance with Convictions and Expungements (ACE). Frankel joined the Department in 2019 to run the statewide Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). She started with one lawyer. The unit has now been expanded to include three additional attorneys, two full time investigators, and a legal secretary. The CIU has successfully exonerated five individuals and recommended relief in a sixth case, including cases out of Oakland, Kalamazoo, Berrien, and Calhoun counties.
Brad Figel BA ’80, JD ’86 has, after nearly 40 years of working in Washington, D.C., retired in 2023 and is pursuing a variety of interests long-neglected. He remains living in Washington, D.C., with his wife, two daughters, and a big dog.
Hector Guzman JD ’88 is a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. He was appointed to the bench in 2006 by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After graduating from law school, Guzman became a deputy district attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1989. While there, Guzman had been assigned to the D.A.’s Major Narcotics and Forfeiture Division, the Justice System Integrity Division, and the Major Crimes Division. Just prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Guzman was serving as deputy-in-charge of the D.A.’s East Los Angeles office.
Daniel Villegas JD ’88 was recently admitted into The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), an invitation-only organization consisting of the attorneys who earned great distinction at trial. A partner at Lehrman, Villegas, Chinery & Douglas LLP in Los Angeles, California, his practice focuses on defending large entities and corporations in complex product liability, toxic tort, and business litigation matters. He has extensive jury trial experience, including trying many matters for BMW North America, LLC, as lead trial counsel, as well as defending major automobile manufacturers in product liability matters of all types and in business litigation matters.
’90s
Teresa Statler JD ’91 and several of her classmates gathered in Portland over Labor Day weekend 2023 to celebrate the retirement of their classmate Las Vegas City Attorney Bryan Scott JD ’91.
David Howitt Distinguished Business Law Graduate 2024
Exemplifying the spirit of entrepreneurial leadership through his cultivation of brands such as Oregon Chai, Stumptown Coffee, and Dave’s Killer Bread, David Howitt ’94 was named Distinguished BusinessLaw Graduate for this year.
Since graduating from Lewis & Clark, Howitt, the founder and CEO of Meriwether Group, has led a successful career as a businessman and attorney, from co-founding the successful Portland-based business, Oregon Chai, he went on to use his visionary and entrepreneurial expertise to advise consumer brands. Author of a New York Times bestselling book, Heed Your Call, Howitt has shared his know-how with the world, working to improve business literacy.
In accepting the award, Howitt noted, “One of the most powerful lessons I learned came from [Lewis & Clark] law school: how to argue in the alternative.” This skill to hold multiple arguments simultaneously allows a person “to hold contradictory ideas intentionally in the pursuit of truth.”
Howitt’s core philosophy is to embrace the “power of ‘and.’” It gives him appreciation for businesses built on purpose, meaning, heart, beauty and authenticity, as well as for solid business, operations, brand, finance and market strategy. From this perspective, he’s advised a generation of iconic brands, setting them up to create significant wealth for the founders while also making them household names for years to come.
Jennifer Huenink BA ’91, JD ’94 and her daughter, Sophie Abbassian BA ’25, who is the leader of the undergraduate campus’ Rose Garden Restoration Club, are hard at work to bring the historic Veterans’ Memorial Rose Garden at the east end of the Fir Acres Estate back to its former glory. Abbassian found a few original roses still surviving there, and has procured new roses through donations and club funding. Together Huenink and Abbassian host events and work parties to help with the transformation. They will officially debut the restored garden in May 2025.
Vic Hoffer JD ’92, a paramedic, received the 2023 National Star of Life award from the American Ambulance Association in Washington, D.C. This award celebrates the contributions of ambulance professionals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to their communities and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) profession. Hoffer is receiving this honor for the fourth time in his 43-year career in EMS. Hoffer is a lifelong community servant and currently serves as a Captain Paramedic-Firefighter volunteer with Mt. Angel Fire.
Stephanie Johnson Wright ’92 received the Gertrude Rush Award from the Iowa National Bar Association (INBA) and the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys (IOWA) in July 2024. Gertrude Rush was the first African-American female attorney in Iowa. The award is given annually and this year Wright was recognized for her perseverance outlined in the New York Times article, “A Retired Prosecutor’s Quest for Recognition” (March 18, 2023). Wright’s acceptance speech may be viewed on YouTube.
