JEFFERY ANNE: "I am living in Corralitos, California, near Watsonville and Aptos. I have my own law practice, acting as contract general counsel to small companies. I enjoy living among the redwoods, berry farms, and apple orchards. It's beautiful country for cycling, walking on the beach and riding horses. All is well."
LAVEEDA MORGAN BATTLE: "I have left the firm where I practiced for sixteen years to start my own firm, The Battle Law Firm, LLC. I have continued to serve as Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. My practice includes Labor and Employment Defense, Public Utility Law, and General Representation of Public Agencies. Last year, I served on the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, and participated in the background investigation of Chief Justice John Roberts for the United States Supreme Court. I interviewed contacts in Alabama, Georgia and Florida for the Committee. It was a great experience. My daughter, Aisha finished Dental School this year and practices in Maryland. She explains that dentist work 3 - 4 days a week instead of 6 - 7 days we lawyers work. Who knew?"
CHARLES CALLEROS, Prof. of Law at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Ariz. State Univ., continues to teach an annual week-long course on common law legal method at the Univ. of Paris V. He published the fifth edition of his textbook on legal method and writing last April. Forthcoming by early 2007 will be publication of an article on comparative contract law; two articles on free speech rights in public schools, appearing in the new Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties; an essay on law school admissions after Grutter, and an essay on the need for K-12 and college pipeline programs to ensure racial diversity in law school and the bar. He is active in organizing such pipeline programs, both at his school and nationally with the Hispanic National Bar Association and with joint programs of the ABA and LSAC. He and Debbie (then Driggs, of Class of 1979) have two sons: Alex studies film-making at U.C. Santa Cruz, and Ben is a junior in high school. Charles and Debbie continue to perform in a 12-piece rhythm and blues band (he plays drums, and she sings background vocals), which held a CD-release party at a Phoenix blues club on Nov. 11.
NICK DE LANCIE is still married and still lives in San Francisco. He has three kids, all girls: one in college in Eugene, two in middle school (7th and 8th grades) in San Francisco. Still a partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP in its San Francisco office and still concentrating on commercial credit transactions with an emphasis on the creditors' rights/bankruptcy side. Just saw several "Insolvent Aggies" for our annual dinner, this year in San Francisco at Town Hall restaurant. Although the bankruptcy work has been a bit slow due to a solid economy, earlier this year was heavily involved in the Silicon Graphics bankruptcy case in the Southern District of New York (New York City), as lead attorney for the $100 million dollar pre-petition senior secured lender group and as one of the attorneys for the $130 million debtor in possession financing lender group. Don't play rugby any more (haven't for a couple of decades), but ride a road bike a great deal, including commuting thereby to work nearly every day. Still interested in foreign affairs, military, and intelligence matters. (Would love to know how to get in touch with KEITH LOKEN, who, I believe, is still in the State Department.) Once in a great while have seen or talked to ANDY ROSE, and from time to time see JOHN PHILIPSBORN.
WILLIAM (DUNNIE) MURRAY: "I still practice international entertainment law, now in partnership with Michael Ashburne and associate, Bojana Rnjak, a newly admitted Serbian lawyer. Michael has represented Ray Charles, actor Danny Glover, Ice Cube, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson and many others. I am Managing Partner and handle mostly international licensing matters. Our offices are in Oakland and SF.
My wife, veterinarian, Sybil Murray and I still own Mobile Veterinary Services, Inc., a house call veterinary practice in Solano County. We've recently acquired a 1/3 ownership interest in Animalkind, Inc., a fixed site animal hospital in Novato, CA. We will celebrate our 37th anniversary on August 23, 2006."
PETER MCKEE wrote the following, even though, "I am not one to respond to calls for alumni updates, I thought some of my '78 classmates might chuckle at a recent live and electronic reunion I had with fellow classmates RON SUFRIN, PATRICIA KNIGHT and CHARLOTTE BELL. It arose as follows...
I am a lover of Southern barbecue, despite being a Yankee raised in Orinda, California. A year as a VISTA volunteer in Macon, Georgia before law school started me down the 'cue path. In 2000, I spoke at the annual symposium of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi at Oxford on my delusional fixations on Southern 'cue (see http://www.southernfoodways.com/sym_00.shtml for a link to that event). Even more oddly, my rambling presentation was later published in Cornbread Nation I: Best of Southern Food Writers . (Chapel Hill University Press, 2001) (How that occurred is a long story, given that I am not Southern, not a food writer, and likely not the best at anything.)
This event then lead a couple of years later to convincing my friend, '78 King Hall classmate and best man at by wedding in 1981, RON SUFRIN, to join me and the Southern Foodways Alliance on a road trip around Austin, Texas, exploring Texas barbecue. (Ron, by this time had joined me in an obsession with 'cue.) Well, that event was such fun that this summer Ron and I decided to arrange our own 'cue tour. We picked Kansas City as our target, as it is often touted as the Barbecue Capital of the World (mostly by those who live there). Last Thursday, we met at the Kansas City airport - Ron flying in from LA, where he works for MGM and I from Seattle, Washington, where I continue to represent disabled people fighting for their Social Security disability benefits. Ron and I spent three days eating at 7 different barbecue joints and having a grand time. I have attached a photo of Ron and me in front of Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue, which we decided served the best ribs of our trip.
During our three days of ramblings, we spoke to our classmate CHARLOTTE BELL, while we drove back from Wichita to Kansas City. She told us of an iconic eatery of Kansas City we just had to try - Strouds. But alas, when we arrived at the address, we found an empty lot, as it had been bulldozed 6 months prior to make was for a widened road. Charlotte is well, studying interior design in Falls Church, VA. We also spoke to our classmate PATRICIA KNIGHT, who is in San Francisco and developing new entrepreneurial undertakings in law. (No, I really don't know what that really means, but she is doing well.) It was great to talk to them both.
Ron, Patricia and I remembered going up to Poor Red's Tavern and Barbecue in El Dorado, California in the Gold Country, with DEAN LOISEAUX and his wife as first year law students at King Hall with RONDIE TUCK, JIM and KATHLEEN DEERINGER and several others. It could be said that King Hall was formational in my 'cue obsession! So I guess I did learn something of lasting value in law school.
JOSEPH RAMIREZ is celebrating a recent promotion to Vice-President at Adobe Systems Incorporated and says, "Things are going great."
KAREN RUSSELL'S firm, Russell, Tesche, Wagg, Cooper & Gabbert is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Karen continues to work about 2/3 time as an attorney. In her spare time she teaches yoga and is trying to become artsy in her old age. Since graduation, she and her family have celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas in Alaska with JAN DEYOUNG and her family. They will do so again in 2006.
WAYNE THOMAS and Carole are moving to Medford, Oregon, and Wayne will retire from the practice of law. Not to opt for frequent travel and working out schedules for naps, but to start a new (third) career: real estate development. He has formed a LLC with one developer and will be a part-time consultant with another developer working on projects in southwestern Oregon and northern California. He will work on financing residential and commercial projects, often with private equity, as well on as various management tasks (that do not involve hitting a nail or anything of the sort). He is excited to try his hand at this altogether new field, although both he and Carole will miss the many fine things available in the SF Bay Area not to mention their many wonderful friends, but Medford is very nice and there are many new wonderful people yet to meet.