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USCLAW
THE LAW SCHOO L
> In this issue
Media ownership
World War II at USC
Class notes
s p r i n g 2003
> Who owns your n e w s ?

USCLAW
Editor Melinda Myers Va u g h n
A s s i s tant Editor Phat X. Chiem
Administrative Assistant Christi Va r g a s
Design & Creative Direction Warren Group, Los An g e l e s
Cover Illustration Lou Be a ch
Principal photography Felipe Dupouy
Editorial Intern Elina Ag n o l i
USC Law is published in June, October and February by
U SC Law School. For publication information or to submit
letters to the editor, contact Melinda M. Vaughn,
U SC Law School, Los Angeles, California 90 089 - 0 071.
E-mail: magazine@l a w.usc.edu; fax: (213) 740 - 5 476
s p r i ngeternal
©2003 The Law School, University of Southern California
Law Professor and USC Vice President Emeritus Carl M. Franklin’s dedication to the University of
Southern California is surpassed only by his devotion to his late wife, Carolyn Craig Franklin. In
her honor, Franklin recently funded construction of a campus garden, the Liberty Garden Courtyard
and Fountain, on the north side of historic Doheny Library. The Franklins also created an endowment
to provide funding in perpetuity for beautification of the university’s campus. Carolyn, a dedicated
volunteer at USC throughout her life, was president of Faculty Wives and Town and Gown, where
she raised funds for student scholarships. Her motto, says her husband, was “ Take time to smell
the flowers.” Thanks to the Franklins’ generosity, the whole USC community can do just that.
USC Law School: w w w. l a w. u s c . e d •uAdmissions: w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a d m i s s i o • Alumni: n s w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a l u m n i
USCLAW
> table of contents
f e a t u r e s
s p r i n g 2003
18 War stories World War II and how it changed USC Law School
By John G. “Tom” To m l i n s o n
12 The students’ voice Dean of Students Lisa Mead is a USC law student’s
best friend and biggest advocate
By Phat X. Chiem
16 Who owns your news? The USC Center for Communication Law and Policy
e xamines federal regulation of media ownership
By Melinda Myers Va u g h n
d e p a r t m e n t s
p r o f i l e s
2 dean’s message
3 b r i e f s
A newly endowed chair; the Class of 2005;
continuing legal education; and more
20 faculty news
Elyn Saks’ new book challenges stereotypes
of the mentally ill; Erwin Chemerinsky takes
three-strikes to the Supreme Court
25 alumni news
Reunion photos, class notes, obituaries
48 closer
A n n i ka Martin ’04 on the life of a USC law student
14 student voices
Daniel Ahn ’04, Joel Allan ’03, David Booher ’04 ,
Janna Jenkins ’03, Alan Kang ’04, Karen Nutter ’04
32 alumni profiles
O’Malley Miller ’76, Elizabeth Gregory ’93

dean’s message
A s
this magazine goes to press, USC is
preparing to host a national forum on the
Federal Communications Commission’s re v i ew
of regulations governing media ow n e r s h i p. T h e
p rocess has far-reaching implications for the
e n t e rtainment and news industries — as well as
for the average person who watches TV new s
or reads a new s p a p e r. Gi ven the weight of the
issues invo l ved and their impact on the general
public, you won’t be surprised to read
that USC’s Center for Communication Law
and Policy (CCLP) is at the forefront of
the discussion.
Sp o n s o red jointly by the USC Law School
and the USC Annenberg School for
Communication, CCLP examines the intersections
of law, government policy, the media
and communication technologies and how
those intersections affect our daily lives. To do
so, CCLP studies these issues at a fundamental
and structural level — and avoids getting swe p t
along by the buzzwords and surface incantations
of interest groups.
Consider the recent failed merger of
Hughes/EchoStar, a.k.a. DirecTV and Dish
Ne t w o rk. Di recTV and Dish Ne t w o rk are the
two surviving satellite delivery systems for
multichannel video. In most cities, they
compete with each other as well as with a local
cable television system, meaning most people
2 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
> James Rogers and David Wa l s h
> Read more up-to-date USC Law School news online at www. l a w. u s c . e d u / n e w s <
— P. C .
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
3

i e f s
N e w recruiting programs draw increasingly talented students to USC
This year’s first-year class of students is the most aca d e m i cally talented ever
to be admitted at USC Law School. A great achievement, to be sure — but
even more impressive when you know that USC made that same state-
ment last year and the year before .
Indeed, each year seems to bring a smarter, more diverse group of
students to USC. Thanks to creative new admissions programs ta rgeting the
nation's top students, USC is increasingly the law school of first choice for
students whose lists of options include schools such as Columbia,
Northwestern, Duke and Michigan.
And students are applying to USC in re c o rd numbers. Applications for a
seat in the Law School’s 2002 entering class increased by 23 percent — to
m o re than 5,700 — and the students who applied to USC were among the
highest caliber ever. So far, applications for fall 2003 have topped 7,000.
The benefits of an improving student body are numerous, notes
Associate Dean Scott Altman. “The increasing quality of the school’s student
body helps the Law School pursue all its goals,” he says. “Every student bene-
fits by interacting with diverse and capable classmates. Excellent students
help the school to attract and re tain top faculty. When these students grad-
uate and excel in practice, they enhance our re p u ta t i o n ” .
The 208 students who enrolled at USC last fall had a re c o rd-high median
LS AT score of 165 (the 93rd percentile) and a median undergraduate G.P. A .
of 3.55. Even more significant, says Dean of Admissions William J. Hoye, is
that a re c o rd number of enrolled students had top LS AT scores a n d g r a d u-
ated at the top of their undergraduate class. Additionally, more students ca m e
to USC with graduate degrees or significant work histories in a range of
fields, bringing experiences and ideas that further enrich USC’s intellectual
life. And the ethnic, socioeconomic and racial diversity of USC’s student bo d y
A m e m o r a b l eface i na d m i s s i o n s
4 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
remains unparalleled among other top law schools — 45 percent of incoming
students last fall characterized themselves as ethnic minorities.
Hoye says numerous factors are contributing to the school’s ability to
attract increasingly stellar students. Dean Matthew L. Spitzer is spearheading
an aggressive fund-raising campaign to create new scholarships, which are
c r i t i cal to the school’s ability to recruit top applicants and bring the cost of
a USC legal education in line with that of other schools. The dean’s new
Summer Fellows program — which guarantees selected students summer
positions with top national law firms and businesses during the summer after
their first year of law school — has been particularly attractive to high-ca l i b e r
a p p l i cants. And personal tours, interviews and social events on campus have
helped show off the vitality of USC’s campus and the city’s cultural and enter-
tainment opportunities.
A p p l i cants also are consistently impressed with the professionalism of
the Law School’s admissions process, which is aggressive in letting appli-
cants know that USC wants them. Many receive personal letters from faculty,
campus tours often include an intimate lunch with a pro f e s s o r, and curre n t
students and alumni participate in recruiting efforts to give applicants an
“insider’s” view of the USC experience. Even as applications to the sch o o l
skyrocket, the admissions office ensures that each prospective student
receives star tre a t m e n t .
“ This is a small school that offers students an extraordinary intellectual
e n v i ro n m e n ” t , Hoye says. “Students interact closely with faculty and partici-
pate in the governance of the school. It’s one of our biggest strengths, that
connection between professors and students. We work hard to make the
admissions process reflect the positive experience students will have when
they attend USC.” — M.V.
Jannell Lundy d o e s n’t have a hard time selling USC Law School to the thousands of pro s p e ct
i ve students she meets each ye a r. USC’s biggest selling points, she says, are the same re a s o n s
she came here .
“This school has the best of both worlds,” she says. “It’s a small school within a major
re s e a rch unive r s i t y. You have access to so many re s o u rces, yet you still get the personal attention
and friendly atmosphere of a small school.”
When she joined the Law School as director of admissions in 2001, Lundy was already we l l -
versed in the law school admissions process. She worked for eight years at So u t h western Law
School in admissions and financial aid, as well as in the dean’s office and alumni relations. A
New Yo rk native and self-proclaimed “big-city girl,” Lundy holds a bachelor’s degree in
economics from Loyola Ma rymount Un i versity and a master’s degree in higher education
and organizational change from UCLA. Fo rt u n a t e l y, travel is among her hobbies: At USC, she
spends several months each fall on the road to re c ruit students.
The first person in her family to graduate from college, Lundy has a passion for education
that is matched only by her commitment to her work — qualities that have made her
an indispensable part of the USC admissions team, says Dean of Admissions William J. Hoye .
“ Jannell has a ve ry sophisticated understanding of what drives students in the admissions
p rocess,” he says. “Sh e’s engaging, charismatic, smart, crafty and strategic. Sh e’s someone
students remember talking to.” — M.V.
> Read more up-to-date USC Law School news online at www. l a w. u s c . e d u / n e w s <
from the arch i v e s
It’s likely that James B. Scott, founding dean of the
Los Angeles College of Law, USC Law Sch o o l ’ s
p re d e c e s s o r, looked a lot better in person. At least
Associate Dean Tom Tomlinson hopes so. He
found this battered painting during a recent sca v-
enge through the Law School’s basement. It’s one
of few reminders of Scott’s tenure, which lasted
f rom 1897 to 1899 and helped pave the way for
the fledgling college to join USC in 1900. “He’s
well damaged,” Tomlinson says of the painting. “He
didn’t float in a 1959-ish flood in our old building,
and his forehead has a hole right through it. But
he’s re s t o r a b l e .” Restorable for about $12,000,
a c c o rding to estimates. Tomlinson hopes to find
a generous donor with a fondness for art and Law
S chool history to sponsor the restoration. “A
similar portrait hung in Harvard Law School, where
Scott studied law. Of course,” Tomlinson says, “I’d
like to make sure ours looks better than theirs.”
Save the date!
The USC Institute for Corporate Counsel
will be held Th u r s d a y, M a r ch 20, and F r i d a y,
M a r ch 21, at the Los Angeles Marriott in
downtown Los Angeles.
The first USC Law School Institute – Lo s
Angeles County Bar Association Benjamin S.
C r o cker Symposium on Real Estate Law
and Business will be held Tu e s d a y, May 6,
at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Lo s
A n g e l e s .
For more information on these and other
continuing legal education opportunities,
c o n t a c t :
(213) 740 - 2 58 2
or c l e @ l a w. u s c . e d u
USC students to clerk in top corporate law court
USC may be working its way toward a monopoly on clerkships in the Delaware Chancery Court.
USC Law School has placed four students in clerkships with the prestigious corporate law court,
one of the nation’s few courts of equity. In a court with just five chancellors, USC’s four students
are giving the Law School an especially strong presence. Terri Lilley ’02 and Jackie Bird ’01
began their clerkships in August 2002; Paul Kroeger ’03 and Candice Choh ’02 will begin clerk-
ships this fall. In addition, Andrew Farthing ’04 will intern with the court this summer.
“USC has been re p resented very favorably here through Terri and Jackie, who are both a gre a t
p l e a s u re to work with,” says Chancellor William B. Chandler III. Chandler explained that the court
often selects clerks based on recommendations from professors with well-known expertise in
corporate law, and that Ehud Kamar, assistant professor of law at USC, has provided particularly
stellar recommendations. “We pick up very quickly when a professor of his caliber recommends a
student to us. We’ve quickly realized what tremendous training students are receiving from the
law school there .”
Kamar has developed a strong relationship with the court and has published extensively on
the court’s leadership in corporate law. Professor Eric Ta l l e y, who also teaches corporate law, has
encouraged students to seek opportunities with the court as well. The court’s Vice Chancellor Le o
Strine visited USC last year to speak to corporate law students; his pre s e n tation was published in
the Southern California Law Review.
B i rd says Kamar and associate deans Scott Altman and Lisa Mead were instrumental in pre p a r i n g
her for the clerkship. “The education I received at USC pre p a red me for this experience,” she says.
“All of the corporate law professors I had were wonderful, and I rely on my old notes fre q u e n t l y.”
Lilley calls the clerkship the best possible way to pre p a re for a ca reer in corporate litigation.
“I’m watching the best lawyers in the world,” she says. “Th e re’s not a better way to learn how to
be a litigator.”
Delaware’s Chancery Court was established in 1792 in the tradition of England’s courts of
ch a n c e r y, which are governed less by bright-line rules than by a judge’s effort to deliver equita b l e
resolutions. Because Delaware law historically has been friendly to corporations — it was one of
the first states to allow businesses to incorporate — Delaware’s court has become a hotbed for devel-
oping corporate law and a guide for courts around the country.
“ M o re than half of the publicly traded companies in this country are ch a r t e red in Delaware larg e l y
b e cause of the world-famous expertise and sophistication of the Delaware Court of Chancery in
resolving corporate disputes,” says Kamar. A clerkship with the Chancery Court “opens a door for
students to a level of corporate practice that law firms value very much ,” Kamar adds. — M.V.
?
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
did you know?
USC law students went unplugged when the Law School began offering
w i reless Internet access for laptop computers last fall. The new ca p a-
bility allows students to ch e ck their e-mail accounts and surf the We b
while they are in the law library, student lounge and other common
spaces, as well as the outdoor areas surrounding the Law School. Abo u t
70 percent of USC’s campus now has wireless Internet access.
Depending on how many people are using the service at once, the speed
of the network is between 20 and 200 times faster than a 56K modem.
bri e f s
5

i e f s bri e f s
hollywood insiders
USC law students are immersing them-
selves in the world of entertainment law –
inside and outside the classroom. For the
first time, the Law School is offering a
course on entertainment law coupled with
a practicum component enabling students
to work at film studios and other enter-
tainment companies for academic credit.
“[Students] are going to learn the law
and how the law interacts with the busi-
ness aspects of the industry,” says Sta n t o n
“Larry” Stein, a 1969 USC law graduate
and senior partner in the Los Angeles firm
of Alschuler Grossman Stein and Kahan.
“I’m also going to bring real-life experience
to the teach i n g .”
Stein is co-teaching one of the courses
with fellow Alschuler partner Sam Pryor.
B e cause of tremendous demand fro m
students, a second section of the enter-
tainment law class was added. That course
is being taught by Eric Weissmann, senior
partner at Weissmann, Wolff, Berg m a n ,
Coleman, Grodin and Evall. Both courses
cover the industries of film, television and
music and include guest lectures from top
studio executives, agents and managers.
The instructors are well-qualified. Stein,
who trained under legendary litigator Fr a n k
Rothman ’51, is known for taking on daring
lawsuits, including one for client David
D u chovny against Fox studio. We i s s m a n n
has re p resented such luminaries as Eva
G a rd n e r, Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Ta y l o r,
Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese. — P. C .
!
Save the date!
The Public Interest Law Fo u n d a t i o n
Annual Auction will be held
Wednesday, April 2, at Town and
Gown on USC’s University Park
C a m p u s .
For details, contact April Gallegos at
(213) 740 - 6 1 4 3
6 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
USC, alumni help students beat hiring s l u m p
In the early fall of 2001, Jessica Kaplan ’02 had
bright job prospects. After all, she had been a
summer associate at a large downtown firm and
earned positive reviews for her performance.
She had won the Law School’s Moot Court
championship the previous year. And, she’d
worked for Congresswoman Lo re t ta Sanch e z
b e f o re attending law sch o o l .
Then the economy took a downturn.
Firms around the country began dro p p i n g
job offers and slashing first-year salaries.
Kaplan got a call from the hiring partner at her
summer firm — she would not be hired on.
"I was in total shock," she re calls. "I thought
my life was over. "
Kaplan certainly was not alone.
"Employers became much more ca u t i o u s , "
says Melissa Balaban, director of USC Law
S chool’s Career Services Office (CSO), "and
that trend is continuing."
With the economy in a slump, Balaban says
some employers began raising the perform-
ance bar for summer associates, while others
made fewer offers to summer associates for
strictly financial reasons. Along with the usual
alumni panels and resume writing and inter-
viewing skills seminars, CSO has helped
students weather the stormy economic climate
by sponsoring special workshops, including one
that focused on finding jobs with smaller legal
employers and another featuring an attorney
s e a rch consulta n t .
When the job market weakens, CSO helps
students broaden their job search perspectives,
Balaban says. "We provide them with as much
support and as many re s o u rces as possible to
help them look beyond the fall on-campus inter-
view program," she says.
After receiving her disappointing news,
Kaplan plunged back into the interviewing
p rocess with determination. She sought the
a s s i s tance of CSO counselors to discuss how
to proceed with her job search. Among other
things, counselors recommended that Kaplan
c o n tact her summer firm for letters of re c o m-
mendation, which the hiring partner quick l y
a g reed to write.
E v e n t u a l l y, Kaplan landed a job with the
Irvine office of Howrey Simon Arnold & Wh i t e .
The person who interviewed her from the firm
was Michael Turrill, a 1996 USC law graduate
who developed an immediate connection with
h e r.
"He pushed for me," says Kaplan, now a
first-year associate at Howre y. "He’s the re a s o n
I’m here." — P. C .
G r a d takes h e l m of Career Services Office
Since graduating from USC Law School in
1991, Melissa Balaban has had a farreaching
legal career as a public interest attorney,
an adjunct law pro f e s s o r, an associate in a priva t e
law firm and a consultant to a national employment
consulting firm — not to mention ro l e s
as a wife and a mother of two young girls.
“ We are making a very conscious effort to
highlight our growth and our cutting-edge
p ro g r a m s ,” says Law School Assistant Dean
R i ch a rd Shaffran. “USC provides the larg e s t
a ca d e m i cally sponsored continuing legal educa-
New faces in Continuing Legal Education
Susan Laury >>>

1
f e a t u r e
1 . Kemper Cambell
2. One of many warera
women law
s t u d e n t s
3. A campus corner
during war time
4. Laughlin Wa t e r s
8 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
w a r
s t o r i e s
H o w World War II changed the lives of USC l a w
students and the character of the Law Sch o o l
2
3
by Associate Dean John G. “Tom” To m l i n s o n
4
infantry Captain Laughlin Wa t e r s p i t ched himself and the rifle
company he commanded onto Utah Beach and up the cliffs on D - D a y,
June 6, 1944 , he had a greater chance of surviving that carnage
than he did his first two years of legal education at USC .
To be sure, failing on the beaches at
Normandy came at a higher cost than washing
out of law school, and the traumas of that
World War II D-Day invasion have long
outlived the horror of that day. Even so,
entering USC law students of that era ro u t i n e l y
h e a rd Dean William Hale warn that only one
out of three surv i ved three years of law school.
Laugh Waters (1914-2002) was a surv i vo r
of both the invasion of France and law school.
His martial efforts in Europe earned him a
Bro n ze Star for courage, a Purple He a rt with
cluster for multiple wounds, the gratitude of his
country in the form of the GI Bill, and the
enduring esteem of les cito yen of the little
French town of Chambois. To commemorate
the actions that liberated Chambois from the
German soldiers, the villagers erected a monument
that carried Captain Waters’ name;
shortly after his death in June 2002, the city
held a memorial service in his honor.
World War II profoundly affected all
aspects of American society, including the USC
Law School. The lives of students, faculty and
even the character of the Law School were
d i f f e rent at the war’s end than they we re at its
outset. Organizing America for war consumed
most Americans’ lives, and the effort depleted
and changed enrollments in American law
schools. As male law students disappeared, law
schools enrolled more women. At USC Law
School, women rose to new heights of accomplishment.
At war’s end, those who re t u r n e d
f rom service brought financial support in the
form of the GI Bill, which proved a financial
boon to the Law School, but precipitated a
d e c rease in the number of women enrolled.
This article examines some of the “War
Stories” that affected USC Law School,
including re p re s e n t a t e i vpersonal
experiences of
a few USC law students whose lives were
touched — or ended — by the war, and an
examination of how the war changed the
s c h o o l’s course and character.
Ho n o r, service, and accomplishment might
have been the motto of Laughlin Waters’
f a m i l y. Family patriarch Frank Waters studied
law at USC from 1916 through 1918; he
f o l l owed a career in law and politics. All four
Waters siblings trained for professional care e r s :
Frank Jr. was an attorney; sister Ma ry earned
a law degree from USC in 1949; another sister,
Ethel, became a physician. Laugh Waters was
in the ROTC during his undergraduate days at
U C LA; when he matriculated into USC Law
School in 1939, he carried that obligation with
him. Although he completed more than twoand-a-half
years of classes — 1939 through the
1941-42 fall semester — military obligation
t rumped law school. Waters was called to active
s e rvice in Ma rch 1942.
After his experience in France, Waters
returned to Los Angeles, to his remaining ye a r
of legal education — supported by the GI Bi l l
— and to a lifetime in the law. As a gesture of
gratitude from the California legal community,
the California Bar Association admitted on
motion Waters and all other California law
students who had completed two years of law
school prior to their service. USC Law School
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
9

