Class Notes Spring 2024 | School of Law (2024)

Aaron J. Bor (LLB’61) was selected to receive a St. Thomas More Medallion from the Diocese of Fall River. The award is presented to members of the area legal community in recognition of dedicated service.

Demitrios M. Moschos (JD’65), partner and chair of Seder & Chandler’s labor & employment practice, was an inaugural Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame honoree. The award is given to extraordinary attorneys with over 30 years of experience in the legal profession who have made notable contributions to the legal field.

Alan M. Parness (JD’70) retired in April 2013 from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in New York City after 40 years as an associate and counsel.

Willis F. Flower (JD’71) joined Fox Rothschild in the firm’s Atlantic City office as counsel in the litigation department.

Jery Edward Barton (JD’72) transitioned from legal practice to grant writing focused on obtaining funds for energy efficiency improvements for residences in low-income communities. He is also assisting with cybersecurity grants for nonprofits.

Stephen Lewinstein (LLM’73) made the largest gift in history to Dartmouth Athletics.

Harvey M. Kaplan (JD’74) has been volunteering with the Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) Bob Sable Immigration Unit and the Harvard Immigration Clinic. He has used his considerable knowledge of both the development and substance of US immigration laws to assist GBLS in representing individuals facing removal and in presenting numerous cases to the First Circuit. In September 2023, GBLS presented him with the Southgate Award for outstanding volunteer service.

Gordon B. Russell (JD’74), a founding director of Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC, was recognized in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers in America in the areas of corporate law and real estate law.

Jeffrey D. Woolf (JD’74) was honored with the Guardians of Israel Award from the Jewish National Fund in June 2023.

Hon. Stephen A. Marcus (JD’75) retired from the Los Angeles Superior Court after 35 years as a judicial officer. He was the first drug court judge in Southern California (1993) and completed more than 350 felony jury trials, including several death penalty cases. Judge Marcus was also an adjunct professor at several law schools and universities while serving on the bench. He played a major role in planning and teaching judicial education programs for the Los Angeles Superior Court and the statewide judicial research center. He now looks forward to working as an assigned judge, traveling, and studying to be a contestant on Jeopardy!

James Foster (JD’76) was named among the Top 50 Healthcare Technology CEOs of 2023 by Healthcare Technology Report.

Hugh H. Mo (JD’76) is principal and owner of the Law Firm of Hugh H. Mo PC, which was honored with the title of 2023 APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Mo and the firm represent individuals and corporations in criminal and complex civil litigation matters and also serve as US counsel for many international entrepreneurs, corporate entities, and Chinese governmental entities.

Hon. Gary Ellis Hicks (JD’78) retired from his role as senior associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court in November 2023 after more than 20 years on the bench. Justice Hicks says he plans to increase his activity with St. Paul’s Advanced Studies Program and to continue with the American Inns of Court, where he has served as a past member of the board of trustees. He would also like to spend more time with his grandkids.

Bruce T. Block (JD’79) was named in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America.

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Gene Barton (JD’82), of Goulston & Storrs, was named to Lawdragon’s 2024 list of 500 Leading Dealmakers in America. Barton is a well-known dealmaker with over 30 years of experience leading middle market M&A transactions for US and international clients in a wide spectrum of industries, including healthcare. In the past five years alone, he was lead counsel on more than $3 billion in M&A transactions. His clients include private and public company sellers, PE firms, strategic acquirers, entrepreneurs, and a broad range of technology companies.

Laurie Ruckel (JD’82) was named among the Top 50 Attorneys of New Jersey for 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Steven Bauer (JD’83) retired from the full-time practice of law, but as his wife repeatedly tells him, retirement seems to be merely a legal phrase with no impact on his schedule. He is now a professional mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, the largest private alternative dispute resolution provider in the US. He focuses on technology and life sciences–based disputes, with a national and international practice, and spends as much time on the road as he ever did. (He just spent three days mediating a case in Paris!) He finds it much more satisfying settling cases than filing them.

Ted A. Berkowitz (JD’83) has been recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas of bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law; and litigation—bankruptcy.

Geoffrey B. Gompers (JD’83) was named among the best truck accident lawyers in Philadelphia by Forbes Advisor.