Hank Webb JD ’96 is a professor who spent six weeks teaching International Business Law and Moot Court courses at the Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law in Pangbisa, Bhutan, as a Fulbright grant recipient. While in Bhutan, Professor Webb met up with Professor Dan Rohlf (left), who was also visiting that law school. Webb teaches Business Law and other law and business courses at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Marshall E. Rinker School of Business, where he is also the assistant dean. Webb previously lived and taught in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for four years, and in Doha, Qatar for three years, and he regularly leads groups of American students on study abroad programs throughout Southeast Asia. Webb, his wife Thao, and their son Cousteau live in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Thomas Gibson JD ’97 has been appointed chief deputy director at the California Department of Water Resources where he has served as chief counsel since 2021. He held multiple positions at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2014 to 2020, including deputy secretary, special counsel for water, undersecretary, and general counsel. Gibson held multiple positions at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife from 2007 to 2014, including general counsel and assistant chief counsel.
Ed Riffle ’97 (second from right) connects with fellow alum, Palau’s Attorney General Ernestine Kawai Regiil ’84 (center), during his Army Reserve deployment to Palau.
Matt Short JD ’99 has joined Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney as a shareholder in its corporate section and will lead the firm’s corporate practice in San Diego, California. Short focuses on the representation of companies in their formation and organization, mergers and acquisitions, and other general corporate matters, with significant specialized experience working with technology, digital marketing, healthcare and financial services clients. He also has extensive experience designing and implementing executive and equity-based compensation arrangements for private and public companies. He also acts in an outside general counsel capacity for many clients.
Hope Del Carlo JD ’00 was named a top-rated creditor debtor rights attorney in Portland for 2021–2023, and this past summer, she recently completed the Immersive Trial Program at the Gerry Spence Method in Dubois, Wyoming. Her law firm, Elemental Law LLC, assists Oregonians statewide with a broad range of consumer mortgage lending disputes: lending discrimination, fraud, and other problems with mortgage lenders, as well as managing the Oregon Homeowner Legal Assistance project, Legal Aid Services of Oregon’s foreclosure-prevention effort funded through a grant.
’00
Sean O’Day JD ’00 has been appointed as the Deputy Director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Oregon’s largest worker and consumer protection agency. O’Day was previously the Deputy Director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs. An active serving member of the U.S. Army Reserve, O’Day was also recently promoted to the rank of colonel.
Jonathan Dixon JD ’01 has been named as one of the top 50 attorneys of San Diego for 2023. Dixon is the General Counsel of BioNano Genomics, which is committed to unlocking the understanding of genome biology to advance the promise of genomics in areas including cancer and human disease, agricultural bioengineering, and genome discovery.
Michael McGrath JD ’01 has been selected for the esteemed 2023 Oregon Super Lawyers list. McGrath is a senior partner at Gearing Rackner & McGrath, a preeminent Oregon-based divorce and family law firm. McGrath practices all areas of family law in Oregon and Washington, with special emphasis in the drafting and review of pre-marital and cohabitation agreements, interstate custody disputes, business valuations, third-party custody rights, and complicated property and spousal support matters. McGrath was also appointed to serve as a pro tem judge in Washington County in 2020.
Kristine Bingman JD ’02 has been promoted to shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Portland office. Bingman’s practice focuses on health and welfare plan compliance. She advises clients on all aspects of ERISA and Internal Revenue Code compliance as it relates to health and welfare plans, as well as on compliance with the Affordable Care Act, COBRA, HIPAA privacy and security, code nondiscrimination rules, wellness programs, fiduciary compliance, reporting and disclosure requirements, and more.
Oliver Thoenen JD ’02 has been recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as a 2023 Unsung Legal Hero. In his tenure as Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP’s senior marketing communications manager, Thoenen has helped to significantly raise the firm’s profile nationwide through a variety of initiatives. He has contributed a series of firsts for the firm, helping to secure Hinshaw’s first The American Lawyer magazine Industry Award, followed by another Industry Award for client collaboration three years later.
Zac Cohen JD ’03, a native of Allentown, was elected to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania in July 2022. Prior to the bench, he practiced privately for 18 years with a Lehigh Valley Law firm, focusing on civil litigation, appeals, orphan’s court litigation, and adjudications before local, state, and federal agencies. Before that, he served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Robert A. Freedberg, then President Judge of the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas. Cohen is also a past president of the Bar Association of Lehigh County and former case editor of the Lehigh Law Journal.