5
f e a t u r e
5 . Women had new
prominence at USC
during the war.
“
contemporaries Ashley Orr ’47, James Ackerman ’48 and Ro b e rt Irv i n
’47, among others, found themselves in a similar situation.
Wa t e r s’ life in the law was broad and deep: He was elected to four
terms in the California Assembly, served in the U.S. At t o r n e y’s Of f i c e ,
and practiced privately for 15 years before being appointed to the federal
bench in 1976. Among his law partners was classmate Robert
Thompson ’42. Su rviving law school and D-Day earned Waters a life of
distinction in the practice of law and on the bench.
A school ch a n g e d
1 0 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
” re c o g n i ze the first death of a student in the service of his country.
Articles in the Los Angeles Bar Bulletin were tickled by the uncommon presence of so many women in law school. Unlike
at most schools, though, women never had been an oddity at USC. Still, given the marked decline in male students, the
percentage of women in classes rose.
World War II changed institutions as well as individuals in pro f o u n d
albeit different ways. The drop in enrollment in American legal education
greatly affected law schools. In 1938, the country’s 110
A B A - a p p roved law schools enrolled 28,174 students; in Ma rch 1943,
5,686 students studied law in the U.S., an 80 percent drop over five
years. Eighty percent of those same law schools had fewer than 70
students, including USC. Ro b e rt Irvin ’47 recalled that during his first
two years of study, from 1942 to 1944, it seemed that he and his classmates
we re part of a private tutorial.
Columbia Law School Dean Elliott Cheatham wrote in 1943 that
the situation for American law schools was dire. He feared that some law
schools might have to suspend classes; others might consider merging
with other law schools; some might not surv i ve the national emergency.
To his own university president, Cheatham explained that the “r a p i d
p a c e” of induction and enlistments had reduced the student body to
physically disqualified men and “a few women.” A year later the same
dean noticed that 50 percent of Columbia’s enrollments we re women;
at Cornell Law, 12 of 50 students we re women. Penn re p o rted similar
numbers, while Yale Law School taught 16 women and 39 men.
USC Law School experienced similar depletions: In 1938, 290
students registered for classes. In September 1941, 152 registrants
a p p e a red. By September 1943, 72 students re g i s t e red. Faculty met to
consider ways of giving credit for classwork partially completed; to stem
f u rther declines, the school went on accelerated ye a r - round trimesters.
Night courses we re offered. In May 1942, minutes of a faculty meeting
by Associate Dean John G. “Tom” To m l i n s o n
USC faculty we re touched by the war, too. Professor Shelden El l i o t t ,
who taught administrative law, government regulation of industry and
trade regulation, relocated to Washington, D.C., and worked at the
De p a rtment of Commerce on issues of trade regulation and the war
economy. Joseph Cormack was a lieutenant colonel in the Judge
Ad vocate General Office in Washington. Although he continued to
teach at the Law School, Ro b e rt Kingsley conducted hearings for the
War Labor Board. He n ry Sp r i n g m e yer continued to teach one course
a year while serving as chief counsel for the rent control division of the
Office of Public Administration.
Women make their way
A rticles in the Los Angeles Bar Bulletin we re tickled by the uncommon
presence of so many women in law school. Unlike at most schools,
though, women never had been an oddity at USC. Still, given the
m a rked decline in male students, the percentage of women in classes
rose.
In May 1943, the Law School recommended 12 candidates for the
LL.B. degree; half of them we re women. A year later, the USC Chapter
of the Order of the Coif elected one student, Betty Altman Aro n ow,
to membership in its ranks. Aronow — one student — represented
the top 10 percent of her class to membership in the Ord e r. Her class
of 10 was the smallest graduating class since 1903.
While the number of women law students at USC continued at its
1937 level during the war, the percentage of women in each class
i n c reased. From 1929 to 1936, 30 to 33 women, more than 8 perc e n t
of each class, we re enrolled at USC. From 1937 through 1941, the numbers of enrolled women to launch a life in the law that included 17
d ropped to 16 to 19 women each year — about 7 percent of each class.
years in practice, 23 years on the bench and 15
During the war, though, many women we re academic stars. Aro n ow graduated at the head of years on the law faculty at USC.
her class in 1944, the first of five consecutive women — Anne Faries ’45, Do rothy Kendall ’46, Frank Chuman also left law school at the
Regina Weinberg ’47, and Vivian Feld ’48 — to graduate number one in their re s p e c t i ve classes. s t a rt of the spring 1942 semester, conscripted
Since 1907, only five women had so distinguished themselves.
for very different reasons. A Japanese
Women also appeared on the masthead of the S o u t h e rn Ca l i f o rnia Law Re v i e win unpre c e d e n t e d American, Chuman was taken from his legal
numbers. In 1941-42, when Ro b e rt S. Thompson ’42 was editor in chief, six of 24 student editors studies by Federal Executive Decree 6099,
we re women. By September 1945, editor in chief Do rothy Kendall ’46 managed a staff of eight; half which relocated more than 100,000 American
we re women. Kendall was the second in a series of five consecutive women editors; her imme- c i t i zens of Japanese descent in 10 camps in the
diate pre d e c e s s o , rAnne
Faries, was the first woman to achieve editor-in-chief status.
West. In March 1942, as Campbell
Fourteen to 20 women enrolled in each war-time class until 1949, when the number of commenced training as a pilot, Chuman was
male students, many of them veterans, increased. In April 1948, the law re v i ew included no sent to Manzanar Relocation Camp in the
women. In 1950, only 6 women enrolled at USC Law School, the fewest since 1908. Owens Valley on the east side of the Sierra
No documentary evidence exists within the Law School to suggest that the faculty and deans Ne vada Mountains. He re he spent the spring
purposely excluded women from enrolling after the war. But the Law School, which had virt u- of 1942 establishing and managing the camp
ally no endowment and ran deficits during the war, likely could not refuse the flood of re t u r n i n g hospital.
veterans who brought personal endowments provided by the Se rv i c e m e n’s Readjustment Ac t Less than a mile to the east of the Ma n z a n a r
of 1944, the GI Bill educational allowance. At least 7.8 million World War II veterans bene- compound, Chuman’s classmate Arthur E.
fited from the bill. At USC, the GI Bill resulted in 599 enrolling students in 1947.
Pugh ’43 learned to fly at tiny Manzanar Air
Field, then used by Army and Navy cadets as a
Lives altered and ended
training facility. For a time, the two law
Some of those returning to school included persons like Laughlin Waters and his fellow 1943 students, once joined by a fear of Professor Bi l l
classmates; but some did not return. Kemper Campbell Jr. was one of those. In many ways, he Bu r by’s relentless Socratic method, we re sepa-
was part of one of the Law School’s first families. Both of Campbell’s parents graduated fro m rated by barbed wire and a national culture of
the Law School, his father in 1907 (LL.M. 1910), and his mother, Litta Belle Hibban Campbell, f e a r. Chuman completed his truncated 1942
in 1911. Both taught law during the teens and remained close to the Law School as vo l u n t e e r s spring semester at the Un i versity of Toledo law
and philanthropists. In 1956, brother Joseph graduated from the Law School.
p rogram in early 1944 before transferring to
A 1938 graduate of St. Jo h n’s College at Oxford Un i ve r s i t y, Kemper Campbell brought a the University of Maryland to finish law
cosmopolitan, even aristocratic, bearing to his legal studies. He was an accomplished student and school. Returning to California at the end of
s e rved on the law re v i ew during Ro b e rt T h o m p s o n’s editorship. In Fe b ru a ry 1942, Campbell the war, Chuman passed the state bar exami-
vo l u n t e e red for the Army Air Corps; 18 months later, on his last training mission, B-24 pilot nation while working for Abraham Wirin’s
“For a time, the two law students, once joined by a fear o f
Professor Bill Burby’s relentless Socratic method,
”
were s e p a r a t e d
by barbed wire and a national culture of fear.
Campbell died in a crash. The Kemper Campbell Jr. Student Lounge in USC’s law library honors
the memory of this young law student and bomber pilot.
Thompson himself finished law school in June 1942 and vo l u n t e e red for counter-intelligence
w o rk with the Army Air Corps. By 1944, he was reassigned as a legal officer in the Army Air Corps
practice, one that represented Japanese
Americans who lost pro p e rty during wart i m e
i n c a rceration. Chuman wrote a book on the
history of law and Japanese Americans; he
continues to practice law in Southern
California.
World War II disrupted American life and
institutions in unprecedented ways. All
American law schools, USCamong them,
we re part of that larger social crisis. USC L a w
School returned to a post-war academic world
that was vastly altered, and, like the law school
at which they studied, USC students were
and was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, throughout the war. He returned to Los Angeles in 1946 changed as we l l .
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
1 1

f e a t u r e
t h e
s t u d e n t s ’
Dean of Students Lisa Mead is making student life — and students’ roles
in Law School administration — a top priority
A
1 2 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
Lisa Mead >>>
fter a year serving as dean of students,
Associate Dean Lisa Mead has become very
involved in student life, from greeting new
arrivals at orientation to celebrating with graduates
on commencement day. During the
academic year, she meets with students nearly
every day, listening to their concerns and helping
solve their problems. They often drop into her
office just to say hello. Perhaps because she’s a
1 989 USC law graduate herself, Dean Mead
v o i c e
connects easily with students, giving them a
voice in the Law School’s administration. As a
student, she helped found the Public Interest
Law Foundation. After graduation, she worked
closely with law students at Public Counsel as
the directing attorney for its homeless advocacy
project. In 1994, she found herself back at
USC, relying on her own experience at the Law
S chool to empower students to accomplish
their goals.
Q : How would you describe your role as dean
of students?
A : I ’m responsible for both academic and
non-academic counseling. In that role, I see
myself as a student advocate, a counselor, an
a d v i s e r, a problem solver and a safe haven for
students. It’s also my job to help students
d e velop into lawyers who have a solid sense of
what it means to be ethical advocates and
responsible members of the legal community.
And, eve ry once in a while, I have to deal with
the more difficult issues of student discipline.
Ad d i t i o n a l l y, I work closely with the St u d e n t
Bar Association (SBA) and other student
g ro u p s .
Q : What do you find most rew a rding about
your job?
A : The real joy of the job is working with the
students. The people who choose to come to
USC are ve ry talented, diverse and smart. I
find it invigorating, challenging and incre dibly
fulfilling to work with them. I assist them
as they work tow a rd their goals, try to find
p o s i t i ve solutions to their problems and
p rovide support as they deal with difficult
issues — whether those are academic,
personal or emotional. For example, I re c e n t l y
met with a student who indicated she wanted
to drop out of law school. During our conve rsation,
it became clear that she didn't see
herself in the traditional role of a private firm
l a w yer so she thought she had made a bad
decision to come to law school. I suggested
she consider an internship for academic cre d i t
with a government office that focuses exc l us
i vely on public policy matters and is headed
by a lawye r. She recently e-mailed me to let
me know she was incredibly happy in her
i n t e r n s h i p.
Q : What sorts of student issues do you deal
with on a regular basis?
A : I often counsel people who have not done
as well academically as they had hoped to do.
I help them deal with the emotional pain and
disappointment, as well as the re c ove ry. I let
them know that some of the best and most
successful lawyers did not start out at the top
of the class, and it certainly takes more than
good grades to be successful in the pro f e s s i o n .
Q : How would you describe the enviro n m e n t
of USC Law School, from a student’s perspect
i ve ?
A : What students consistently say about
being here is that they are ve ry impressed by
the collegial, support i ve environment at the
Law School. They like the personal attention
they re c e i ve. Students say things like, “I can’t
b e l i e ve it’s so easy to come and see you, that
someone actually cares.” We are ve ry
conscious and deliberate about being serv i c e -
oriented, responding to students and
p roviding personal assistance to the extent
that we can do it.
Q : How many students do you get to know
in the course of a typical ye a r ?
A : Well, I meet them all at orientation, so I
s t a rt working with them right away. I go to
lunches with the first-year students. I meet
regularly with the SBA president and other
student leaders. I also work with students
e n rolled in the internship program, which can
i n vo l ve as many as 130 students each ye a r. In
one way or another, I work with at least half
of each class on a one-on-one basis each ye a r.
By graduation, I’ve talked to, have met with,
or have had some experience with nearly eve ry
s t u d e n t .
Q :People say that the level of student invo l vement
in the actual administration of the Law
School is unusual. When have students been
able to make a significant change re g a rding
their own education or other policies at the
Law School?
A : Last ye a r, we implemented a grade system
change that was really driven by the students.
We changed to a four-point and letter-equivalent
grading system from our 90-point scale.
Students believed that the four-point scale
would make it much easier for national
e m p l oyers to compare systems favo r a b l y.
Changing the grading system was significant
but the faculty and administration paid atten-
by Phat X. Chiem
tion to the students' views. The change would
not have happened without student initiative .
Because of significant student interest, we
n ow have a sports law course. And, this spring
we are offering two entertainment law courses
with an entertainment practicum component.
This will allow students to work at
f o r - p rofit entertainment corporations like
studios and re c o rd companies and re c e i ve
academic credit for that experience.
Fi n a l l y, we are experimenting with having
commencement on a Sunday rather than a
Mo n d a y. All of these changes we re the re s u l t
of requests from students.
Q : Do you believe administrators are generally
re s p o n s i ve to students’ needs?
A : Yes, we are re s p o n s i ve because our students
a re smart and thoughtful — and they have
ve ry good ideas. It’s really important for
students to know that administrators here
welcome the opportunity to work closely with
them and help them think about their course
selection or career choices. For students who
a re frustrated or have problems or feel like
they don’t have a voice, that’s where I can
really act as a re s o u rce. Sometimes all they
want is someone to hear them. So m e t i m e s
they really want someone to help solve the
p roblem or figure out how we can make a
change to be more re s p o n s i ve .
Q : Fi n a l l y, what are your goals for the future ?
A : I want to continue to improve student life
by enhancing our support of students as they
select their classes, supporting the growth of
peer mentoring programs, assisting with additional
student-sponsored events — perhaps
including faculty and/or graduates in more of
their activities — and holding outreach meetings
with students. Also, I want to work
closely with and support the Career Se rv i c e s
Office and students on job searc h - re l a t e d
activities. As much as possible, I want to
continue to support the sense of community
students have here at the Law School and
make sure each of our students has the best
possible experience at USC.
Hear some of the student voices that are making a difference at USC > > >
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003 1 3

f e a t u r e
Student voices: Every school runs on the vigor of its students. USC Law Sch o o l
is no different — except perhaps in the stellar quality of its students. They distinguish
themselves by their intelligence, their passion, and their desire to make
a difference. By working together and with administrators, USC students are
shaping their legal education — and becoming lawyers and leaders in the process.
sage adviser
changes at the Law School. And, as he pre p a re s s u m m e r. Nutter worked at the Western Law
to leave USC this spring, he offers one last bit of Center for Disability Rights. Booher worked for
1. Joel Allan
advice to future first-year students: “Do n’t get the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, where
As the resident adviser to 30-40 law students behind — but remember there’s life outside of both students now vo l u n t e e r. This summer,
who live in the off-campus Terrace Ap a rt m e n t s , your civil pro c e d u res book.”
Booher heads to O’Me l veny & Me yers and
Joel Allan has helped first-years adjust to law
school, offered a caring ear to students going
t h rough personal emergencies, and even baked taking a stand
Nutter to Bet Tzedek.
Leading GLLU takes a lot of time, but the
students don’t mind. For them, such invo l ve-
b rownies for the study breaks held in his apart- 2. K a ren Nutter & David Booher
ment is integral to the law school experience.
ment. And he’s done it all four years in a row. When military re c ruiters joined USC’s on-campus “ It’s not just making connections with
“I do enjoy being the one who has gone i n t e rv i ewing program for the first time in more people,” says Nu t t e r, “it’s also learning to interact
t h rough the law school experience and being than 10 years last fall, David Booher and Kare n p o s i t i vely with people who have different view-
able to help others assuage their concerns or Nutter engaged classmates in discussions about the points and different experiences.”
fears,” says Allan, a fourt h - year student who is m i l i t a y’s r “d o n’t ask, don’t tell” rules re g a rding gays.
pursuing a joint J.D./MBA degre e .
Se rving as the Law School’s R.A. for so long
They handed out informational fliers, put up
posters asking students to question the gove r n- views from the right
is unusual. “It’s the free rent,” he jokes when m e n t’s tactics and spoke to the unive r s i t y’s pre - l a w 3. Alan Kang & Daniel Ahn
asked why he’s stayed invo l ved. But really it’s his and gay and lesbian groups about the controve r s y. Alan Kang and Daniel Ahn are two student
penchant for helping others and a concern for Such activism is part of student life at USC leaders with strong views — and they’re not
the quality of student life.
— and great preparation for the life of a lawye r, say afraid to voice them. This ye a r, they re - e s t a b-
Along with his R.A. duties, Allan is also a Booher and Nu t t e r, leaders of the Law School’s lished USC’s Republican Law St u d e n t s
member of the Sp o rts, Media and En t e rt a i n m e n t Gay and Lesbian Law Union (GLLU ) . Association (RLSA) to encourage discussion and
Law Society and the Jewish Law Students organ- “ Being part of a student group makes law debate about conserva t i ve principles.
ization. He has influenced the curriculum at the school a much more re l e vant and richer experi- The organization’s 40 members are
Law School as well. Thanks to his efforts, courses ence,” says Booher, a second-year student. “It’s d e veloping a compre h e n s i ve agenda for activities
in Jewish law and entertainment law have been e xciting to shape where the organization is going and events to help raise awareness of conserva-
expanded. Allan also pushed for a practicum and deciding what issues to pursue.”
t i ve ideals. Plans include lunch-time
component for the entertainment law class, Nu t t e , ralso
a second-year student, enrolled in p resentations with Republican leaders; debates
enabling students to work at for-profit compa- law school precisely because she was “d i s s a t i s f i e d on such hot-button issues as affirmative action
nies such as film studios or a music labels for with the things that I saw on the news and, with and civil liberties; and partnerships with other
academic credit. “Now,” Allan says, “we can get a law degree, I thought I could change things.” student groups. Last semester, St e ve Fr a n k ,
the experience that’s essential to finding jobs in the Their activism extends beyond the Law deputy political director of Bill Si m o n’s 2002
i n d u s t y. r”
School. Both students re c e i ved summer grants campaign for California gove r n o r, spoke to
Allan is proud to have made some positive f rom USC’s Public In t e rest Law Foundation last RLSA members about the campaign.
1 4 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
1 2
3 4
“It’s not just making connections w i t h
people. It’s also learning to i n t e r a c t
positively with people who have
different viewpoints and different
”
experiences.
“We re a l i zed that there was a need to dispel the numero u s
myths about conserva t i ve principles,” says Ahn, a second-ye a r
student who served as a legislative assistant to Republican Se n a t o r
Phil Gramm and is co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Ba r
A s s o c i a t i o n’s law students committee. “Often, conserva t i ve
messages don’t get out or they get mislabeled, leading to debate
that proceeds on faulty pre s u p p o s i t i o n s . ”
Some people don’t re a l i ze that conserva t i ves span the political
spectrum, Kang says. “We want to explore both conserva t i ve
and liberal policies as they bear on people of different ethnic and
socioeconomic backgrounds — and yet hold on to our conserva
t i ve ideals,” says Kang, a second-year student who re c e n t l y
s e rved as regional co-chair of Si m o n’s gubernatorial campaign and
is a staff member of USC’s In t e rd i s c i p l i n y a Law r Jo u rn a l.
And what better place than law school to discuss political
d i f f e rences?
“Law school is about rigorous but civil debate with the desire
to learn and to grow intellectually as the common objective,” says
Ahn. “W h a t’s the use of having a diverse, intelligent student body
if you can’t discuss the issues?”
change for the better
4. Janna Jenkins
T h roughout her time at USC Law School, Janna Jenkins ’03 has
been a leader, serving as the 1L section re p re s e n t a t i ve on the
Student Bar Association, 2L class president and now 3L class pre si
d e n t .
But her invo l vement hasn’t been merely a resume builder. On
behalf of her classmates, Jenkins worked with USC administrators
to move commencement from its traditional Monday date
to a Su n d a y. With other SBA officials, she worked to install a television
in the student lounge, add two Internet-linked computers
in lowe r - l e vel offices for student use, and change the school’s
grading system to a letter-grade and four-point scale from the
p revious 65-90 curve. And she keeps students up-to-date with
class-wide e-mail messages.
“I like to bridge the gap between the administration and my
peers,” says Jenkins, a St a n f o rd graduate who worked for the
n o n p rofit Tiger Woods Foundation before law school. “I think
my classmates see me as someone who can solve problems and
make changes.”
Staying invo l ved and working with the administration has
helped her think like a lawye r, Jenkins says. Sh e’s been tackling
p roblems and finding solutions — crucial skills she’ll use when
she begins her professional career at Gibson, Dunn & Cru t c h e r.
“ It’s been empowering to learn how the system works,” she says.
“ I ’m not content to complain about changes that need to be
made. I’d rather implement them. I’ll leave law school know i n g
that I made a change for students.”
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
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f e a t u r e
Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news?
1 6 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
USC’s Center for Communication Law and Po l i c ye xa m i n e s
the f a r - r e a ching effects of proposed changes in federal media
o w n e r s h i pp o l i c i e s
w h o
o w nsy o u r
n e w s
In what Chairman Michael Powell calls the
“most compre h e n s i ve look at media ow n e r s h i p
regulation ever undertaken,” the Federal
Communications Commission is evaluating a
number of federal policies that govern media
ownership and the ability of media companies
to consolidate.
At the heart of the debate is whether media
consolidation serves the public ’s interest in
having access to diverse viewpoints and ideas in
n ews and entertainment programming. And at
the fore f ront of the discussion is USC’s Center
for Communication Law and Po l i c y.
Jointly administered by USC Law
School and USC Annenberg School for
Communication, CCLP studies the intersections
of law, technology and communication
t h rough sponsored re s e a rch, academic conferences
and public symposia. Building on both
schools’ strengths, the center particularly
focuses on the impact of laws and federal policy
on the quality of journalism and entertainment,
consumer choices in communications
t e c h n o l o g y, and the public’s enduring intere s t
in free expression.
In December, the center was one of few
nonadvocacy organizations to file formal
comments with the FCC on its media ow n e rship
review. This spring, CCLP will hold a
public forum on the subject; FCC commissioners
and news and entertainment exe c u t i ve s
a re slated to attend. And the center’s new exe cu
t i ve dire c t o r, Sandra Ortiz (see story on Pa g e
19), has been widely interv i ewed by the pre s s
on issues related to media ow n e r s h i p.
Media ownership issues strike at the core
of many of CCLP’s primary concerns, says
Dean Ma t t h ew L. Sp i t ze r, former director of
the Center for Communication Law and
Policy and a nationally re c o g n i zed expert on
communications law and technologies.
“The outcome of these proceedings will
have a monumental impact on the media in
this country,” says Sp i t ze r. “The trend tow a rd
consolidation of media ownership has had
some positive effects and some negative ones.
Whether that trend should be continued as a
matter of federal policy is a decision that will
p rofoundly affect media options for consumers
and the quality and process of new s g a t h e r i n g
and re p o rting. All of these issues are of critical
concern to the Center for Communication
Law and Policy — as well as anyone intere s t e d
in the quality of news and entertainment
p ro g r a m m i n g . ”
I n ching toward dere g u l a t i o n
The media industry is one of few that is explicitly
regulated by the federal government. Si n c e
its creation in 1934, the Federal
Communications Commission has been
responsible for awarding licenses for use of the
a i rw a ves. To obtain a license, companies must
agree to use the airwaves in a way that
p romotes the public interest.
Many FCC rules we re designed decades ago
on the theory that the public is best served by
access to a broad variety of ideas, entert a i n m e n t
options and perspectives — and that dive r s i t y
in media ownership ensures a diversity of ideas.
Tow a rd this end, FCC rules prohibit, among
other things, one company from owning more
than one television station in a single market (a
duopoly); a newspaper and television station in
the same market (cro s s - ownership); more than
one network; or media outlets that together
reach more than 35 percent of the nation’s
population.
by Melinda Myers Va u g h n
But whether these rules truly protect the
public interest has long been debated, Ortiz
says, and since the 1980s the government has
followed a path toward deregulation of the
a i rw a ves. Congress has weakened existing ru l e s
“Are stations less likely to be s e n s i t i v eto local issues if they are not l o c a l l y
o w n e d? Research shows a decline in coverage of local politics across the
board — but w h e t h e rthat is tied to ownership is difficult to sa y.
”
t h rough legislation, and the FCC has granted
waivers or, in some cases, ignored violations
pending further review. Now, given changes
in the media industry, the growth of new technologies
such as the Internet and satellite
b roadcasting, and an increasing outcry among
business leaders, the commission is re v i ew i n g
all of its media ownership policies to determine
whether the rules should be left intact, modified
or thrown out altogether.
In many ways, the current state of the media
belies the fact that the FCC regulates ow n e r s h i p
at all. Although FCC rules prohibit duopolies,
some exist, including four in Los Angeles (New s
C o r p. owns KTT V-TV and KC O P - T V; NBC
owns KNBC, KWHY-TV and KVEA-TV and
recently acquired Telemundo, which ow n s
KMEX-TV and KFTR-TV; Viacom ow n s
KCBS-TV and KC A L - T V). Si m i l a r l y, FCC
rules prohibit cro s s - ownership of a new s p a p e r
and television station in one market — and ye t
the Tribune Co. now owns KTLA-TV and the
Los Angeles Ti m e s.
Both Viacom and News Corp. are in technical
violation of the rule capping one
c o m p a n y’s national audience at 35 percent of
the population. Deregulation of cable has
cleared the way for AT&T and AOL-Time
Warner to dominate that industry. And the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, which
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
1 7

