“Award/Recognition” Class Notes

Mike Lynn (Col ’72 L/M) of the law firm Lynn Pinker Cox and Hurst has been recognized as a distinguished alumni of SMU Dedman School of Law in private practice for 2019. He has also been recognized as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” from 2015-2018 by Benchmark Litigation. Mr. Lynn has been named one of the “Top 500 Lawyers in the US” by Lawdragon in 2015 and is consistently ranked in Chambers and Partners as a Band One commercial trial lawyer.

Mr. Lynn obtained a $146 million jury verdict for Mesa Petroleum (an entity controlled by T. Boone Pickens), making it the third consecutive year the firm has obtained one of the largest jury verdicts in the United States. In 2014, Mr. Lynn lead a team that recovered a jury verdict of over $935 million.

Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst was named a Top 10 Litigation Boutique in the nation by  Benchmark Litigation  for two years and to the 2019 Best Law Firms list by Best Lawyers. The firm is also one of five litigation firms in Texas ranked Band One by Chambers and Partners. Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst continues to be recognized by leading publications as one of the top litigation firms nationwide.

Leonard Benade (Col ’66 L/M) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for his professional achievements in biomedicine and law.

Laura Heim (Arch ’81 L/M) was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in June 2018 in recognition of her significant contributions to the field. She founded her firm, Laura Heim Architect, in 2006 and has worked on more than 30 projects in the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District, a 1920’s planned community, establishing and advancing preservation standards while inserting contemporary programs and design into the modest brick homes. Her firm is located in Sunnyside, Queens.

Steve Hayes (Col ’70) was elected as chairman of the board of trustees of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York. Prior to his election, Hayes had served on the board of trustees for 15 years. He is an entertainment lawyer in New York City, counting Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen among his clients.

Greg Lawler (Col ’76 L/M) was awarded the 2019 Wolf Prize in mathematics from the Wolf Foundation. 

Deborah Blevins (Law ’83) was appointed to the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in 2018. Prior to joining the Commission, Blevins was a partner at Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland & Hutton in Pulaski, Virginia. Blevins is the managing deputy commissioner of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Department and was hired by the Commission in 2004.

Rebecca Ogur Sinclair (Col ’91) received the Medical Society of Virginia’s Salute to Service Award for Outstanding Service with the Uninsured & Underserved in 2018. Read more about it here. She also received the Virginia Health Care Foundation’s Unsung Hero Award-Physician in 2006 and the United Way of the National Capital Area’s Humanitarian Award in 2005. 

Irv Brand (Law ’67 L/M) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who for excelling professionally for 20 years or more.

Timothy J. Grendell (Law ’83) was sworn in as a new member of the National College of Probate Judges Executive Committee. Grendell is one of only ten probate judges from across the country who currently serve on the executive committee and is the first combined probate/juvenile court judge to be elected for the position. 

Steven M. Klepper (Grad ’98, Law ’01), an appellate lawyer at the Baltimore law firm Kramon and Graham, has been awarded the 2018 Tip the Scales of Justice Award by the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Project, a nonprofit dedicated to providing justice to victims of domestic abuse. Klepper was selected for the award for his exceptional pro bono appellate advocacy on behalf of survivors of domestic violence in two cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. 

Kathleen O’Connor Edmunds (Col ’84, Med ’88 L/M) was awarded a U.S. patent for her Tampon Assembly, which is trademarked The Menstrual Shield.

Ashleigh DeFries Gallagher (Col ’07) was awarded the Maryland Daily Record VIP Award, naming her one of Maryland’s “Very Important Professionals Under 40.” Gallagher works as legislative director for state Sen. Bill Ferguson, and as a dispenser of health tips and environmental friendly advice on the online platform she founded in 2017, “Healthy Living with Ash.” She is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

John W. Via III  (Engr ’84 L/M) was named to the Alumni Circle of Distinction of Drexel University’s College of Engineering. The award recognizes distinguished alumni for their contributions to the field of engineering and support for the college and university. Via also serves as a Trustee for the UVA’s School of Engineering.

The following attorneys, all of whom practice with Williams Mullen, were named “Lawyers of the Year” in the 2019 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© in their respective fields: Charles E. “Chuck” James Jr. (Col ’96 L/M), criminal defense; Farhad Aghdami (Col ’89), trusts and estates; Robert D. “Bob” Perrow (Com ’70 L/M), financial services regulation; W.F. Drewry “Drew” Gallalee (Col ’77), product liability litigation (defense); and Howard E. Gordon (Col ’69, Law ’72 L/M), real estate.

