Class Notes
1950s
Robert Weiss ’51 was a guest of honor and the principal speaker at the U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Denver. Weiss, who served in the U.S. Army (and not the Marines) in World War II, gave a presentation titled “The Brotherhood of Arms Transcends Uniforms.” He also spoke about his experience at the battle of Mortain in Normandy, when his unit was surrounded by an elite German division for six days.
1970s
Philip Jones ’76 was elected to membership as a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national organization of trust and estate lawyers and law professors. Jones is a partner in the Portland firm of Duffy Kekel.
Gayle A. Nachtigal ’78 was inducted into the National Center for State Courts’ Warren E. Burger Society, which honors individuals who have volunteered their time, talent, and support to the organization in exceptional ways. A pro temp judge in Washington County Circuit and District Court from 1989 to 1991, Nachtigal was appointed to Washington County’s Circuit Court bench in 1991. Prior to her judicial service, she was an attorney in private practice for three years and with the Oregon Department of Justice for five years. Nachtigal began her legal career as the sole deputy district attorney in the Juvenile Department of the Washington County District Attorney’s Office in 1979.
K. William (Bill) Gibson ’79 of Clackamas recently won a writing award from the American Bar Association and Edge International. Presented at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, the award recognized his article “Outsourcing Legal Services Abroad,” which appeared in Law Practice Magazine. Gibson led a delegation of lawyers to India to meet with Indian law firms and legal outsourcing firms.
1980s
Miriam Feder ’80 opened a new play, The Only Way Out Is Through, which ran January 15 through January 31 as part of the Fertile Ground Festival of New Works at the Sellwood Masonic Lodge in Portland.
Edward A. Finklea ’80 joined NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage in Houston, Texas, as senior counsel. NiSource is the fourth largest natural gas pipeline company in the United States, with a gas transportation network that stretches from Louisiana to New York and serves major metropolitan areas along the entire East Coast. Finklea represents the company in matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Richard Melnick ’81 took the oath of office for the Clark County Superior Court on February 1, after being appointed to the bench by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire. Washington State Supreme Court Justice Gerry Alexander administered the oath. Previously, Melnick was a judge in Clark County’s District Court.
Pamela Knowles ’83 accepted the position of managing director of the Oregon Zoo Foundation. The foundation raises money to support the zoo’s activities and manages membership activities for the 46,000 Friends of the Zoo members. A recently passed bond measure will provide funds to improve the elephant habitat, build a new veterinary hospital, and improve sustainability. Knowles is also a member of Portland Public Schools Board of Education.
Stephen Doherty ’84 was appointed senior advisor to the secretary of the interior for the Northwest by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Doherty, a partner at Smith & Doherty in Montana, has more than two decades of legal practice in civil litigation, as well as litigation pertaining to tribal entities and governments in tribal, federal, and state courts. From 2005 to 2009, he chaired the Montana, Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission, and he previously served 12 years in the Montana State Senate. In his new job, Doherty will ensure that the views of the secretary are considered and implemented in all appropriate venues, and that the secretary has adequate, timely information about project developments, opinions and concerns from elected officials, upcoming deadlines, legal issues, potential media attention, and imminent controversies in any area of the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction.
Richard Funk ’86 relocated his practice to Bend, where he formed a partnership with long-time Bend family lawyer Jon Duerst. The new firm, Duerst & Funk, is located at 835 Northwest Bond Street. The firm will continue to practice family law exclusively. Previously, Funk was with the firm of Gevurtz, Menashe, Larson & Howe in Portland.
Leroy Latta ’88 retired from the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Alaska on April 30, after 27 years of state service.
Greg Powell ’88 joined Tonkon Torp as a partner in the business department. He counsels businesses of all sizes on matters related to securities and corporate finance, real estate, and mergers and acquisitions. Powell also represents capital market professionals in proceedings and disputes.
Dean Alterman ’89 is a partner in the new firm of Folawn Alterman & Richardson, which has offices in the Fox Tower at 805 Southwest Broadway, Suite 2750, in Portland.
