Submitted by MATT YUEN
Stop whatever you're doing and imagine going to work and having people shoot at you. Watch out for mortar attacks while you're on the phone or in the bathroom. And, as you walk to lunch, imagine constantly looking out for land mines. That's what "work" was like for COLBERT LOW for most of 2005. Colbert was mobilized in 2004 to Kuwait, and in early 2005 moved to oversee a 700-soldier infantry battalion Iraq. "Our brigade has suffered a few casualties," Colbert emailed in July 2005, "but we must press the fight to the terrorists. We must succeed. There is no alternative. Good must prevail over evil. The Iraqi people deserve nothing less." Lt. Col. Low's group helped open a 90-student secondary school, where they handed out tablets and pencils, and provided assistance at a polling place for the historic Iraqi elections. The tour ended in January 2006, but not without incident. Just after Colbert had rolled up and stored his unit's combat flag while preparing to return home, their base camp came under mortar attack. Something to think about the next time you feel like you're having a bad day.
And now, it's time to play "What Word Do You Love?" The first contestant is MICHELE GOLDMAN (Hauptman) ("yes"), who wonders what she'll do with all the free time now that her youngest son Ben has started kindergarten. Her answer: North Carolina bar exam. Michele is in Raleigh, and is interested to meet with anyone passing through town. Michele crossed paths with KATHLEEN ROGERS in DC a year ago, and BOB HAIGHT while in line for the Haunted House at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
After 12 years in Russia, CHRIS MOORE ("actually") has moved to Hong Kong. The details behind the move are unclear, but my guess is that there are better dim sum houses in Hong Kong. The greatest adjustment is by Chris's son, who is British by birth, with an American father and Ukrainian mother, but raised in Russia, and now taking Mandarin lessons at a Canadian school in Hong Kong. "Ni hao, dude. Pass the borsht, eh? Spasiba!" In 2005, Chris departed the collapsing Coudert Brothers (R.I.P.), but stayed in Moscow as part of Orrick Herrington. Itching for something different, Chris resigned in early 2006 to start an escrow service. The following week, his wife was offered a position in Hong Kong, and they moved. While he finds a new path, Chris works on a contract basis for Orrick. He passes his best wishes to Colbert, who has made him feel reassured about the quality of men and women serving overseas.
By now, you might have seen the video of SUSAN FRANKEL singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at a San Francisco Giants game with her former band, Three Hour Tour. "It was one of the most fabulous days of my life," Susan says. "For a brief time, we were able to say we were a stadium band." Susan is now with Blind Venetians, which plays a mix of oldies, classic rock, and punk flavored vintage TV theme songs. See http://www.blindvenetians.com/ for many, many pictures and info, plus a video of this band's "Star Spangled Banner" at AT&T Park in 2005 and a separate, higher fidelity mp3 clip. It's a surprisingly stirring rendition, with the most inventive use of a vibraslap ever. Gotta have more cowbell. And vibraslap.
Which of the following does not belong: Tiger Woods, Maria Sharpova, Babe Ruth, or MATT GAUGER? The answer is Babe Ruth, whose picture, unlike the others, did not appear in Sports Illustrated in 2005. Don't believe it? Check out the 7-25-05 issue, and there's Mr. Gauger (who loves the word, "left"), pictured and quoted as part of an article on off-road racing. All is well with LORI OKUN, Matt reports. Matt just wound up a three-year stint on the State Bar Labor & Employment Executive Committee, so now he finds more time to engage in his passion for rally car racing. They're looking for a sponsor.
LEFT: Matthew Gauger is celebrating his rally car team's victory at the Wild West International Rally. Shelton, Washington, September 2005. (He is the one in the blue shirt, spraying champagne from a bottle.
RIGHT: Matthew Gauger from another race (Maybe you can ask him for more details. He is at MGauger@unioncounsel.net.
CELIA ROWLAND ("mellifluous") continues prosecuting murders and other serious felonies in Santa Cruz.
DAVIL VASQUEZ ("aughuhhhrrrgnngt") cannot spell the word he loves, but based on his description, that is my best guess. Davil is with the boutique Newport Beach firm of Angelo & White, a general practice firm where "I do everything from criminal hearings to copyrights," which, when you think about it, seems to cover just the letter "C." Son Alexsander has entered third grade, and wife Susan "is doing something with computer websites, but I'm never really too sure what." Davil and family live in Laguna Niguel, where his surfboard hangs lonely and dejectedly in the garage. Davil remains in touch with KEVIN ALMETER, who recently joined a Santa Monica firm.
BOB BARTON ("ostensibly") is still working with the Inspector General's Bureau of Independent Review, which oversees the Department of Corrections. Bob heads the Central Region office in Bakersfield, but travels to Sacramento regularly. At a California DA conference last summer, Bob saw Larry Brown '89, who was "looking very U.S. Attorneyish." Bob's wonder what became of "our" LARRY BROWN and GUY LOPEZ, "whom I always thought was one of the most interesting people in our class."