f e a t u r e
nearly wiped out limits on radio ownership,
enabled Clear Channel Communications to
p u rchase 1,225 radio stations — one of eve ry
nine stations nationwide. In 1995, Clear
Channel owned 43 stations.
Media companies, seeing new opport u n i t i e s
to compete and profit, have generally support e d
d e regulation, arguing that consolidation does not
damage the public interest. Many say the In t e r n e t ,
satellite and increasing media outlets offer the
public broader access to diverse ideas and information
than ever before. Some suggest
consolidation actually encourages owners with
m o re than one media pro p e rty in the same
m a rket to provide widely divergent pro g r a m m i n g
and viewpoints so the stations do not compete for
the same audience.
1 8 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
c o u rt twice took issue with other media ow n e rship
regulations and ord e red the FCC to re v i ew
its “a r b i t r a ry and capricious” guidelines. So m e
interpretations of the courts’ recent rulings
argue that the FCC must either justify its ru l e s
or eliminate them altogether.
While Ortiz disputes that interpretation —
she believes the courts simply found the FCC
h a d n’t provided sufficient evidence to support its
rules — she agrees that policies must be re v i s i t e d .
But, she warns, “just as the lack of re l e va n t
empirical re s e a rch cannot be the basis for
retaining a rule, it also cannot be the excuse for
repealing or modifying a rule.” The FCC must
take time to thoroughly study the effects of its
rules and proposed changes, she says, before
continuing deregulation.
in coverage of local politics across the board —
but whether that is tied to ownership is difficult
to say.”
Most media analysts agree that the quality
and volume of local news has declined in re c e n t
years — with potentially negative consequences
for the democratic process. A recent USC
Annenberg study found that people get more
information about political issues and candidates
f rom campaign ads than local news bro a d c a s t s .
Many believe the negativity of political adve rtising
combined with decreasing media cove r a g e
of issues is a factor in declining voter part i c i p ation.
Because democracy depends on a
well-informed and part i c i p a t o ry public, Ort i z
says, the effects of media ownership rules must
be carefully evaluated.
Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news?
n ew opportunities for synergy between print and television news. Television news outlets
face staff and time constraints but reach a large audience. Newspapers often have more
re p o rters and greater ability to provide in-depth news coverage but have smaller audiences.
If a television station and a newspaper could work together, the quality of television
n ews could improve and newspapers could gain a new tool for promoting their efforts.
Consolidation also makes fiscal sense, especially in an era of globalization. Small new s
organizations can’t afford to cover the world, and in a time when an event halfway aro u n d
the world can have global and local implications, news operations must be able to aggregate
re s o u rces.
Still, maintaining a variety of journalistic voices remains vital. “You don’t want just
one news bureau covering the Middle East,” Ortiz says. “When you have fewer people
making choices, they’re going to make increasingly homogenous choices about what
to cover and how to cover it.”
One thing is sure: The effects of the FCC’s re v i ew of media ownership policies won’t
end with journalism. Consumers of entertainment programming and communications
technology also are likely to be directly affected by changes in media ow n e r s h i p
rules. Just as decisions about news coverage could be left to a smaller group of media
”
Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news? Who owns your news?
“When you have fewer people making choices, they’re going to make
increasingly homogenous ch o i c e s.
corporations, so too could entertainment programming choices. Ortiz, a former Fox
Opponents of deregulation, howe ve r, argue Will local news lose?
Another concern is the potential loss of
e xe c u t i ve, says dere g u l a t o ry measures already have squeezed out most opport u n i t i e s
media consolidation leads to fewer people CCLP hopes to lead studies on some of these competition in news re p o rting if media outlets
for independently produced programs to reach the public.
c o n t rolling news and entertainment options, issues during coming years with assistance fro m consolidate. Competition among re p o rt e r s
There are long-term legal implications as well. If rules are relaxed now, will they
which could mean less diversity in content even if re s e a rchers at the USC Annenberg School for d r i ves many to dig deeper and work harder —
only be changed again the next time Democrats control Congress or the White Ho u s e ?
accompanied by increased outlets. Does a we a l t h Communication. Of particular interest is the making it difficult for the press, politicians and
What would happen if a Democratic administration pursued anti-trust charges against
of options mean anything if a majority are impact of media ownership on journalism. As businesses to develop relationships that could
a conglomerate that blossomed under the dere g u l a t o ry leanings of the current admin-
c o n t rolled by a few behemoth companies? Can local and independent ownership disappears, p rohibit aggre s s i ve coverage of sensitive topics.
istration? “Could these companies turn around and use these steps as a shield against the
a station or newspaper avoid reflecting the view s so too could responsible coverage of local issues, “ If fewer re p o rters are on a particular beat,
s w o rd of the De p a rtment of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission?” Sp i t zer asks.
of an owner who has direct responsibility for says Ge o f f rey Cowan, dean of the Annenberg o p p o rtunities arise for lazy re p o rting as well as
W h a t e ver the outcome of the proceedings, Ortiz says, CCLP hopes to ensure that the
hiring staff and vetoing programming selection? School for Communication.
c o r rupt relationships that stifle inve s t i g a t i e vjour
F C C ’s decisions are supported by solid re s e a rch. “Our agenda is protecting the integrity
Another complicating factor is the court s’ “ In the early days of broadcasting, channels nalism,” says Sp i t ze . r“Many
fewer stories w o u l d
of the process,” she says. “Years of re s e a rch are needed. Balancing the needs of the corpo-
a p p a rent dissatisfaction with current re g u l a t i o n s . we re allocated with an emphasis on local new s be re p o rt e d . ”
rations and the public is a difficult proposition — and it can’t be done in a 60- or 90-day
In 2001, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the and local ow n e r s h i p,” says Cowan. “A re stations But there are good reasons to permit media
comment period.”
District of Columbia struck down limits on c a b l e less likely to be sensitive to local issues if they consolidation that also must be considered.
systems’ national reach. Last year, the same a re not locally owned? Re s e a rch shows a decline Re l a xed rules on cro s s - ownership could pre s e n t
< < < Sandra Ortiz
Media expert at
h e l mof CCL P
For years, Sandra Ortiz worked in the tre n ches of the
e n t e r tainment industry, most recently as senior vice pre s-
ident of television business affairs at 20th Century Fox
Film Corp., where she negotiated deals with writers,
actors, producers and directors for hit shows including
“ The Simpsons,” “The Practice” and “Ally McBeal.”
As the new executive director of USC’s Center for
C o m m u n i cation Law and Policy (CC LP), she’ll lead
re s e a rch into how the media is influenced and contro l l e d
by regulatory policy, tech n o l o g y, media ownership and
social values. The center is jointly operated by USC’s Law
S chool and Annenberg School for Communica t i o n .
Ortiz has taught media law at Southwestern Law Sch o o l ,
e n t e r tainment law at Whittier Law School and journalism
ethics at UCLA Extension. She holds a master’s in bro a d-
cast journalism from USC and a law degree fro m
S ta n f o rd. Prior to working at Fox, she served as the
general counsel at KCA L-TV and director of legal affairs
at KC E T, both in Los Angeles. She takes on her new ro l e
at USC as the Federal Communications Commission is
revisiting media ownership regulations, the bro a d ca s t
industry is exploring new digital technologies, and copy-
right issues are being challenged. “It’s a really opportune
time for me to be here looking at these issues,” Ortiz says.
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
1 9

faculty news
In his first appearance before the U.S.
Supreme Court last November, USC Law
Professor Erwin Chemerinsky was confident.
He spoke without the aid of notes, citing case
law and even footnotes from memory. He was
polite yet firm in responding to rapid-fire questions
from the formidable justices.
He barely let on that this was one of the
most important cases of the term — and that
the fate of hundreds of California inmates hung
on the court’s decision.
Chemerinsky’s oral argument came in
L o c k yer v. An d rade, the long-awaited legal challenge
to California’s “three-strikes” law. The
1994 statue intended to punish repeat
offenders by allowing sentences of 25 years to
life for a third offense for someone convicted of
two prior felonies of a similar nature .
California is the only state that permits
judges to treat misdemeanors as third strikes.
Such was the case with Leandro Andrade, who
received two 25-years-to-life sentences for
stealing $153 worth of childre n’s videotapes.
Because Andrade had previous convictions for
petty theft, his subsequent theft convictions
t r i g g e red the three-strikes law. He is one of 344
people serving life sentences in California for
similar petty offenses.
Chemerinsky’s argument to the Supreme
C o u rt was simple: Imposing a life sentence for
shoplifting violates the Constitution’s ban
against cruel and unusual punishment.
2 0 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003

faculty news faculty news
faculty footnotes (a small selection of faculty quotes, awards and activities)
1 Alex Capro n, University Pr o fe s s o r, Henry W.
Bruce Pr o fessor of Law, and Pr o fessor of Law and
Medicine, gave the keynote address on human
embryonic stem cell research at the Th i r d
International Conference on Bioethics at National
Central University in Taiwan. In November, he spoke
on the ethics of research using placebos in developing
countries at the Sixth World Congress of
Bioethics in Brazil. Capron is currently working in
Geneva, Switzerland, where he is the first director of
the ethics and health unit in the Director-G e n e r a l ’ s
Office of the World Health Organization. In this
c a p a c i t y, he is assisting WHO member countries in
developing bioethics standards and procedures.
2 Clinical Pr o fessor M i chael Bre n n a n, along with
Erin Smith ’04, represented Marva Wallace, the first
California woman to have her conviction overturned
under a new state law permitting habeas corpus petitions
to be filed in cases where evidence of battered
women’s syndrome was not originally introduced at
trial. The story was covered by the Los Angeles
Ti m e s as well as “CBS Evening News.” Under the
supervision of Brennan and Clinical Pr o fessor C a r r i e
H e m p e l, students in the Po s t -Conviction Justice
Project are collaborating with pro bono attorneys and
the California Women’s Law Center to file the petitions
on behalf of battered women convicted of killing
abusive partners prior to the time when battered
women’s syndrome could be used as a defense in
court. (See more clinic news on Page 24.)
3 Erwin Chemerinsky, Sydney M. Irmas Pr o fe s s o r
of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics and Po l i t i c a l
Science, received a Freedom of Information Aw a r d
from the Society of Pr o fessional Journalists’ Lo s
Angeles ch a p t e r. He spoke to several organizations
a bout civil liberties and the war on terrorism, including
the National Association of Criminal Defe n s e
Lawyers. He was a visiting professor at Duke
University’s law school during fall 2002. In the
January edition of the ABA Journal, Chemerinsky
— along with University of Dayton School of Law
Dean Lisa Kloppenberg, a 1987 USClaw grad, and
other constitutional law experts — debated the implications
of the Supreme Court’s focus on state
s o v e r e i g n t y. In addition to broad media coverage of
his argument before the U.S. Supreme Court (see
> > > Left to right: Capron, Brennan, Cruz, Dudziak,
E s t r i ch, Frenzen, Gross, Lyon, McCaffery, Shapiro ,
Smith, Stolzenberg, Ta l l e y, Vaclavik, Wh i t e b re a d
2 2 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
story on Page 20), Chemerinsky was widely quoted
in the media on issues relating to the war on terrorism
and civil liberties, sex scandals in the Catholic Church
and affirmative action in college admissions.
4 David Cruz, professor of law, was named the
first visiting scholar for the Charles R. Williams Pr o j e c t
on Sexual Orientation Law at UCLA Law School for
the 2003 spring semester. He co-wrote an amicus
brief filed with the Supreme Judicial Court of
M a s s a chusetts in Goodridge v. De p a rtment of
Public Health, arguing on behalf of constitutional law
p r o fessors and Massachusetts lesbian, gay, bi-sex u a l
and transgendered groups who believe the ex c l u s i o n
of same-sex couples from civil marriage violates their
rights of expression and intimate association under
the state’s Declaration of Rights. Cruz, along with
Chemerinsky and 16 other constitutional law
s cholars, also was a signatory on an amicus brief filed
with the U.S. Supreme Court on Lawrence v. Te x a s,
arguing the state’s sodomy law is unconstitutional.
5 Mary Dudziak, Judge Edward J. and Ruey L.
Guirado Pr o fessor of Law, History and Po l i t i c a l
Science, served as an adviser on the PBS documentary
film “Prelude to a Movement: Black Paris and the
Struggle for Fr e e d o m .” Her essay “The Politics of the
Least Dangerous Branch: The Court, the Constitution
and Constitutional Politics Since 1945” was
published in A Companion to Post-1945 America
( B l a ckwell Publishers, 2002), and her essay
“Birmingham, Addis Ababa, and the Image of
America: International Influence on U.S. Civil Rights
Politics in the Kennedy Administration” was published
in Wi n d ow on Freedom: Race, Civil Rights and
Foreign Affairs, 1945 - 1988 (University of North
Carolina Press, 2003). Dudziak was a fellow at
Princeton University’s Program in Law and Pu b l i c
Affairs and a visiting research scholar at Pr i n c e t o n ’ s
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs last fall. She spoke about her research at
Princeton, Columbia, Fordham, Rutgers-Camden and
New York universities.
6 Susan Estrich, Robert Kingsley Pr o fessor of
Law and Political Science, published “The Politics of
A bortion” in The Rehnquist Co u rt: Judicial Ac t i v i s m
on the Right, edited by Herman Schwartz (Hill and
Wang, 2002). In addition to her regular appearances
on Fox News programs, Estrich spoke to the S a n
Jose Mercury News a bout California Democrat
Nancy Pelosi becoming the first woman to lead a
political party in Congress — and the persistent dearth
of women political leaders. “The reason a lot of us are
making a big deal about Nancy Pelosi getting this job
is because, unfortunately, it is still a big deal,” she said.
7 Niels Fre n z e n, clinical assistant professor of law,
was a visiting expert at a two-day seminar at the USC
Annenberg Institute for Justice in Journalism, which
focused on terrorism and civil liberties. Frenzen was
widely quoted on the impact of the war on terrorism
on civil liberties and immigrants. In a December op-ed
in the Los Angeles Ti m e s, he assailed the
Immigration and Naturalization Service for asking
immigrant men from certain Middle Eastern countries
to appear at local INS offices for identification
processes and then arresting many of them.
“Arresting these men as they voluntarily appear at INS
offices serves no purpose other than to spread more
fear into the affected communities,” Frenzen wrote.
“National security is not furthered by assembly-line,
nationality-based arrests and deportations.”
8 Ariela Gro s s, professor of law and history, was
named chair of the American Society for Le g a l
History’s 2003 program committee. She also serves
on the society’s executive committee and board of
directors. She presented “Between Race and Nation:
B l a ck /Indian Identity in the Southern Courtroom” and
chaired a panel discussion on sex, race and the law
at the society’s national confe r e n c e .
9 Thomas Ly o n, professor of law, published
“Expert Testimony on the Suggestibility of Children:
Does it Fit?” in Children, Social Science and the
L a w (Cambridge University Press, 2002). His Ly o n -
Saywitz oath-taking competency task was
incorporated into a training manual for judges
prepared by the Scottish Judicial Studies Board. It
also has been incorporated into the Wa s h i n g t o n
State Child Interview Guide and the A l b e rt a
Handbook on Child Wi t n e s s e s.
1 0 E d w a rd McCaffery, Maurice Jones Jr. Pr o fe s s o r
of Law and Political Science, published “Lobbying for
L i fe: Protecting Charitable Giving Without a Death
Ta x ,” co-written by Don Weigandt of JP Morgan
Private Bank, in a January edition of Tax Notes. He
spoke about lotteries as a source of revenue at the
Canadian Law and Economics Meeting in To r o n t o
and gave the keynote address, “Planned Giving if the
Death Tax Dies,” to the National Conference on
Planned Giving’s annual meeting in Nashville.
M c C a f fery was quoted in a New York Ti m e sarticle in
January examining the “marriage penalty” and its
impact on taxpayers. “The people who are treated the
best are families with a stay-at-home spouse, who,
not surprisingly, are an important constituency for
R e p u b l i c a n s ” , he said.
1 1 M i chael Shapiro, Dorothy W. Nelson Pr o fe s s o r
of Law, published the second edition of B i o e t h i c s
and Law ( Th o m s o n / West, 2002), of which he is the
lead author. Shapiro appeared on CBS’ “The Early
Show” in November to discuss the legal and ethical
issues involved in a decision to take a 1-year-old off
l i fe support at the request of his mother, thus clearing
the way for murder charges to be filed against his
f a t h e r. If medical care is “utterly futile,” Shapiro said,
“continuing to provide care to the child is just using
that human husk for improper purposes.”
1 2 Edwin Smith was interviewed by Bob Edwards
on NPR’s “Morning Edition” in October, discussing the
United Nations’ role in international disputes. “It is
unrealistic to expect the UN to assert leadership,”
Smith said. “As Kofi Annan and Javier Perez de
Cuellar and Boutros Boutros-Ghali have said time
and again, the UN is made up of member nations. Th e
secretary general of the UN is not a leader, as such ,
from a political point of view. He is a lead persuader,
not a decision-maker of a sort that could determine
what the UN could do.” Smith was a popular source
for national and international media analyzing the
prospect of war in Iraq; in December, he was interviewed
on “Morning Ireland,” a morning radio
broadcast in Dublin, discussing the UN Security
Council’s assessment of weapons inspections in Iraq.
1 3 Pr o fessor Smith, along with Dean M a t t h e w
S p i t z e r and Pr o fessor David Slawson, also was
featured in a Los Angeles Ti m e s article highlighting
the Law School’s new LL.M. program. Smith is
“
on the record
The people who are treated the best are families with a
stay-at-home spouse, who, not surprisingly, are an important
”
constituency f o r R e p u b l i c a n s .
— Professor Edward McCaffery, commenting on proposals
to eliminate the “marriage penalty,” in The New York Ti m e s
director of the program, which provides foreign
lawyers with training in U.S. and international law. Th e
story highlighted some of the cultural differences this
year’s LL.M. students — and their American profe ssors
— are experiencing. “Up until two weeks ago,”
said Slawson, “I had one [student] who would thank
me after every class. It kind of threw me.”
1 4 Nomi Stolzenberg, professor of law, presented
“Democracy in Israel and the United States:
Similarities and Differences” at the Skirball Cultural
Center in Los Angeles and “In/Tolerance: Spiritual
C u s t o d y,” based on her research on liberalism and religion
in American law, to the board of the USC
Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in
American Life. Her research on spiritual custody is
supported by a Casden Institute grant. Stolzenberg
published “Bastard Daughters and Illegitimate
Mothers: Burning Down the Courthouse in Ba s t a r d
Out of Carolina and Bleak House,” with Hilary Sch o r,
in the Yearbook of Research in English and
American Literature: Law and Literature ( Vol. 18).
1 5 Eric Ta l l e y, professor of law, presented
“ C o m p l exity and Corporate Governance” to the Wo r l d
B a n k / OE CD Asian Roundtable on Corporate
Governance, held in Bombay, India, and “Expectations
and Legal Doctrine” at the University of
Fr a n k f u r t /Bar-Ilan Conference on Pa r a d oxes and
S e l f - R e ference in the Law, held in Fr a n k f u r t ,
G e r m a n y. He also gave presentations at the
University of Michigan and Harvard law schools.
1 6 In October, USC Law School’s Domestic Vi o l e n c e
Clinic was featured in the Los Angeles Ti m e s’ “On
the Law” column. The clinic’s director, Assistant
Clinical Pr o fessor Kathryn Va c l a v i k, explained why
the clinic’s unique combination of legal and social
services is so critical to helping domestic violence
victims. “We may be representing her in a ch i l d
custody case or a restraining order,” Vaclavik said, but
“she has to deal with where she’s going to go in the
immediate future. She may need therapy. Her ch i l d r e n
may need therapy with having been exposed to
v i o l e n c e .”
17 Charles Wh i t e b re a d, George T. and Harriet
Pfleger Pr o fessor of Law, taught a weeklong confe rence
on constitutional criminal procedure for the
American Academy of Judicial Education and spoke
a bout recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court
to judges around the country. Whitebread also was
quoted widely in the media about a Nevada proposal
to legalize marijuana and Americans’ continuing
support for the national ban on the drug. “The fe a r
that it will somehow pollute their children has made
some of the people who used marijuana ex t r e m e l y
freely now say, ‘Oh, gee, I wouldn’t be in favor of the
change in the legal status of marijuana,’ ” he said in
a November edition of Ti m e magazine.
D e p a r t u re
Associate Dean K a ren Lash ended her 11-year
tenure at USC Law School to accept a position as
vice president of programs at Equal Justice Wo r k s ,
formerly the National Association for Public Interest
L a w, in Washington, D.C. Equal Justice Works collaborates
with 180 member law schools (including USC )
to expand public interest programs, run the nation’s
largest post-graduate fellowship program, develop
national leadership training for new public interest
lawyers, and enhance resources to address obstacles
to pursuing public service careers.

clinic news
S t u d e n t sin USC legal clinics take on high-profile cases
> > > The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap p e a l s
found in favor of a Post-Conviction Justice
Project client whose trial attorney did not
interview two eyewitnesses whose testimony
would have refuted the state’s case. Ke i t h
Jones ’04 argued the case on behalf of client
M i chael Black, who was convicted of assault
with a deadly weapon during an altercation
with the occupants of a car, even though two
eyewitnesses (including a passenger in the
car) told police they did not see Black bran-
dish a weapon. The case was remanded to
District Court with instructions to vacate
B l a ck’s conviction and sentence.
> > > The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also
affirmed a district court decision in favor of
Post-Conviction client Rhonda Dyas, finding
she was unconstitutionally shackled during
her murder trial and that the shackling like l y
prejudiced the jury against her. B r a n d o n
Liebman ’03 represented Dyas on the appeal.
> > > A Superior Court judge set aside a life-
without-possibility-of-parole sentence for
Margaret Moore, a long-time Po s t - C o n v i c t i o n
client who was convicted in 1982 for
conspiring to murder her abusive husband.
2 4 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
The judge set aside the original sentence and
imposed a straight 26-years-to-life sentence
with credit for time served — making Moore
immediately eligible for parole. Brad Chapin
’ 04 and London Kemp ’03 represented Moore
in Superior Court.
> > > The Domestic Violence Clinic won a
number of victories on behalf of clients this
fall. Lauren Howard ’03 and Paul Levin ’03 w o n
political asylum for a Honduran woman who
fled her abusive husband. Cindy Kang ’03,
Karen Nutter ’04 and Melissa Reese ’04 won a
temporary custody hearing for a domestic
violence victim whose husband accused her of
child abuse. And Amanda Airo ’04 and J o c e l y n
Riedl ’04 secured a restraining order against
an extremely violent batterer who also was
ordered to pay full child support and restitu-
tion to their client.
> > > The Domestic Violence Clinic received a
t h r e e - y e a r, $394,000 grant from the
Department of Justice’s Violence Ag a i n s t
Women Office to support its services to
victims of domestic violence. In December, the
clinic moved its offices to a storefront on the
corner of Figueroa Street and Martin Luther
PCJP documentary makes stars out of students
> > > Left to right: Javier Prato, cameraman; Vincent Pagazza,
d i re c t o r - p roducer; and JP Patterson, pro d u c e r, interview
M i chael Bre n n a n .
King Jr. Boulevard and began holding regular
office hours five days a week.
> > > Immigration Clinic students represented
clients from the Sudan, Sierra Leone, Al b a n i a ,
Somalia, Ethiopia, Mexico, El Salvador,
Vietnam, and several other countries. An d r e a
Garcia ’03, Carey Stone ’04, Tiffany Mitchell ’04
and Alexandra Webber ’04 represented clients
in Immigration Court seeking asylum. O m a r
Zambrano ’03, Ryan Fife ’04 and C h r i s t i n e
Sarapu ’03 represented clients seeking
asylum before the Immigration and
Naturalization Service’s asylum office.
Andrew Hirsh ’03 represented a client before
the Los Angeles Immigration Court and won a
waiver of deportation for a Mexican client with
a minor criminal conviction. Paula Rich ’04
drafted an appellate brief that was filed on
behalf of a client denied asylum by an immi-
gration judge. Jeff Maloney ’03 represented a
client whose removal hearing had been
suspended due to mental incompetence but
who remained in detention for more than a
y e a r, lost in the bureaucracy, after the
proceedings were suspended.
The story has the makings of great drama: A group of law students, most of whom have neve r
argued in court, re p resenting inmates whose legal options have all but run out.
T h a t’s why filmmakers Vincent Pagazza and JP Patterson decided to make “Last Hope,” a
d o c u m e n t a ry that follows four USC law students — Christina Mo o re ’04, Brad Chapin ’04,
Erin Smith ’04 and London Kemp ’03 — as they re p resent clients of the Po s t - C o n v i c t i o n
Justice Project. The cases invo l ve women serving prison sentences for killing abusive spouses or
b oyfriends. “The film is called ‘Last Ho p e’ because if these women didn’t have these students
w o rking for them, they wouldn’t have anybody,” says Pagazza, the film’s dire c t o r - p ro d u c e r.
Pagazzza is an award-winning director with a background in photography.
“The most compelling thing about this film is the students,” says Patterson, a graduate of
U S C ’s School of Cinema-Television and producer of the film. “They don’t have a lot of experience
but they have a lot of heart.” — P. C .
This issue of USC Law magazine, along with arc h i ved issues and additional information relating to USC Law a rticles, can be
found at w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / l a w m . While a g yo u’re browsing, check out the Law School alumni pages, which include a link to
the unive r s i t y’s alumni dire c t o ry, an online giving page and information on reunions. See w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / a l u .
m n i
> Read more USC Law School news online at www. l a w. u s c . e d u / n e w s
<
’ 97
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’ 87
’ 9 2
R e u n i on2 0 0 2
’ 8 2
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’ 97
The Classes of ’62, ’82, ’87, ’92 and ’ 97 celebrated reunions last year. From top, left to right: Brian Mulherin ’97,
Julianna Yasinski ’97 and Michelle Deardorff ’99; Eugena Yasnogorodsky and friends from the Class of ’92; Ed Hays
and Roy Restivo of the Class of ’92; the Class of ’82; Julie Huffman, Aaron Gundzik, Kathleen Villarruel Sch n e i d e r
and Karen Lash of the Class of ’87; Geri Frazier and Beth Dunn of the Class of ’82; Larry Tapper ’62, Jerold Cohn
’62 and Nancy Cohn; the Class of ’62; Vincent Gonzales, Lanny Tron and Tom Tengan of the Class of ’87; the Class
of ’97; the Class of ’92; and a group of minglers at the Class of ’87 reunion.
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USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
g a l l e r y
2 5

