It has already been 5 years…hard to believe! Here’s the update on everybody:
Outside California
- Tina Ham: I’ve been working in Washington DC since late 2003. Currently, I’m working in the Office of General Counsel for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where we regulate wholesale energy and holding companies. Although I miss the California sunshine, I enjoy being here (except for the humidity!). I live in Maryland, with my husband of 3 years and my adorable Bichon Frise.
- David Kelly: I'm still with Hunton & Williams, though in 2006 I transferred to the Atlanta office. I work mainly on patent litigation. On the personal side, in 2005 my wife and I had a daughter, Grace Elizabeth. We followed that up with another daughter, Maya Meredith, born just 6 weeks ago.
- Rebekah Moore: Stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the 4th Psychological Operations Group. Currently working in the Public Affairs Office of the United States Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
- Margaret O'Neill: I am working in Denver, CO as a criminal defense attorney and gearing up for the DNC this August. Of course, many civil liberties issues and other legal concerns will converge in this event and the local defense bar is looking for attorneys and non-licensed legal workers to help with pro bono representation of arrested activists and as legal observers. Please consider lending some support, either by your presence or financially. If you choose to donate funds, please earmark your contribution for the Denver NLG chapter's People's Law Project: http://nlg.org/donations/contribute.php. Thank you!
- Thomas Siems: I have practiced as a lawyer for two and a half years till I joined the German Ministry of Defence in July 2006. That's where I still work.
- Dominga Soliz-Chermack: We moved back to Olympia, Washington last year and man is it cold!! It's June 4th and still raining. But it's home to us and it feels good to be back. When I'm not busy with the family (husband Nick, daughter Maya, 4, and son Cypress, 2) I'm working for a civil rights/employment law attorney in town and getting ready for the Washington Bar (can you believe there's a different one for every state!). I'm also training for a marathon. Life is good. We are happy.
- Justin Wagner: Rachel & I are the proud parents of three children: Zachary (5), Luke (3), and Naomie (1 in July). Also, I switched firms in January '08 and am very excited to be working at Marger Johnson & McCollom, which is a much smaller firm with a greater emphasis on software and hardware-related patent prosecution.
- Fan Yang: I am an LLM student of King Hall '03. Since I left King Hall, I came back to China. I am now working at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP Beijing Office. I am married and have a baby girl, who is now eight and a half months old.
Sacramento Area/Northern California
- Lacy Hartford Bauer: Chris and I welcomed a son, Jakob Alexander Bauer, into the world on April 17, 2008. He weighed 9 lbs 9 ozs and was 20.5 inches long at birth.
- Sarah Carillo: I have worked for the last 3 years as a Deputy County Counsel for Tuolumne County in Sonora. For the last two years I have been doing the juvenile dependency caseload.
- Rebecca Gardner: After a year-long stint at Hanson Bridgett, LLP, I joined the estate planning practice group at McDonough, Holland & Allen PC, where I have focused my practice on planning for some of the valley's highest net worth individuals while enjoying the great camaraderie of my practice group. In addition, I currently serve on the boards of directors of the Sacramento Estate Planning Council and the Sacramento State Alumni Association. In the latter capacity I participate as a speaker during commencement ceremonies at Arco Arena. Increasing my involvement in the Sacramento community, I also recently became a certified docent at Sutter's Fort, complete with pioneer dress and soon to be handmade moccasins.
- Rochelle Forbis: I am still a full-time public defender in Butte County handling the misdemeanor calendar. I also handle felony and juvenile cases privately. I moved to a new home in Sutter County about a year ago.
- Jason Gabhart: I recently became the Legislative and Regulatory Advocate, Health Policy for the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies (ACLHIC) in Sacramento. My wife Kathryn gave birth to our first child, William, on December 19, 2007.
- Patricia Heim: I had a baby girl on November 17, 2007. Danielle Elizabeth, 6lbs, 10oz and now a wiggly bundle of joy. Moved back to Sacto area from Bay Area, still with the AG's office.
- Kimberly Hood: Scott and I have expanded our family since law school. We now have three kids (2 girls and a boy) -- Harper, 4 years old, and 16 month old twins, Eli and Nola. That is obviously our biggest change. I am still at McDonough Holland & Allen (Sacramento) in the public law practice group. We also moved to Davis -- recently finished building a home downtown on the corner of 3rd & I near the train tracks and the SPCA thrift store.
- Megan Gallagher Nelson: Nothing on the professional front...but I had another kid -- a boy named Desmond Seamus, on november 2, 2007. That is baby number two for me.
- Jennifer Nichols Paredes: I am now Jennifer Paredes – my husband and I tied the knot in San Diego in January 2007. We now both practice in Northern California . He’s King Hall class of 2007 grad and started working at a private firm after passing the bar. I relocated to the Yolo County DA ’s office and prosecute elder and dependant adult abuse as well as the occasional drunken brawl involving the miscreants and delinquents who frequent King Hall (just kidding). I had the opportunity to mentor a 1L at King Hall and look forward to doing OCI interviews at King Hall this fall.
- Jaime Raba: I am still running my office in Sacramento, and am working as Of Counsel on a big trial in Ventura County in Southern California, so I'm splitting my time between the two places.
- Dan Stouder and Anna-Marie Scutetta Stouder: Dan and Anna-Marie Stouder are the proud parents of two wonderful kids, Hannah and Anthony. Dan is still enjoying handling real estate and business litigation cases at Boutin Gibson Di Giusto Hodell in Sacramento. Anna-Marie has her hands full with the kids, though for her money, it is the best job in the world.