LYN HARDY (Jacobs) ("aardvark") is married and living in Takoma Park, Maryland; she spends her days at the Department of Justice, investigating "litigation gone bad" cases (big drug prosecutions go awry). She and her husband do a lot of diving and nature and underwater photography, most recently in the Galapagos. She has quite an eye. See www.lynhardyphoto.com. Lyn frequently sees CINDY SHEPARD, who works for Overseas Private Investment Corporation in DC, is married, and travels frequently to exotic locations in the former Soviet Union and Middle East.
TERESA PATTON (Fett) ("perplexed") and her daughter ran a half-marathon in Anchorage, raising $6,074 for leukemia research, qualifying for the Boston Marathon along the way. While in Alaska, Terri spent time with GUY LOPEZ and his family; Guy still flies for Federal Express out of Anchorage.
TINA SINGH ("disperse") is now in Maryland with her two daughters (2 and 4). This year brought the birth of the Singh Law Corporation.
DIANE COLBORN ("create") left her position as Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for the Personal Insurance Federation, and accepted a position as Chief Consultant for the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, thereby shaving two words off her job title. The job has perks, such as field trips to Calaveras Big Trees and the Mt. Tamalpais State Parks.
ROBERT ELLIS sent a long, but engaging story about his last few years. To summarize, it goes something like this: semi-retired from seafaring; days of leisure interrupted by recruitment to business/law life; hours slowly increasing; www.RidgeLineEnergy.com; NYC to Houston to NYC to Houston, and back and forth; financing and joint venture with Big Oil; expensive lawyers caught web-surfing and emailing during meetings; consolidation of offices into central Seattle space –BAD!; back to drafting human resource policies; terrifying threat of regular office hours looms ominously; Man of Leisure lifestyle and boozy lunches with lay-about pals severely compromised; now rise and dress before noon; need "office clothes" -- whatever that is these days. You get the idea. The savage irony of Robert's drafting the new, rigid, 60-minute-lunch-and-not-a-minute-longer H.R. policies is not lost on him. His wife, a senior V.P. and deputy general counsel for T-Mobile Wireless finds the whole mess humorously entertaining.
KAREN DEMPSEY has lateral-shareholdered her way to Heller Ehrman, where she continues doing what she does, which is far more complex than I could understand. She and WENDY ROBERTS compared notes recently about their kids' entering high school, which made them both feel less young.
BRIAN CARTER announces that the biggest firm in Mendocino County for the past half century (Carter, Oglesby, Momsen and Bacik) has dissolved, leading him to open a solo law shack, which will soon evolve into Carter, Vannucci & Momsen. With five lawyers, they will once again be the county's largest firm. Brian's daughters Tiegan and Alena were recently joined by brother Quinn Jared in December 2005. Brian reports on CRAIG JOHNS'S recent nuptials and annual Smails golf tournament, where SCOTT RITSEMA is the perennial Derby winner on tournament's eve. Mr. Carter also tattles that MORRIS TAFT has joining the ranks of Bank of America, but doesn't specify in what capacity. Brian's email ended cryptically that Morris "is getting fat," but JOE FAUCHER "is in good shape."
DAN SAXON is in his eighth year in The Hague as a prosecutor at the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Four years was spent prosecuting Slobodan Milosevic for a list of deeds too numerous and sufficiently infamous to repeat in this space. Milosevic's death last year came just months before the trial would have finished. "Huge disappointment for us, for the victims, and for international justice," Dan notes. In spring of 2007, Dan will publish his first book, To Save Her Life: Disappearance, Deliverance, and the United States in Guatemala (University of California Press 2007), about human rights and United States foreign policy in Guatemala. Dan's son Fernando has begun his studies at Utrecht University in the Dutch city by of the same name.
And last, your class agent MATT YUEN ("vibraslap") and family were blown away last summer by the immense majestic land that is Alaska. We cruised the Inside Passage and were quite humbled by our surroundings, even if it was just the typical tourist fare. Had a great dinner with PETER LYNCH and GEOFF LAUTER, one of whom drives a very hot car, and if you tried to guess who, you'd be wrong. I'm at San Mateo Superior Court, trying to keep judges from getting reversed and sometimes succeeding. These days, however, the law time is quickly being supplanted by Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, soccer, bobby sox softball, chaperoning field trips, and school service.
For pictures of Lt. Col. Colbert Low, Gentleman of Leisure Robert Ellis, nature loving Diane Colborn, someone who might be Matt Gauger in Sports Illustrated, and other classmates, go to http://www.madboy.smugmug.com/, and click on the category called "King Hall."