’50s | ’60s | ’70s | ’80s | ’90s | ’00s | Leaps of Faith | The Art of Copyright | The Road to Athens | Adventurer of a Lifetime | The Science of Life | In Memoriam | And What About You?
Marion Edwyn Harrison, LLB ’54, LLM ’59, while continuing private practice in Washington and Virginia, also is president of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation and has lectured abroad every summer for the past few years with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Aaron I. Alembik, JD ’56, is retired as an attorney with Alembik & Alembik in Atlanta. Since retirement, he has been traveling the world with his wife, Judy. Their son Gary Alembik, BA ’85, is a partner of the same firm. Their son Marc Alembik, BS ’84, MS ’86, is a doctor in northern Virginia.
James E. Hawes, JD ’61, retired from his California legal practice and has enjoyed the success of his intellectual property books—Trademark Registration Practice, Copyright Registration Practice, Patent Application Practice, and Practitioners Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, all published by West.
A managing partner of the Los Angeles intellectual property law firm Kleinberg & Lerner, Marshall Lerner, JD ’65, lives in Beverly Hills, Calif., with his wife, Jacqueline Fabe, who also is a litigation lawyer. They have two sons; Jonathan, a senior at Harvard, and Adam, a freshman at UCLA.
Of counsel with Jackson Walker in Dallas, John B. Holden Jr., JD ’68, was named a “2003 Texas Super Lawyer” by Texas Monthly. Holden was chosen out of more than 20,000 nominees and was selected by his peers, including opposing and co-counsel.
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 Jack Olender, LLM ’61, was given the Award of Excellence at the Pigskin Club of Washington’s annual banquet. The malpractice lawyer was recognized for promoting opportunity and equality, especially for the people of Washington.
Olender annually recognizes the achievements of others through the Olender Foundation’s Olender Awards, which this year paid special tribute to U.S. Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson and John Payton.
Johnson received the Woman of Valor 2004 Award for surviving captivity and being wounded in the line of duty as the first African-American female prisoner of war in U.S. history. An Olender grant in her name went to the Fisher House Foundation, which provides housing and assistance to the families of hospitalized and deceased U.S. soldiers.
Payton received the Hero in Law 2004 Award for successfully arguing the University of Michigan Law School’s affirmative action case before the U.S. Supreme Court. An Olender grant in his honor went to the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.
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Daniel H. Skerritt, LLM ’72, (pictured at left) a partner in the Portland, Ore., firm Tonkon Torp, became a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in Montreal in November. The college—one of the premier legal associations in the United States—is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Members must have at least 15 years of trial experience before they can be considered for fellowship. Skerritt focuses on complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution and represents in a variety of specialties including securities, corporate governance, energy, and general business litigation.
Virginia Business magazine named Neil S. Kessler, JD ’73, one of its “Legal Elite” in the real estate and construction category. An attorney with Troutman Sanders in Richmond, Kessler was selected by a poll of more than 5,500 Virginia lawyers.
In January, Joel L. Green, JD ’74, became lead partner in the new Washington office of Phoenix-based firm Jennings, Strouss & Salmon. Green has been in private practice in the Washington area since 1974, assisting clients in energy regulatory matters, contract negotiations, and advocacy before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state commissions, and the courts.
Susan L. McGreevy, JD ’74, was named among the Kansas City Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar.” She is the chair of Husch & Eppenberger’s construction practice group, advising construction companies, sureties, design professionals, and owners in their day-to-day business ventures. She also was listed in the latest edition of Best Lawyers in America in the area of construction law.
Focusing on advising utility companies in domestic and international transactions, Blaine Yamagata, JD ’74, joined Houston firm Jackson Walker as a partner in its business transactions section. His work includes the representation of domestic utilities before federal and state regulatory commissions and appellate courts. He previously worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as a trial attorney and later as a legal adviser to a commissioner.
In October, Ed Detlie, JD ’75, was elected treasurer of the Iowa Association of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. He serves a one-year term. Detlie had been elected to the board of governors of the association in 2002. He previously was a member of the Iowa State Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section Council, serving four three-year terms. He has been in private practice in Ottumwa, Iowa, since 1982, after five years as a state administrative law judge.
George G. Olsen, JD ’75, was elected president of the firm Williams & Jensen in Washington.
Residing in Bentleyville, Ohio, David B. Goldston, JD ’77, was named vice president and general counsel of WW Holdings, a manufacturer and nationwide distributor of commercial doors, frames, and architectural hardware in Cleveland.
Washington firm Ober/Kaler in January announced that Martha Purcell Rogers, JD ’77, (pictured at right) was selected as one of twelve “Outstanding Healthcare Litigators—2003” by Nightingale’s Healthcare News. She was selected from a pool of national health care litigator nominations submitted by colleagues and clients. Rogers is managing principal of the firm’s Washington office and is chair of its white collar defense practice, specializing in defending criminal and civil fraud matters, particularly health care and tax fraud. She represents individual and corporate health care providers in phases of criminal investigation and litigation. Previously, she was an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Florida.
J. Jeffrey Hawley, JD ’78, was elected president of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. IPO is a national trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets in all industries and fields of technology. Hawley, who was elected to the board of directors of IPO in 1996, currently serves as assistant general counsel at Eastman Kodak.