class notes class notes
> Class of 1950
The accomplishments of the Class of 1950 are
impressive. Judge J a ck Ry b u r n, who with his wife
Toni has generously provided matching contributions,
sent a reminder that we still need $20,000
to reach our minimum goal of $100,000 for the
Class of 1950 Scholarship Fund. Judge M. Ross
B i g e l o w died in 2002. A retired Los Angeles
Superior Court judge, he presided over the highprofile
trial of two Symbionese Liberation Army
members involved in a 1974 shoot out. His
d a u g h t e r, Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann
B i g e l o w, reporting his death in the Los Angeles
Ti m e s, remembers the heightened security measures
at home and the frightening events
surrounding the trial. His writings include a set of
books distributed to California judges: “Evidence
Objections Handbo o k ,” “Constitutional Rights in
Criminal Cases” and “Felony Trials and Pr o c e d u r e s ,
Orientation Notebo o k .” C. Neil Ash serves on
several Boards: USO World Headquarters,
Washington, DC; Rancho Santa Fe Fo u n d a t i o n ;
Scripps Clinic, Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla;
and Law School, University of Southern California.
For the San Diego Museum of Art, Neil and his
w i fe June hosted members of the Museum
Trustee Association (holding a national meeting at
San Diego) for a tour of his collection of California
plein-air paintings. Judge Edwin Be a ch ’ s w i fe
Janet, secretary to several law school profe s s o r s
( 1 9 48-1950) and fondly remembered by the
women students in the class with whom she associated,
died in January 2000. Ed established a
charitable remainder scholarship gift in her
m e m o r y. He is remarried to Barbara. A retired
Associate Justice of the California Court of
Appeal, he did some private judging and sitting on
assignment, but is now “totally retired.” Willis M.
B r o o k s still works 11 hours a day (6:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m.) in his Beverly Hills office and does more
and more pro-bono work. Judge David N.
E a g l e s o n reports “Same old drill – ADR work –
vacations and golf now and then”. Bernard J.
G r e e n f i e l d is retired in Falls ch u r ch, Vi r g i n i a ;
married to Edith; one son, James Peter and 3
g r a n d children. Ralph B. Helm and Alice will visit
Bob Ar m s t r o n g and Eleanor in Scotland in May.
2 6 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
On the Honor Roll
The Honorable William P. Hogoboom ’49
re c e i ved the Lloyd M. Smith Aw a rd from the
Constitutional Rights Foundation, which seeks
to instill in the nation’s youth a deeper understanding
of citizenship through the va l u e s
e x p ressed in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Evans Karpenko living in Euless, Texas, sadly
reports the loss of Fran, his wife of 58 years. She
was a devoted member of her ch u r ch and active in
the community as a volunteer; a master gardener
and member of the Fort Worth Botanical So c i e t y,
w h i ch has established a memorial to her (planting
an oak tree at the entrance to the So c i e t y
grounds). In October, John H. Larson (mayor of
the City of Seal Beach) monitored a panel on
municipal ethics and the law at the League of
Cities meeting in Long Beach. M i t chell Levy
retired, reports that his family is doing well and that
he is going to travel “one of these days”. R i ch a r d
M o r r o w also reports that he and his family are
well and doing fine. Two grandsons are juniors at
U SC (fourth generation at USC) and another is
a freshman at Arizona State. Judge Harry V.
Pe e t r i s since 1984 has served as a special
Master in United States District Court, Judge Pr o
Tempore in Los Angeles Superior Court, Mediator
and Arbitrator. Significant cases as an Arbitrator
include Anderson v. PG & E ( The movie “Erin
B r o ck o v i ch” was based on this case.). He was a
Municipal Court Judge, Superior Court Judge
( 1 96 4 - 1 984), and Presiding Judge (198 3 - 1 98 4 )
of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Jack
T. Ryburn, retired, took the cruise with the Law
S chool in June. “It was a great trip”. Ed Sanders
“still coming to the office – 4 day week- but no
heavy lifting”; “Winding down on community
service – politics”; Travel centers around ch i l d r e n
and grandchildren. Wanda Young Sanka r y
continues to have enormous responsibilities,
raising an adopted son/college student and
g r a n d d a u g h t e r, age 12. Elaine (Blaubach )
S ch o e ch celebrated her 75th birthday on
November 2, at a luncheon with friends and family
at the Torrance Marriott Hotel. Ted W. Sullivan
lives in Palm Desert playing golf 3 days a week
with tennis in between. Spends the summer in a
RV in Chula Vista, adjacent to a beautiful public
park. Judge Juaneita M. Ve r o n - Fo s t e rr e p o r t e d
no changes. Allan W. Wa l l a c e “perseveres at a
reduced pace.” A. Charles Wilson, chairman of
the board of 3 companies, travels to Singapore
annually on business. Also vacationed this year
in Alaska, London and New York.
Shirley Olsen, Class Report e r
r i ch a r d @ f r a z m t n . c o m
> Class of 1951
The (remaining) members of the Class of 1951
are durable, active, wise and collegial. For instance,
Don Brown (“trying to keep going until my
youngest son takes over my practice”), M a r v i n
L e v i n (“part time – no more administration”), and
Art Wa s s e r m a n (“No burnout yet”) report that
they are still practicing law, and several others,
certainly including Ned Good and Harold Wa x,
also are. Marshall Davis engages in commercial
real estate brokerage. Don von Mizener is still
t e a ching off shore banking and maritime law.
Returned questionnaires show that, while retired,
most are active in “giving back” to their communities.
In this category, Stuart Hillman v o l u n t e e r s
every Tuesday in the heart surgery department of
Cedars Sinai. Mark Joseff serves recovering alcoholics.
Milton Zerin does pro bono arbitration of
fee disputes and tries to counter anti-lawyer
rhetoric. Joe Capalbo claims to carry a pooperscooper
when walking his dogs. And, although
no returned questionnaire mentioned it, the class
is among the most consistent in its financial
support of the law school. We keep in touch with
e a ch other. Don Brown has dined with Ar t
Wa s s e r m a nwho, he alleges, still wears a leather
helmet when he flies his airplane. Marshall Davis
had lunch with Ned Good, who picked up the
ch e ck. Marvin Levin regularly visits with J a ck
Fe l t h o u s e and has encountered Sid Rose w h o
“is in pretty good health.” Leonard We i n b e r g
sees, on occasion, M i ke Fr a n k l i n, Sid Rose a n d
Stuart Hillman. And close but no cigar, J o e
C a p a l b o sees Herb Kalmbach ’ s b r o t h e r. Of
those responding to the question, your reporter
is the only one unconditionally opposing war with
class of 1953 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, June 21, 2003
at the Peninsula Beverly Hills
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
Iraq. As of mid-O c t o b e r, 70% favor military action,
20% support it if unimpeded inspections are not
a chieved, and you-know-who is alone in left field.
Don reports that “Browns multiply rapidly.” True. He
doesn’t give a count, but Volney proudly reports
the birth of a granddaughter following 3 fine
grandsons. Marshall Davis is soggy in Seattle,
but visits “five offspring” in California. M a r k
J o s e f f ’ sson practices medicine in Santa Barbara.
One of Marvin Levin’s sons is in the US
Diplomatic Service in Ivory Coast, Africa; another
lives north of Bergen, Norway. Of his descendants,
Don von Mizener brags that “none (has) been
indicted” (good genes). Leonard We i n b e r g h a s
two sons practicing law, and 5 grandchildren. M i l t
Z e r i n has 4 grandchildren; the eldest wants to
be a lawyer. (Memo to the law school: recruit this
legacy!). Gene E. Smith is missing without a trace.
Please report his whereabouts. Worse by far, our
m u ch-respected classmate George Kasem i s
said to have died on 02/11/02. As S t u a r t
H i l l m a nsuggests for his own, his headstone should
read “Too So o n .” To finish on an upbeat, those
reporting remain unanimously optimistic. Th e
economy will prosper. Virtue will be rewarded. Justice
will prevail. The Law School will lead. So be it!
Volney Brown, Jr., Class Report e r
v v b r o w n @ c ox . n e t
> Class of 1957
See www. l a w.usc.edu/lawmag for an extended
report on your class. The Class of 1957 celebrated
its 45th Class Reunion in May 2002 at the
Faculty Lounge in the Law School. Joining Dean
Matt Spitzer, those in attendance, with spouses,
were Dan Cathcart, Bill Johnstone, Jerry Neiter,
Mel Rich l e y, Billy Robbins, Larry Ross, and
Chris Smith. It was great to talk with classmates
and their spouses, and learn firsthand of their lives,
loves, interests, and activities. The recipient this
year of the Class of 1957 Scholarship is Mr. David
Williams, a 1999 graduate of the University of
Notre Dame who has earned several high grades
in law school and was a member of the staff of the
Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal.
He says, “I hope someday I can help students
attend USC Law School in the same way that you
On the Honor Roll
The taxation section of the California Ba r
Association honored Melvin S. Spears ’51 w i t h
its 2002 Joanne Ga rvey Aw a rd, presented annually
to a California tax practitioner in
recognition of outstanding lifetime achieve m e n t
and contributions to the field of tax law. Sp e a r s
has been with the law firm of Ervin, Cohen and
Jessup for 44 years; the firm’s founding part n e r
John Ervin taught taxation at USC and bro u g h t
many of his former students, including Sp e a r s ,
into the firm. Spears served more than 15 ye a r s
on the USC Institute on Federal Taxation planning
committee and chaired its estate and gift
tax section. He also taught tax law at USC
during the 1960s and was selected by peers in
1987 for listing in Am e r i c a’s Best Lawye r s.
did for me!” We do too, David. Addressing our
classmates’ responses, M. Stan To m l i n s o n, now
residing in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., retired from the
practice in 2002. William L. “Ted” Todd, Jr., some
8 years retired from the Bench of the Fo u r t h
District Court of Appeal, Division One in San
Diego, still works as a private mediator, arbitrator
and court support officer. He notes, “My son is
President Elect of the San Diego County Bar
Association. We’re the third father-son combo to
have served in the office.” He now serves as
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
Claremont School of Th e o l o g y. Ted says he’s “still
a golf nut — great golf weekend in Ireland this year
— then cruised the Baltic.” Our classmate M . A .
“Mel” Rich l e y finally responded to our questionnaires.
Mel, who lives with his wife, Rickie, on Lido
Isle in Newport Beach, says he practiced in
Newport Beach for 10 years before forming a
company with a client to build sailboats. He sold
the business two years later for an offer “many
times what I believed it was worth.” He then
decided to stay at home with his wife, his Choate
48 racing sailboard and his Duffy electric boat. He
has five grandchildren ages 8-13, and his
youngest son and his wife are living nearby and
expecting a baby. Billy A. Robbins, who is associated
with Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, reports that
his grandson, Cole Ryder Robbins, is now 3 years
old. Joseph A. Th o m a s retired in 1997 and still
serves as a member of the Board of Directors of
BE ST Life and Health Insurance Company. He
recently retired from the Board of Administration
of the California Public Employees’ Retirement
System (CalPERS). He and his wife, Jackie, took
their 5 sons, their spouses, and 9 grandchildren to
Kauai in July 2002. Joe and Jackie went to
Europe for Belgium, Switzerland and a Rhine River
cruise in October. James J. Pe n n e, residing in
Bakersfield, Calif., reports the death of his wife
12/23/01. Gerald I. “Jerry” Neiter, works 4 days
a week and completed his questionnaire on a
cruise ship in the Baltic Sea. His latest grandd
a u g h t e r, Maia, is almost 3. We know that Ar n o l d
S. Malter is alive and well because he reports no
changes in family or work status, as does David B.
Wa l ke r. William S. “Bill” Johnstone is serving
as Chair of the Rose Bowl Management
Committee, responsible for the management of
the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day. He and
his wife, Lynne, enjoyed the 2002 Mediterranean
cruise sponsored by the USC Law School on the
Sea Dream. He reports enjoying both the association
with fellow alumni and at the same time
contributing support to the Law School. J a ck E.
G o e r t z e n is retired from the District Court of
Appeal bench but continues private judging and
handling arbitration and mediation matters, as well
as acting periodically as an expert witness. Jack
and his wife live half time in Laguna Beach (“still
body surfing”) and half time in Studio City, Calif.
In addition to his wife, son, 4 daughters, and 2
g r a n d children, he reports another grandchild is
due in February 2003. Daniel C. Cathcart and his
w i fe, Jackie, of 48 years, have 3 sons, one
daughter (all married) and 5 grandch i l d r e n .
Although “of counsel” to the firm of Magana,
Cathcart & McCarthy, he reports he is still working
on the Golden Buddha vs. Marcos case (15 years)
and hopes to reinstate the trial court judgment of
$43 billion. He continues to assist the
Dependency Court and acts as a mentor for 3 ch i ldren
in foster care. He and his wife spend their
free time at their ranch in Northern Idaho. Ralph I.
C a l l e n and his wife of 51 years, Betty, are finally
expecting their first grandchild. Ralph founded the
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
2 7

case
Court
class notes class notes
2 8 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
Class of 1961
The response to a request for information from our
classmates was disappointing, at best. Those who
responded include: Robert Cleaves w h o
continues to operate the Wilderness Conservancy,
protecting wildlife in African countries and
providing humanitarian operations in flying medical
supplies, healthcare providers and school supplies
to small villages in remote areas of Baja California,
M exico. He would welcome your help and can be
found at www.wildcon.org. Stanley O. Epstein i s
semi-retired. His weekly highlight seems to be
w a t ching JAG (Judging Amy and The Pr a c t i c e ) .
Stan is a member of the Board of Directors of the
We s t chester Symphony. He just returned from an
extended trip to the Canadian Rockies. P h i l l i p
N i ch o l s o nspends a great deal of time motorcycling
with his wife Joan around the country. Th i s
year they cycled throughout the Arkansas
Smokey’s, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina,
and Canada. R i chard Norman, although suppos-
edly semi-retired, is still active in his practice in
Ventura. He is currently President of the Ve n t u r a
County Bar Association and serves as “of counsel”
to his former firm, working more than he wants
“thanks to Mr. Dow and Mr. Jones.” Dick and Jean
have a new grandchild born to their attorney
daughter Ke r r y. Attorney son Scott works in Tex a s
and Attorney daughter Tracy recently was married
on the golf course serenaded by Randy Siple at
the bagpipes. He and Jean vacationed this year to
Prague, Germany, Holland and Belgium. Gerard R.
Po i r i e rreports cryptically, “retired-no ch a n g e s ”. At
least he responded!! Edward Rote is now a full
Commander and lives in S. Colby, WA. He is
completely retired. Philip Rudnick is still in
Bakersfield and can be reached via E-Mail at
p h i l @ f l e m i n s i l v e r.com. Phil and his wife recently
celebrated their 46th Anniversary and are the
proud parents of 5 children and 4 grandch i l d r e n .
He currently spends his time working on a renewable
wind-energy project on his ranch in Eastern
Kern County – Jawbone Energy. Lillian To m i ch
spent a month in Europe, touring France, Italy,
Switzerland and, of course Yugoslavia. She was
recently successful in prevailing before the Ninth
Circuit and obtained an order vacating a judgment
of the District Court. The opinion will be published.
On a sad note, our classmate Bill Clayton r e c e n t l y
passed away. He had retired from the California
Dept. of Savings and Loan and had devoted his
energies to minority issues and representation. Bill
was active in the Mexican American Bar
Association and enjoyed travel to Mexico, Costa
Rica and Cuba. Your reporter, Charles Whitesell,
is still plugging away in Glendale concentrating on
litigation involving wills, trusts, elder abuse, conservatorships
and family law. My wife of 42 years still
puts up with my fishing trips to Alaska, Canada,
and, of course to Casa de Whitesell in Cabo San
Lucas, Mexico. Martin We e ke s proudly reports
that Case Melon Foundation has chosen his
youngest daughter California College Pr o fessor of
the year and that his middle daughter is a partner
in the law firm of Andrew and Po r t e r. Respectfully
submitted,
Charles E. Whitesell, Class Report e r
c w h i t e s e l l @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
2 9

class notes class notes
> Class of 196 2
If you missed the 40th reunion brunch you missed
a good time. The stories have gotten better and
with the passage of years, some feel they had a
good - fun time in law school. Others, like ye’ ole’
e d i t o r, still shiver at the thought of Pr o fe s s o r s
S p r i n g m e y e r, Burby and gang. We had a good
time and look forward to the big 50th. Replies to
the questionnaire and a little snooping on my part
indicate we are still active and yearning to ex p l o r e
and make a difference. I called Vince Fish at his
listed office number and was told it was no longer
in service. His home number was answered by the
“ m a chine” so I assume Vince finally made good his
threat to retire and go sailing. Kent Fr o e h l i ch
returned from travels to China, Tibet, Cambo d i a ,
G e r m a n y, Poland, Hungary and the Czech
Republic. James Gilmartin is still active in the
practice of law with offices in Saugus, California.
M a r i l y n (Davis) Liddicoat reports that ch i l d r e n
Britt and Brian, both attorneys, have taken over her
practice and that daughter Rebecca is a physician.
After being in politics (a member of the county
Board of Supervisors) she now spends a good
deal of the year traveling and spoiling her grandchildren.
Norman Marshall is anticipating the
birth of his first grandchild in January 2003. A nice
way to start the New Ye a r. Jerry Miller enjoyed the
40th reunion. Jerry made major contributions to
the humor of the day recounting the famous lines
of Marv Katz in response to an inquiry by Pr o fe s s o r
S p r i n g m e y e . rRuth
Sward made contact and indicated
she retired after 20 years of law practice
and that she is living in Sacramento. Alex Urbach
is living in Los Angeles and would like to hear from
classmates. He may be reached at
urblurb@aol.com; also the old fashioned way:
(213) 658-73 75. Don Zimmer (‘63 - but really
one of us) has cut down his practice but still
shows up regularly at Best, Best and Kreiger in
Riverside. He and Cathy are enjoying the grandchildren.
This wraps it up for the reporter. My wife
and I still are fascinated with our grandch i l d r e n ,
four-year-old twins (Matthew and Isabelle). By the
time you read this column I may be retired from my
government job and looking for new adventures. It
has been a joy to be a part of the Class of ‘62 and
3 0 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
I look forward to our next reunion as I pass the pen
to the next editor who will write this column. Ta
ta for now.
Judge John C. Wo o l l e y, Class Report e r
j w o o l l e y @ o c c o u r t s . o r g
> Class of 1964
As I reported earlier, Bill Be n n e t t had “retired”.
H o w e v e r, Bill is busy acting as a consultant to
ch u r ches and non-profit organizations. He is also
serving as a voluntary Chaplin with the V. A .
Hospital and National Guard. Since his recent
marriage, he has traveled extensively throughout
the world including Tahiti, Argentina, Uruguay,
Bolivia and Peru. D i ck Be r n a c ch ireports that he
now has 5 grandchildren the latest of which was
born in September 2002. Dick is listed in
Euromoney’s E x p e rt Guide to the Wo r l d ’ s
Leading Information Te chnology Ad v i s o r sas well
as having been selected for inclusion in A n
International Who’s Who of Internet and e-
Commerce Lawyers. Doug Callister r e s p o n d e d
to my inquiry with one word: “Retired!” I reported
earlier that Ray Cotkin had recently married an
attorney from his office. In a recent issue of the
Daily Journal featuring an article on his wife Joan,
Ray revealed that he met her in a case, which she
successfully defended against him. If you can’t
beat ‘em, join ‘em. Congratulations to M a r s h a l l
G r o s s m a n who received the Learned Hand
Award from the American Jewish Committee. Th e
Award is given to a Los Angeles lawyer “who has
played a significant role in bettering the local
community and promoting human rights causes.”
Jerry Garrett now has entered the 21st century
and has email in New Zealand. If you want the
address, let me know. Jerry has been working with
the New Zealand Marine Research Fo u n d a t i o n
and Massey University tracing fish movements.
The program will be for 2 years. Ron Goodgame
writes that the tourists in New Hampshire have
finally seen all the leaves they want and have left.
Ron had hoped to see Ken Unmach t and his wife
last October but the plans changed. Ron and his
w i fe are taking a cruise to New Zealand in
February and will be meeting with our New
Zealand class representative. Ah, the wonders of
alumni in the n e w s
Several USC law grads were included in
the Daily Journal’s “ Top 100” listing of
California’s most prominent lawyers last
f a l l :
John J. Quinn Jr. ’59 (managing partner, Arnold
& Porter) has helped his firm gather a roster of top
intellectual property lawyers. He recently was
honored by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
for distinguished service.
John K. Trotter ’62 ( a r b i t r a t o r, JAMS) helped
found JAMS in 1987 and has since made arbitration
and dispute resolution an integral part of
the legal process. He is a retired presiding judge
of the 4th District Court of Appeal.
Samuel A. Keesal Jr. ’65 (name partner,
Ke e sal, Young & Logan) is the nation’s leading
securities expert. His client list includes Sa l o m o n
Smith Ba r n e y, Citigroup, General Electric and JP
Morgan Chase.
Dennis M. Wasser ’67 (name partner, Wa s s e r,
Cooperman & Carter) is Hollywood’s “divorce
k i n g ,” said the J o u r n a l. His long list of celebrity
clients includes Angelina Jolie.
Brian A. Sun ’79 (managing partner, O’Neill,
Ly saght & Sun), a former federal prosecutor, now
represents corporate criminal defendants.
Recent clients include Earthlink’s co-founder and
scientist Wen Ho Lee.
George J. Mihlsten ’80 ( p a r t n e r, Latham &
Watkins) is a top lawyer in real estate and landuse
law. He recently helped Playa Capital launch
its 5-million-square-foot residential and commercial
complex, Playa Vi s ta .
Kenneth M. Doran ’81 (managing partner,
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher) has been an integral
member of his firm’s management since 1996 .
His clients include Morgan Sta n l e y, We l l p o i n t
Health Networks and Ti ck e t m a s t e . r
Also included were USC Law School Bo a r d
of Councilors member Bruce M. Ramer
(name partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer &
Brown) and USC Law Professor Erwin
C h e m e r i n s k y. For more “Alumni in the
N e w s ,” see www. l a w.usc.edu/news. — E.A.
class of 1 963 r e u n i o n
To be held Sunday, May 18, 2003
at Nic’s in Beverly Hills
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
email. Bill Lugosi is still practicing law with a
specialty in trademark, copyright and right of
publicity litigation. Bill also serves as an ex p e r t
witness. Bill was a panelist at the Fe d e r a l i s t
Society Conference at Chapman University, a
speaker to the Southern California Alumni
Association of Phi Beta Kappa and a panelist for
a Smithsonian/ALI-ABA program on legal problems
of museum administration. R i ch Reinjohn
had one word for his recent “Sea Dream II” cruise
with the President’s Associates USC: “Wo w ! ”
Congratulations to my partner Ron Rosenfeld o n
the birth of his first grandchild, a bo y. D a v e
S t a n t o n is “retired, sort of.” Dave still has clients
and is teaching classes at California State
U n i v e r s i t y, Bakersfield. Dave has the thankless job
of being the President of his homeowners association
in a development of 1400 homes. Our
condolences to the family of William C. Hobbs.
Bill passed away in March 2002. Bill was a clinical
p r o fessor at Loyola Law School for 30 years
t e a ching trial advocacy. That’s all for now. See you
in the next issue.
Gary Zimmerman, Class Report e r
g l z @ b e v e r l y h i l l s l a w. c o m
> Class of 1965
Wayne Dryden wrote to say that he has just been
certified as a SCUBA diver and that he has a
grandson, Ti m o t h y, born in February 2002. Still in
Pasadena, Judy Nelson is chair of the audit
committee for Argonaut Group and for a time was
dealing in certified organic fertilizer in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. Is that duplicative work. Based on
her experience in Brazil she has decided that
someone else can deal with the no see-ums. D o n
Fe n m o r e has been active on the legislative level
spearheading the right to an interim appeal of an
important issue prior to a judgment. See C.C.P
1 66.1. Due to his successful efforts he was asked
to chair the Beverly Hills Bar Association legislative
committee and has accepted. Good job. Bo b
Fe r g u s o n is still active in astronomy. He teach e s
sophomores this subject at the University of
L a Verne. Also General Counsel (pro bono) for
Kids Enterprises, a non-profit that seeks to
improve reading, writing and computer skills to low
class
r e p o r t e r s
n e e d e d
On the Honor Roll
W. Patrick O’Keefe Jr. ’67 re c e i ved the pre s t igious
Harmon G. Scoville Aw a rd from the
Orange County Bar Association last ye a r. T h e
annual award honors a local attorney who
“e xemplifies the highest standards of the legal
p rofession and who has contributed significantly
to the Orange County Bar Association.”
O ’ Keefe has a general civil, corporate, real estate,
p robate and estate planning practice and has
been an active member of the Orange County
Bar Association for more than 30 ye a r s .
income children. And with all of this he still practices
a little law. Justice R i chard Huffman is still
affirming and reversing in San Diego. His son is
a Deputy District Attorney and his wife Caroline
a court appointed Special Advocate in juvenile
court. Spent 6 weeks in Oxford, England, where he
taught for the University of San Diego at
Magdalen College. Bob Martin and his wife ,
Monica, celebrated their 50th wedding annivers
a r y. Practices law but not too much. Director of
the 454 Bombardment Group (WWII). Lots of
travel. Italy, France, St. Moritz. Joe Nida’s firm was
acquired by Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and
Hampton. He was awarded the “Pioneer of the
Year” by the South Coast Business and
Te chnology Assoc. Wayne Pa r r i s h retired from
the Los Angeles County Counsel in 1988 and
became the County Counsel of Merced, retired
in 2002 and was recently elected to the Mariposa
Superior Court. Congratulations. Tom Stutz a n d
Sophie are celebrating their 35th wedding
anniversary with a Mexican Rivera cruise with their
3 children and the grandchildren last Th a n k s g i v i n g .
D i ckran Te v r i z i a n and Jeri have a new granddaughter
and Dick received the 2002 Maynard
J. Toll award. Congratulations Dick. Alan Wo l e n
and Gloria are living in Lake Arrowhead where he
is semi- retired. Active in the community where he
was President of the Lake Association and ch a i r
of the Lake Stabilization Committee. Ran into R i ck
and Carol Be s w i ck and Howie We i t z m a n at a
Laker game. Rick is still going strong in San
Bernadino and I might add that he hasn’t ch a n g e d
For the Classes of 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956 ,
1 9 57, 1958, 1959, 1962 and 1963.
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information.
a bit. Howie lasted in retirement for 6 months and
is now back at it with Proskauer Rose. Hope that
this missive finds most of you healthy and that the
New Year brings you and your family peace. E-mail
me at Torribiolaw@ yahoo.com if you win a Nobel
Prize or if you just break 90 on the golf course or
your grandchild takes his or her first step. Regards.
John Torribio, Class Report e r
To r r i b i o l a w @ y a h o o . c o m
> Class of 1966
Paul H. Ab r a m writes that he is semi-retired living
in North Fork, CA. In case anyone doesn’t know,
North Fork is 17 miles from Yosemite. Paul says
every day is a “vacation day” while he spends time
fishing, photographing the surrounding area and
writing a fishing column for the Sierra Star n e w spaper
in Oakhurst, Calif. Some of Pa u l ’ s
photography has been on display at various art
galleries in the area. Larry Campbell is still practicing
law managing Solar Turbines Inc.
commercial litigation and “horsing” around with his
and his wife’s hobby, raising and riding horses. In
fact, Larry and his wife have a new family member,
a 9-year-old Hanoverian gelding named Magic
To u ch, which they acquired in Germany and
recently brought to their home in San Diego. Pa u l
C r u m is retired and spends most of his time
buying and selling antiques. His son, Brandon, just
finished working for a law firm in Paris, France, and
is now getting a Master’s Degree in Fr e n ch at the
So r bonne. Wayne Hunkins, who has been a
d e fense attorney almost forever, plans on
s w i t ching sides in mid-year when he retires from
the defense business to represent plaintiffs.
Leonard Mandel is another of our classmates
who is retired but he decided to go back to sch o o l
rather than be a man of leisure. He is a world
history student at U.C.L.A. Terry McGaughey a n d
his wife became grandparents for the first time
in December 2001, when their son and daughterin-law
had twins, a boy and a girl. Their daughter is
following in dad’s footsteps and will graduate from
law school in May 2003. The D. F. Pe l l e g r i n o s
also recently had their first grandchild and celebrated
by taking a 14-day cruise to the Baltic. D o n
R o t h m a n says that he and Jim Bageman a r e
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
3 1