Bubba Cook JD ’03, the Western and Central Pacific Tuna Programme Manager at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was featured in the second episode of the “Future Fisheries Management,” a podcast series produced in collaboration with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh. Since 2012, Cook has worked as the Western and Central Pacific Tuna Programme Manager for WWF out of Suva, Fiji, and Wellington, New Zealand, where he focuses on improving tuna fisheries management at a national and regional level in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean through policy improvements, market tools, and technological innovation.
Tricia Kalish JD ’03 is the executive director at the Teton County Access to Justice Center in Jackson Hole, WY. The center strives to provide pro-bono legal representation to the community where many struggle to pay for legal assistance combined with the area’s high cost of living. As the only free legal clinic for Teton, Sublette, and Lincoln counties, the TCAJC is an important resource for people in need of legal representation or information, but who can’t afford to pay the exorbitant legal fees of private attorneys in the area. Kalish notes that the center needs more attorneys to donate their time and expertise to the community.
Todd Schebor LLM ’03 was elected as the chair of the Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan as of October 2023. The Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan aims to review those laws and regulations dealing with the conservation and development of the natural resources of Michigan and its environment and to promote the fair and just administration of those laws and regulations which implement the mandate of Article IV, Section 52, of the 1963 Constitution of Michigan. Schebor’s clients are in the energy, waste disposal, petroleum, manufacturing, and other sectors that deal with the unique challenges of ever-changing regulatory requirements and law.
Andrew Bowman LLM ’04 is the new president and CEO of the Defenders of Wildlife. Bowman brings more than 25 years of conservation and nonprofit management experience to Defenders. In his current role as president and CEO of the Land Trust Alliance, Bowman provides national leadership to a network of nearly 1,000 community-based conservation organizations supported by over 230,000 volunteers and 6.3 million supporters. During his tenure, Bowman has guided the conservation community to major victories in Washington, D.C., including markedly increased federal conservation funding and legislation that ensures the integrity of the federal tax incentive for conservation easement donations.
Douglas Ricks JD ’04 has joined the law firm of Sussman Shank LLP. He will continue to focus his practice on bankruptcy law.
Danelle Forseth JD ’04 and Melissa Luna JD ’04 are two Lewis & Clark Law School alumna who co-wrote an article titled, “Women Attorneys and Achieving Work/Life Balance in Rural Idaho.” Forseth and Luna also share a law practice, Landeck | Forseth | Luna in Moscow Idaho, a general civil practice firm. Forseth’s practice primarily includes real property, construction, and estate administration disputes. Luna’s practice primarily includes divorce, custody, guardianship, and serving as an IRFLP 1002 parenting coordinator. They note that their favorite things about small-town life are knowing the people in their community, the short walk to downtown, and a 90-second commute to the office.
J. Ashlee Albies JD ’05 has joined the board of the National Police Accountability Project, a national nonprofit organization with hundreds of members nationwide, whose mission is to promote accountability of law enforcement officers and their employers for violations of the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
Matthew Johnson JD ’05, pictured to the left in the above photo, was one of three associate judges of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) to receive a ceremonial oath of office and presentation of robes in April 2023. The Tribal Court has sole criminal jurisdiction over Indian people on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who have been charged with domestic violence offenses under the Violence Against Women Act. It also has concurrent jurisdiction with Oregon for civil issues within the reservation. A licensed attorney, Johnson has been the Tribal Court director/judicial assistant since 2022.
Alison Dornsife Nelson JD ’05 passed the bar examination for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and was sworn into the CNMI Bar Association. Nelson started working at the CNMI Office of the Attorney General in 2020 as an Assistant Attorney General under a temporary government attorney license, where she represents executive branch agencies like the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality and the Department of Public Lands in litigation and by providing legal advice on day-to-day issues. For the past two years, she has also overseen all civil litigation involving the Commonwealth as the Civil Division Chief. After falling in love with the community on Saipan, Nelson sat for the bar to allow her to continue to represent the Commonwealth for many more years to come. The CNMI is a Commonwealth of the United States located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean north of Guam. The Office of the Attorney General is actively hiring attorneys holding any state license for both its civil and criminal divisions.
Ankur Tohan JD ’05 was named one of the top twenty five attorneys of Washington for 2024. Tohan is a partner at K&L Gates, a fully integrated global law firm representing leading multinational corporations, growth and middle-market companies, capital markets participants, and entrepreneurs in every major industry group as well as public sector entities, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations, and individuals. Previously, Tohan was an assistant regional counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 10).