Mark Morris (JD’83) was named among the Top 50 Law Firm Executives of 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Stephen Rider (JD’83) was recognized in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers in America and Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch.”

Alan Rutkin (JD’83), a partner at Rivkin Radler, edited the third edition of the Reference Handbook on the Commercial Liability Policy, published by the American Bar Association. He was also named to the 2023 New York Metro Super Lawyers list.

Fern Finkel (JD’84) was named chair of the New York State Bar Association’s elder law and special needs section.

Mark Leeds (JD’84) was named among the Top 50 Attorneys of New York for 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Michael N. Ungar (JD’84) has been recognized with the Living Legacy Award from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA). In conjunction with CMBA’s 150th anniversary celebration, the Living Legacy Award honors lawyers who have made significant contributions to the legal, business, and civic arenas in Greater Cleveland. He was also named the Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year” for 2024.

Bill Bogdan (JD’86) was named a Litigation Trailblazer by the 2023 National Law Journal for his victory in Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks before the Supreme Court of California that invalidated the take-home COVID liability theory against employers.

Joe Conroy (JD’86) was named among the Top 50 Law Firm Executives of 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Steven A. Feldman (JD’86), a partner at Feldman and Feldman Attorneys at Law in New York, was named a Super Lawyer by his peers. He has won over 200 civil and criminal appeals in state and federal court, including in the US Supreme Court. His partner (and wife), Arza Rayches Feldman (JD’85), the smarter of the two, has won even more trials and appeals.

Martin J. McLaughlin (JD’87) was named among the 2024 Best Lawyers in America.

Ryan Reetz (JD’87), managing partner in the Miami office of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, has been named among the Top 50 Attorneys in Miami for 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Daniel Avery (JD’88), of Goulston & Storrs, was named to Lawdragon’s 2024 list of 500 Leading Dealmakers in America. Avery is a senior corporate and M&A attorney who has overseen the acquisition or disposition of hundreds of middle market companies in the US and around the world. He represents both PE and strategic buyers and sellers across a variety of industries.

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William J. Delaney (LLM’91) was recognized as a 2023 Super Lawyer.

Daniel S. Field (JD’91), of Morgan, Brown & Joy, was recognized by Best Lawyers 2024 in the area of employment law.

Mark W. Manning (JD’91), a partner in the corporate group at Burns & Levinson, was selected for inclusion in the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America list. Manning concentrates his practice on middle market mergers and acquisitions and growth capital. He facilitates M&A deals across a wide variety of industry sectors for buyers and sellers, in addition to negotiating growth capital financings on behalf of emerging business and capital sources.

Alan Chang (JD’92) was named among the Top 50 Attorneys of New York for 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Elizabeth L.B. Greene (JD’92) was selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2024 Best Lawyers in America in the field of medical malpractice—defendants. She has been recognized in Best Lawyers since 2013. Greene is a partner in Mirick O’Connell’s litigation group and a member of the firm’s health law group. She serves as a counsel for physicians, medical groups, hospitals, and allied healthcare professionals, defending them in medical malpractice cases and representing them before their professional licensure boards.

Dennis Roossien (JD’92), a shareholder in Munsch Hardt’s Dallas office, has been named to the 2024 Best Lawyers in America list in the commercial litigation category. Roossien has broad litigation experience in state and federal courts, arbitration proceedings, and bankruptcy-related matters. He has subject matter expertise in insurance coverage, personal injury defense, telecommunications, securities fraud, commercial disputes, oil and gas, real estate, fair housing, healthcare, code enforcement, fiduciary malpractice, receiverships, bankruptcy, and cross-border asset recovery. At present, his primary practice focus is on complex parallel civil and criminal proceedings arising from the investigative and enforcement efforts of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies. In most cases, his work has aligned with the government, as he has served as and represented court-appointed fiduciaries, victim groups, and civil plaintiffs. He has also handled white-collar criminal defense matters, assisted with healthcare audits, responded to government investigations, and defended parties in civil proceedings having the potential for parallel criminal proceedings.

Daniel Dornfeld (JD’93) was selected to the 2023 New York Metro Super Lawyers list in the area of real estate law.

