“Job” Class Notes

Stephen Smithson (Engr ’90, ’96 L/M) has become vice president, general counsel and board secretary for TechLaw Holdings in Chantilly, Virginia. Most recently, Stephen held private practice and in-house positions in Utah, and he is thrilled to be back in Virginia. Whenever possible, he spends time hiking, camping, boating, fishing and spending time with his wife, four young kids (future Hoos!?) and two dogs. He’s looking forward to catching up with old friends in D.C. and at UVA football and basketball games.

Rob Begland (Col ’89, Law ’00 L/M) has joined the litigation and dispute resolution practice team at Cox, Castle & Nicholson, a full-service law firm focused on real estate in the United States. Mr. Begland, who brings nearly 20 years of commercial litigation experience, joins as a litigation partner. He represents companies in disputes related to real property, contracts, corporate governance, intellectual property, and insurance. Mr. Begland is based in Los Angeles.

Ryan McEnroe (Arch ’09) has been promoted to associate at the Washington, D.C., office of Quinn Evans Architects, an award-winning architectural and planning practice. A member of the AIA and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Mr. McEnroe holds a master of architecture (2009) and a master of landscape architecture (2009) from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University (2005). His projects include design of the new bird house at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park and a study for the sanctuary at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.

Afi Wiggins (Educ ’14) was recently hired as director of program evaluation and research at the University of Texas Charles A. Dana Center. The UT Dana Center provides teachers and leaders in schools, colleges and universities with training, resources and other products and services in K-16 science and mathematics education for underrepresented and other student populations across the US and internationally. See the feature on the UT Dana Center website for more information.

Kristin Decker Ogburn (Col ’89 L/M), a litigation lawyer for Horack Talley in Charlotte, North Carolina, began her term as the chair of the bankruptcy section of the North Carolina Bar Association on July 1, 2017. The bankruptcy section promotes networking and education for practitioners in all areas of bankruptcy practice and among members who practice in the three federal bankruptcy districts. Ms. Ogburn focuses her practice in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and commercial real estate. She represents secured and unsecured creditors in consumer and business bankruptcy cases throughout North Carolina and South Carolina.

Luis G. Pedraja (Grad ’94) was appointed president of Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts.

David Maxwell (Engr ’94) has been promoted to senior vice president at Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm. In this position, Maxwell is responsible for leading the civil engineering operations of the firm’s southern Virginia and North Carolina offices. In this role, he works closely with Dewberry’s local leadership to set operational and growth strategies in the Southeast. He continues to serve as the manager of the firm’s Richmond and Virginia Beach offices. With more than 23 years of experience, Mr. Maxwell’s background includes the management of full-service term contracts and large multidisciplinary teams to bring unique engineering solutions to his clients. He is a registered professional engineer and a LEED Accredited Professional BD +C.

Brian J. Dunkel (Col ’03 L/M) has joined Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry as an Atlanta-based associate in the firm’s tax controversy and litigation practice. Mr. Dunkel brings nine years of tax experience, of which more than five were spent working in-house at national accounting firms. Mr. Dunkel focuses his practice on international tax controversy and litigation, representing individual and corporate taxpayers in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service during all phases of the tax controversy and litigation process. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, his law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law and his master’s in taxation from Georgetown University School of Law.

Jack Murray (Col ’16, Com ’17) has joined Skyway Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank in Tampa, Florida, as an investment associate.  

Lincoln Bisbee (Law ’07) has been promoted to partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in the labor and employment practice. Effective October 1, 2017, Mr. Bisbee, who resides in Washington D.C., will join 31 newly elected partners from 12 offices and 10 practices. Lincoln represents employers in a broad array of employment litigation matters, including class actions and individual-plaintiff cases involving wage and hour, discrimination, and employment tort claims in federal and state courts and arbitration proceedings.

Robert E. Nalls (Arch ’77), of Nalls Architecture, Inc., has been elected Chair of the Board for the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP). Mr. Nalls has been involved with SCUP for 22 years, most recently as an At-Large Director. The nonprofit association provides resources on best planning practices and more for senior higher education administrators who are responsible for the integration of planning on their campuses. Mr. Nalls’ firm specializes in higher education clients with focused expertise in science and healthcare projects promoting sustainability. The firm is located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.

Joseph Minock (Col ’06) of Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial was promoted to member. Mr. Minock’s practice centers on civil litigation with an emphasis in construction litigation and class action litigation.  He has represented owners, sureties, architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors in numerous complex design and construction cases.  He is also experienced in foodborne illness cases and is currently serving as lead counsel for a national restaurant franchise in connection with a multi-state Hepatitis A outbreak.  Mr. Minock received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law.  He received the Dean’s Award for legal writing, research and advocacy program, and served as Executive Managing Editor for the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal.

Derek Knerr (Col ’01) has joined eBay Inc. as senior legal counsel at its headquarters in San Jose, California.  In his new role, he advises the company (which includes the eBay Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms) on a variety of commercial and intellectual property matters.

Bouhan Falligant LLP announced today that John Northup (Col ’96 L/M) has become an attorney with the firm. Northup’s practice will focus on commercial real estate, banking, corporate and litigation.

Prior to joining Bouhan Falligant, Northup worked as an attorney at Morris, Manning and Martin, LLP. He has extensive experience handling a wide range of matters for commercial banks and non-depository lenders, and also represents real estate developers in all aspects of their practice, including acquisition and development, zoning and land use, economic development, and commercial litigation. Prior to entering into private law practice, he was a vice president of a financial services-focused investment bank in Tampa, Fla., where he specialized in capital offerings and mergers and acquisitions for community banks and thrifts.