class notes class notes
Los Angeles has recently emerged as the nation’s epicenter for cutting-edge arch i t e c t u re done by
some of the brightest stars in the business. Witness the billion-dollar Getty Museum, the Fr a n k
Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall and, just down the street, the magnificent Cathedral of Our
Lady of Angels.
Perhaps no other lawyer in the city is more responsible for helping to make such larg e - s cale pro j-
ects a reality than O’Malley Miller, a 1976 graduate of USC Law School and a real estate attorney
in the Los Angeles firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Miller served as lead counsel for both Disney Hall and the cathedral. His A-list roster of past
and current clients includes Amgen Corp., Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Southern California
Edison, the Port of San Diego and Sta n f o rd University. He is past chair of the Los Angeles County
Bar Association’s real property section as well as a member of the American College of Real Esta t e
Lawyers. As a result, Miller is widely re g a rded as one of the most influential real estate attorneys
in Southern California.
USC Law Professor George Lefcoe attributes Miller’s success to his dedication to every client.
“O’Malley lives and dies for his clients,” says Lefcoe, who taught real estate law to Miller at USC.
Class of 1969
See www. l a w.usc.edu/lawmag for an extended
report on your class. Charlie Be r w a n g e ris now
a partner at Gordon & Rees in San Diego. D o n
D a v i s, who practicing out of his yacht in Marina del
R e y, has now opened an investment-banking firm
to work hand in hand with his securities law practice.
This was probably necessary as he has 7
children ranging in age from 2 to 30. D i ck
D o m b r o w has a similar problem. Although his
oldest daughter is 39 and working as an attorney,
his youngest daughter is a sophomore in pre-law
at UC SD. He says that 6 more years of tuition will
prevent him from retiring. He is just back from a
month in China and Tibet, and is still flying his
C o m a n che about 300 hours per year. Not to
mention hunting (see below). He says his standard
16 weeks off is expanding. Mark Fr a z i n r e t i r e d
after 29 years in the L.A. Public Defender’s Office,
and was appointed last year as a referee for the
L.A. Superior Court, Juvenile Division. He is also
t e a ching law at the University of West L.A.
Paralegal School and spends time in the Sierra
Nevadas hiking, fishing and skiing. R i ch a r d
G e o r g e reports that his son, Brian, is now in his
first year at USC Law School. Bob Harter is now
Senior V. P. and general counsel at RSI Holding
Corp. in Newport Beach. He founded an air ch a r t e r
company providing on-demand air charter services
to the western states with a Cessna Golden Eagle.
No truth to the rumor that this is Dombrow’s night
job. Don McNelley reports in from Indian We l l s
where he has been in solo practice since 1996 .
He currently represents customers and brokers in
disputes with securities firms, along with corporate
representation and estate planning. He has been
married to Lovelace for 47 years and they have
3 children and 7 grandchildren. He is on the
boards of St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, FIND
( C o a chella Valley food bank) and Cove
Communities Senior Association. Frank Maas
has not practiced law since 1995, and is involved
full time in managing and investing in real estate.
He is currently president of Hillcrest Country Club,
Secretary of the Jewish Federation Council of
Greater Los Angeles, and Chair Emeritus of the
University of Judaism. He recently received a
doctorate Honorus Causa in Humane Letters from
the University of Judaism. His wife, Virginia, is
currently President of the Board of the Beverly
Hills Unified School District. He says he plays a lot
of golf, skis occasionally, and travels when he has
time. Ben “Bunky” Sch u ck reports from Santa
Paula that he is “blessed in all departments” and
his life is “as good as it gets.” Bunky enclosed a
short letter entitled “Mystery in Gila Bend” which
describes his annual dove hunting trip with D i ck
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
3 3

class notes class notes
D o m b r o w. Stanton “Larry” Stein is on the move
again. His firm, Alsch u l e r, Grossman, Stein & Ka h a n
has moved to the Water Gardens in Santa Monica.
He has been lecturing annually and semi-annually
at USC, UCLA, Stanford, Boalt, Harvard and Ya l e
law schools, and was, at the time of this writing,
expecting his first grandchild. Tom Walley celebrated
his first anniversary with his new wife,
Stephanie. He and Stephanie became certified
scuba divers and spent a week diving in the British
Virgin Islands. His second twin recently married, and
his new son-in-law just received his Ph.D. in organic
chemistry from UCI. Trav Wo o d was also recently
remarried and is living in Hermosa Beach. His new
wife, Karen, has been a professor of biology at
Cypress College for 30 years. Trav is still at White &
Case doing mostly litigation involving securities and
p r o fessional liability actions for national accounting
firms. He also represents banks and investment
banking entities. He has been playing lots of golf,
and has recent travels to Tu r k e y, Northern Italy and
Hawaii. He is also recovering from cervical spine
surgery in July 2002, the result of a freaky infe ction.
I had dinner with Trav recently and he is fine,
but it was a really scary story. As for me, Bo b
R o s e n b e r g, I am still practicing mostly real estate
as a sole practitioner in Beverly Hills, although I
seem to be spending more time on personal real
estate and investment matters. Of course, that is as
time permits from my seemingly full time employment
as Class Reporter and Class Representative
to the Legion Lex Annual Fund. My wife Jack i e ’ s
business, “Babies First Class” was recently fe a t u r e d
in the Los Angeles Ti m e s. The article started: “J u s t
found out you are pregnant? First, call your parents.
Then call Jackie. For if you wait until your fe t u s
develops so much as fingers, Jackie Rosenberg will
have no room for you and your little one in ‘Babies
First Class.’” My daughter, Allison, is an advertising
executive at Rubin Postaer in Santa Monica, and
her husband, Chris, is a creative director at Fox
Sports Television. My son, Todd, is licensing and
special markets manager at Concord Records, and
is in his second year at the MBA program at USC .
I am very proud of all of them.
Bob Rosenberg, Class Report e r
r i r @ j w b l . c o m
3 4 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
On the Honor Roll
The Honorable Jane D. Myers ’76 re c e i ved the
Judge of the Year Aw a rd in October from the
American Board of Trial Ad vo c a t e s’ Or a n g e
County chapter. It is the first time that an
Orange County Superior Court Commissioner
has re c e i ved the award. Myers re c e i ved the award
for her “outstanding judicial qualities and
persistent efforts to pre s e rve the civil jury system
and maintain its orderly and efficient pro c e s s” in
Orange County.
> Class of 1972
Last year was of particular interest because of our
30th Year Class Reunion – a benchmark that
reminds me of the success of our classmates who
have such rich and varied accomplishments. So m e
have been elevated to the bench recently and
others many years ago. Some have toiled in the
courtrooms representing clients notorious, impoverished,
ordinary, guiltless, institutional, and of
many other variations. Some have never practiced
law per se since graduating but have ach i e v e d
success in other fields of endeavor that I know
of, including academia, telecommunications, securities,
retail, farming, oil and gas, and real estate.
Some have retired. Here is to all of you, my thanks
for your friendship. Now for some news: J e f f r e y
Ab e l l wrote from his family jewelry store in
Westwood where he has been the CFO for years.
Being in the retail business with plenty of family to
w a t ch the store, Jeff and his wife, Linda, began
taking retirement 20 years ago and will continue
to do so for another 10 years. By my calculations,
Jeff has arranged a 30-year pace for his cycling
tours and other traveling adventures. He brags that
his daughter earned a PhD 2 years ago at UCL A
and is now the Director of Institutional Research
and Evaluation at Mount St. Mary’s College in Lo s
Angeles, a “gem” of a position. I was pleased to
hear recently from John An g l i n, one of the “silent
t y p e s .” After 30 years of battling the freeways,
commuting between Pasadena and Downtown,
this year John made a gutsy move and started a
new law firm 5 minutes from home. He took some
good people from his former firm and was lucky to
associate with some other talented lawyers
specializing in business and real estate transactions,
litigation, and estate and trust work. John
and his wife, Barbara, reside on the golf course
at Annandale and give their clubs a regular
workout. No imminent retirement plans for them
with this new business opportunity. S t e v e
Be r m a nreceives the award this issue for keeping
in contact with classmates. While assigned as a
R e feree at the Eastlake Delinquency Court in Lo s
Angeles, Steve worked under the supervision of
Presiding Judge Rudy Diaz and one of his
d e fense attorneys was Cynthia Cohan. Maybe
they pipe in the Trojan Fight Song to speed jury
deliberations over there! Steve says that he loves
judging and has sacrificed his criminal and
personal injury practice unhesitatingly. He also
remarked that as a court commissioner, he will
receive 15% less pay and 50% less prestige than
a judge. Steve has a 2-year-old granddaughter
that he spoils rotten and then returns to mommy
and daddy. Steve Brown wrote from We s t l a k e
Village to tell me that I should keep working until
70 plus! But he allowed as how he has been
dreaming about his own retirement plan that
would include part-time work. Steve is not running
for any political office, but he pledges to stay
informed. With an e-mail address, @fe d e r a l -
l a w.com, Steve better stay informed about more
than politics! Bud Hick s practices law in a large
firm in Reno but spends much of his time in the
Las Vegas office. He astutely observes the “velvet
handcuffs” of law practice: good money and relative
independence. R i chard Epstein was Bud’s
favorite profe s s o r, as if that explains his gaming
practice. Bud says that his primary pursuit since
graduation has been a wicked combination of billable
hours and a lower golf handicap. He and his
w i fe of 33 years, Suzette, vacation at their second
home at Lake Tahoe and hope to spend more time
there in the future. Tony Ko u b a says that he
opposes the concept of retirement. He advises me
from his business office in Santa Monica to keep
in the game. Tony plans to work until he becomes
literally incapable of doing so. He is presently
polishing up his 50-year plan, i.e., 2002-2052! I
should think that Pa t t y, his wife, would have some
input on that particular plan. R i ch Kramer p r e s i d e s
class of 1 973 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, April 26, 2003
at Shutters, Santa Monica
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
over a San Francisco Superior Court everyday. But
for one night in April 2002 at the Beverly Hills
Peninsula Hotel, he presided over our Class
Reunion. No way could his courtroom be as lighthearted
as that evening’s festivities or as
sentimental. Rich brags that his daughter is a
freshman playing Women’s Volleyball at Cornell
U n i v e r s i t y. No more news to report this time. Be
sure to send me your own news via e-mail @
j b a k e r @ b r i ckstoneco.com.
J a ck Ba k e r, Class Report e r
j b a k e r @ b r i ck s t o n e c o . c o m
> Class of 1981
Congratulations to Kenneth Doran on becoming
Managing Partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher! It is
wonderful to see that the Class of 1981 is so
successful! Speaking of other success stories,
Keith Bishop was recently appointed co-chair of
the Corporations Committee of the Business Law
Section of the California State Bar. His oldest
daughter Katherine is a sophomore at Harvard and
is studying Japanese. He also has a son, Paul, who
is a junior in high school and a daughter, Sara, who
is in 5th grade. Jeffrey Th o m p s o n is Senior
Counsel for Tenet California in Santa Ana He is
responsible for ten Southern California Te n e t
Healthsystem hospitals. He is currently building a
home in Palm Desert and plans to split his time
between there and Irvine. David Dick, M i ch a e l
O ’ H a l l o r a n, Margaret Mann and Angela Ya t e s
(aka “The San Diego Contingent”) met for their
annual observance of their first day of law sch o o l .
Are you really sure you want to memorialize that?
Ron St. John has been installed as a member of
the Board of Directors of the Conference of
Delegates of California Bar Associations. His son
Corey is an officer in the United States Navy and is
currently training to be a nuclear engineer. Paul M.
K a r s s e n is living in Iowa and is working for the
Reformed Church of America Building and
Extension Fund. He is still happily married to his
w i fe Victoria. They have 3 children, Amanda age 14,
Elizabeth age 12, and Matthew age 9. Ross H.
Pa l f r e y m a n is at Bagby Gajdos & Zachary in
Santa Ana. He has been married to Claralyn since
1 976. They have 6 children, Claire (University of
class of 1 978 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, May 17, 2003
at Davidson Center, USC C a m p u s
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
On the Honor Roll
Sh e l l ey E. Reid ’80 re c e i ved the 2002 Wo m a n
of Ac h i e vement Aw a rd from the Wo m e n’s
Business Council of the Century City Chamber
of Commerce. Reid is special counsel in the
e n t e rtainment and new media practice of Katten
Muchin Zavis Ro s e n m a n’s Los Angeles office.
Utah 2002 law school graduate), Kate (mother of
1 and expecting another), Kelly (a senior at BY U ) ,
Kacey (a freshman at UC Berkeley), Sam (a
freshman at Laguna Beach High School) and John
(in 6th grade) and have one granddaughter,
M ckena. Jonathan Swerdlow has a new son,
A l exander Joseph, who was born on 06 / 1 4 / 0 1 .
Congratulations! Your class reporter J o h n
Jameson also has news to report. The Jameson
Group has merged with Gregg Ziskind and
Associates, formerly Ziskind Greene, to form
Jameson Ziskind LLC. Jameson Kiskind LLC will
focus exclusively on the placement of partner-level
lawyers and practice groups in law firms, law firm
mergers, and the placement of in-house counsel.
My daughter, Alissa, is 14 and a freshman at
Beverly Hills High School where she is the only
freshman on the varsity volleyball team. We also
have a son, Matthew who is 11. My wife, Kristin and
I are so proud!
John B. Jameson, Class Report e r
j b j @ j z s e a r ch . c o m
> Class of 198 2
Our 20th Year Reunion was great fun! The relaxed
atmosphere and beautiful evening made for some
wonderful memories shared with old friends. Fo r
those of you who were unable to attend, here is
what some of our classmates are up to these days.
First of all, kudos to Pa u l and Ann C h e v e r t o nf o r
making the trip up from San Diego to our celebration,
notwithstanding Ann’s then impending
due date. In fact, Paul and Ann’s second ch i l d
R a chel Anne, was born just days after the reunion
on 8/1/2002. Rachel joins brother Matthew in the
Cheverton gang. Congrats. Randy Sinnott ( w h o
demonstrates that regular rigorous physical
training definitely helps retard the aging process)
started his own law firm (Sinnott, Dito, Moura &
Puebla) in 1993. With both LA and San Fr a n c i s c o
offices, they specialize in commercial litigation.
Randy is a Colonel in the Marine Reserves
awaiting probable mobilization in connection with
the campaign against terrorism. Randy served as
the National President of the Marine Corps
Reserve Officer’s Association from 2000-2002.
He also has 3 great kids, the oldest of whom is
studying engineering as a freshman at Carnegie
Mellon. Rob Lence and wife Ann-Marie live in
Rob’s hometown of Salt Lake City. Rob is currently
General Counsel for Huntsman Company, LLC ,
where much of his work involves mergers and
acquisitions, corporate finance and general
commercial matters. Rob and Anne-Marie have
3 children Bryan 18, Kristen 16 and Erin 11 who
are all involved in some form of athletic endeavor.
Bryan, who was a member of the U.S. Fe n c i n g
Team at the 2001 Junior Pan Am Games in
Bolivia, is a freshman at Stanford, Rob and Ann-
Marie’s alma mater. He is continuing to fence with
Stanford’s team and performs with the Le l a n d
Stanford Junior University Marching Band
( “ m a r ching” being the operative word). J e f f
K n e t s ch moved to Denver from New York a fe w
years ago and specializes in securities and
mergers and acquisitions with Brownstein, Hyatt
and Fa r b e r. Whether they are skiing, golfing or
playing soccer, Jeff and his wife Kathy are busy
with their 2 active kids Caroline 9 and Matthew
7. Jeff’s sense of humor is alive and well. He had
many of us in stitches all evening long. Beth Dunn
lives in San Diego and is a partner with the firm
of Butz, Dunn, DeSantis & Bingham. She specializes
in employment, unfair business practices and
commercial litigation although she continues to be
very involved on the boards of numerous San
Diego area non-profits. Beth and her husband
Peter Boermeester have 3 athletic boys, Brian 11,
Matthew 8 and Kevin 4, who keep them on the run
most of the time. Jeff Sine left Morgan Stanley
after 16 years to become the Vice Chairman of
UBS Warburg, where he continues to focus on
clients in the media, telecommunications and
t e chnology industries. For fun, Jeff has produced
several Broadway and off-Broadway plays and
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
3 5