- Josh and Heather Tiffee: Our son Isaac turned two this year and we added a fourth to our family on January 18 when our daughter Kathryn was born. Heather is still working for VLSP where she is the Assistant Program Manger. Josh is in the process of a career change as he will be starting the CHP academy next month.
Bay Area
- Josh Boxer: Josh is still practicing plaintiff's side employment law with the Alioto Law Offices in San Francisco. In his first experience as lead trial counsel, he recently won a retaliation verdict on behalf of a female fire fighter. Josh and his wife, Robin, are currently training for their first Ironman triathlon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
- Jon Braunstein: In June 2007, I joined the litigation group in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. In November 2007, I got married to Emily Foster.
- Chris Kao: I have been with Kirkland & Ellis for the last 2 years. I enjoy living and working in San Francisco.
- Eric Mirzaian: I am currently working as a felony jury trial attorney for the Alameda County Public Defender's office. I live in the Mission district in San Francisco. I love my job and don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon.
- Scott Mossman: My wife Ying and I welcomed our new son into the world on
- June 19, 2008. His name is Steven. He was 6 lb, 8 oz at birth and is healthy.
- Melanie Shender Proctor: The past two years have included some major changes. On May 12, 2007, I married Kevin Proctor in an ocean-side wedding in La Jolla. The next day, we embarked on a two-week, 4,000 mile road trip in our Mini Cooper. We visited Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Kings Canyon. Within a month of our return, we were on the road again--we moved back to the Bay Area, where I continue to work as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Kevin works for an international landscape architecture firm. We love being back in Northern California!
- Sara Romano: I'm still living in San Francisco, but I ended by four and half year stint at Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP in San Francisco. I now work for Donahue Gallagher Woods LLP, a small firm in Oakland, where I continue to practice civil litigation. (Although now instead of products liability, I practice primarily commercial, business and intellectual property litigation).
- Cancion Soto: I live in Oakland and work at the Public Defender's office in Alameda County. I'm so grateful to have found a job in law that is constantly challenging and fun with no shortage of endearing clients and hilarious co-workers. I'm the proud mom to one very sly yet adorable cat (Vladimir). I'm also the proud owner of my own equally adorable home (with a not-so-adorable mortgage). Sine the weather's been warm I've been coming up with lots of reasons to hang in my back yard, including lazing in my hammock and hosting an outdoor summer film festival! It's even better than the drive-in.
Southern California
- Amanda Abbott: My husband Dan Abbott ('01) and I welcomed a baby girl, Caroline Wylie, on October 31, 2007. She is a total joy to us and so far is getting along great with our dogs. I am still practicing health care law at Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, Inc. in San Diego.
- Megan Bergstrom: In September 2007, I started working at the Los Angeles Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. I am a staff attorney in the Enforcement Division.
- Jen Chu: After graduation, I worked at the Office of Legislative Counsel in the area of tax, air resources, and fish and game. I was married in 2005, and followed my husband to Loma Linda, CA, where he's doing a cardiology fellowship. I am currently employed at Laughlin Falbo Levy & Moresi as an associate attorney in insurance defense, and am the proud mother of a 5 month old baby boy.
- Chris Heikaus Weaver: Professionally, I've changed firms and am practicing employment law at Rutan & Tucker, a large firm in Orange County. Nothing too exciting there, to be honest. But I've seen some big changes on the personal front. A little less than 2 years ago, Kirsten and I adopted 4 children from Ethiopia, ages 2 1/2 to 4 1/2: Temesgen, Abiti, Misirach, and Muluken. 3 boys and 1 girl. Then in October last year, we added one more; this time biologically: Gideon Zenabu. Our kids named him Zenabu (which means rain in Ethiopian) when Kirsten was pregnant and that that's what we still call him. We're all doing great.
- Scot Kennedy: I am still at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in Orange County. My practice is mostly class action defense with some IP and general business litigation. I just finished a stint in the Orange County District Attorney's Trial Advocacy Partners program where I was able to take a leave of absence from my firm and work as a DA for a few months. While there I was lucky to work with Deputy DA's Jason Baez ('03) and Johanna Kim ('03) who are hard at work keeping Orange County safe. It was a nice surprise to walk into the courtroom on my first day and see familiar faces. Finally, the most important news of all - in August '07 my wife Emi and I welcomed our first child into the world. His name is Ryan Kennedy and he has pretty much taken over.
- Kelly Spencer: I married Patrick Bergman in August of 2006 and am currently working for AIG Personal Lines.
Central California
- Gage Dungy: Finally, last but not least, I am still practicing management-side public and private sector labor and employment law for government/employer clients in the Fresno office of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore. I’ve still keeping busy outside of work on the King Hall Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving as President of the Notre Dame Club of Central California, and as a member of the Rotary Club of Fresno. I was also named the University of Notre Dame Young Alumni of the Year award winner this past April.
Well, best wishes to everyone this year. Please email me and fill me in on how things are going. As well, I know that I do not have the email addresses of a number of people in our class, so if you did not receive an email from me regarding these notes, or if your email address has changed recently, drop me a line with your email address and I’ll add it to the list.
You can reach me via email at: gdungy@alumni.nd.edu
Finally, if any of you are ever in Fresno (doubtful for most, I’m sure!), be sure and look me up. My work phone is (559) 256-7800.
Take care!
GAGE DUNGY, ‘03