Northup earned his law degree and an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia. Admitted to practice law in both Georgia and South Carolina, he is a founding member of the Metropolitan Savannah Rotary, a board member and past president of the University of Virginia Club of Savannah, and a board member of the Alumni Board of Savannah Country Day School.

Michael D. Reed (Grad ’79) Joins Mette, Evans & Woodside as Shareholder

The law firm of Mette, Evans & Woodside is pleased to announce that Attorney Michael D. Reed has joined the practice. Mr. Reed has been practicing in the fields of construction law and litigation, as well as general commercial litigation and administrative and procurement law, for thirty-six years. He also has extensive experience in mediation and arbitration, both as an advocate and as a neutral. He is certified as a mediator in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and has also completed the course work for mediator certification in the State Supreme Court of Virginia.

Cathryn Le Regulski (Col ’96) has been promoted to partner in law firm DLA Piper’s Northern Virginia office, effective as of January 1, 2017.

Cathryn is a member of DLA Piper’s Employment practice, where she counsels management on employment law compliance issues, hiring and terminating employees, effective management of difficult employees, proprietary information and trade secret protection, workplace investigations, and developing and implementing personnel practices.

The firm’s complete press release on the 46 lawyers promoted to partnership for 2017 is available here for reference.

Dawn Ursula (Col ’90) will perform in the 2017–18 season at the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. She has been cast in the roles of Esther in Intimate Apparel and Marianne Angelle in The Revolutionists. Ms. Ursula is an actress in the Washington, D.C. area. In 2016, she received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Queens Girl in the World.

Neale Johnson (Law ’98) has joined the legal project management team of the law firm Smith Moore Leatherwood. He works in the firm’s Greensboro, North Carolina office, where he leads the firm’s construction practice.

Wyatt A. Deal (Col ’03) has been promoted to partner at the law firm Hunton & Williams. He works in the firm’s Richmond, Virginia office, where he focuses his practice on private equity and venture capital.

Raymond T. Crosier (Col ’77 L/M) has been appointed president and COO of financial services at Helios and Matheson Analytics, an information technology company that uses predictive analytics and data visualization. Mr. Crosier previously served as president and COO of Online Resources Corp., a financial technology provider.

Edward A. Mullen (Col ’99, Law ’08 L/M) was promoted to managing partner of the law firm Reed Smith’s Richmond, Virginia office. He joined the firm in 2008 and is a partner in the firm’s global regulatory enforcement group, with a practice focused on administrative, regulatory and government affairs law in Virginia. Mr. Mullen is also an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he teaches a course on legislative drafting and statutory interpretation.

After nearly 8 years as the Property Manager of Hillandale HOA in Georgetown, Hernando became the General Manager of the Carlyle Towers Condominium in Old Town Alexandria (a set of three high-rise buildings with recreational amenities and 24 staff members).  In 2010, Hernando became a member of the Washington DC chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), joined the Education and Legislative Action committees and earned three certifications—the most prominent being the Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) which required a multi-day on-site visit to another community and a rigorous masters-level evaluation of best-practices and recommendations for that community.  (Less than 2,450 PCAMs exist in the U.S.)  Hernando resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Marcela.

CHRISTUS Health is pleased to announce that Traci Thompson, J.D., has joined CHRISTUS Health’s Advocacy and Public Policy team.  Traci began her new role on April 3, 2017, and will be headquartered in Baton Rouge where, among other things, she will work to advance CHRISTUS Health’s Louisiana and federal policy and advocacy priorities.

“I am confident Traci will help us immensely in successfully navigating the policy changes ahead so that we can continue to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ,” said Gabriela Saenz, Vice President, Advocacy and Public Policy.  “Traci is in the unique position to work closely with our community leaders on CHRISTUS priorities such as school-based health centers, the continued protection of vulnerable populations, conscience protections and to eliminate barriers and increase transparency for our patients and medical providers.”

Thompson’s background includes advising clients in the health care industry on existing and potential regulatory and policy-driven initiatives.  Prior to joining CHRISTUS Health, Traci’s extensive legal background includes serving as Counsel to Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P. and as a Partner to Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P.  During her time in private practice, she focused specifically on promoting telehealth education and access in Louisiana and actively works on the Louisiana Task Force on Telehealth Access to assist with the state’s telehealth policies and regulations. 

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1999, Thompson worked as an Associate Director with the Advisory Board Company located out of Washington, D.C., furthering her health care expertise. Thompson has also written and lectured on a variety of health care legal topics throughout her career on a local and national level.

She earned her J.D. from Louisiana State University and has been named a “Rising Star” in health care by Louisiana Super Lawyers for the past several years and has been awarded a Preeminent AV Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.  She has served her community through board service and philanthropic  involvement with various organizations including the Women’s Hospital Foundation, Emerge Center, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations, American Health Lawyers Association, Louisiana Society of Hospital Attorneys, and the Healthcare Financial Management Association, among others.

“I am thrilled to take on this new role and be part of a health care organization committed to the many communities we serve in Northern, Central and Southwestern Louisiana,” explained Thompson.  “As a member of the CHRISTUS team, I have the opportunity to help CHRISTUS navigate through the evolving health care issues affecting our communities and to communicate our knowledge and understanding of important policy and advocacy initiatives with our Associates, physicians, state leaders and other influencers.”  

 “We are excited to have a constant and reliable physical presence in Louisiana to continue our advocacy efforts,” said Saenz. “We know our leaders will depend on Thompson for guidance as we work together with our lawmakers to build healthier communities.”