Class of 1998

Submitted by DUNCAN CRABTREE-IRELAND and RUSS NAYMARK

Okay, everybody, the theme reported in the last set of class notes continues - "the kids"! And fortunately, people sent in lots of pictures. Also, a big welcome back to RUSS NAYMARK - I'm thrilled we once again got to work together on the notes. So, here goes...

As of September, former outline guru HAEJI HONG was moving from Los Angeles to San Diego to begin working for the bankruptcy department of the U.S. Trustee's office in San Diego. Her move to the federal government follows years of private law firm life and 16 months of law clerkship for the Alabama Supreme Court. We assume she'll pass the rigorous FBI background check.

San Ramon resident KEVIN BRODEHL is living the busy but good life of a hiring partner at Morgan Miller Blair in Walnut Creek, litigating a nice assortment of business cases, including lots of trade secret cases lately and many appeals. He is also an adjunct professor at JFK School of Law, teaching Appellate Advocacy. His daughter is about to turn 5, and his son is 2 1/2.

ANDREW FOGG reports the birth of a second child, Asher Nathaniel Fogg, on September 12, 2006. Everyone is home and doing well. Sofia, his big sister, is happy to have her baby brother at home, though she is still getting used to the new routine. Andrew returned to private practice and joined the Century City office of Cox, Castle & Nicholson in the land use group. He is actually walking to work regularly, which is a big change from his former 90-mile-a-day commute.

KERRY (BRANCH) CHAMBERS and her husband Scott (who met on Match.com) were formerly living in Venice Beach. After being laid off from Unocal last September due to the Chevron merger, Kerry accepted a job with First Data Corp. in a suburb of Denver and moved with Scott to Colorado in January. She is a Counselor in their Debit Legal Services. They bought a house in Highlands Ranch in April and got married at the end of May in Las Vegas with probably the only wedding to have had bingo during the ceremony (3 attempted bingos and the 4th was the winner). They then went on their honeymoon to Italy. Kori Tomlin '98 and her husband Reggie came to the wedding.

MARK MALOVOS is still at New Century Mortgage in Irvine, managing litigation and intellectual property. On August 6, he and his wife Heather became proud parents of their first child, Meriel. She was 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and her arrival has understandably made 2006 a very memorable year for them.

MATT NELSON reports that he and Erika had twin boys on March 30, 2006, named Andrew Rodriguez and Christopher Davis. Christopher was fine, but Andrew required an emergency C-section and 4 days in the neonatal ICU. Benji (now 7) and Thomas (now 5) are thrilled to be big brothers and dote on the twins daily. Andrew has had some rough patches with acid reflux and eating problems, but hopefully he'll grow out of it. After a summer with all four boys (Matt thinks he finally beat John O'Malley in the total kids category, but in actuality they are now tied, which is quite impressive all the same), they determined that the existing house was too small and bought a new one in the same neighborhood in Riverside. They haven't sold the old one yet (perfect timing with the real estate slowdown) but hope to sell it soon. Matt is still at Gresham, Savage doing CEQA and land use law. He reports the job is satisfying but getting more stressful as some major projects are finally going to public hearing.

JENNIFER HARDER was elected to the partnership at Downey Brand LLP effective January 1, 2006. On August 26, 2006, she was married to Eric Robinson '97. She and Eric live in West Sacramento with her two new kids, Henry Robinson (8) and Leigh Robinson (6) and their dog Kenai, and commute to their respective water rights practices on Capitol Mall in Sacramento (Eric is a shareholder at Kronick, Moskovitz), where they try to keep from bumping into each other adversarially. Whenever possible, and not nearly often enough, they try to escape their professional chains for a little kayaking, canoeing, fishing, or hiking.

VINCE CARUSO reports that he and wife Amie Peters are enjoying the wonderful world of parenthood. Their son Anthony brightens their days and is a bundle of energy. He loves his mommy, playing with his toys and chasing the cats - and he's fascinated by wheels. Vince took a new job with Intel, and is enjoying the switch to in-house life.

CHRIS BRAINARD is married and has a son, Luke. He works for himself doing a lot of real estate, commercial litigation, and various transactions. He is still good friends with GREG WALSTON and MIKE MAHON.