Finn Pincus (Col ’77) was inducted into Roanoke College’s Hall of Fame in April 2018. In his 25 years as track and cross country coach, his teams won 22 conference titles, forty individual All-American honors, two individual national titles, and 10 national runner-up finishes for individuals and relays. Two athletes competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Honored 21 times as Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Pincus had eight women’s team top-25 finishes at the NCAA track championships, with a best of fifth at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in 2008.  

Eric Cunningham (Col ’06) couldn’t vote in the New York Primary election because he moved to Jersey City, but he did like all the Instagram photos of people who did vote. He is a Double-Hoo, in that he graduated from U.Va. and no one knows hoo he is.

Frederick L. Daniels Jr. (Col ’87), a DeKalb County, Georgia, representative on the MARTA board of directors, was selected as the 2018 Outstanding Public Transportation Board Member, one of the American Public Transportation Association’s highest honors.

Mary Wayne Watson (Grad ’83 L/M) will present “The Sandhills: The Comfort of Tradition and Ritual” at the Scotland County Museum in Laurinburg, North Carolina, on Sept. 24, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. Watson is a Road Scholar with the North Carolina Humanities Council. This program is free and open to the public.

Monica Dell’Osso (Grad ’89) was selected to the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America. She is a partner with the law firm Wendel Rosen Black & Dean in Oakland, California.

Sarah Beth Richardson Fahrendorf (Col ’93 L/M) served as the art grant event manager for the PTA of Hammond Elementary School in Laurel, Maryland. She was recognized by the PTA for securing a small grant from the Howard County Arts Council to bring in local mosaic artist Ali Mirsky as an artist-in-residence. The project engaged all of Hammond’s 656 students and culminated in the installation of a glittering 125 square foot mosaic of the Chesapeake Bay.  

Don Slesnick II (Col ’65 L/M) was recognized for his philanthropic efforts and dedication to the Coral Gables, Florida, community and honored with the 2018 Leadership Florida® Distinguished Member Award at the group’s annual meeting. The award is presented to a Leadership Florida member whose leadership activities and character illustrate the highest standards of the organization, and whose activities leave a lasting impact on the state of Florida. Slesnick served four terms as mayor of Coral Gables (2001-2011).

Jerry Sparkman (Arch ’01) is a partner at Sweet Sparkman Architects in Sarasota, Florida, which received the Firm of the Year award from the Florida/Caribbean chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Melody Robertson Weigel (Col ’06) was named the 2017-18 Staff Member of the Year by the William H. Bowen School of Law Student Bar Association at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She also serves as the school of law’s staff senator, and she works in the admissions office.

Kristen Smith (Col ’07) received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, which is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government specifically for K-12 mathematics and science (including computer science) teaching. Established by Congress in 1983, the President may recognize up to 108 exemplary teachers each year. Smith, who lives and teaches in New York, New York, is the daughter of Eben Smith (Grad ’02).

Monica Dell’Osso (Grad ’89) was named a 2018 Northern California Super Lawyer.

Linda Fisher Thornton (Col ’83 L/M), author of 7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership, was named to the list of top 100 leadership speakers for 2018 by Inc. Thornton is the CEO of Leading in Context.

Kevin L. Mannix (Col ’71, Law ’74 L/M) was honored by Blanchet Catholic School in Salem, Oregon, for his role in founding the middle and high schools in 1995, and for his 23 years as chairman of the board. The school has established a scholarship fund in Mannix’s honor and has named its board room after him. Mannix stepped down as chairman of the board in June 2018 but will continue as a board member and as a member of the executive committee. Mannix is also president of the new Salem Area Catholic Schools Association, which will coordinate and advocate for the Salem area’s four catholic elementary schools and Blanchet Catholic School. He continues to practice law at the Salem firm he established in 1986.

Mark Feger (Educ ’12, ’15) was honored by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association for his dissertation research on ankle injury rehabilitation. Feger is in his fourth year of medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University. Read more here.

Patrick Sweeney (Darden ’98) was part of the four-person team that won the Race Across America, a non-stop bicycle race that started in Oceanside, California, and finished in Annapolis, Maryland. This year’s course, which crossed through 13 states, climbed more than 175,000 feet and had temperatures ranging from 102 degrees to nearly freezing, was considered to be the toughest in the iconic bicycle race’s 36-year history.

John R. “Jack” Bruggeman (Col ’75 L/M) was elected to a two-year term as chairman of the board of directors of Community Residences of Chantilly, Virginia. The organization provides residential and community supports for adults with intellectual disabilities and behavioral health challenges. Bruggeman also serves on the Virginia State Board for Behavioral Health & Developmental Services.

T. Maxfield Bahner (Law ’60) received the 2018 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Sixth Circuit. He was presented with the award at the Sixth Circuit Annual Judicial Conference at the Nashville Music City Center in May 2018. Bahner is senior counsel with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where his practice concentrates on complex litigation.