musicals including “The Goat” by Edward Albee,
“ Private Lives” by Noel Coward, and “Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang in London” by Ian Fleming. Jeff now
splits his time between NY City and San Diego
where Jeff and son Jonathan, 8, are learning to
surf. Scott Dettmer has been enjoying the Menlo
Park, CA law firm that he helped found 7 years
ago, Gunderson, Dettmer, Stough, Vi l l e n e u v e ,
Franklin & Hachigian, LLP. Scott and wife Lisa
have 2 kids, Monica, 11, and Grant, 9, who enjoy
snow and water skiing and are die-hard Giants
fans. Sorry about the series Scott. It was just the
Angels’ year! (Note Geri’s e-mail address below. )
We would love to hear from more of our classmates.
Please contact us with updates on your life ,
children, jobs, hobbies etc. Everyone take good
care until next time.
Mark Frazier and Geri (Craft) Frazier,
Class Reporters
mfrazier@rutan.com (Mark)
newportangelfan@aol.com (Geri)
> Class of 198 3
Who says that USC Law grads all stay in Lo s
Angeles? R i chard An g e l and his wife Shelli are
happy and healthy in Boulder, CO. In late 1996 ,
after many years as a shareholder of Buch a l t e r
Nemer Fields & Younger in Los Angeles, where he
practiced real estate law, Rick and his new wife left
Southern California for Sioux Falls (That’s no typo:
from Beverly Hills to South Dakota!). Rick took a
position with his client The Credit Store. Last year,
after an especially cold winter, Rick and Shelli
moved to Boulder, from which Rick is able to
telecommute and maintain his position as Th e
Credit Store’s Executive Vice President and
General Counsel. In 2003, Rick will establish his
own law firm that will emphasize Colorado real
estate transactions for California clients. Wh e n
he’s not engaged in high altitude endurance
running or training for a marathon, Rick and Shelli
love spending time with their 3-and-a-half-yearold
daughter Samara. From San Diego, H a r r y
L e o n h a r d t reports that he’s currently Executive
Vice President of Business Development, General
Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Genoptix,
Inc., a company that specializes in laser-based
3 6 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
On the Honor Roll
Peter Szurley ’85, a partner at Gn a z zoThill, has
been named co-chair of the uniform commerc i a l
code committee of the business law section of
the State Bar of California. Szurley’s practice
concentrates on syndicated and non-syndicated,
s e c u red and unsecured lending transactions,
securitizations and stru c t u red finance.
cellular analysis for drug discovery, biotherapeutic
processing and diagnostic applications.
( w w w.genoptix.com). Harry got married in May
2002 followed by a two-week combination business
trip/honeymoon to Paris, Monaco and
Provence. Harry and his wife reside in Ranch o
Santa Fe surrounded by a four-acre orange grove.
Dennis Franks, Class Report e r
d e n n i s f @ f ox . c o m
> Class of 1985
See www. l a w.usc.edu/lawmag for an extended
report on your class. Marc Sherman is practicing
with the McLennon Law Corp. in the San
Francisco area and recently returned with his 2
daughters from their cousin’s wedding, the “first
traditional Jewish wedding in Kosice, Slovakia,
since the Holocaust.” Pat Geffner was accepted
into “Leadership VA .” She attended an in-law’s
family reunion at a spa in southern Austria. N a n c y
( S chneider) Be r t r a n d o, a transactional employment
partner at Greenberg, Glusker, spent last
year in the South of France and this year will be
in Italy. Sandra Ko s s a c o f f refuses to sit still,
despite a now 9-year solo career handling transactional
real estate: Winter Olympics in Salt Lake
C i t y, then Beijing, the Yangtze River and Shanghai,
returning to ski this winter back in Utah. R o s a
C u m a r e visited China last year too, a trip that
followed a New Year’s at the Imperial Ball in
Vienna’s Hofburg Palace. Pam We s t h o f fgave up
the Chair of O’Melveny’s national leasing practice,
left Kathy Sanders all alone at O&M after
all these years (and Kathy’s none too pleased,
Pam), and took her real estate practice to Gilch r i s t
& Rutter in Santa Monica. She also took over the
entire cover of California Law Business
(05/13/02) and got a terrific full-color glossy to
boot. Kirk Lundberg apparently got tired of the
h i g h - t e ch world at the Jay Hach i g i a nand a Bunch
O’ Others law firm in Austin, TX, left the law, and
joined a client again. Now the proud papa of three,
Kirk is the President and CEO of Tr a d e
Te chnologies, Inc. in Austin, TX, doing something
with international trade and large sums of money.
Wh i ch classmate does S p o rts Illustrated r e fer to
in its 10/14/02, issue as “the ultimate guy ch i ck
– a warm, bubbly, friendly woman you could go to
the game with,” in one sentence and “the most
powerful woman in America’s most macho pro
sport” in another? (I’m too ch i cken to ask Am y
Tr a s k whether she thinks “a younger, sharper,
meaner version of Al [Davis] – with a law degree”
is a compliment.) Linda Louie vroooomed her way
to the very top of the National Fast And Loud Jets
On Wheels Spewing Nitro Association (aka
NHRA) and is now General Counsel. Check out
another glossy at www. n h r a . c o m / 2 0 0 2 / n e w s /
a u g u s t / 080701.html. Alan Wa s k i n h i t ched his
wagon to a 250 mph Indy Car. Alan is Sr. Vi c e
President and General Counsel of Fo r s y t h e
Racing, developing race tracks and casinos and
logging 100,000 frequent flyer miles, all the while
having his 2 gorgeous daughters entertain M a r k
M i l l e r and family in Deerfield, Ill. After designing,
building and selling incredible seaside mansions
for the rich and famous in Sarasota, FL ,
Jacqueline Phillips and her award-winning
designer husband traveled to Shanghai, Beijing,
Tokyo, and London, and then moved to Hawaii.
Rumor has it (and my source is not M a r t a
Fe r n a n d e z at Jeffe r, Mangels), that L o r i e
(Dewhirst) Po r t e rmay have wielded a hammer or
two in building her new home in Santa Barbara
(her husband was the architect). In perhaps the
best use of a law degree I’ve heard of, L a r r y
Vanden Bo s (Rolling Hills Estates Parks and
Activities Commissioner, AYSO Regional
C o m m i s s i o n e r, and coach of his 17th kids sports
team) is using his meat business to feed 5 million
s chool children a year and provide food for 2 major
airlines. Larry’s wife (Class of ’84’s D e b b y
S t e g u r a) helps out Charlie Pe t e r s o n, who
class of 1 983 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, July 19, 2003
at i Cugini, Santa Monica
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
opened his own practice in Rolling Hills Estates.
Charlie is making a name in mediation. S t e v e
M i n d e lhad a good one plastered in the June 13
Daily Journal, next to an article highlighting his
long-time volunteer work for the L.A. Free Clinic.
He and partner Jerry Kline have just moved to a
larger facility in the Wi l s h i r e /Bundy area and are
up to a firm of 8. John Lamb is still employed at
Enron Wind Corp. News at 11. Brent Coeur-
B a r r o n is teaching a course for the Masters in
Public Administration at Loma Linda University.
Teri Pa u l r a cked up some major victories for
Toyota Motor Credit Corp. (with a little help from
Your Scribe), and picked up a new puppy along the
w a y. Jill Lifter keeps on winning jury trials, most
recently a wrongful death case in San Fr a n c i s c o
where she actually convinced a jury that a drunk
driver who rolled his car was responsible for being
a drunk driver who rolled his car. Lyn Be s a n c o n
has spent 10 years working with the same firm,
Pa r k e r, McKay in Marlton, NJ, on a part time basis.
Promising me that they are alive and well despite
the fact they never send me a return questionnaire,
Jerry Kline claims to have seen Noel Macaulay
at the local bagel joint, and Dan Carmich a e l at a
birthday party. Lori Levin-Bo r c o v e r sent me her
new address at Barry Bartholomew & Associates.
Sharon Rhodes is now an (assistant) attorney
general of San Diego. Jim We b b e r, still at the
Seattle office of Littler Men etc., was awarded the
“Super Lawyer 2002” award by the Wa s h i n g t o n
Law & Politics Magazine. R i ch Zepfel, allegedly
playing roller hockey in a “real league,” is sewing
the cape for Jim as you read this. If you went to the
ABA conference on Advanced Mediation
Te chniques in San Francisco last December,
maybe you saw me passing on a few of my secret
mediator tricks. You can find some of my articles
at Mediate.com. Keep in touch .
Mike Young, Class Report e r
m y o u n g @ w b c o u n s e l . c o m
> Class of 1986
This has been a busy year for the Class of 1986 ,
starting off with R oxanne Davis who, among
many other things, won 2 summary judgment
motions — one on the plaintiff’s side and the other
On the Honor Roll
Aimée Dominguez ’89 re c e i ved a De b o r a h
Aw a rd from the Anti-Defamation League.
The award re c o g n i zes women who exhibit
courage and leadership in professional, civic
and philanthropic endeavors. Do m i n g u ez, a
senior attorney at Kaye Scholer specializing in
securities and commercial litigation, is a
member of the USC Mexican American
Alumni Association, president of the Cu b a n
American Bar Association, and co-chair of the
L a t i n o - Jewish Ro u n d t a b l e .
on the defendant’s — spoke at 3 seminars on labo r
and employment topics, became co-chair of the
Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Labor and
Employment Law Section, and moved to Malibu.
Maizie Whalen Pu s i ch, Washoe County
(Nevada) Public Defe n d e r, successfully removed
her client from death row. Maize also serves on the
Board of Directors of the Nevada Attorneys for
Criminal Justice. Andrea White was promoted
to National Privacy Manager at Toyota Motor
Sales, U.S.A., Inc. In the change of venue department,
Tom Larkins, general counsel of Honeywell,
has relocated from Minneapolis, MN to the corporate
headquarters in Morristown, N J.
Congratulations Tom, both on the promotion and
on leaving Minnesota. Jonathan Robertson h a s
joined Aramark Uniform Services as Senior Vi c e
President of Legal Affairs. Dave Bartholomew
has left Keesal, Young & Logan “after 16 great
years” to join UBS Paine We b b e r, Inc. Chris Kanjo
has joined Breidenbach, Huchting & Hamblet,
where he continues his professional liability,
commercial law, and products liability practice.
M i chael Ti d u s’ firm, Jackson, De Marco &
Pe ckenpaugh, has changed locales, but Mich a e l
continues his land use and eminent domain practice
with the firm in Irvine. And Jean Murrell
Ad a m s has opened her new law office, Adams
Esq., where her practice areas are representing
children with special needs, intellectual property,
and Internet law. Speaking of the Internet,
according to the website of Dave Vo s s’ firm, Vo s s
& Associates, Bryan Brannan practices with Dave
in Marina Del Rey, focusing on bankruptcy law.
John LaVi o l e t t eand David We b e rused to work
together at Bloom, Hergott, Diemer & Cook, LLP.
However in October 2002, David announced the
formation of Offe r, Weber & Dern, LLP, where he
continues his entertainment practice. M a r k
Kendall Hillman is running his own firm in Suisun
C i t y, CA. M. Kendall reports that he has a beautiful
unobstructed view of Suisun Bay and Mt. Diablo
from his office and, in addition to his legal practice,
is past chairman of the board of directors of the
Fa i r f i e l d -Suisun Chamber of Commerce and
completed terms of the boards of the So l a n o
County Bar Association and the Fa i r f i e l d -S u i s u n
Rotary Club. On the family front, Lance Gams a n d
w i fe Ellen (‘91) welcomed their second daughter,
Genna Bea, and Melissa Cohen welcomed their
“second (and last!) ch i l d ,” Evan Ross. M i ch a e l
Bo r d y ’ s d a u g h t e r, Shayna, celebrated her Bat
Mitzvah last August — time flies! Michael continues
his practice in real estate transactions involving
sales, acquisition, leasing, and financing of
commercial real estate. Karl Lindegren s w i m s
competitively with his 3 eldest children. While Ka r l
reports winning the gold medal in the 400 medley,
he was still slower than his 13-year-old and tied
with his 11-year-old. Train harder, Karl! In the category
of fun vacations, Marguerite Sadler and her
family traveled to France last Spring and are now
actually thinking of moving to Provence. C a r o l y n
C o v a u l t embarked on a sabbatical at the end of
2001 that, so far, has taken her throughout Asia,
India and the Pacific, including stops in the
Philippines, Hong Kong, mainland China, and the
S e y chelles. Her next trip is to Cuba with the
Center for Cuban Studies and the Houston Wo r l d
Affairs Council. And your Class Reporter and his
family had a jolly good time in London last summer,
w h i ch included a visit with J o h n and K a t h y
M c M a h o nand their kids, Christopher and Carrie.
As the cost of a terrific dinner Kathy prepared for
our family, I was sworn not to blab about the
McMahons. But I can report that they literally live
around the corner from Abbey Road and are
greatly enjoying their tour as ex-patriots.
Dana Hobart, Class Report e r
h o b a r t d @ h b d l a w y e r s . c o m
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
3 7

class notes class notes
> Class of 1987
Linda (Oprian) Ao u a t e and her husband,
Maurice, have adopted a baby boy named Ta n n e r,
1. Linda continues prosecuting criminal cases for
the U.S. Attorneys Office in Santa Ana. R o b e r t
Be a l l is Head of the Business Trials Pr a c t i c e
Group for Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.
Robert works in the Orange County office. He and
his wife, Susan, have 3 children, Sterling, 6,
Meredith, 5, and Hillary, 3. Perry Vi s c o u n t y i s
Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Global Marketing
Strategy Committee and Chair of the Litigation
Department and Intellectual Property and
Te chnology Practice Group in the Orange County
office. He and his wife, Mary Ka y, have four ch i ldren,
John, 7, Matt, 5, Claire, 2 and Will, 1. S t e p h e n
Bo l l i n g e r serves his country as a Lieutenant
Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. He and
his wife, Estelle Ke l l y, are the proud parents of their
d a u g h t e r, Ursa, 8, who is reported to be as precocious
as ever. Holly Hunt enjoys her career as a
Judicial Law Clerk for the U.S. District Court,
Southern District. Holly notes that in this job, she
not only avoids billable hours but is also “always
r i g h t .” She and her husband, Kevin Couch, a
commander in the U.S. Navy, live in San Diego.
Gene Salomon continues to practice music law
after his move to Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown. He
and his wife, Danielle, have a daughter named Ella
who is almost 2 years old. Kathleen Vi l l a r r u e l
S ch n e i d e ris the Assistant Dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences at Santa Clara University. She
and her husband, Pa t r i ck, are the proud parents of
R a chel 5 and Michael 4. Please contact your class
reporter at jrr@DarRobLee.com with information
you would like to share with your fellow classmates.
Jon Robertson, Class Report e r
j r r @ D a r R o b Le e . c o m
> Class of 1989
Thanks to those who replied to the most recent
questionnaire. If you have not responded recently,
please take a few minutes to e-mail
( J z a r i a n @ f o g z l a w.com) or write me in care of the
Law School, any time, so I can include your
3 8 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
updates in future columns. Renata Tu r n e r a n d
Deborah Cantrell were surprised and excited to
see each other at the Equal Justice Conference in
Cleveland. Unex p e c t e d l y, Debby took ill and spent
a day at the hospital, with Renata at her side.
Debby recovered and is doing fine. M a t t
C a v a n a u g hhas received significant attention for
leading a “revolution” as a “maverick” member of
the State Bar’s board of governors. In 2002, 3 of
the 4 candidates endorsed by Matt were elected
over establishment candidates. Gwynnae Byrd
took a leave of absence from the “quagmire” of
Sacramento politics, and spent a semester at USC
Law School this year as a visiting Clinical
Pr o fessor in the Po s t -Conviction Justice Pr o j e c t .
Gwynnae says the physical facilities are “much
improved” from when we were students. L i s a
M e a d, Associate Dean and Dean of Students at
the Law School, reports the birth of a son, Jack s o n
Gianni, in 2002. Big brother Michael is now 3
years old. Pete Mrowka is a name partner in the
law firm of Spillane & Mrowka, in Brock t o n ,
M a s s a chusetts. Tom Eck is general counsel to
Calusa Investments, LLC, a nationwide mortgage
lender in Chantilly, Virgina. Tom and his wife
Elizabeth welcomed a new daughter, Lauren
Elizabeth, in 2002. Turner Swan is general
counsel to Causeway Capital Management LLC, a
start-up, investment management firm in West Lo s
Angeles. He brags about his 1.6 mile commute.
Eve Jaffe has retired from the practice of law and
is now the proud owner of Garb Jaffee &
Associates Legal Placement, LLC. She lives in
Santa Monica with her husband Glenn and 2
daughters. As for me, I pulled off a “managed” midl
i fe crisis in connection with my 40th birthday last
y e a r, taking a 2-month sabbatical with my family in
a really small town at the base of the Tetons. I
learned that hiking, biking, fishing, white-water
rafting, drive-in theaters and rodeos are all very
good for your mental health. Please keep sending
your updates! Best regards.
John N. Zarian, Class Report e r
J z a r i a n @ f o g z l a w. c o m
Class of 1990
Hello Classmates! We hope your 2003 is off to
a great start. Please note that we had lots to cover
in this issue, and the following has been edited
to meet the law school’s space constraints for the
“hard copy” of the magazine. To see our full report,
please visit: w w w. l a w. u s c . e d u / l a w m a . gFirst,
a big
congratulations to Mona Pa t e l - S i ko r a, who was
p i cked as one of the “20 Under 40” for her work
heading up the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the
Public Counsel Law Center in Los Angeles. Also
doing terrific work downtown, John Nantroup h a s
joined C.A.P.O.S., the Los Angeles County District
Attorney’s Crimes Against Peace Officers Section.
Looking after our fiscal well-being, Bo y d
R u t h e r f o r d is busy making sure the General
Services Administration’s effort to better align the
Federal Supply Service and the Fe d e r a l
Te chnology Service will make both entities operate
more efficiently. On another financial note, Ar l e n e
(Blatt) Ta n s e y is at ANZ (Australia and New
Zealand Banking Group Limited) working on the
restructuring of Pasminco, a large zinc miner that
is in Voluntary Administration [think Chapter 11].
M i chael Po t t e r is a principal and founding
member of Stonegate Partners. Reece Hirsch
has joined So n n e n s chein, Nath & Rosenthal, as
a partner in the firm’s San Francisco office, where
he will lead the firm’s Northern California health
law practice while also doing corporate transactions
and privacy work. The Fr a n chise Tax Board’s
Craig Swieso and Russ Cashdan, a partner in
Kaye Scholer’s Century City office, were recently
b a ck at USC for on-campus interviews. Craig was,
once again, extremely impressed with the quality
of the law students he met. Back on a diffe r e n t
c a m p u s ,Janelle Hansen is teaching business law
at the College of Business Administration at Cal
State University, Long Beach, and loves it!
Geoffrey Paul Griffin is a sportswriter (under the
byline “Geoff Griffin”) at St. George’s Th e
S p e c t r u m in Southern Utah. In June of 2002,
Doug Carasso won his first jury trial, an insurance
bad faith case, in Orange County Superior Court.
Fellow litigator Amy (Del Pero) Hoff is now a
partner in the Newport Beach office of Case,
Knowlson, Jordan & Wright LLP, and her family
is up by one with the arrival of Samantha Anne,
who joined brother Alec in May 2002. An n e
Wa n g is enjoying her partnership with the IP law
class of 1 988 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, June 26, 2003
at the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
firm of Christie, Parker & Hale, LLP, in Pa s a d e n a ,
and in September, she and husband Tom Jedrey
celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary. M o l l y
H a n s e n recently celebrated her 4th anniversary
with Digital Domain, where she has been
promoted to General Counsel and will continue
to head up the company’s Business Affairs division.
Lions Gate Exec Peter Block also has much
to celebrate: the birth of his little princess Zoe, and
the opening of “Secretary” and “Grey Zone” (bo t h
Pete pick-ups), and “The Rules Of Attraction” (a
Lions Gate production). Steve At l e e and wife Liz
(’93) added baby Eleanor Luisa to the family At l e e ,
and Anne Wa n g tells us that Houston resident
Mindy (Applebaum) Sach n o w i t z h a s
announced the birth of her second son, Samuel.
Sue (Odell) McGinnis’ twins just started
p r e s chool and her eldest, Katie, is engaged to be
married in November. Tracy Dressner, who is
c o a ching her twin girls’ soccer team, writes,
“Anyone who criticizes lawyers for lack of civility
has never attended an AYSO soccer game. AYSO
soccer parents put lawyers to shame in that
d e p a r t m e n t .” Leslie Taunele (formerly So a s h )
D r e s ch e rhosted a foreign ex change student from
G e r m a n y, who arrived September 13, 2001. Th e y
shared innumerable feelings as they all struggled
together to grasp the events of September 11th.
After enduring nearly a year of living in a “corporate
housing” condo, Doug Emhoff and his family
will be heading West and putting down more
permanent roots in their newly renovated home
in the Palisades. “Just Do It” kudos to J o a n
S ch a f f n e r, who ran her first full marathon in
Washington, D.C., last October, and to S t e v e
Bo g g s, who retired from legal practice at 50, and
now holds a SCCA national amateur license. In
that precious leisure time off between jobs, M a r y
Ann Soden spent a month in India and Al l i s o n
M a l i nspent time in Peru. Changed forever by his
recent trip to a steam-powered brewery in
Belgium, Greg Nylen is now building his own
brewery in the basement of his Topanga Canyon
home. Sadly, not all of our news is good news this
issue. Our condolences to Barbara Fitzgerald
who lost her spouse, Richard E. “Dick” Shoemaker,
in September 2002. Our thoughts and prayers
also go out to Lori Loo, whose 4-year-old son,
On the Honor Roll
Pi l l s b u ry Wi n t h rop promoted Sheri Eisner ’92
to partner in Oc t o b e r. Eisner works in the firm’s
Los Angeles office as a litigator focusing on civil
t o rt and business litigation, including insurance
contracts, employment matters and pro d u c t
liability disputes.
Quinten, was diagnosed with Leukemia in August
2002. Due to the type of Leukemia he has, and
the fact that the cancer was detected early, his
prognosis for a full recovery is excellent. Quinten,
Lori and the rest of their family are doing very well,
in large part due to the love and support of family
and friends, such as fellow alums Lisa (Janks)
Wa l d r e p, Sabrina (Sinser) Burton and R h e t t
Warriner ( ’ 89). Lori writes, “This experience has
underscored for us what is truly important in life
and what matters—the health of your family.
Everything else is secondary.” And, her important
advice to other parents: “If you get a nagging
feeling that something is amiss with your ch i l d ,
don’t ignore it. Follow your instincts.” Our best to all
of you, and please keep us posted!
Molly Hansen & Mary Ann Soden,
Class Report e r s
(mhansen@d2.com) & (masoden@hotmail.com)
> Class of 1991
See www. l a w.usc.edu/lawmag for an extended
report on your class. Hello everyone. To d d
B l o o m f i e l d reports that having a 2-year-old
daughter and 1-year-old son “is great!” He has
started a new civil litigation, med mal, and personal
injury partnership — Rice & Bloomfield.
Congratulations, Todd! Joe Condo has lots of
news — he and wife Amy have a 9-month-old son,
H e n r y. He is Senior Counsel for Calpine Corp.’ s
Chicago office and he has a new home address in
Park Ridge, Ill. Marsha Cooper is now teach i n g
business law at CSU Long Beach, along with
Janelle Hansen ( ’ 90). She writes that K a t h l e e n
L a c e y will be a tenured professor next year and
has written numerous papers that have appeared
in many law journals. Marsha and Tracey Quinn,
who works as manager for Global Compliance at
all Boeing Corp. sites out of Chicago, “are still best
of friends.” Marsha’s Suzanne, aged 28, Matthew,
25 and Andrew, 22 are doing great. C i n d i
Ar o n b e r gwrites of “no new news,” but thanks for
ch e cking in anyway, Cindi! Ed Barke t t notes a
new address for his concern, Atlas Properties, in
S t o ckton, Ca. Ellen (Lange) Gams announces the
birth of her baby girl, Genna, last Fe b r u a r y, and big
s i s t e r, Ava, now three, is doing well, too. Ellen is still
working at Amgen in areas of corporate, securities,
and merger and acquisitions. She says S h a r i
Silverman Evans had a baby boy in October,
named Rex. Claire Goldbloom is “getting married
in a couple of weeks to a recovering lawyer turned
wine tasting room manager in the Santa Cruz
M o u n t a i n s .” She adds that Kristen Pe l l e t i e r
“continues to work crazy hours and win trials.”
Peter Gutierrez is busy with his 2 daughters,
Julia 7 and Rebecca 2. He is still “tooling away
at County Counsel” for L.A. County, working on
Land Use and Environmental matters. He has
been running into Paul Singarella (“we are bo t h
working on some Clean Water Act issues related
to storm water quality”). Leslie King is building a
new home in Woodland Hills and moving in nex t
month. She is currently working on another short
film and still writing. David Ke n d i gwrites from the
Santa Cruz County Counsel Office that he moved
his family to Santa Cruz in last January. He writes
he has enough work for 3 associates “but can’t
hire them!” He saw Peter Gutierrez at a county
counsel seminar and Paul Singarella in Yo s e m i t e
last year, and “neither has aged a day since law
s chool!” Robert Madok is at Paul Hastings
Janofsky & Wa l k e r. Ken Ry ke n is currently
assigned to the felony law and motion division of
the Alameda County District Attorney’s office and
was recently elected to the Executive Board of the
American Inns of Court, Earl Warren Chapter, in
Oakland. Bill Scarff has seen Greg Burnight, Bo
K a e m e r l e, Jeff Coyne, Doug Fe i ck, Bill Butler,
Paul Murphy, Paul Singarella, Paul Martin,
Dennis Wilson, Strohre LaCroix, Scott Stein,
M i ke Goldstein, Dave Rosen and Jeff Pa r ke r.
Christina Stark spotted Diron Ohanian at Buca
Di Bepo’s in Redondo Beach recently and says “he
still looks the same.” Christina is with the Child
Support Services Department in Torrance. J e r e m y
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
3 9