Amburgey Award Goes to Oregon Innocence Project Lawyer
Kenneth Kreuscher ’06 was honored with the 2024 Amburgey Award. He embodies the public interest ideals that the award represents, as he uses his skills to increase access to justice for criminal defendants and civil rights plaintiffs in state and federal courts with the Oregon Innocence Project. As a law student in 2005, Kreuscher received a PILP Summer Award, which financed his opportunity to work with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City.
Kelly Trujillo JD ’06 has been appointed to serve as a Judge in the Solano County Superior Court. Trujillo has served as an Assistant City Attorney at the Napa City Attorney’s Office since 2022. She served as an assistant city attorney at the Livermore City Attorney’s Office from 2020 to 2022 and at the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office from 2012 to 2020.
Chris Coyle JD ’07 has recently joined the law firm Sussman Shank LLP. Coyle will continue to focus his practice on representing both individuals and businesses, as debtors or creditors, when addressing financial difficulties. Coyle is skilled in navigating legal solutions such as work-out agreements or bankruptcy, ranging from straightforward Chapter 7 liquidation cases to complex Chapter 11 reorganizations. He has provided representation for individuals, family enterprises, agricultural entities (including farmers, ranchers, and fishers), as well as larger businesses.
Tyler Volm ’08, a partner at Sussman Shank LLP, is the current President of the Multnomah Bar Foundation. The MBF’s three primary programs are CourtConnect (which provides free drop-in childcare at the Multnomah County Courthouse), CourtSupport (which funds a Court Navigator position), and CourtConnect (which focuses on public outreach). Volm is also the immediate past President of the Gus J. Solomon American Inn of Court. His dedication and leadership continue to make a significant impact in the local and legal communities.
Carey Caldwell JD ’09 has joined the litigation section of the City Attorney’s Office. Caldwell has over a decade of litigation experience. Caldwell works with businesses and professionals in medicine, law, construction, architecture, and engineering, as well as assisting municipalities with civil rights and tort claims, and large corporations with general liability claims.
Jake Kamins JD ’09 was featured in “Animal Law Podcast #107: Prosecuting Cruelty” to discuss his groundbreaking work as an Animal Cruelty Resource Prosecutor in the Oregon Department of Justice. Kamins is a Senior Assistant Attorney General and Animal Cruelty Resource Prosecutor at the Oregon Department of Justice. Kamins has prosecuted hundreds of cases of animal cruelty and has trained law enforcement, animal services, and animal rescue agencies throughout Oregon and the United States. Kamins also teaches the “Crimes Against Animals” class at Lewis & Clark Law School.
Zachary Norris JD ’09 started a new position as senior attorney at the Niskanen Center, a Washington D.C. think tank devoted to promoting effective governance. After spending 13 years building a renewable energy practice in “big law,” Zachary is transitioning to the nonprofit sector to help develop and implement policies that facilitate the transition to a net-zero future. His work includes litigation challenging unnecessary fossil fuel infrastructure, which drives up consumer energy costs, as well as developing and advocating policy and regulatory solutions that promote development of new energy transmission infrastructure and carbon-pricing schemes, such as a carbon-adjusted border tax. In his free time, Norris coaches high school basketball at De Pere High School, Wisconsin’s 2022 Division 1 state champion.
Emma Pelkey JD ’09 has joined Epstein Becker Green (EBG) as a health care and labor and employment attorney in its expanded Portland office. Pelkey counsels clients on issues related to behavioral health, patient care, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, consent for treatment, workplace violence, risk management, barriers to discharge, and provider operations.
Joshua Pond JD ’09 has been appointed as the District Attorney of Columbia County as of November 2023. Prior to his time in the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office, Pond worked as a defense attorney. He currently serves as president of the Columbia County Bar Association and is a member of the Oregon District Attorneys Association.
’10s
Benjamin Shelton JD ’11 is the new general counsel at the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Shelton has spent the past eight years as government affairs director for Conservation Voters New Mexico and has actively supported the 2019 Energy Transition Act and the 2021 Community Solar Act.
Dylan Lange JD ’12 became the director of the New Mexico State personnel office. Lange has over 10 years of experience in state government, defending, advocating, and managing complex civil litigation cases for state agencies, boards and commissions.
