Michael Diederich ’80 spent most of 2012 in southern Afghanistan, where he served as a U.S. Army JAG lawyer. He is now retired from the Army Reserves and is refocusing on his law practice, which includes employment law, civil rights, and environmental law. In fall 2013, he went to Ghana on a humanitarian activity helping a conflict-resolution NGO.
1981
Mark Rodgers ’81 was named a 2012 Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer Magazine. Rodgers and his law partner, Michael Garbow, received the award for obtaining compensation for 10 school employees who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the Red Lake High School shooting tragedy of 2005. Rodgers is the managing partner at Rodgers & Garbow in Bemidji, Minnesota, and concentrates his practice on workers’ compensation and personal injury law.
Phil Schiliro ’81 has temporarily returned to Washington, D.C., to help Democrats pitch the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to voters in 2014 midterm elections. He is also responsible for coordinating with Congress and executive agencies as the Obama Administration continues to put the law’s wide-ranging policies into effect, and for helping to develop communications and legislative strategies on any potential changes to the law. Schiliro, who served as President Obama’s legislative director until 2011, helped campaign for the passage of the ACA. He was one of only two in the White House whom Obama honored with a pen from the set the president used to sign the ACA into law in 2010.
1982
Tom Kranovich ’82 began his term as the 2014 Oregon State Bar (OSB) president in January. Kranovich is an insurance defense litigator with Kranovich & Lucero in Lake Oswego. He has been active with the OSB for a number of years, having served for six years in the Affirmative Action Committee’s Opportunities in Law in Oregon (OLIO) program. He received the OSB President’s Affirmative Action Award in 2001 and the 2003 President’s Membership Service Award. To learn more about Kranovich’s background and work with the OSB, read “The Education President,” published in the January 2014 Oregon State Bar Bulletin.
Richard J. Whittemore ’82 was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014. He was also recognized as a Litigation Star in the 2014 edition of Benchmark Litigation, the Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys. Whittemore is shareholder and on the board of directors at Bullivant Houser Bailey. He is a veteran trial attorney and his litigation experience includes products liability defense, clergy malpractice, medical malpractice, and complex commercial litigation.
1983
Debra A. Jenks ’83 of Ciklin, Lubitz, Martens & O’Connell in West Palm Beach, Florida, participated as a speaker for the defense in a three-part securities law session presented by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association in October: A Comparative Discussion of Pre-hearing Legal Issues, Strategies, and Preparation Before the Hearing—Exploring Critical Differences Between New York, Florida, California, and Texas.
Michael Mason ’83 received the Henry Hewitt Access to Justice Award in recognition for his substantial contributions to legal aid for low-income Oregonians. Mason was cited for his two decades of commitment to access to justice. He has served as board president of Legal Aid Services of Oregon and the Oregon Law Center.
Max M. Miller Jr. ’83 was recognized by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and the Multnomah County Citizen Involvement Committee with the Multnomah County Volunteer Award for his service on the Regional Arts and Culture Council. This is the second time he has been so honored. Miller chairs Tonkon Torp’s environmental and natural resources practice group. His business counsel and litigation practice focuses on complex hazardous waste, air, and water pollution matters, as well as forestry and renewable energy.
1984
Dr. Paul Blaylock ’84 retired from the active practice of law and from his emergency medicine practice to focus on his private medical practice emphasizing motor vehicle accident and workers’ compensation patients, as well as medical/legal consultation.
Stuart D. Jones ’84 was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014. Jones is a shareholder in the Portland office of Bullivant Houser Bailey. His practice focuses on class action litigation and first-party insurance issues involving both commercial and personal lines including coverage opinions and litigation.
1985
Jeffrey Eden ’85, shareholder in the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, joined the Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC) as a sustaining member. Sustaining membership in PLAC is by invitation only and extended by the board of directors to those attorneys whom they consider to be the best trial and appellate lawyers in the product liability bar. Sustaining members must maintain a substantial part of their practice in product liability or appellate matters exclusively for defendants.
Michael A. Greenlick ’85 was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to fill the vacancy on the Multnomah County Circuit Court bench created by the appointment of Judge Michael McShane ’88 to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Greenlick closed his private practice of the last 18 years as a criminal defense lawyer in state and federal courts.
1986
Beth Skillern ’86 was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014. Skillern currently serves as managing shareholder and also acts as firm general counsel at Bullivant Houser Bailey.
1987
Ronald J. Clark ’87 was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014. Clark, shareholder and member of the board of directors at Bullivant Houser Bailey, has extensive litigation experience with cases involving insurance coverage litigation and bad faith, product liability, and general tort actions.
Carla Kelley ’87 was elected to the Urban League of Portland’s board of directors. Kelley brings to the position a wealth of knowledge from having previously served on community boards, including those of the Morrison Center, Portland Center Stage, and the City Club of Portland. The Urban League of Portland is a nonprofit, community-based organization that helps empower African Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, and economic security. Kelley is a member of Miller Nash’s business group, where she works with clients on government and regulatory issues.
1988
Dana M. Campbell ’88 moved with her husband, son, and dog to Sydney, Australia, to accept a position as CEO of Voiceless, the Animal Protection Institute, after working for 12 years as a lawyer for the Animal Legal Defense Fund and for four years as an animal law adjunct professor at Cornell Law School.
Jolie Russo ’88 was elected president of the Oregon Chapter of the Federal Bar Association for 2013-14. Russo continues in her position as senior staff attorney with the U.S. District Court of Oregon.
J. Scott Wood ’88 was named to equity partnership at Foley & Mansfield. Wood joined the firm’s Oakland office in early 2007 and founded its Seattle office in 2010. He serves as managing partner of Seattle operations in addition to maintaining an active practice in California.
