Class Notes
1976
Incumbent, 5th District Appellate Court Judge James Wexstten ‘76 is running in the democratic party primary race in February, 2008.
Shari Rhode ’76 is running for the ISBA Board of Governors (area 7).
Appellate Justice James Wexstten ’76 of the 5 th District in Mount Vernon has been appointed to the board of directors of the Lawyers’ Assistance Program.
1977
1978
a message from Mark McGrath ‘78. “As class president, after having done nothing that I can remember for you as your class president, I thought after 30 years I had better do something. I have volunteered to be the lead harasser for you to come to our 30th law school reunion.” The Reunion will be held on October 10, 2008 through October 11, 2008. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Holiday Inn in Carbondale. SAVE THE DATE! It can be a tax deduction, a seminar will be given on Saturday.
Why you should come
Meet old friends
Reminisce
Tell old “war” stories
Have a great time
See the new Law School
More info to follow. Contact Mark McGrath at 309.359.3461 or email mcgrathpc@verizon.net
1979
William Enyart ’79 was named state adjutant general in Illinois. In that position he will command 13,000 members of the Illinois National Guard and will serve as director of the Illinois Department of Military Affairs and as chief adviser on military matters to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Joe McMenamin ‘79 is running for a seat in the Illinois congress in the 19th District.
1980
John C. Buford ‘80 and his wife Caryl, both retired from the US Army in 2007 at the rank of Colonel. They are now living in their hometown of Orangeville, IL, where they met when he was 9 and she was 7 years old. John, a member of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Advisory Council, has guided five local properties onto the National Register of Historic Places. Caryl and John have restored three of the historic buildings in their hometown, all on the National Register, and in their spare time, run a small dinner theater in one of them.
1981
Barnes & Thornburg LLP attorney Mark D. Stuaan ‘81 was recently appointed by the president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association to serve as general chair of the Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure for 2007-2008.
A partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Indianapolis office, Stuaan is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department as well as the Appellate and White Collar Crime practice groups. He focuses his practice in white collar criminal defense, and represents and advises clients in connection with civil and criminal matters in state and federal district courts.
Stuaan is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association as well as the Indianapolis Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in the states of Indiana and Illinois.
Stuaan received his bachelor’s degree from Wabash College in 1978. He earned his law degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1981, during which time he was selected to the Order of Barristers and served as editor-in-chief of the SIU Law Journal.
With nearly 475 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the Midwest and ranks among the 100 largest law firms in the United States. The firm serves clients worldwide from its offices in Chicago, Indiana, Michigan and Washington, D.C.
1982
Lisa Kay Franke-Haida ‘82, died Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, at St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, Mo. Lisa was a trial attorney for Hepler and Broom Law Firm in Edwardsville, IL. She is survived by her husband of 19 years, Robert B. Haida, whom she married Aug. 20, 1988 and two sons, Tyler and Brian Haida, of Belleville, IL.
Anthony L. Martin ’82 is working in the new Sandberg Phoenix and vonGontard office in downtown Edwardsville. Anthony and three other attorneys opened the firm’s second Illinois office in February, 2008.
1983
The Class of 1983 will be celebrating its 25th School of Law reunion during homecoming weekend, October 10-11, 2008. Carolyn Smoot ‘83 is looking for classmates to help her with your 25th reunion. You can contact Carolyn at csmoot@siu.edu.
1984
Steven G. Bailey ‘84 taught a course for the Pierre Laclede Honors College entitled "Behavioral Issues in Investing." The class looked at how emotions and flawed reasoning affect investment portfolios. Concentration was in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, but the applications are expandable to other areas of commerce.
Broadstripe (formerly Millennium Digital Media) announces that it has hired Bruce E. Beard ‘84 as its general counsel. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Beard was senior counsel with Cinnamon Mueller, a Chicago based law firm.
After 19 years as a partner at Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP, William J. Bohler ‘84 recently left to become a partner at 1100 lawyer international firm Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP ("WilmerHale"), where he will continue to focus on litigating and trying complex patent infringement and related matters.
1985
Nancy L. Strohmeyer ‘85 passed the Florida bar exam and is a fully licensed member of the Florida Bar now. She is still working as a law librarian at Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Florida.
1986
1987
1988
Pieter N. Schmidt ‘88 has been named managing partner of Feirich, Mager, Green and Ryan. He joined FMGR in 1988 and was names as a partner in 1994. Schmidt’s practice concentrates in workers’ compensation and other employment related matters.
The Class of 1988 will be celebrating its 20th School of Law reunion during homecoming weekend, October 10-11, 2008.
1989
1990
Steve Stone ‘90 attorney and partner in the Marion law firm of Howerton, Dorris & Stone was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Stone received notice in June, 2007 of his admission. Lawyers are admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States upon demonstration of good moral and professional character. He joins his partners Robert Howerton and Douglas Dorris as members. SIU School of Law will host a U.S. Supreme Court swearing in ceremony for an alumni group admission in May, 2009.
1991
Dan O'Brien ‘91 began the new year with a new office location for his general practice firm at
1992
Gina D. Dunning ‘92 has relocated her office to 532 N. 8th Street in Paducah, Kentucky.