JAKE BORCHERS reports that he has the same job, same wife (only more lovely), and same kids (only cuter). He saw three movies at the theater this year (Cars, Curious George, and Ice Age II). He hopes to see All the King's Men, but can't imagine it will be better than the book. His lawn looks a little worse than last year, so he'll probably fire the gardeners any day now. That will be the second batch this year, as he also fired one pool guy for leaving the pool gate unlocked. He went to New York City with his daughter Abby, where they visited the Natural History Museum, the Met (twice at Abby's insistence), saw the Statute of Liberty, and went to the Zoo. Jake has learned that four-year-olds like statues more than paintings and dinosaur bones more than statues. They like ice cream more than that, but not as much as their Mom who did not make the trip to New York. His new hardwood flooring is currently on a boat off the eastern coast of South America. He hears it will be passing through the Panama Canal. The (wood, not boat) manufacturer says it "is firmly committed to preserving Brazil's rain forest and renewing its natural resources." Jake has also learned that four-year-olds say the darndest things:

Q: (Teacher) Does your dad call you any special nicknames?
A: (Abby) Yes, he calls me Bear.
Q: Does he call your Mom anything special?
A: Yes. He calls her Honey, but only when he's annoyed.

RUSS NAYMARK reports that he is greatly enjoying his position as Counsel at Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood, helping to protect the rights of performers. He enjoys working with the illustrious Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, especially when Watson Ware Crabtree-Ireland makes unannounced visits to the office.

MIKE MAHON and his wife Mimi welcomed their first baby Bruce Brady Mahon on August 26, 2006.

While TALI TUCHIN claimed that there was nothing new to report, she did attend THIEN TRAN'S baby shower.

TOM MORRISON left Bingham McCutchen in July of ’05 and took an in-house position with James Hardie Building Products (a manufacturer of products used in residential home construction) in Mission Viejo. He's still with JHBP and enjoys being in-house, managing the transactional matters for the company’s U.S. business. His twin boys (Jake and Owen) will be four years old in December and his daughter (Devin) will be two years old in November. He and his wife Kori are expecting another baby (a boy) due in January, 2007, and he claims that this will be their last child.

Chong Choe continues to work at the state Court of Appeal in Riverside, after being promoted to Senior Appellate Court Attorney about a year ago. She wrote her own update, saying, "As always, I love the work and have had great opportunities to write on some important issues (but, because of the nature of the job, I can't say what cases I've written or which of my cases have been published). At the same time, I'm in my fourth semester at the Talbot School of Theology, working on a MA in Theology and an MA in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics (I also have an undergraduate degree in philosophy). Afterwards I’m planning to continue my studies with a D.Phil in Philosophy—possibly overseas (I'm seriously considering schools in Great Britain)." Chong recently moved to Fullerton, CA.

John Paul Lin got engaged in January to the lovely Yuki Shinozaki. They plan to marry in mid-2007. In late 2005, John started at Stephenson, Acquisto & Colman in Burbank, "representing hospitals in seeking payment from insurance companies that stiffed them on their medical bills."

Tina Cannon reports that she is getting re-married. She says, "But first, to make everybody feels really old, my son Cameron is 12 1/2 years old, 5' 4", and in Junior High. So, if they see me with that big guy...yes, that's little Cameron from law school." Her fiancé is Brian Leahy an alum of Creighton Law School in Nebraska. They will be getting married on July 7, 2007 and both being English and Irish, will go to England and Ireland for our honeymoon. She says, "That was a tough call because we just got back from France this summer and he loved it there as much as I do. My job at the Department of Fish and Game Office of the General Counsel is great and I'm surrounded by King Hall grads." Tina just did her first Olympic Distance triathlon - the Triathlon at Pacific Grove. "I was scared to death to do a mile swim in Monterey Bay but now I think I'm hooked!"

John and Kate O'Malley and the kids report being great. Unofficial Class of 1998 mascot Hannah is now - get this - in 7th grade, and plays water polo. John says, "She also went to her first school dance last week, and apparently has a crush on some boy -- I feel so old." Emma (#2) is an amazing artist and is a teacher's pet. "She runs to get me a Sierra Nevada the second I come home at night -- she's a good Irish girl!" Aidan (#3) is now in kindergarten and loves it. John was his T-Ball coach last Spring and reports that the first time Aidan hit, he bypassed first base and ran directly to second base. "It was hysterical to everyone except for the poor pitcher on the other team, who thought Aidan (who is about a foot taller than most of his peers) was charging the mound. Aidan didn't show much promise in T-Ball -- except as an enforcer -- but he is now playing soccer, and he scored 3 goals in his first game." Abbey (#4 and the baby) turned 2 in June. She is beautiful and has unbelievable energy. Congratulations are in order for John, who made partner at Downey Brand in January 2006. He says, "Kate was really happy until she discovered that being a partner is code for 'don't get paid regularly.'" Kate recently applied to the UC Davis Physician's Assistant program. When asked why, John replies, "Because caring for four kids, being a massage therapist, owning a soap business, working at our local gym, being a girl scout leader, and teaching music in Aidan's class just aren't enough, I guess."

Doug Norton and his wife King Hall alum Ashanté have another child! His name is Jackson Knight Norton (born August 3, 2006), and his big brother is Michael Ray (born July 14, 2003). Ashanté works for the Attorney General's office in Sacramento. Doug has started his own financial and estate planning company, NORTON MANSU Financial Services.