Eric Kaplan (JD’93) practiced structured finance law for 5 years and then spent 17 years on the banking side. In 2017, following almost a decade of post-crisis, policy-focused work (in addition to his “day job”), he joined the nonprofit, nonpartisan Milken Institute to run the housing finance program within the Center for Financial Markets. He shifted to a senior advisor role in 2021 and continues to serve in that capacity. In 2022, he joined the nonprofit Operation HOPE as executive vice president and president of the Financial Literacy for All initiative. Their mission is to make financial literacy a fundamental part of US culture. He’s also served on industry trade group and nonprofit boards and is currently a board member of Kroll Bond Rating Agency. He also served a two-year appointed term (2019–21) on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Consumer Advisory Board and served as board chair from 2020 to 2021. Quite an interesting career journey since graduating from BU Law!

Frank MacDonald (JD’93) sends a happy 30th to all his classmates. He remains in the most interesting job he has ever had—chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. If anyone ever finds themselves in Essex Superior Court, stop by and say hi!

Joanne Mary Stella (JD’93), continuing the tradition she started in law school with the Public Interest Project, has dedicated her pro bono work to helping victims of domestic violence. In 2023, she received an award for distinguished pro bono service at the New Hampshire Bar Association’s annual meeting in recognition of her 20 years of service to over 70 clients, mostly women seeking protection from abusive relationships. Other than raising two awesome children, now adults, it is the thing of which she is most proud.

Wendy Whitman (JD’93) turned to writing after working as a journalist for 20 years at Court TV & on the Nancy Grace show at HLN. Her debut crime thriller, Premonition, came out in 2021 and the sequel, Retribution, was released in July 2023. She hopes everyone will check out her books!

James Heimbach (JD’94) was named vice president, external and corporate relations, of the World Bank.

Thomas L’Helias (JD’94) joined Loeb & Loeb as a partner in the capital markets and corporate department.

Jacquelyn Fahey Sandell (JD’95) joined Voyager Therapeutics as chief legal officer.

Gabrielle J. Sellei (JD’95) has been a solo practitioner since 2016 and more recently became an empty nester. She now has the time and energy to pursue some of her other interests, including serving on the boards of several arts organizations in her adopted city of Philadelphia. Life is good!

Giovanni D. Cicione (JD’96), a business attorney with over 25 years of corporate and legal management experience, was inducted into the Cranston Hall of Fame in Cranston, Rhode Island. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Cicione has served numerous community organizations, including as senior policy and legal advisor to the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, advocate and deputy grand knight to Bishop Hickey Council of Knights of Columbus, and trustee to the Rhode Island Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Scott Le Bouef (JD’98), an energy and commodity transactional lawyer, joined Bracewell as partner.

Erica McGregor (JD’98) was named to the 2024 Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year” awards list. Only one lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. McGregor has been named the 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” in the Cleveland market in the area of trusts and estates.

Celisa Morin (JD’99) joined Reed Smith LLP as counsel.

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Panda L. Kroll (JD’00) was elected to serve as a trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation.

Jeffrey S. Siegel (JD’00) was recognized by Best Lawyers in America 2024 in the areas of employment law—management, labor law—management, and litigation—labor and employment.

Alexander Lycoyannis (JD’01) recently joined Holland & Knight’s New York office as a partner in the real estate capital markets group, where he represents owners, developers, and landlords in all phases of litigation and appellate practice. He resides in Ridgefield, Connecticut, with his wife, Kim, and two teenage sons, and he’d love to hear from old classmates at alexander.lycoyannis@hklaw.com.

Jennifer L. McManus (JD’01) became the 71st president of the Michigan Association for Justice.

Chad J. Porter (JD’01) has been selected for inclusion in the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America. Porter is vice-chair of the Burns & Levinson Finance Group, where he handles a wide range of mergers and acquisitions, commercial financing arrangements, and private equity and investment transactions.

Pete Van Hemel (JD’01) joined the Bernstein Shur board of directors.

Lars Taavola (JD’02) was named among the Top 50 Attorneys of New Jersey for 2023 by Attorney Intel.

Andrew B. Barras (JD’03) joined Keating Muething & Klekamp as a partner in the firm’s litigation group, where he will focus on complex commercial litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and white-collar criminal defense.