Brett Applegate JD ’13 has joined Snell & Wilmer, where she will strengthen the firm’s respected commercial litigation practice as well as its thriving presence in the Pacific Northwest. Applegate brings over a decade of commercial litigation and dispute resolution experience to Snell & Wilmer. Her practice encompasses a diverse clientele, including businesses, financial institutions, parties to real estate transactions, and individuals.
Diana Bettles ’13 received the 2024 Harpole Attorney Award for her tireless work ethic and well-deserved reputation as a formidable trial lawyer in Klamath County, along with her ability to effortlessly balance her various commitments to her community and family.
Andy Erickson JD ’13 became a partner in January 2024 at the Anchorage law firm of Landye Bennett Blumstein (LBB). Erickson has been with LBB since 2016 and his practice focuses on Alaska Native, municipal, natural resources, and appellate law. Before joining LBB, Erickson was an Alaska Supreme Court clerk and a U.S. Senate policy fellow.
Rob Molinelli JD ’13 was promoted to the rank of major in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in April 2023. Molinelli was also selected to attend the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for the ’24/’25 academic year. He currently attends the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia, with an expected graduation date in May for his LLM in Military Law.
Meredith Price BA ’07, JD ’13 joined NVIDIA Corporation as a senior director in the legal department in July 2023. Her work will focus on commercial, IP, and strategy development for NVIDIA’s accelerated computing and AI product, software, and service portfolio. Price previously served as an associate general counsel and director at Intel Corporation.
Andrew Henning JD ’14, a federal prosecutor, recently started as the districtwide Hate Crimes/Criminal Civil Rights Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo, New York. He relocated from Washington, D.C. to Buffalo in the winter months and can be heard saying “Go, Bills” while enjoying his new city.
Nathan Morales JD ’14 was elected to Stoel Rives’ partnership effective January 1, 2025. Morales is a member of the firm’s litigation group and global Privacy and Data Security practice. Based in the Portland office, he represents clients in complex business disputes, focusing primarily on privacy and data security, class-action defense, and policyholder-side insurance litigation. As an appellate attorney, Morales has successfully briefed and argued in the Oregon Court of Appeals, Oregon Supreme Court, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also counsels clients on an array of privacy-related matters, including compliance with GDPR, CalCPA, and other federal and state privacy laws, and in data breach and security incident response and planning. Active in Oregon’s legal community, he serves as a member of the executive committee of the Oregon State Bar’s Appellate Practice Section and is an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he teaches a Negotiation Intensive course. He is recognized among Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation and Insurance Law and Oregon Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Business Litigation and Appellate and Administrative Law.
David Schor JD ’14 is now an attorney with Chock Barhoum LLP. Schor brings a broad experience in insurance defense matters, including wrongful death, automobile liability, general liability, business disputes, HOA disputes, and personal injury.
Timur Ender JD ’15 is running for Portland City Council District 1 (East Portland). You can learn more about his campaign at www.Ender4EastPortland.com
Brian Riske JD ’15 has joined Black Helterline as an associate attorney. Riske represents closely held businesses and their owners and family members. His legal practice centers on general corporate law, contract law, and mergers and acquisitions, with particular focus on advising business owners considering transitioning to key employees or family members. He also works with business owners on estate planning and assists with executive compensation and intellectual property matters.
Aaron C. Johnson JD ’16 has been elected shareholder at Lane Powell (Seattle). Johnson represents multinational, U.S., and regional businesses in state and local tax (SALT) matters including tax litigation, audit defense, appeals, and planning and structuring tax efficient transactions. When Johnson is not serving clients, he is providing service to his community. He is the Washington State Bar Association Tax Section’s SALT Committee Chair, on the Tax Section’s Legislative and DEI committees, on the American Bar Association Tax Section’s SALT Executive Committee, and currently teaches federal tax at the University of Washington School of Law. He is included in the Best Lawyers’ Ones to Watch list in the areas of Tax Law and Tax Litigation and Controversy and named a Washington Rising Star by Thomson Reuters in the area of Tax.
Briana Swift JD ’16 has joined as a shareholder in Littler’s Seattle Office. Swift focuses her practice on employee benefits and executive compensation, assisting clients with designing, drafting and administering health and welfare plans, tax-qualified and non-qualified employee benefit plans, and retirement plans, tax compliance issues and matters arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and benefits and compensation considerations for mergers or acquisitions. Earlier in her career, Swift was a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she served as an employee benefits investigator. During this period, she also acted as a visiting attorney with the Appellate Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. She is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, where she currently serves as Deputy Region 16 President.