Amy Hansen Taylor worked at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP as a corporate attorney in their Orange County office until the firm's "ridiculous collapse" in February, 2003. She says, "A Minneapolis firm called Dorsey & Whitney basically moved into the Brobeck's Irvine offices and hired most of the old Brobeck attorneys, so I was pretty lucky. I worked there for another 2 years." She met her husband Robert (Bobby) Taylor at a wedding in Cabo St. Lucas in 2002, after which they dated long distance until they married in Maui in July 2004. Bobby is an ophthalmologist in Las Vegas, where they now live. They have two daughters, one 17 months old and the other 6 weeks old, in addition to Bobby's two children,Ben (10 yrs) and Rachel (7 yrs). Amy says, "I am incredibly happy and I feel very blessed. I am technically still a contract attorney for my old firm Dorsey, and I do handle an occassional remote assignmrent for them, but I am really not doing much legal work right now. I am just enjoying being home with my girls. Plus, it is such a joy to not be tied to a law firm ... no blackberry, no clients calling every hour of the day, no annoying partners! I will go back to work someday, but probably not to a firm."

Louisa Reynolds continues her efforts at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., where she is very involved with her church and her child's school. She even raised $60,000 at the annual church auction this spring and is shooting for the same next spring. She is the "class parent" at my child's elementary school, and successfully navigated the IRS 501(c)(3) process for the PTA. Louisa also "enjoyed a lovely visit this summer with the great law school professor, Prof. Marty West, who offered me much hope-- and commiseration-- regarding the state of public education in US (among other things)! She was a pleasure to host and we hope to see her again next time she is in DC." Louisa also encourages any classmates coming to D.C. to get in touch, saying "We had our basement renovated into an apartment and if we are between tenants it would work as a delicious little guest suite."

Victor Montoya is still practicing with Sutin, Thayer & Browne in Albuquerque, NM, where he was named one of two practice group leaders for the firm's Trial Group.

Kristen Castaños' big news is that she and her husband, Marte ('96), have a new baby girl. Mia Grace Castaños was born on April 5, 2006. She's still working at Somach, Simmons & Dunn, practicing water and natural resources law, "and loving it! I'm slowly learning how to balance work and mom-hood, but really enjoying our baby girl," she says.

James Zahradka says, "Our big news is that we're now the parents of two little boys—Anthony and Dominic! Anthony will be two in October, and Dominic was just born in August." James continues his work doing impact litigation and advocacy at Public Interest Law Firm in San Jose, where he works on education, fair housing and lending, disability rights, open government, affordable housing, and inmate rights.

Serena Choy Novotny announces the birth of her first child, names Danica Kaylyn. "She was born on March 19th in the morning and weighed 7lb 3oz and measured 19 inches long. I'm a very happy, but sleep deprived mommy."

Rameen Minoui is still a deputy district attorney prosecuting sexual assault cases in Ventura County. He recently took a trip to Europe stopping in Germany for this year's World Cup.

Katy Filner Orr says she is doing nothing worthy of the class notes. However, she deserves a special mention as she took it upon herself to track down emails for about a dozen missing classmates on the internet... Thanks, Katy!

Jennifer Cordua Spaletta became a shareholder at Herum Crabtree Brown in January. She and her husband Jason had their third daughter, Emmy Susan, in April. She says, "In our spare time, we are still trying to be grape farmers - so drink that Pinot Gris!"

And as for me, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, I have had quite a few life changes since the last issue... First, and most amazingly, John and I adopted our unbelievably awesome son Watson Ware. He came to live with us on his four month birthday and we finalized the adoption on December 28, 2005. He's now 19 months old and is incredibly adorable and quite brilliant. Watson loves to talk (where'd he get that from?) and hanging out with his Uncle Russ. We spent a long weekend in February in Tahoe with a bunch of King Hall friends, and their kids, which was a real blast. Our experience becoming parents was a real rollercoaster, and way too long for this column, but suffice it to say that at one point we had three infants in diapers simultaneously. On the work front, things have been hopping as well. In August 2006 I was appointed General Counsel of Screen Actors Guild, now managing a staff of eleven attorneys nationwide in our Legal Department in addition to overseeing two other departments, Guild Governance and Affirmative Action/Diversity. Even though I have been with the Guild for six years, these first few months in my new role have been a real challenge, but also a lot of fun. Also, it has been fantastic having the opportunity to work with Russ Naymark, who joined the Guild last year after he moved to Los Angeles. Watson is already a world traveler, having joined John and me on travels to seven countries so far, but we are planning our next trip in December and January, a long-haul to New Zealand and Australia. Wish us luck with a 2 year old on a 14 hour flight!