Hon. Maria Cubillos Reed (JD’03) became the first Hispanic immigrant to serve as a Monroe County Family Court Justice.

Jordan Rosenfeld (JD’04) was appointed chief counsel, legal & compliance, strategy & growth initiatives at Marsh McLennan.

Scott Steinbrecher (JD’05) was appointed deputy attorney general, natural resources and environmental section, for the state of Colorado. He oversees a team of 70 attorneys and staff who represent agencies within the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Public Health & Environment.

James La Rocca (JD’07) was promoted to counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

Stacey Pietrowicz (JD’08) was named among the best personal injury lawyers in Boston by Forbes Advisor.

Melissa A. Sullivan (JD’09) was promoted to publisher of the Neshaminy Journal.

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Adam Veness (JD’10) joined Dianthus Therapeutics as general counsel.

Daniel T. Flaherty (JD’11) was honored as the 2023 Rising Star by the Wisconsin District Attorneys’ Association.

Elizabeth L. Mo (JD’11) is counsel at the Law Firm of Hugh H. Mo, which was honored with the title of 2023 APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. The firm represents individuals and corporations in criminal and complex civil litigation matters and also serves as US counsel for many international entrepreneurs, corporate entities, and Chinese governmental entities.

Alfred Fargione (LLM’12) was named among the Top Georgia Criminal Attorneys by Georgia Law News.

Robert Killip (JD’12) was named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X—The Next Generation list. The inaugural list highlights those who will define where the legal profession of our country goes.

Laura Kirshenbaum (JD’12) was promoted to partner at Rose Law Partners LLP.

David Linhart (JD’12) was named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X—The Next Generation list. The inaugural list highlights those who will define where the legal profession of our country goes.

Casey Milianta (JD’12) was named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X—The Next Generation list. The inaugural list highlights those who will define where the legal profession of our country goes.

Koh Ueda (LLM’12) joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as counsel.

Shudan Zhou (JD’12) was named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X—The Next Generation list. The inaugural list highlights those who will define where the legal profession of our country goes.

Nina Dow (LLM’13) joined Bowditch & Dewey.

Douglas Metcalf (JD’13) joined Holland & Hart as an associate.

Cristina I. Ramirez (JD’13) recently started a new position at the University of Texas School of Law’s Rapoport Center. She is the criminal defense lead for the newly formed Sissy Farenthold Reproductive Justice Defense Project. Through her role at the project, Ramirez continues to fight to safeguard the rights of her fellow Texans.

John P. Rearick (JD’13) joined Dechert LLP as a partner in the intellectual property practice in the Boston office.

Spencer Holland (JD’14) was included in the 2024 Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” list for environmental law, land use and zoning law, municipal law, and real estate law. This is his second year listed. Holland is an associate in Mirick O’Connell’s land use and environmental law group as well as their public and municipal law group. His practice is focused on representing clients buying, selling, financing, and leasing commercial real estate. He also has experience advising clients on a broad range of land-use matters, including zoning, permitting, and title issues.

Nima Movahedi (JD’14) has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in Costa Mesa, California. A member of the emerging companies & growth practice and corporate department, he advises private and public companies, venture capital and private equity firms, and investment banks on M&A, investments, joint ventures, and other complex corporate transactions, particularly in the technology and life sciences sectors.

Eric Swartz (JD’14) joined Sterlington as partner and head of its Web3 practice.

Rebecca Johnson (JD’15) has been recognized by Super Lawyers as an Upstate New York Rising Star.

Julie Mitarotondo (JD’16) joined Greenberg Traurig as an associate.

Rachael Kuilema Klein (LLM’17) joined Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC’s trusts & estates practice group.

Mandy Wang (JD’18) joined the New Jersey office of the attorney general as a deputy attorney general in the data privacy and cybersecurity section.

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Brad Baranowski (JD’20) received the Roger T. Beitler Distinguished
Former Student Award at the Kent State Ashtabula Community Reception.

Tracy L. Vrablik (JD’21) moved to Bellingham, Washington, and continues to work remotely at Foley Hoag.

Claire E. Wells (JD’21) joined Hodgson Russ, handling business litigation, education, and healthcare matters.