Class Notes as of August, 2009
Greetings, Class of 2000! A lot has been going on recently with our classmates – job changes, marriages, and a whole lot of babies!
After seven years of living in Alameda and working in insurance defense litigation, Cheryl Seitz made a change in December 2007 and moved to San Jose to work as a Legal Research Attorney with the Family Division of the Santa Clara County Superior Court. She really enjoys the job and is also pursuing a Masters in Public Administration to further broaden her career choices.
Kathleen Kehoe Greeson also made a career change and now works as a deputy county counsel for Butte County. Kathleen's husband Jeff is a deputy district attorney in Butte County. Kathleen, Jeff, and son Max all moved to Chico a few months ago.
Tamara Morgan is leaving the AG's office after being there for five years and will be joining Andrea Bacchi at Boutin Gibson Di Guisto Hodell, Inc.
Chris Scheuring now works at the Farm Bureau and is the managing counsel of the Natural Resources and Environmental Division. He manages the Farm Bureau's litigation and supervises three attorneys, two of whom also graduated from King Hall. If you're ever around Davis, you might see Chris with his wife and three kids.
You might also see Denise Hoffner-Brodsky, who is now Denise Hoffner again. Denise started a new business, Deep Peace Massage (or for lawyers "Motion to Dismiss . . . Your Aches and Pains!"). Denise is a certified massage therapist, and she travels with her table to homes in the Davis-Woodland-Sacramento area, so clients can relax without having to drive home afterwards. She's also available to provide chair massages for law firms and other businesses and notes that it's a great way to thank staff.
Elsie Arias (Hui) last year joined Stone & Grzegorek LLP, which is a business immigration law firm in downtown Los Angeles. She was also recently certified by the State Bar as a Legal Specialist in Immigration Law. She and husband (Carl Arias '99) will be celebrating their four year anniversary in May. Elsie and Carl live in Sierra Madre with their six-month old black Labrador retriever, Jack.
Congratulations to Angus MacDonald, who was just promoted to partner at Townsend and Townsend and Crew in San Francisco, where he continues to practice intellectual property litigation. His happy four-year old daughter, Athena, is doing great. He looks forward to hearing from old friends who can reach him at amm@townsend.com.
Jonathan Watts and wife Deanne are happy and busy in San Ramon. Their two kids, Zoe (6) and Diana (2.5), and their two cats, Lionel and Jaguar, keep them on their toes. Jonathan loves his practice at Frankely & Goldware, LLP. He focuses on corporate law and general business transactions and is also active in the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce and serves as its Vice Chair of Economic Development and on the board. Jonathan, like Angus, would love to catch up with his friends from King Hall. Some of our classmates have been able to take a little bit of time away from their normal routines.
Liseanne Kelly took a sabbatical last year and lived in Guatemala for three months. She took Spanish immersion courses and volunteered at Provecto Las Flores, a community day care. She found that managing 40 pre-schoolers is much harder than practicing law! Liseanne is now back at Luce Forward practicing employment law.
Angela Dunning (Mikels) still practices at Cooley Godward, but she's doing a three-month stint at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office in the misdemeanor trial division. She goes back to her regular job in June. Angela and husband Ted are expecting their second child.
At another DA's office, Rochelle Hao continues to work at the Sacramento DA's office and keeps busy with her three-year old son.
Rochelle writes that Joyce Wong and her husband Eddie had a baby, Horace, last year.
Drew Brereton, Angela Brereton (Scatena) and big brother David welcomed sister Anna Brereton into the world in June 2007. Angela is beginning her second year with the California Fair Political Practices Commission's Enforcement Division. Drew recently joined the Department of Managed Health Care, which is the HMO regulator for the State of California. He works as staff counsel in the Office of Enforcement.
Sarah Lanham (Hendricks) and husband Dave proudly announce the birth of their second child, William, who came into the world on December 21st. Big sister Delaney, two and a half years old, loves her little brother. Between being a full-time litigator and a mom of two little ones, Sarah's life is pretty busy but fun.
Maura de la Rosa (Shortley) got married in November 2004 to Melandro de la Rosa ('97). They had triplets in 2007. Maura still works for the Sacramento County Public Defender's Office, where she started as an intern during our 2L year.
Joe Cruz and Joyce Noche ('99) now have two kids. Mateo is 2, and Carmen is 1. They live in Irvine. Joe works for Ernst & Young, and Joyce is an Asylum Officer for Customs and Immigration. Joe and Joyce also see Neyha Garga, who also has two kids.
Nitasha Sawhney is been busy with both work and community service. Nitasha was recently promoted to partner at Garcia Calderon Ruiz, LLP, and appointed by Speaker Nunez to the California State Commission on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs in 2006. She also received the Spirit in Action Award from the Interfaith Councils of the cities of Garden Grove, Stanton, and Westminster for her work on hate crimes and for raising funds and awareness to aid victims of genocide in the Darfur and received, on April 24, 2008, the South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation's award for Public Interest Attorney of the Year.
Nitasha also updates us on Sharon Fielder who with husband Boris Shimanovsky had a son, Miles Fiedler Shimanovsky, on August 27, 2007. Nitasha says that Miles is a rock star already.
Nitasha also writes about another rock star, Monika Kalra Varma, whobecame the Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights in March 2007 and in that job, continues to travel all around the world.
Returning to the States is Jonathan Kazmar, who completed his three year tour in Malta and is headed to Washington D.C., where he will use his "rusty legal skills" to administer the Blackwater contract for the Department of State. He and wife, Lisa, are expecting a baby boy on August 8th.
A couple of our classmates have opened their own offices. Michelle Anderson got married two year ago and had a beautiful baby boy last year. Michelle and her husband, also an attorney, live in San Diego. She opened her own office five years ago and is able to work part-time practicing federal criminal defense as well as handling some extradition and Hague cases. She says that her focus right now, though, is mainly on "diapers, bottles, and rice cereal."
Michelle also writes that Colleen Kavanagh got married over the summer and is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York.
Kimberly Barnett has her own practice in Yuba City, where she practices criminal and family law down the street from the Sutter County Courthouse. She's also lucky to have bought a house in Yuba City that's only a mile away from the office. In addition to practicing, Kimberly keeps busy with raising her granddaughter, Lilly Rose, who is two and a half years old. Kimberly and Lilly hang out at different parks in Yuba City, and Lilly is about to start swim lessons.
As for us, I ( Kara Ueda)recently became a shareholder at McDonough Holland & Allen in Sacramento. Scott Lay continues to serve as the President and CEO of the Community College League of California. And, after being together since our first semester at King Hall, Scott and I have decided to tie the knot and are planning a wedding for August 30, 2008.
Thanks to all of you for providing your updates! If there's someone who isn't receiving my e-mails and wants to, please write to me at karaueda@sbcglobal.net And a final note - some of you wrote about looking forward to reconnecting at our 10-year class reunion. If you're interested in a 10-year reunion, please contribute both your ideas and your attendance! So, think of some possibilities for location, venue, theme, time of year, etc., and we can start gathering ideas and putting a committee together to plan and organize it. That's it until next time!