1993
The Class of 1993 will be celebrating its 15th School of Law reunion during homecoming weekend, October 10-11, 2008.
Connie Fraizer ’93 is teaching a divorce education class for parents. This course meets the four hour mandatory Parent Education requirement in the state of
1994
1995
1996
Matt Benson ‘04 and Frances Salimi ‘96 have opened offices in Marion and DuQuoin, Illinois.
Derek K. Hiroharta (ninjaderek@aol.com) was awarded Bronze Star Medal for service in
1997
Richard L. Saville, Jr., Robert J. Evola ‘97 and Ethan A. Flint are proud to announce the opening of their law firm, Saville, Evola & Flint, L.L.C. The firm will specialize in representing seriously injured plaintiffs, particularly victims of mesothelioma and lung cancer from asbestos exposure, and victims of leukemia from benzene exposure. Although the firm will handle cases nationwide, they will focus their practice in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. Their office is located on 322 East Broadway in Alton, Illinois.
1998
David Greer ‘98 has moved to Chisinau, Republic of Moldova to assume the position of Chief of Party for the USAID Regulatory Reform and Tax Administration Reform Project, a three year USAID technical assistance project implemented by DAI, Inc., a Bethesda, Maryland based Development Consulting Firm. David had previously performed similar duties with Emerging Markets Group, Ltd., leading the USAID Ukraine Commercial Law Center Project in Kyiv, Ukaine.
Kamran Khan ‘98 has joined the Law Department at Philip Morris USA in Richmond, Virginia. Kamran will help manage litigation matters for the company. Prior to joining the Philip Morris USA Law Department, Kamran was a Partner in the National Products Liability Division at Shook, Hardy and Bacon in Kansas City, MO. Kamran had previously represented Philip Morris as national counsel.
April Troemper ‘98 is running for the ISBA Board of Governors, Downstate (outside of Cook County), Under 37 Position. All ISBA members, who reside outside of Cook County, are eligible to vote!
The Class of 1998 will be celebrating its 10th School of Law reunion during homecoming weekend, October 10-11, 2008.
1999
2000
Anne Clough ‘00 has a private practice in
2001
Vihar R. Patel ‘01 completed a Masters of Law in Intellectual Property (IP) from DePaul University School of Law in May of 2006 and wrote two papers. He co-authored the “Federal Circuit Review of Claim Construction Cases 2005” available at http://iplac.org/Pages/2005_report.pdf and authored "Are patented research tools still valuable? Use, intent, and a rebuttable presumption: A proposed analysis for exemption from patent infringement under 35 USC § 271 (e) (1)" pre-print copy available at http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1466. He continues to work as a full time Assistant Attorney General for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in Chicago. Vihar would like to transition into an IP position and teach IP law.
2002
Carmody MacDonald P.C. announces that Michelle N. Dibadj ‘02 has joined the firm as an associate. Ms. Dibadj concentrates her practice in the area of medical professional defense litigation.
Peter Olson ’02 is running for the ISBA Board of Governors Cook County (Under age 37).
Lucy Goffinet ‘02 (FKA Lucy Rhodes-Moore) has been elected State Judge in Perry County, Indiana, after beating the incumbent candidate in the primary election. She is the first female judge in Perry County and the youngest judge to be elected in the State of Indiana.
After clerking for Judge Herndon in the federal court in the Southern District of Illinois, Theresa Phelps ‘02 joined the law firm of Lewis, Rice & Fingersh. Theresa left Lewis Rice to accept a position at a new Clayton-based branch office of a Quincy, Illinois firm, Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu & Mitchell. The biggest news is that Ryan and Theresa added a new addition to their family, a daughter.
2003
The Class of 2003 will be celebrating its 5th School of Law reunion during homecoming weekend, October 10-11, 2008.
2004
Matt Benson ‘04 and Frances Salimi ‘96 have opened offices in Marion and DuQuoin, Illinois.
Michael P. Murphy ‘04 and his wife, Tami, had a baby girl on June 28, 2007 - Mackenzie Payton Murphy.
2005
Elizabeth J. (Hamilton) Zuercher ‘05 married to Brian Zuercher of Columbus, Ohio. They were married in 2006 in Rome, Italy at Santa Susanna Church.
Nate Hwang ‘05 and Nicole Poirier ‘05 were married on March 17, 2007 in St. Louis, MO.
Emily and Jason Johnson ‘05 had a baby girl, Katherine Jean, in September, 2006.
Nathan Craig '05 will be leaving his current position of Associate Professor of Legal Studies at Utah Valley University and has accepted an attorney position with the Social Security Disability law firm of Francis and Fentress in Cadiz, Kentucky effective May 1, 2007.
2006
Jason Green ‘06 is working in Los Angeles, CA as an attorney for the Screen Actors Guild
2007
Anne Rayhill ‘07 is an Assistant Public Defender in the Sangamon County Public Defender’s Office.
2008
Andrew R. Roszak ’08 earns his degree in May, he will begin a year-long David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship. A dual-degree graduate student, he will also receive a master’s degree in public administration. Roszak’s fellowship, one of only two granted this year, will provide an opportunity to learn about the political system through exposure to public and private sector roles in health policy development.