1990s
Robert Kyte ’90 was selected to serve as president and CEO of Adventist Risk Management in Silver Spring, Maryland. Adventist Risk Management consists of six companies—four in the United States, one in Gibraltar, and one in Brazil. Five of the companies are in the insurance field. Kyte recently served as general counsel for Healthwise in Boise, Idaho, and prior to that he was general counsel for the Adventist Church for four years. From 1989 to 2005 he served as president, CEO, and general counsel for Pacific Press Publishing Association in Boise.
Erika Krikorian ’92 was elected shareholder at Bullivant Houser Bailey in their Seattle office. She will play an integral role in leading the firm forward in 2010. Krikorian divides her practice among complex litigation, intellectual property, Indian law, and art law. She enjoys a track record of success in a wide range of areas, including commercial contracts, corporate affairs, intellectual property, unfair trade practices, and ethics. Her practice includes negotiating patent invention rights agreements and structuring royalty arrangements. Krikorian is also an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law, where she teaches the Art Law Clinic.
Barbara Morrow Williams ’92 was hired as the city librarian for the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library in California. Williams is responsible for the administration and operation of the library, which includes directing the activities of seven divisions and all library personnel.
Michael Cragun ’93 was appointed to the Utah State Tax Commission by Governor Gary R. Herbert and confirmed by the Utah State Senate in November 2009. Cragun served as deputy chief of staff to then Lieutenant Governor Herbert for four and a half years. Prior to joining the lieutenant governor’s office, Cragun completed one term as a Davis County commissioner.
Christy King ’93 and a colleague revised The Law (in Plain English) for Photographers, a spring 2010 release by Allworth Press. King is a principal in the DuBoff Law Group in Portland.
Clifford J. Villa ’93 received the Seattle University School of Law’s Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award for 2009. During the 2009-10 academic year, he taught courses on environmental enforcement and environmental drafting. Villa reports that he does not just lecture his classes about environmental protection—he also took students on a weekend field trip to view the environmental degradation resulting from more than a century of mining activities in northern Idaho. Villa continues his full time practice as an assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 office in Seattle.
Jennifer M. McCormick ’96 was named partner with the national litigation firm of Foley & Mansfield. She is located in their San Francisco office. McCormick practices in the areas of construction law, product liability, and toxic tort and mass tort litigation, with an emphasis in asbestos-related litigation. She currently manages cases from initial discovery through resolution for contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, and mining defendants.
Sania “Sunny” Radcliffe ’96 was appointed director of government affairs overseeing Portland General Electric’s federal, regional, state, and local government policy matters. Previously, Radcliffe held the position of supervisor of federal and regional relations at PGE. Her responsibilities as director include public policy development and analysis relating to a variety of government entities, including the Oregon Legislature and the U.S. Congress. Radcliffe was previously general counsel for Tree of Life Adoption Center and the executive director of Oregon Women Lawyers.
Sybil Ackerman ’97 was appointed to the Oregon Board of Forestry by Governor Ted Kulongoski. She is executive director of the Portland-based Lazar Foundation. Previously, Ackerman was legislative affairs director for the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. She has also held positions with the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, and the Audubon Society of Portland.
Robert “Matt” Conoley ’97 finished a one-year foreign service assignment in Iraq, where he served with the U.S. Embassy’s Regional Reconstruction Team in Erbil. He and his family will reunite in Washington, D.C., before heading to their next posting in Mexico.
Joseph O’Leary ’97 was appointed general counsel to Governor Ted Kulongoski. He will provide legal advice to the governor and his staff, oversee litigation involving the governor’s office, and act as liaison to the Oregon Judicial Department, Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon State Bar, Oregon Lottery Commission, Oregon Liquor Control Commission, and Oregon Ethics Commission. O’Leary is past counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former trial attorney with the Law Office of Janet Lee Hoffman and Metropolitan Public Defender.
Erika E. Soublet ’97 accepted a position as a deputy prosecuting attorney with the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Port Angeles, Washington. She had been with both the Yakima County and Skagit County prosecuting attorneys’ offices previously. Soublet got her start as a prosecutor in Portland, working at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.
Alexandra Gnoske Davila ’99 published her first children’s book this spring, titled Loui Saves the Earth. For more information or to purchase a copy, visit www.louisavestheearth.com.