Cruz Turcott JD ’16 was named a Rising Star for 2023 by Super Lawyers magazine. His civil litigation practice is focused on real estate, business, and corporate securities disputes in the state and federal courts of Oregon and Washington.
Kelsey Benedick JD ’17 has joined law firm Snell & Wilmer as counsel in the firm’s accomplished and growing commercial litigation practice in Portland. Benedick brings with her almost a decade of civil litigation experience. Benedick’s practice focuses on litigation involving property, securities, financial institutions, healthcare, and commercial disputes, among other areas, for a wide range of clients across industries. Benedick has been recognized as an Oregon Rising Star by Super Lawyers and has been named as part of Best Lawyers® “Ones to Watch” in the commercial litigation category. Active in the Oregon community, Benedick currently serves as a board member for Lawyers for Literacy and as a board member for the U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society.
Dmitriy Golosinskiy JD ’17 has been hired as a new partner for national law firm Wilson Elser in its new Portland office. The team’s practice areas include medical malpractice, professional liability, product liability, and toxic tort, specifically asbestos matters.
Ross Van Ness JD ’17 has been hired as a new partner for national law firm, Wilson Elser, in its new Portland office. The team’s practice areas include medical malpractice, professional liability, product liability, and toxic tort, specifically asbestos matters.
Maral Cavner JD ’18 published an article titled, “Consumers Seek Higher-Welfare Pet Food Products That Align With Their Values”for PetAge in January 2024. Cavner is the senior manager of corporate policy in the ASPCA’s farm animal welfare department. She collaborates with major food companies and producers in this role to adopt and strengthen meaningful farmed animal welfare policies and has developed around 50 corporate policies impacting tens of millions of animals yearly since graduating.
Will Enoch JD ’18 has joined Helsell Fetterman, a Seattle-based law firm serving businesses, organizations, and individuals. Enoch is part of the firm’s Land Use and Real Estate and Environmental practice groups. Enoch has experience litigating cases involving claims brought under CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, and Clear Air Act in federal courts and under Washington’s Model Toxic Control Act in Washington state courts.
Lars Hubbard JD ’18 has joined Vial Frothingham (VF) at its Oregon office. Hubbard joins the firm with a legal focus on HOA Law, where he is responsible for various HOA matters, including collections, covenant enforcement, insurance defense, document drafting, and general counsel. Hubbard brings legal expertise to his work within VF Law’s HOA Law Practice. He has experience preparing matters for resolution through client management, drafting memoranda and exhibits, assessing relevant assets and liabilities, and negotiating settlements. At VF Law, his work entails drafting HOA board rules and advising on issues affecting the relationships between HOAs and residents.
Will Stinman JD ’18 has joined Epstein Becker Green (EBG) as an associate with the health care and labor and employment team. With a background in health care regulation and employment litigation, Stinman advises health care clients on regulatory compliance and guides them through employment disputes, from pre-litigation through resolution.
Karin Sung JD ’18 is the new appointee at the California Public Utilities Commission. She adds, “I’d like to thank Lewis & Clark Law School and the Oregon legal community (OLIO and various bar associations) for the opportunities. I wouldn’t be here without you.”
Emily Johnson JD ’18 has received the Oregon Trial Lawyer Associations (OTLA) New Lawyer of the Year Award at the annual convention in August 2024. Johnson’s involvement in OTLA and her work representing victims of the 2020 Oregon Labor Day Fires against Berkshire Hathaway’s PacifiCorp contributed to her selection for this award. Johnson is an OTLA board member and is involved in several sections and committees, including the New Lawyer Section, Membership Committee, Legislative Committee, and Publications Committee. Johnson is also an associate at Stoll Berne’s litigation group where she focuses on complex litigation matters.
Stacie Damazo JD ’19 has joined Miller Nash’s leading employment law and labor relations team. Damazo, based in the firm’s Portland office, defends employers in a variety of employment matters, while serving as proactive counsel to ensure compliance and identify legal issues before they arise. Additionally, she serves as a workplace investigator conducting investigations into allegations of employee misconduct, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other sensitive issues. Damazo is active in the legal community, currently serving on a variety of committees and boards with the Multnomah Bar Association, American Bar Association, and Lewis & Clark Law School. She also recently became an American Bar Foundation Fellow.