class notes class notes
o na
Elizabeth Gregory ’93 decided to become an entertainment attorney after an R.E.M. concert in Durham,
N.C. Or, more pre c i s e l y, she chose that ca reer path after a fateful meeting with the ro ck band’s
m a n a g e r, Jefferson Holt. Back s tage after the show, Holt told her if she wanted to get into the music
i n d u s t r y, getting a law degree would do wonders.
So she went on to earn her degree from USC Law School. To d a y, Gregory runs her own enter-
tainment law practice in an office above a guitar shop in Nashville, Tenn. During her 10-year ca re e r,
she has worked with bands and artists such as Jimmy Eat World, Jewel, Stone Temple Pilots, Tool and
Hank Williams III. As a young attorney in the Santa Monica law firm of Stein, Kahan & Rosenberg, she
even helped defend Madonna in a lawsuit brought by three dancers who accused the singer of
violating their privacy by including footage in her documentary “Truth or Dare” that revealed their
sexual orienta t i o n .
4 0 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
Elizabeth Gregory >>>
alumni profile: Elizabeth Gregory ’93
m u s i c a l
G regory’s current roster of clients runs the musical spectrum, from an old-time bluegrass band
to a classical pianist to a hard ro ck group that makes “nearly unlistenable noise.” And, one of her
clients is Jefferson Holt, who now operates a small re c o rd label.
For Gre g o r y, the joy of working with musicians comes from playing a part in their success. Unlike
many entertainment attorneys, she will try to secure re c o rd deals for promising clients.
“It feels good to open an album that I really like and have my name on it,” she says, “or to have
thousands of people in an arena screaming in support of your client.”
Of course, the job isn’t all glitz and glamour. Gregory has to deal with demanding, sometimes
i m m a t u re, artists, label executives, business managers and music publishers.
“ You get a unique glimpse into America when you deal with people who get so much money, fame
and attention so quick l y,” she says. “It’s very difficult not to be seduced.”
But Gre g o r y, a self-described “misfit,” hasn’t been seduced by her proximity to excess. In 1999 ,
she moved away from Los Angeles to the tamer milieu of bluegrass country. She keeps a small sta b l e
of clients with whom she works very closely, and she doesn’t even have business ca rd s .
“I don’t think I have the right personality to be a lawyer,” she jokes, “but I’ve found a way to work
the way I want and to have the lifestyle I want.” — P. C .
j o u r n e y
want to make the honor roll?
Send information about your recent achievements to
m a g a z i n e @ l a w. u s c . e d uor fax to (213) 740 - 5476 .
M a r ch is doing very well and now specializes in
transportation law. Amie (Thompson) Jacoby
announces the May 2002 birth of a second son,
Stephen, joining big brother James. She is comanager
of the Maui County offices of the Le g a l
Aid Society of Hawaii. She recently filed a
complaint “to recover $35,000 from one of the
self-proclaimed kings of Hawaii for one of our
senior citizen clients who was swindled — how’s
t h a t ? ” M i ke Wa l s h says his brother has joined
him in running a three-attorney firm in Santa Ana.
“ We’re working closely with Robert Skripko ( ‘ 90 )
trying civil cases and having fun doing it.” Ad a m
We r g e l e s is now VP of Operations at Concord
Law School, “the nation’s first online law sch o o l .
It is a subsidiary of Kaplan & The Wa s h i n g t o n
Po s t .” Melissa Balaban We r g e l e s writes from
Santa Monica that she and Adam “are in the
process of tearing down their house that is
i n fested with toxic mold and building a new one.”
She is still a human resources consultant with
Employment Practices Solutions, “loving it but
working too hard.” She notes that M i chele Milner
is now working with her at EPS and that it is “great
to have her as a colleague.” (Melissa is now
working at USC; see story on Page 6.) Vi c t o r
R o m e r ois Pr o fessor of Law at Penn State — the
D i ckinson School of Law. He sent digital shots
of his and wife Corie’s son Ryan and new baby
Julia, who arrived this summer from Manila. By the
time you read this, I will be out of my foot cast,
having broken my foot in a silly spill down some
stairs. I am learning how we should not take the
simplest things for granted — like good balance,
and a working right foot! Take care, all of you!
Terri Villa-McDowell, Class Report e r
v i l l a m c d o w e l l @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t
> Class of 199 2
For those of you who could not attend our 10-year
reunion at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey last
O c t o b e r, you missed a really good time. Thanks to
our reunion committee — Lei Lei Wang Ekvall,
Dave Fa l i s z e k, Karen Fe l d, Greg Lee, An n e -
Marie (Funk) Reader, Audry Rohn and R a j
Ta n d e n — about 50 of us enjoyed a low key
evening of cocktails, the group photo, a nice
class of 1 993 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, September 20, 2003
at The Regency Club, We s t w o o d
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
dinner and reminiscences of law school and the
past ten years. Dean Matthew Spitzer (‘77) began
the evening with an update on the Law Sch o o l ,
and we concluded with some impromptu remarks
by Pr o fessor Michael Shapiro. Greg Lee m i s s e d
the reunion to vacation in Prague with his wife
Dana. Greg recently purchased control of Eureka
Casinos in Nevada and is a busy businessman,
husband, and father to Graham, 3 and Katie, 2.
Raj Ta n d e nobtained his LL.M. from NYU in 1996
and is a tax partner at Morrison & Foerster in LA.
Marlane Melican flew in from New York with
husband Nick Brountas and son Charlie, 1. Th e
same week Marlane found out she was pregnant,
she made partner at Davis, Polk & Wardell. Be n
F i s h m a n and family moved back to So u t h e r n
California the day before the reunion to take a
job in-house with Countrywide. Bill Flevares
made the trip out from Ohio where he recently
joined a small firm and is a probate/estate and
j a ck-of-all-trades lawyer. Bill now has run
marathons in 28 states. Harvey Roch m a nis a litigation
partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in LA
with a focus on the healthcare industry. Harvey
and wife Joan are enjoying their inquisitive
daughter Sadie Anne, 1. Tracy Cahill and her
husband Tim have a son John, aka “Cooka”, 1.
Dianne Costales and her husband Matthew
Haines should have a new baby by the time you
read this. Alan Finke l works for Quick S a n i t y
developing technology and software to improve
l i fe — programs to assist in stress management,
workplace productivity and emotional well-being.
He and his wife Kimberly have a daughter Emma,
1-and-a-half and son Ethan, 4. M i chelle (Ab e n d )
B a u m a nremains with Universal — Vice Pr e s i d e n t
of Labor Relations — but moved from the motion
picture/television side to the theme park side. She
job-shares, allowing her to work 3 days a week
and giving her some extra time to spend with
husband Scott and boys Alex, 4 and Logan, almost
2. Mark Fa l l spotted Reynolds Cafferata at the
airport last summer. Kristin Escalante is a litigation
partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson in LA.
She and her husband Greg have a daughter
Isabella, 7. As president of California Wo m e n
Lawyers, Belynda (Bridgeland) Reck w a s
quoted often in the legal press during the past
On the Honor Roll
Bret M. Di Ma rco ’93 was elected partner at
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Ro s a t i’s Palo Alto
h e a d q u a rters. Di Ma rco specializes in corporate
law for Wilson Sonsini, which re p resents technology
and emerging companies at all stages of
g row t h .
y e a r. M i ke Hoffman is a labor and employment
partner at Littler Mendelson in San Fr a n c i s c o .
Mark Mitch e l l worked for the Writers Guild of
America for 6 years, lived in Buenos Aires for 1
y e a r, and now works for the American Guild of
Musical Artists, the union representing performing
artists in classical song and dance. Mark also
spent 2 weeks in Lima, Peru representing the
family of an American political prisoner during her
terrorism retrial in Peruvian court. Sheri Po r a t h
and her husband Marshall Rockwell had a baby
girl, Lily, last February who joins brother Jacob, 3.
Sheri Flame Eisner is a litigation partner at
Pillsbury Winthrop in LA handling everything from
coverage to toxic tort to false claims act cases.
She and her husband Jeff have two little ones, a
son 3-and-a-half and a daughter, 6. Phil Wy e l s
is Assistant Chief Counsel at California’s Wa t e r
Resources Control Board in Sacramento. Phil and
his wife Terri have a baby girl, Kenda, 1-and-a-half.
Robert Sko r p i lhas had a busy work life — taught
Humanities at UT of Dallas, worked briefly for “Dr.
Phil” McGraw, acted in a few plays, had a guest
appearance on “The Simpsons,” played in a fe w
bands — and currently is an IT manager for an
international ISP company. He and his wife Sarah
have a beagle named “Stuey.” Jon Loeb e n j o y s
recruiting as the hiring partner at Alsch u l e r
Grossman in LA, and is getting used to the firm’s
great new Santa Monica offices. Tim Shattuck
still is a commercial litigator in Sioux Falls and
married Melissa Schmaus last April. Roy Restivo
is in the entertainment industry — but not as a
lawyer — and was the former head of sch e d u l i n g
for Playboy TV. Robin We b b practices insurance
coverage and home owners association defe n s e
work at Grant, Genovese & Baratta in Irvine.
M i chael Al o n s o and his wife Christina live in
Reno where Michael is a gaming attorney and
lobbyist. They keep busy with their children, twins
Christian and Olivia, 11 and Madeleine, 9. Vi c t o r
R o m e r ois a professor at Penn State’s Dick i n s o n
S chool of Law teaching Immigration Law,
Constitutional Law and related subjects. He was
president of the local chapter of the NAACP last
year and has been vice-president of the local
chapter of the ACLU since 1996. For those who
missed the reunion, we hope you can make it to
“15” in 2007 or “20” in 2012.
M i chelle (Nuszkiewicz) Blum, Class Report e r
m b l u m @ j o n e s d a y. c o m
> Class of 199 3
See www. l a w.usc.edu/lawmag for an extended
report on your class. Are you getting psyched for
our 10th year law school class reunion coming
up later this year? Here’s the latest scoop on your
classmates. M o n i ka Ar b o l e shas set up shop on
her own, advising management on employmentrelated
matters. Elizabeth At l e e gave birth to her
third daughter, Eleanor Luisa, on Sept. 21. Af t e r
a 3-month maternity leave, Elizabeth will return
to her in-house position at BP, where she
manages litigation. Bill Be r n e r is now the
Assistant General Counsel for Nike in Oregon. Bill
married Laura Barrett at a winery in Santa Yu e z
and then honeymooned in Tu s c a n y, where the
couple imbibed more world-class wine. (I also
spent 2 weeks in Tuscany and other parts of
Northern Italy last fall.) Heidi Binford was made
partner at Greenberg. Glusker on 01/01/02, and
a year earlier ushered in the millennium by
marrying Michael Beeman on New Year’s Eve. J o e
C h i has taken an in-house position as Director
of Legal Affairs with Exult, Inc., a business process
outsourcing company. He also is working on a
MBA from UCLA and running after his 1-year-old
d a u g h t e r, Amanda. Bret DiMarco, his wife Ti f f a n y,
and 3-year-old daughter Kyra have a new addition:
Evan Clarke DiMarco, born April 15. Last summer,
the DiMarcos vacationed in Hawaii for a week of
family bonding. Scott Dodd is working as a staff
attorney for Chief Justice Andon L. Amaraich of
Supreme Court of the Federated States of
Micronesia, a remote tropical Pacific Island of
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
4 1

class notes class notes
Pohnpei. Scott is engaged to Egilove Tikoi, who
t e a ches English at the College of Micronesia, and
is planning a wedding in Fiji. Andrew Douglas
joined Richardson & Harman, a boutique trial law
firm in Pasadena. Rebecca (Berg) Downing h a s
accepted a position as General Counsel for
Landmark Healthcare, Inc., a complementary
alternative care managed care company in
Sacramento. The new job allows Rebecca to work
3 days a week and spend time with 2-year-old
d a u g h t e r, Julianne. Rebecca is also on the Board
of Directors of the Chemical Dependency Center
for Women, a Sacramento-based non-profit
organization. Bob Dugdale reports that he
married Kathy Marelich. Elizabeth Rose Fe f f e r
was appointed City Attorney for the City of Lo m i t a
and also appointed to her firm’s personnel
committee. Susan (Hansen) Fox has been the
Associate Director of the UC SD Office of Planned
Giving for the past year. Elizabeth Gregory
opened her own law offices in Nashville and one
of her clients, Jimmy Eat World, has sold over 1
million units of its debut album on DreamWo r k s
Records (see story on Page 40). Jeff Gross h a s
joined Burbidge & Mitchell in Salt Lake City and
obtained a $20 million jury verdict in a patent
infringement case in January 2002. Lisa Hatton
H a r r i n g t o n was expecting a baby girl in
N o v e m b e r. As a result of a law firm merger, To m
H o p k i n s is now with Sheppard Mullin. Be v e r l y
J o h n s o nis expecting her second child in Fe b r u a r y
and moved to a bigger house in Coto de Caza.
James Kim was promoted from Senior Counsel to
Executive Counsel at Disney and he and his wife
Bethanne had their first child, Brandon. S t e p h a n i e
(Stenger) Montgomery visited Los Angeles
twice this fall. Keith Newburry was recently
promoted to General Counsel of Honeywell’s
Hardware Products Group, a $400 million business
headquartered in Arizona. Chris Ottinger
is Senior Vice President of Business Development
and Co-Production at Paramount Television, where
he’s launching a string of Western cable ch a nnels
around the world and producing “The Dead
Zone” television series on USA Networks. Chris
frequently appears on panels discussing television
and film production and last year served on a panel
with Prime Minister Jean Cretien and the
4 2 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
Canadian Provincial Premieres. While Chris and
Kim Simi (working full-time writing feature film
projects) still live in Pacific Palisades, Chris (and
Kim, if she can get away) travels for business to
Europe about 3 months a year, primarily working
in London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Cannes, and
M u n i ch. David Pe n d l e t o nwelcomed their fourth
child, David Alexander Pendleton II, on June 1 —
an additional volunteer to help David as he
campaigns for his fourth term in the Hawaii House
of Representatives. Don Po o lformed the law firm
of Powell & Pool, representing creditors
throughout central and northern California with
offices in Fresno, San Jose, and Sacramento.
Terry Pr i c e ’ s son, Will Russell, was born on
07/ 2 7/02. David Rowe is practicing immigration
l a w. Charlette (Pugh) Ta l l celebrated the birth
of her first child, Sidney Tall IV. David Wa n g j o i n e d
O r r i ck, Herrington & Sutcliffe and will continue to
specialize in the litigation, licensing, and procurement
of intellectual property. Kelly Allegra We i l
had her first child, Allegra Rose Weil, 3/31/02.
After a four month maternity leave, Kelly has
returned to work part-time at Wolf, Rikkin &
Shapiro, where she practiced for the last 8 years
in the real estate/homeowner association department.
Paul Windust welcomed his second
d a u g h t e r, Kayla Elizabeth, born on October 7.
Thank you again for your contributions. Lo o k i n g
forward to catching up with all of you at the
reunion on Sept. 20.
Diane Arkow Gross, Class Report e r
D i a n e . G r o s s @ EE OC . g o v
> Class of 1994
Career advancements: Peter Binko w became a
name partner at Glancy & Binkow, specializing in
class action litigation. Eric Geismar is Vi c e
President and General Counsel at Medtronic
Minimed Inc. in Encino and was recently appointed
Director of Economic Alliance of the San
Fernando Va l l e y. Former Class President D a r o n
Wa t t s is now a partner at Sidley, Austin, Brown
& Wood. Betty Downing is still with Smith
Kaufman, a political law firm. Betty has spoken at
several conferences with classmate J o h n
Po m e r a n z. Kenneth Fr e e l a n d opened his own
office and is practicing family law. He’s having a
fantastic time and was just voted best attorney in
Santa Barbara County. Ken has not had a vacation
in 6 years, however. Dawyn Harrison w a s
promoted to supervisor of 20 attorneys at the
County Counsel Office, Child Services Division.
Dawyn was engaged to be married on August 2,
2003, to Lee Gather, a television producer. Al e x
B a u e r was recently promoted to Director of
Employee Relations at the Department of Child
Support Services (formerly a division of the DA’ s
office). Eric Ho has his own law office, specializing
in intellectual property. John Jensen started a law
partnership, Roberti Jensen with David Roberti
(Class of ‘64), formerly President pro tem of the
California Senate. John and his wife have one ch i l d
and one on the way. Armenak Kavcioglu s t a r t e d
his own firm, Raisin & Kavcioglu and has one son
with wife, Ka t h y. The Kavcioglus are ex p e c t i n g
another child in January. Lee Ko l o d n yis with Akin
Gump and recently married Kristine. M i t ch e l l
L a n g b e r gis with Stroock and recently celebrated
his one-year wedding anniversary. Dara (Caplan)
M a r i a s continues to work from home in Las
Vegas as an independent contractor and as a
mom. Elizabeth Murphy is an employment lawyer
at Buchalter and loves it. Elizabeth was on the
cover of L.A. Lawyer in November 2001 and
recently bought a home in the Hollywood Hills.
Peter Corbell is working at a capital investment
firm in Hermosa Beach. Stevie Py o n is still with
DirecTV and was promoted to Assistant General
Counsel. Stevie, M i ke Ludwig and R o b e r t
S t u r g e o n (’95) recently traveled together to
Colorado for a Trojan football game. L o u i s
S a l m i n a opened a new law office, Doheny and
Salmina, in San Diego. Mark Shpall recently left
the practice of law to pursue a career as a high
s chool teach e r. Baby News: Daniel Ay a l a and his
w i fe N a n c y (‘95) recently had their first child, son
Daniel Antonio. Dan has his own firm in Las Ve g a s ,
N V. Laura (Pouratian) Emouna is the mother of
Mielle Layla and is back to work part time in New
York. Lorin Engquist and wife Angelica have a
baby boy named Chasen Paul. Lauren is in his 9th
year at Ernst & Young. Mark Finke l s t e i nand wife
L a u r a( ‘ 96) are the parents of another bo y, Joshua
M a t t h e w. Brother Zach is now 2 and a half. Mark
class of 1 998 r e u n i o n
To be held Saturday, April 12, 2003
at the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information
is still litigating away at Latham & Watkins. Vi n c e
H e r r o n continues to work for Latham & Wa t k i n s ,
and he and his wife recently had a baby bo y.
Melanie (Lowery) Pa u l s e nand her husband had
a baby girl, Violet Metta. Melanie is still with Disney
and her husband just sold his first script! S c o t t
Pe a r s o n and wife N i c o l e (‘95) had their second
boy recently, David Ethan. Gregory Shanfeld i s
with the Price Law Group, and he and his wife
have two kids, Ethan and Chloe. Sylvia Smith-
H u b e r is with HBO. Sylvia and her husband
recently had a baby girl, Kylie Fallon. D a n a
Tr e i s t e ris with Munger Tolles & Olson. He and his
w i fe, Toi, recently had a baby bo y, Jackson, who
joins sisters Olivia, Natalie and Alexandra. C u r t i s
H o l d s w o r t h is a litigation partner with Smith,
Ellson and Harraka in Irvine. He and wife Jorjie
have 3 children, Chris, Tyler and Madison. Everyone
with kids, don’t forget to bring them to Child’s Play,
Lorna Hennington’s business in Westwood. In
memory of my mother, I close this column with a
plea to each of you to enjoy your lives and love the
people in them, because our time here is not
p r o m i s e d .
Lorna D. Hennington, Class Report e r
l o r n a d h @ s b c g l o b a l . n e t
> Class of 1996
Now that we’ve been out of school for about 7
years, I see that a lot of you have settled down and
are starting to raise a family. With so many alums
having kids in the last year, I don’t know where to
begin. OK, since Andrea (Mellon) McNamara
was the only one to include a personal note with
her questionnaire, she gets to go first. Andrea was
married in July of 2000 and had her first bo r n
(Madeleine) in October of 2001. She is currently
“retired” and is now a full-time mom. Tripp Dunn,
who I had the pleasure of running into while in
Tuscaloosa, AL, on Labor Day weekend of 2001
( UCLA: 20, BAMA: 17), welcomed his new
daughter Megan into the world in July of 2002.
Laura (Braunwald) Finklestein has a 2-year-old
son (Zach) and is currently practicing with Allen
Matkins in Irvine. Karen (Tebelekian) Philips w a s
married to her husband Paul in March of 1997 and
now has 2 children: Alexandra and Nicholas. Ka r e n
On the Honor Roll
Peter Afrasiabi ’97 and Chris Arledge ’98 l e f t
O ’ Me l veny & Me yers to start their own litigation
boutique in Orange County. The new firm,
Turner Green Afrasiabi & Arledge, handles civil
litigation matters, particularly business disputes.
The firm hopes to fill a niche in the legal
community by offering top-notch legal serv i c e s
to middle-market companies. Afrasiabi also is an
adjunct professor of law at Chapman Un i ve r s i t y
Law School.
is moving from the Domestic Violence Unit of the
L.A. City Attorney’s Office to the Child Abuse Unit.
She joins Rod Castro-Silva, who works in the
Major Crimes Section, and Greg Lesser, who is
now a Federal Prosecutor in the Criminal Division.
Rod and his wife just bought a house on the
Westside while Greg encourages his classmates
to use their legal skills to put bad guys away, but
says that the salary cut makes him feel like he’s
doing pro bono work. Greg’s daughter, Caroline,
was born in November of 2001. And most
r e c e n t l y, M i chael We i s b e r g celebrated the birth
of his new son, Elliot, on 09/26/02 (8 lbs, 12 oz).
Tim Lee (the Vanilla G) remains single and is still
able to watch 14 hours of college football every
Saturday (I’m not kidding), although he concedes
that the other 6 days a week he’s steadily developing
an understanding of such terms as “emerald
c u t ,” “clarity”, and “platinum.” Additionally, he is
developing child-rearing skills by constantly babysitting
his girlfriend’s dog. Steve Harris is a little
bit further along as he will be getting married to
Stephanie Sasaki and honeymoon in Australia.
J o a n nand Pa t r i ck Rezzo were married in August
of 2000 in Maui and reside in San Diego. C h r i s
R o y and his wife Lisa (Shaw) Roy c e l e b r a t e d
their 3rd wedding anniversary in Hawaii and reside
in Memphis. Chris works for the NLRB and won
his first trial earlier this year. Brenda (Ko s m a )
R a d m a ch e r and her husband Dan celebrated
their 5th wedding anniversary last year and took a
short weekend trip to June Lake (they even saw a
bald eagle). Brenda was named “Senior Counsel”
at her firm last year and has been appointed to the
California State Bar Committee on Alternative
Dispute Resolution. Charles Djou’s Seat in the
Hawaii State House was eliminated through redistricting,
but he’s currently running for the
Honolulu City Council. Chris Johnson will be
graduating from Berkeley’s Haas School of
Business in May of 2003 and Krista Stevenson
is currently practicing with Littler Mendelsohn in
San Francisco. Mark DeAn g e l i scurrently resides
in Chicago and is producing 2 films as Pr e s i d e n t
of Eliezer Films in addition to building a new
ch a r i t y, the Jewish American Foundation for the
Advancement of Humanity (JA FAH). Mark spent
1 month in Israel in solidarity with the Israeli
people. Meg Lomenzo also resides in Chicago
and is practicing with Katten Muchin. An i t a
( G r u e t t ke) Yo r k lives in San Clemente, while
further up the coast Chris Ai t ke n practices with
his father in Orange County and keeps active as a
board member of a domestic violence shelter
(Laura’s House). Chris just welcomed his second
child Jack. Tony Christopoulos was married to
Lynnette Avaness in October of 2001 and is
General Manager of the software development
team at CyberU, Inc. Jill Rohlfs relocated to L.A.
from Menlo Park and is still practicing with
Sheppard Mullin. Last, but not least, J a ke Stein
became a partner at Boldra, Klueger & Stein, a tax
boutique with offices in Century City and
Woodland Hills.
John Rosa t i , Class Report e r
j r o s a t i _ 2 0 0 0 @ y a h o o . c o m
> Class of 1997
We had a great time at our 5th Year Reunion on
07/ 2 7/02 at Sam’s by the Beach in Santa Monica.
Dean Matthew Spitzer, Assoc. Dean Lisa Mead,
Pr o fessor Michael Shapiro and others from the
Law School participated. A tribute was given to the
late Dean Jerry Wi l e y. And some traveled from as
far away as New York to be there. It was a good
time. Some specific developments involving our
classmates are as follows. Carl Be v e r l y w a s
promoted to Senior Vice President, Drama
Programming, at Universal Television in
September 2002; Katherine Black m o n - S o l i s
and her husband were expecting a baby girl (Ly d i a
Elliott) in February 2003; Joe Brock is in ch a r g e
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
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class notes class notes
of developing Southern California business for his
Sunnyvale-based firm; Nancy Conroy lives in
M exico and is running the Gringo Gazette n e w spaper
(which can be viewed on-line at
w w w.gringogazette.com); R i chard Davies s e r v e s
as general corporate counsel to emerging-growth
and medium-sized companies in New York; J o h n
F i l i p p o n e became a father in May 2002;
Stephanie Fo r m a n and her husband, Stuart,
recently moved to Thousand Oaks, CA, where she
practices civil defense litigation; Diana Ike t a n iw i l l
run her second marathon in Honolulu, HI, in
December 2002; Carlos Jaramillo and fiancé,
Laurel, are engaged to be married in 2004; J a m e s
R u t t e n and his wife, Nancy, are expecting their
first child in May 2003; Melissa Stack is pursuing
an MFA in screenwriting at USC’s film sch o o l ;
Karina Sterman and her husband John Goode
had a baby boy (Milo) in December 2001 and
Karina chaired her first bench trial this year; K a t h i
McNamara To m ch o practices real estate law in
Atlanta, GA, and she and her husband, Rick
To m cho, have 2 children, Morgan 4 and Preston 3;
John Ve t t e r l inow works out of Sidley Austin’s Lo s
Angeles office following the destruction of the
firm’s World Trade Center office in New York (we
are particularly grateful that John, his wife, Sarina,
and their son, Colin, are safe and well); D a r c e y
Wo n g and Wilson Lee will be married in
S e p t e m b e r, 2003; and Tiffany Ta i will be a
member of Wong’s wedding party, as a bridesmaid.
Feel free to send me any updates during the year
at mwatkins@sheppardmullin.com.
Mark Watkins, Class Report e r
m w a t k i n s @ s h e p p a r d m u l l i n . c o m
> Class of 1998
Graduate law school, join a big firm, get married,
and have a baby. Yep, that “Things To Do by Fo r t y ”
list is getting shorter and shorter. Z e e s h a n
Ah m e d iis with Latham & Watkins and ex p e c t i n g
a second child in March ‘03. David Al m a r e z
p i cked his head up from work to let us know he
is at Hamburg, Hanover, practicing business and
real estate litigation. Dave married in 1998, and in
July 2002 added to California’s Republican party
with the birth of his daughter Isabella. C h r i s
4 4 USCLAW spring 2003
Ar l e d g e started Tu r n e r, Green, Afrasiabi (‘97), &
Arledge in Costa Mesa. Chris, you have along way
to go to catch up with Pa t r i ck, but 1-year-old
Baylee and another on the way is a good start.
Andrew Asch has left Fubright Jaworski for KMZ
Rosenman in L.A. Staci Blevins left the practice
of law for law enforcement as an LAPD Po l i c e
O f f i c e r. Staci recently celebrated a commitment
ceremony with her domestic partner (an LAPD
sergeant). When she’s not working on campaign
finance for the State, Natalie Bo c a n e g r a i s
throwing wild Halloween parties at old Hollywood
hotels. Donna Carlson loves her work at the San
Bernardino County Health Counsel – Dept. of
Health & Human Services/Dept of Children’s
Services. Donna’s daughter, who visited us in first
year classes, saw the errors of our ways and
recently enrolled in medical school at the
University of Washington. Christina Checel j o i n e d
the Long Beach City Attorney’s office practicing
l a bor and employment law, and has added
N i cholas (9/9/01) to her legion of Isabel and
J a ck. Pa t r i ck Collins is heading the financial
analysis of the cable renewal and rate regulation
process for L.A.’s Information Te chnology Agency.
Pa t r i ck has spent the last 2 years raising his family,
c o a ching football, and running Collins Financial
S e r v i c e s .Mark Fo s t e rmarried Tiffany Fuller June
2001 and is expecting a daughter March 2003.
What happened to waiting to be surprised on
delivery day? In between complex commercial real
estate transactions Mark hopes to travel as much
as possible before his kid arrives. John Fr a ke r
opened his own practice, Ainer & Fr a k e r, in San
Jose, specializing in tax and estate planning, and
charitable giving strategies. Under threat of
slander Mark Gustafson divulged he is with
White & Case, that he married Luann 3 years ago,
and he now has 8 children (just kidding). K i a
H a r r i s is now Kia Birdsong and claims she has
found her thrill, marrying long time beau Corey in
a lovely ceremony (assuming since she sent no
pictures) on the island of Maui, and prosecuting
felony trials for the San Francisco DA’s office.
Remember the Fred & Nancy Hasani show from
law school? Well, the show has moved from Menlo
Park to Laguna Nigel. Fred is with the OC offices
of White & Lee, and Nancy joined Fisher & Phillips
in Irvine. Heather Hersh married Dr. Wen Ho Le e
(just kidding). Heather did say she got married, but
not to whom. Heather is still working on Dr. Le e ’ s
case, and volunteers at USC as a Moot Court
judge, and for mock interviews. Janet Hurdle i s
now Janet Hickson. Janet, do tell us more. C h r i s
L a l is with O’Melveny & Myers. Hey Chris, seen
any ’98 alumni around there who haven’t reported
in? Sheila Recio is one heck of an attorney and
an even better woman. Sheila gave birth to identical
twin boys 02/28/02. Welcome aboard Lu c a s
and Alejandro. Maria Ronch e t t o is now Maria
Harrington at White & Case. No details as of yet,
but I know her husband Frank is one heck of a
fantasy basketball coach. First year in the league
and he is already 4-0. Jon Rodrigue w a s
expecting his second child 12/16/02. Jon has
gone in-house as counsel for a publicly traded
REI T. Pa t r i ck spotted David Rodriguez at L.A.
City Information Te chnology and Board of
Information Te chnology meetings working for
McClain-Hill Associates. Cristina Rodriguez-
R i o slooked stunning on Halloween as the queen
of pain and pleasure. Cristina is at Sheppard Mullin
in Santa Barbara but spends a lot of time in L.A.
David To b e n k i n starts at FERC when he gets
b a ck from his trip to Guatemala, Honduras, and
Costa Rica. We all hope David uses his investigative
skills on FERC’s rapid response unit to help
reverse, or at least prevent a CA energy crisis from
ever happening again. David Willingham g o t
married September 1998, had his first child Emma
in March ’02, and moved to the U.S. At t o r n e y ’ s
office May ‘01. Oh yeah, Dave is still claiming he
plays basketball. Just in from Honolulu is a report
that Dee Wo n g is working on real estate transactions
and estate planning while also serving as
Director of the Hong Kong Business Association
of Hawaii.
P a t r i ck Collins, Class Report e r
p a t r i ck . c f s @ v e r i z o n . n e t
> Class of 1999
We have much to report for the Class of 1999 .
Asha Dhillon, Katy Dellecke r and J e n n i f e r
(Zolezzi) Morris (married in September 2002)
work together doing business litigation at Jones,
Bell, Abbott, Fleming & Fitzgerald. Should we
expect Dhillon, Dellecker & Morris soon? L i s a
( N i cholas) Neal married husband Brad in July
2001, practices business and IP litigation at Rutan
& Tu cker and is a volunteer at the Orange County
Children’s Museum. Karen Keating (Martinez) i s
also working at Rutan & Tu cker and is getting
married in May 2003. Dina (Sayegh) Doll, an
associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutch e r, married
husband Greg in 2000. Mary Rabinowitz i s
working at Knee, Ross & Silverman and is getting
married in May 2003. Daniel Houser and wife
Shawna moved to Seattle to set up shop after
working at the Silicon Valley Law Group in San
Jose. Monique Fu e n t e s is doing general
commercial litigation at Ross, Dixon & Bell and
recently won a pro bono case to get dental benefits
for a terminated employee. R i ch Chacon
represented Angelyne and football star Jim Brown
in his solo practice, while taking numerous pro
bono cases. Did you catch the Daily Journal
feature on Rich in October 2002? Nancy Morgan
is litigating for Coudert Brothers in L.A. after
finishing her clerkship in Houston. An t h o n y
Va l e n z u e l a is practicing at Filice Brown Essa &
M c Leod. The Class of ‘99 is clearly working hard
to put good people in government. C h r i s t o p h e r
S h a r p e works at the L. A. County Pu b l i c
D e fender’s office. Fred Th i a g a r a j a h is a Deputy
District Attorney in San Jose and a volunteer tutor
for the Emergency Housing Consortium. B a b e t t e
H u l e y also still loves being a Deputy District
Attorney and serves as a volunteer alumni mentor
at UC Irvine. Kenneth Ball is an Assistant
Command Judge Advocate and Special Assistant
U.S. Attorney at the Naval Base in Point Mugu, and
Andrew Stolper is a federal prosecutor at the U.S.
Attorney’s office. Jeffery Nielsen works in the
government relations and antitrust litigation at
Manatt & Phelps. There are also some new faces
to welcome. Chris Eastland is doing business
transactions at O’Melveny & Myers. He and wife
Trista are expecting their second child in April.
Congratulations are also in order to M i ck i a n d
Ben King on the birth of their son Nathan; to
Maggie Brandow and husband Chris who are
b a ck in L.A., Maggie working from home for
Mental Health Advocacy Services and spending
class
r e p o r t e r s
n e e d e d
time with their daughter Bess; and to H a l e y
Ledgard Karish and husband Marc Karish. Marc
is practicing IP law and representing a CIW inmate
in her parole hearings and Haley is taking time off
to be with their son Michael. Our class is spending
time educating and serving in the community.
Brietta Clark is teaching corporations and health
law at Loyola Law School and is a volunteer at
HI V / A IDS Legal Services Alliance. M i ch a e l
O ’ H a r a earned awards as the Shakespeare
Festival Los Angeles Volunteer of the Year 1999
and Humanitarian of the Year – Project Angel
Food 2001. Abby Dees is a staff attorney at the
Corrections HIV Education and Law Project in
West Hollywood and Co-President of the Le s b i a n
and Gay Bar Association. Lydia Lee is making
time to mentor a parolee through the Volunteers in
Parole Program while doing real estate transactions
at Baker & Hostetler. John Dietrich
represents school districts for Atkinson, Anderson,
Loya, Ruud & Romo and passed the Nevada Bar
in 2000. Ken Firtel is a transactional associate at
O’Melveny & Myers and was recently honored as
the Public Counsel Homeless Prevention Pr o j e c t
Volunteer Attorney of the Ye a r. The business world
is not without our collective talents. M i ch a e l
Fa u v e r was named one of the Pacific Co a s t
Business Ti m e s’ “40 Under 40” top up and
coming business leaders in the California central
coast counties. Chris Hopkins left Simpson
Th a t cher & Bartlett to be in-house counsel for
Platinum Equity and was appointed to the Citizens’
Advisory Council of the MTA, while Matt We i n i s
in-house counsel at Amgen Corporation in
Thousand Oaks and engaged to be married in
April. Sean Be s s e r, founder of match A BLE . n e t ,
an on-line dating service for disabled persons, is
getting an MBA at UC Berkeley. Evosport
( w w w.evosport.com), founded and lead by B r a d l e y
O t o u p a l i k, became #2 in its market in less than
2 years. Ryan Owens is representing companies
at Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, doing mergers and
acquisitions, securities and IP transactions. We
hope to get an update from the rest of the class
n ext time.
Chris Eastland, Class Report e r
c e a s t l a n d @ o m m . c o m
For the Classes of 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976 ,
1 977, 1984 and 1988.
Call (213) 740-6143 for more information.
> Class of 2 0 0 0
In the past, I have demonstrated why we are the
brightest and most impressive class in USC Law
S chool’s history. Now, I shall demonstrate why we
are the coolest class in school history, and, I will do
so in your own words. First, M i ke Back s t r o m, w h o
recently moved to Howrey’s Century City office,
but, more importantly, “spent two weeks taking
depositions in Thailand. That makes me cool.”
Certainly it does, Mike. But does it make you as
cool as Julie Buch w a l d, who recently took a job
with the Mayor of Los Angeles as a Policy Analyst
for Public Safety? As Julie says, “I never thought
I would learn so much about cops.” An arresting
point, Ms. Buchwald. Since networking and pro
bono cases are cool, Julie, maybe you should talk
w i t h Vanessa Eisemann, who is busy with, inter
alia, a pro bono case in which she is “representing
a prisoner with a police excessive force claim.” Also
cool through public service is Amy Fr i e d l i, who
spends some nonworking hours overseeing publications
for the Junior League of Orange County
and serving on the Board of Directors for the Boys
and Girls Clubs of Garden Grove. Coolness
through government comes from Elisa Montoya,
who is in D.C. working for Senator Harry Reid of
Nevada and handling his Latino Outreach policy,
Te l e c o m / Te ch policy “and whatever else they
throw my way!” There is no doubt that entertainment
law is cool, so Eric Galen qualifies for
ultimate coolness as he was, “co-counsel on a
Mariah Carey copyright infringement case, which
we won on summary judgment.” (Winning is cool.)
Also, Mr. Galen is the co-founder of Flow Music
Production, LLC, a production and artist development
entertainment company. As we can all agree,
maintaining the integrity of the profession is a cool
undertaking, so this article would be incomplete
without mentioning Natalia Greene, who works at
Garrett & Tu l l y, a firm that “defends attorneys and
accountants sued for legal and profe s s i o n a l
m a l p r a c t i c e ” . Power is cool, that’s why we’re proud
of Frances Campbell, who has moved to
Randolph & Associates and is “‘managing’ the civil
d e p a r t m e n t .” Luis Guzman is cool just because,
but he’s also been a Big Brother through the Big
Brothers, Big Sisters of America for almost a year.
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
4 5