Drew Hagedorn ’99 joined Tonkon Torp as of counsel in the firm’s expanding government relations and public policy group. Hagedorn most recently was associated with the lobbying and public relations firm of Conkling Fiskum & McCormick, where he built a state and local government affairs practice serving both public and private sector clients including nonprofits and industry associations. Prior to joining CFM, Hagedorn served as legal and policy advisor to the Oregon Senate Majority Office and Senate President’s Office. He also worked for U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield in Washington, D.C.
2000s
Katy Boyce ’00 was appointed manager for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission for the Bend region. Boyce, an Oregon native, joined the OLCC in 2002 as both an inspector and license investigator. She has served as lead worker since 2005 and as interim manager since August 2009.
Carrie A. Richter ’00 became a shareholder in the firm of Garvey Schubert Barer. Richter focuses her practice in the areas of land use and municipal law. She was named by her peers as one of Oregon’s “Rising Stars” in the 2009 Oregon Super Lawyers Magazine.
Ryan Moroney ’01 joined the law firm of Wittwer & Parkin in Santa Cruz, California, where he specializes in environmental and land use law.
Andrew Solomon ’01 of Perkins Coie is participating in the Portland Business Alliance 2010 Leadership Program. The program develops community leaders, educates participants on issues affecting Portland, and develops leadership skills for success in professional and civic life.
J. Riley Lagesen ’03 was named partner at Davis Wright Tremaine in Portland. His transactional practice focuses on growth and development counseling for business clients, especially those in the restaurant industry. Lagesen is a leader of the national restaurant industry group firmwide, and represents many of the top established and emerging restaurant concepts in the country with respect to their general business, franchising, licensing, intellectual property, and financing needs.
Jason Hill ’06 and Roseanna Hill welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Isabelle Vivienne Hill, on January 31, 2010.
David Roghair ’06 left private practice and was appointed to the magistrate position in Tok, Alaska, with the Alaska Court System. The Tok Court services 12 communities in the Upper Tanana region. Tok is on the Alaska Highway, 90 miles west of the Canadian border. It is the first community that travelers encounter after driving in from Canada and passing through customs.
Margot Lutzenhiser ’07 joined the firm of Brooksby Kaempf as an associate. Lutzenhiser served as editor of the Law Review and received the 2006 Joyce Ann Harpole Memorial Legacy Scholarship while attending Lewis & Clark. She is also a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Reed College, where she received her BA in economics. Lutzenhiser recently completed a two-year clerkship for Chief Judge Elizabeth L. Perris of the District of Oregon Bankruptcy Court.
Duke Tufty ’07 is participating in the Portland Business Alliance 2010 Leadership Program. The program develops community leaders, educates participants on issues affecting Portland, and develops leadership skills for success in professional and civic life. Tufty is an associate with Davis Wright Tremaine in Portland.
M. Diana Fedoroff ’08 joined the firm of Bodyfelt Mount as an associate. Fedoroff’s practice focuses on environmental litigation and insurance defense.
Kathy Black ’09 joined the Bonneville Power Administration as an attorney-advisor in the office of general counsel. Black is a member of the corporate, fish, and wildlife section, and her practice focuses on federal labor and employment matters, intellectual property licensing, and federal procurement.
Camille Blakely ’09 joined the Bonneville Power Administration as an attorney-advisor in the office of general counsel. Blakely is a member of the transmission section and her practice focuses on transmission contracts and finance.
Hanne Eastwood ’09 joined the law firm of Davis Rothwell Earle & Xochihua as an associate. Eastwood graduated magna cum laude and earned a certificate in natural resources and environmental law.
Vanessa Lee ’09 joined the firm of Tonkon Torp as an associate in the business department. Previously, Lee completed a judicial externship for Judge Robert E. Jones at the U.S. District Court in Oregon and volunteered at the Lewis & Clark Small Business Legal Clinic, where she served as the clinic’s interim operations manager and provided pro bono legal work. Lee earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California at San Diego and worked for eight years as a biologist, wetland scientist, and project manager for environmental consulting and civil engineering firms.
Adrian Sherrill ’09 joined the intellectual property firm of Alleman, Hall, McCoy, Russell & Tuttle. Prior to law school, Sherrill’s engineering experience included work at Intel as a senior process development engineer for the logic technology development division, specializing in the development of novel thin-film deposition processes and equipment.