Shannon Johnson JD ’19 has joined Halloran Sage as an associate in its New Haven, Connecticut, office. Johnson is a civil litigator who focuses her practice on medical malpractice and insurance defense. Johnson handles auto, general and premise liability claims as well as professional liability claims, the firm said. Johnson earned her undergraduate degree from California State University, Chico, and her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School.
Keenan Ordon-Bakalian JD ’19 has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in its Portland office. Ordon-Bakalian specializes in guiding clients through the land entitlement process in Oregon and Washington, covering residential and commercial development, surface mining permits and water rights. He also has experience advocating for clients in front of local decision makers and defending permits and project approvals in Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals, Washington’s Growth Management Hearings Board, and state courts.
’20s
Sophia von Bergen JD ’20 has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Multnomah Bar Association (MBA) Young Lawyers Section (YLS). Von Bergen is a member of Miller Nash’s litigation practice team and has experience representing clients in all phases of litigation, with a focus on complex litigation matters, business disputes, and insurance recovery for policyholders.
Conor Butkus JD ’20 has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s Natural Resources industry group. As an environmental lawyer, Butkus assists clients with permitting and regulatory concerns, such as from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or issues that stem from state and federal environmental regulations.
Audrey Davis JD ’20 has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s Consumer Products, Manufacturing & Retail industry group. Davis specializes in developing litigation strategies for her clients. Prior to joining Schwabe, she clerked for Judge Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Simon on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.
Hannah (Clements) Goldblatt BA ’15, JD ’20 is enjoying her work as the staff attorney at Advocates for the West in Portland, Oregon. Advocates for the West is a pro bono law firm that protects and defends public lands, wildlife, fish, and waterways across the West on behalf of conservation groups and tribes. In her role, Goldblatt advocates to protect the winter habitat of endangered southern mountain caribou and other imperiled species; brought litigation over harmful pesticide spraying in Western desert ecosystems; and worked to stop a four-lane high-speed highway from being constructed through a National Conservation Area in Southern Utah as well as safeguarding air quality, water, and wildlife from a massive oil and gas development project in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.
Rachel Timmins JD ’21 has joined Tonkon Torp LLP’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. Timmins represents employers in a variety of employment-related disputes, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leave issues, disability issues, and wage and hour claims. She also represents clients in labor matters in front of the NLRB and the Oregon Employee Relations Board, and at the table negotiating collective bargaining agreements.
Eric Werner JD ’21 has joined Epstein Becker Green (EBG) as an associate, where he will focus his practice on health care litigation and health law matters, including behavioral health, provider liability, regulatory compliance, and risk management. In addition, Werner handles complex business and commercial litigation as well as professional liability across a range of industries.
Matt Campa JD ’22 has joined the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), one of the nation’s longest-running nonprofit environmental law firms working to protect the California coast, natural resources, and the earth’s climate, as its staff attorney/Environmental Justice Program outreach coordinator. Campa’s position will work closely with communities that have suffered significant harm from pollution and other environmental threats and will help EDC engage with and support those communities and our nonprofit partners working on these issues.
Maggie Donohue JD ’22 has joined Williams Kastner as an associate in the Portland office of Williams Kastner. Donohue will focus her practice on civil litigation, construction defects, and products and liability.
Rachael Grey JD ’22 has joined Epstein Becker Green (EBG) as an associate, with the health care and labor and employment team. Grey provides advice and counsel on employment law matters such as disability accommodations, discrimination and harassment, leaves of absence, wage and hour, restrictive covenants, and terminations for healthcare clients.
Marley Masser JD ’22 recently joined the Portland, OR office of Ogletree Deakins as an associate. In her labor practice, Masser negotiates collective bargaining agreements, offers guidance on contract administration, and represents employers before labor arbitrators, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Oregon Employment Relations Board.
Stephanie Oxley LLM ’22 has accepted a position as an Attorney III (Senior Attorney) with the California Air Resources Board. She writes, “Thank you to the Lewis & Clark Environmental Law Program!”
Graeme Rudd JD ’22 has joined Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP. Rudd joins the incident response team with an extensive background and multifaceted expertise in cybersecurity and project management.