class notes in memoriam
Luis’ Little Brother’s “name is Brayan and I’m very
proud of him.” Luis, we all hope he turns out to be
a fine individual like yourself. John Bo w e r b a n k
is cool because he seemingly can do anything
related to litigation. His practice at Sheppard Mullin
“concentrates on general business litigation,
particularly securities, commercial real estate,
construction and corporate disputes.” Classmates
working together are cool, that’s why it’s special
that Justin Suhr and Jennifer Chiarelli are now
working together at Piper Rudnick in Century City.
Zareh Sinanyan, cool guy, now works at Selle,
Hofman, Voelbel, Mason & Gette, a firm with a cool
name and, tell me this isn’t cool, recently traveled
to a “firm retreat in Cancun, Mex i c o .” (My firm sent
me on a retreat to a warehouse full of documents
on Olympic.) Lori Sinanyan, now with Kirkland &
Ellis, organized an extremely cool fundraising
event—a night at the Comedy Club with proceeds
benefiting the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor
R e g i s t r y. Striking out on one’s own, i.e., rugged
individualism is cool, that’s why we mention
Dwight Stirling who opened up, “The law office
of Dwight D. Stirling” in Belmont Shore. K i r s t e n
D o o l i t t l ehas the cool hobby of “playing on an ultimate
frisbee club team in DC .” Her team even
went to Hawaii last year for a tournament. (But
they got spanked.) Lastly, we come to my favorite
part of the column – marriages and engagements.
Here’s the latest: Pamela Otte Colquette m a r r i e d
Phil Colquette on 06/22/02 in an Iowa country
chapel. Kelly Lane Muñoz married her bo y f r i e n d
of almost seven years, Ruben Muñoz, in Newport
B e a ch on 01/12/02. Shauna Bain Smith
married Hudson H. Smith III on 07/ 06/02 on a
cliff overlooking the harbor of Catalina Island.
Anna Mellado Pa r k and Peter Pa r k w e r e
married on 06/15/02 in Santa Barbara. Bo b b y
Be n j y married Sheryl Kiumehr on 03/24/02.
Justin Sanders married Toi Neal in Hawaii in
November 2002. As for engagements, Au t u m n
G r e s o w s k i and Tim Spaeth became engaged in
Maui in May. Reggie Roberts and Alicia Th o m a s
became engaged on 07/05/02 and will wed in
September 2003. Steve Bush (’01) is engaged to
Marie Miles and they will marry in October. Th a n k s
for your responses, class and remember – stay
cool, forever!
4 6 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
Matt Matkins, Class Report e r
m a t t h e w. m a t z k i n @ k m z r. c o m
> Class of 2 0 01
Welcome to our first Class Notes. Luis Chavez
has moved up in the world of Aikido by receiving
his Second Dan promotion. He also moved jobs to
Morris, Po l i ch & Pu r d y. Leslie Howell made a
positive career move to Lisa Helfend Meyer &
Associates, where she contentedly practices
family law. Tony Pe t r o s s i a n left the practice of
law for the allure of Hollywood. He directs music
videos and hopes to transition into commercials
and feature films. The next McG perhaps? Th e
s cholarly Mac Bunyanunda published his article,
“Burma, ASEAN and Human Rights: The Decade
of Constructive Engagement, 199 1 - 2 0 0 1 ,” in the
Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs. S t e p h e n
M a r q u a r d t didn’t let the L.A. District At t o r n e y ’ s
hiring freeze stop him. He moved to San Diego
where he is a criminal prosecutor for the City
Attorney’s Office. He has prosecuted (and won!)
several jury trials, but he can’t stop thinking abo u t
that one holdout juror (just let it go, Steve).
L e Anna Gutierrez has given up sunny California
for the political action in Washington D.C. She is
Legislative Assistant to Senator Bill Nelson of
Florida and works on transportation, immigration
and Hispanic outreach. Also on the East Coast,
Jacqueline Bird is clerking for the Delaware
Court of Chancery. Sidley Austin Brown & Wo o d
pulled off a coup by hiring Sean Commons, who
just finished a clerkship with Judge King of the
Central District of California. (In the interest of full
disclosure, I’m just glad to have another friend a
few offices down the hall from me.) Sean pulled
off his own coup by marrying Jennifer Nakata on
08/04/01. Olivier Th e a r d also tied the knot in
August 2001 to the lovely Karine Calixte.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y, Hurricane Isidor ruined their time in
Cancun, but they survived. Ten days after the Bar
Exam, Scott Jack s o ncouldn’t wait another minute
to marry his wife (but highly suggests putting a
little more space between the two). They enjoyed
a honeymoon on Maui and Kauai with lots of
surfing, piña coladas, sleep, and, well, let’s not go
there. Scott has started a law firm with his father,
also an ‘SC graduate (Class of 1972). We n d y
L o v e j o y married her long-time boyfriend, Jason
Garewal, on 10/19/02 in San Diego. R a ch e l
(Miller) Lazarus married Jeff Lazarus on
11/11/01. She received her bar results while on
her honeymoon! Rachel is in San Diego, where
she is developing a career in domestic violence
issues. She works for a non-profit agency, became
a certified domestic violence/sexual assault couns
e l o r, and is on the San Diego Domestic Vi o l e n c e
Legal Action Committee. Ilana Cristofar will be
heading down the aisle soon. She is engaged to
Justin Fa r a r (‘00); the wedding is set for
07/19/03. In the meantime, you will find her practicing
corporate law at Buch a l t e r, Nemer, Fields
& Yo u n g e r. Pablo Estrada celebrated the birth
of his daughter, Ariana Estrada. When it rains it
pours; he was also promoted to Senior in the
Controversy Group at Ernst & Young. After her
clerkship with Judge Rafeedie of the Central
District of California and before starting at Munger,
Tolles & Olson, Katherine Fo r s t e rtook a fabulous
vacation to San Francisco, Napa Va l l e y, and San
Simeon. It was reported that she had to rent a
cellar to store the spoils. Brian Nelson traveled to
Europe, Costa Rica, and around the United States
last year. He is now working at Bennett and
Fairshter in Pasadena, which specializes in
c o m p l ex business litigation. He also attended
some of the World Series games (Go Angels!).
Nicole Ko l h o f f finally enjoyed a real honeymoon
with her husband in Italy and Paris. She is apparently
quite the jetsetter, having also traveled to
London, Munich for Oktoberfest, and Peru – all
while also finishing her first year at O’Melveny &
Myers. Z a chary Bulthuis has finally recovered
from culture shock after returning from a yearlong
clerkship for the High Court of American Samoa. I
have it under good authority that he actually
managed to do some work in between tennis,
snorkeling, and other activities. He is now also at
O’Melveny & Myers. As for me, I enjoyed an
amazing bar trip to Australia and New Zealand,
w h i ch seems like a decade ago. I have managed
to survive my first year at Sidley along with fe l l o w
classmate, Laci Fr i s b i e – with whom I will always
share the memory of a horrible night in a cramped
cubicle at Kinko’s in Chicago, while attending our
firm’s New Associate Training and waiting for our
bar results to be posted. Lu ck i l y, that also seems
like a decade ago.
M i chelle Fo w l e r, Class Reporter
m f o w l e r @ s i d l e y. c o m
in memoriam
M. Ross Bi g e l ow ’50, a re t i red Los Angeles
Superior Court judge, died Sept. 3 of complications
from congestive heart failure. He was
77. Bi g e l ow was appointed to the Los Angeles
Municipal Court in 1969 by Gov. Ro n a l d
Reagan and became a Superior Court judge in
1973. He presided over the high-profile trial
of two Symbionese Liberation Army
members invo l ved in a 1974 police shootout
during their arrest for the murder of a school
superintendent. Be f o re becoming a judge,
Bi g e l ow had a private practice in Long Be a c h ,
w h e re he was active in the Republican Pa rt y.
He served in the U.S. Navy during Wo r l d
War II and the Ko rean Wa r. He is surv i ved by
his wife of 35 years, four children, thre e
s t e p c h i l d ren, 14 grandchildren and 14 gre a t -
g r a n d c h i l d re n .
Daniel L. Duggan ’40 died Oct. 26 of heart
f a i l u re at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89.
Duggan was an early partner in Coldwe l l
Banker and helped the San Fr a n c i s c o - b a s e d
real estate firm expand into other states. He
also was a former president of the Los Angeles
Realty Board. Born in Edmonton, Canada,
Duggan moved to Los Angeles with his family
when he was 9. He worked his way thro u g h
U C LA and USC Law School. He is surv i ve d
by his wife of 60 years, Jean Druffel Du g g a n ;
sons Dennis and Richard, daughter Joan, and
f i ve grandchildre n .
Vincent Peter Di Giorgio ’39 of Ba k e r s f i e l d ,
C a l i f., passed away Fe b. 15, 2002, at the age
of 87. After graduating from the Law School
with an LL.B., he went to work for the Di
Giorgio Corp. as vice president of the winery
division in San Fr a n c i s c o. He later was the
c o m p a n y’s corporate attorney in Ke r n
C o u n t y, where he was instrumental in the
d e velopment of the Arv i n / Edison Wa t e r
District. Fo l l owing his work there, he start e d
his own practice. One of the highlights of his
c a reer was arguing before the Su p reme Court .
He is surv i ved by his wife of 62 years, Ja n e t ,
f i ve daughters, 16 grandchildren and 16
g re a t - g r a n d c h i l d ren.
Joseph B. Leonard ’66 died on Christmas
Day at his home after a brief battle with
c a n c e r. Early in his career he was employed by
Ae rojet Corp. and No rt h rop Corp. in human
re s o u rces and labor relations. After re c e i v i n g
his law degree, he worked for the Los Angeles
County Counsel’s Office and then spent 21
years as trust counsel for Trust Se rvices of
America. His hobbies included Dixieland Ja z z
and singing in barbershop quartets. He is
s u rv i ved by his wife Do ro t h y, a daughter, a
son, two stepsons and numerous grandchild
re n .
James E. Mo o re Jr. ’59, who specialized in
civil trial litigation, passed away Nov. 10, at
the age of 70. After graduating law school,
he was admitted to the Louisiana Bar and
joined the Baton Rouge law firm of Fr a n k l i n
and Keogh. During his practice he was
admitted to all state and federal courts of
Louisiana, including the U.S. Fifth Circ u i t
C o u rt of Appeals. He is surv i ved by his wife,
Pamela, son James E. Mo o re Jr., and daughter
Mi c h e l l e .
George E. Olafson ’60, a long-time court
p robate attorney, passed away Aug. 10.
Olafson was well-liked by his co-workers and
had a reputation for doing his job well while
remaining laid-back. Probate attorney Bob
Kern told the Me t ropolitan Ne w s - En t e r p r i s e
Olafson was one of the “most efficient pro b a t e
attorneys I’ve worked with and probably one
of the most reasonable.” He is surv i ved by his
wife, Karen, and his daughter, Christian.
Ro b e rt J. Stahl ’49, who spent 22 years on
the San Diego Municipal Court bench, died
of cancer Oct. 5 in his Pacific Beach home.
He was 78. During his career on the bench,
Stahl raced 19-foot lightning-class sloops with
t h ree-man crews as a member of the Mi s s i o n
Bay Yacht Club. He joined the Navy and
s e rved in the Philippines during World Wa r
II. He also served during the Ko rean Wa r. He
is surv i ved by his wife, Be ve r l y, five sons and
12 grandchildre n .
Jack T. Sw a f f o rd ’52, a longtime class
re p o rter for USC Law magazine and a part n e r
in the Pasadena firm of Lagerlof, Se n e c a l ,
Br a d l e y, Gosney & Kruse, died Nov. 11 fro m
l i ver failure. He was 80. A Navy ve t e r a n ,
Sw a f f o rd spent 37 years with Lagerlof, where
he worked as a full-time litigator until just a
f ew months before his passing. He held a lifelong
connection to USC, also his
undergraduate alma mater. A member of the
Law School’s Legion Lex Fund, Sw a f f o rd
p roudly held the title of 1952 class re p o rt e r,
a job that showcased his talent for being
always articulate and pithy. “He was tru l y
passionate about law,” said his daughter,
Susan Cremeans. “He loved being class
re p o rt e r.” Besides his daughter, surv i vo r s
include his wife, Helen; son St e ve; and two
g r a n d c h i l d re n .
A rnold E. Wayne ’57, a re t i red lawye r, died
Dec. 16. Wayne had a private legal practice in
California for many years before moving to
Va n c o u ve r, Wash. He is surv i ved by his wife
Nancy and a daughter.
USCLAW s p r i n g 2003
4 7

clos e r by Annika Martin ’04
Before I came to law sch o o l ,I had little idea of what being
a lawyer meant. Like most people on the outside, my image of the legal
p rofession was dominated by men like Keanu Re e ve s’ character in “T h e
De v i l’s Ad vo c a t e” and women like T V’s Ally Mc Beal. To broaden my
p e r s p e c t i ve, I read books on Ha rva rd’s before - yo u - c o m e - t o - l a w - s c h o o l t h ree semesters of school left, but my classmates and I have taken our
reading list, but no movie or book could really impart the experience places as apprentices in the legal pro f e s s i o n .
of being on the “inside,” looking out at the world with a lawye r’s eyes. Ap p rentices need masters, and USC has plenty. Re c e n t l y, I attended
It wasn’t until I got to USC that I discove red that lawyers rule the a panel discussion featuring five USC grads of all different ages in all
world.
d i f f e rent careers. Public interest, government, law firms, private practice,
At the end of the film “The Matrix,” the protagonist is standing in judicial work; many career options we re re p resented and I re a l i zed that
a hallway, squared off against the evil agents pursuing him. Suddenly he USC grads have the experience, flexibility and courage to succeed at and
d o e s n’t see the scene as a regular hallway with doors, but as a constru c- go beyond the standard law-career track, switching gears, starting busition
of the flowing codes of the Matrix. Just as he saw through the nesses and involving themselves in eve ry aspect of the legal pro f e s s i o n .
s t ru c t u re of the hallway to the underlying code itself, lawyers see thro u g h Thanks to alumni who are leaders in eve ry possible field of law — and
the words, the citations, the formulaic phrases to the scaffolding of who are willing to share their experiences and guide those who follow
laws that supports our society.
them — we apprentices have eve ry opportunity to learn from masters
Legal professionals construct, alter, strengthen and repair this of our profession.
substructure on a daily basis. We mold society from the inside out, Now, listening to my lawyerly answers at the holiday dinner table,
s l owly but permanently. Politicians can apply a new coat of paint, legis- seeing my classmates’ varied and profound intelligence and talent,
lators can draw up new architectural plans, but it is the lawyers and witnessing the unique role USC graduates play in our nascent care e r s ,
judges who balance black-letter law and policy, testing and ensuring the I can only say that our generation, as each before it, has the chance and
integrity of the girders of the modern world.
the capacity to alter and strengthen the scaffolding of our society — and
I ’m now halfway through my law school curriculum, and I consider
myself a lawyer. Some might call me presumptuous, but I consider
myself a lawyer because I see the scaffolding. I consider myself a lawye r
will succeed, as each before it, by standing on the shoulders of giants.
because my summer job entrusted me with real cases — and the judge
I worked for relied on my legal analysis in his decision. I consider myself
a lawyer because I know what I’m talking about when my relatives,
passing the potatoes at holiday dinners, start asking me all the legal questions
that have been nagging them during the ye a r. I consider myself a
An n i ka Martin is a second-year * law student at USC and a frequent
l a w yer because I exasperate said re l a t i ves by giving them “on the one
contributor to vault.com, a national, We b -
4 8 USCLAW s p r i n g 2003