An Update from Calvin Duncan ’23
We checked in with Calvin Duncan who came to Lewis & Clark Law in 2020 after being arrested for a crime he did not commit, sentenced to life in prison and released when the New Orleans Innocence Project intervened after he had served 28½ years. Calvin studied law in prison and became an advocate for his fellow inmates, as well as an untiring proponent of eliminating the nonunanimous jury laws in Louisiana and Oregon.
“After I graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School, I returned home to continue the work I did before law school; that is, assisting incarcerated individuals with accessing the court. Today, I am the director of the Light of Justice Program and assist incarcerated individuals with accessing the court and overcoming procedural obstacles that hinder the court from considering federal constitutional errors in criminal prosecutions.
I am also an Adjunct Professor teaching criminal law at Tulane University School of Professional Advancement and a Law Fellow with the Innocence Project New Orleans.
My experience at Lewis & Clark Law School was and is one of the highlights of my life. My professors and the faculty at Lewis & Clark Law School were the BEST!!!!”
Matt Heldt JD ’23 has joined Tonkon Torp LLP and has also joined the Emerging Professionals Board at Blanchet House, a nonprofit organization that provides clothing, hygiene items, community, and transitional recovery programs to thousands of people every year. Heldt serves as an ambassador for Blanchet House, working to spread awareness and support of its vital mission, while encouraging others, especially young people, to get involved. Heldt is an associate in Tonkon Torp’s Labor & Employment Practice Group where he works on litigation matters and offers employers strategy and advice on labor and employment issues.
Sydney Padgett JD ’23 has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s Portland office. Padgett brings valuable experience, having conducted research and assisted in drafting legal memorandums, articles of incorporation and bylaws, contractual provisions, and agency filings.
Colin Pohlman JD ’23, along with co-authors Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger, published an analysis for Law360 exploring the intersection of the First Amendment and corporate disclosure provisions requiring corporations to convey information in February 2024.
Victor Ramirez Martinez JD ’23 joins Vial Frothingham as an associate attorney. Ramirez’s work at the firm’s HOA practice encompasses collections, insurance defense, document drafting, and covenant enforcement. He crafts optimal legal strategy via negotiations to achieve the desired outcome.
Dylan Sollfrank JD ’23 has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s Natural Resources industry group. Sollfrank previously worked as a summer associate at Schwabe. In his current role, Sollfrank helps clients with regulatory matters that govern clean water, clean air, forest management, and environmental policy.
Scott Cramer BS ’75, LLM ’24 received an online LLM in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law from Lewis & Clark Law School in January 2024 while working full-time as an appellate attorney. After a 26-year career in the Marine Corps and 14 years of federal service, Cramer returned to Lewis & Clark to pursue his passion for both science and the law through the LLM program. Cramer currently works as a California Appellate Panel attorney for indigent criminal appeals, prisoner civil rights, and parole suitability hearings. In addition, Cramer does pro bono appellate work at the local Fish & Wildlife Service office in California.
Marie Napoli LLM ’24 has been recognized for her legal achievements by Women We Admire, which recently announced The Top Women Leaders in Law for 2024. Napoli has over 30 years of experience handling mass tort and complex litigation as well as catastrophic personal injury cases and medical malpractice matters. Notably, Napoli leads teams that negotiated settlements involving the national opioid litigation, World Trade Center litigation, Flint water crisis agreement, and the recently announced multi-billion settlements on behalf of public water systems for AFFF water contamination.
Paul Napoli LLM ’24 is a Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the ongoing multi district litigation over the contamination of drinking water with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) resulting from the widespread use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). Collectively, the settlements to date provide more than $14 billion in compensation to public water systems across the country impacted by PFAS contamination. Napoli continues to speak, write and provide legal awareness of the impacts of emerging contaminants.
Jessica Bridges ’25, a law 2L law student and a mother of two, is the 2024 Harpole Scholarship awardee. Prior to becoming a law student, she had a full varied career, serving as a Realtor and a flight attendant. After a health scare that put her life into perspective, she decided to go to law school to show her children that it is never too late to achieve your dreams.
Weddings
Maggie Poffenbarger JD ’16 married Matt Mais on October 14, 2023 in Boulder Creek, CA. The wedding was officiated by Loretta Miranda JD ’16.
Babies
Torrey McConnell Fraser JD ’17 and James Fraser JD ’17 welcomed twin girls on August 4, 2023. Baby girls Elise and Greta join big sister Claire to complete the Fraser family!