A principal in the construction law practice of Ober/Kaler in Baltimore, Joe Kovars, JD ’78, was appointed by Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich to serve on a task force to study efficiency in procurement in Maryland. The group will review methods of increasing efficiency in Maryland’s procurement processes including the use of market-based procurement methods as well as outsourcing, centralization, and privatization. Kovars also will chair the dispute resolution subcommittee, which will consider ways to improve the effectiveness of the dispute resolution process. He was included in the 2003 issue of The Best Lawyers in America.
The Denver Public Schools Foundation selected Steve Katich, JD ’79, as its president in October. Katich will lead the foundation as it supports the mission and goals of Denver Public Schools. He has been a partner in Denver-based communications firm GBSM for 13 years and previously was executive director of the Denver Baseball Commission, through which he led the city’s successful effort to bring Major League Baseball to Denver.
Charles J. Moll III, JD ’79, in October assumed the leadership position of the State Bar of California Tax Section, the only statewide tax bar association in California. He maintains his state and local tax practice out of the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster, where he is chair of the firm’s property tax group.
Jeffrey S. Rovner, JD ’82, joined Clifford Chance as the director of knowledge management for its Americas region. Rovner lives in Laguna Beach, Calif.
Deloitte & Touche of New York appointed Ellen Auster, JD ’83, the head of its Long Island office. She has been with the firm since 1978. Auster continues to hold the title of tax principal with the firm.
In a ceremony held in the Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, Col. Scott W. Stucky, LLM ’83, was retired from the Air Force Reserve in November. The ceremony was presided over by Maj. Gen. Jack L. Rives, the deputy judge advocate general of the Air Force. Stucky was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the United States as an Air Force Reserve Individual Mobilization Augmentee from 1995 to November 2003. At the time of his retirement, he served as the senior IMA to the chief judge of the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, the service court that hears appeals from courts-martial.
Formerly head of the intellectual property group for Philadelphia’s Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell and Hippel, Scott J. Fields, JD ’84, established his own full-service intellectual property law firm, the National IP Rights Center, in November. Fields seeks to create a unique firm that capitalizes on the knowledge and experience he has gained over his 18-year career as an IP and cyber lawyer and an entrepreneurial businessman.
Jacob Inwald, JD ’84, was elected of counsel at the Chicago branch of New York-based firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in April. His practice involves counseling and litigating commercial contract disputes, corporate governance disputes, entertainment, trade secret, civil rights, and real property disputes.
In April, Smith Moore added Walter Boyd, LLM ’85, (pictured at left) to its business practice. He will join the firm’s Greensboro, N.C., office. He has extensive knowledge of intellectual property law with an emphasis on patents in chemical and pharmaceutical technologies. Previously, he practiced with Washington firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farrabow, Garrett & Dunner. In addition to his practice, Boyd frequently lectures on intellectual property law issues and has published on Federal Circuit decisions and the practice of chemical patent law.
The National Association of Broadcasters named Marsha J. MacBride, JD ’85, executive vice president of its legal and regulatory affairs department. She will oversee the NAB legal team, which represents local broadcasters before the Federal Communications Commission and the courts, and which counsels radio and television stations on numerous issues. Previously, she served as chief of staff to FCC Chairman Michael Powell from 2001 to 2003, at which time she also was chair of the FCC Homeland Security Policy Council.
Stephen P. Pazan, JD ’86, (pictured at right) a partner in Dilworth Paxson’s Cherry Hill, N.J., office, was a presenter at the “Discovery in New Jersey Bad Faith Litigation” seminar. The program included consideration of the impact of rules of discovery on bad faith litigation, paper discovery, discovery from plaintiff and defense perspectives, depositions, and ethics. Pazan also wrote “Errors and Omissions in the Context of E-Commerce Sales and Service Contracts” in the New Jersey State Bar Insurance Law Section Newsletter. He practices general commercial litigation and insurance coverage law, and is a member of his firm’s e-commerce group.
A partner in the Cleveland firm Ulmer & Berne and chair of its public law group, Craig S. Miller, JD ’88, was named to Inside Business’ 2003 “Leading Lawyers” list. He concentrates on public law, public contracts, and government relations, as well as on real estate development and financing, nonprofit corporations, and corporate law. He is a member of the Ohio State, District of Columbia, and Cleveland Bar Associations and is a member of the Cuyahoga County Law Directors Association.
The New York State Telecommunications Association in January named Louis Manuta, JD ’89, its vice president of regulatory counsel. He is responsible for advising, coordinating, and representing industry positions before state and federal regulatory agencies. He also provides expert counsel to member companies regarding matters affecting their business operations.
Samuel R. Watkins, JD ’90, became a shareholder in the Seattle branch of San Francisco-based firm Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe in January. He has been with the firm since 1999 and has an insurance coverage and product liability practice, representing corporate clients in both federal and state courts as well as in arbitrations and mediations.
Great Plains Communications of Blair, Neb., named Todd Foje, JD ’91, its chief operating officer. He previously served as president and will continue to serve as CEO of two of the company’s subsidiaries, Great Plains Locating Service and Great Plains One-Call Service. He also is chairman of the Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross and a member of the Omaha Morning Rotary Club.
A partner with New Jersey firm Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith, Ravin, Davis & Himmel, Marc J. Gross, BA ’88, JD ’91, joined with fellow business leaders to form the North Jersey Business Council. The council includes business owners, executives, licensed professionals, and senior salespeople. The group was formed to provide a network to discuss business development issues, to enhance communication skills, and improve business relations.
Holland & Knight named Michael R. Manthei, JD ’91, a partner in its Boston branch. He is a member of the firm’s business law section, practicing health law.
For the last 12 years, Mark S. Spring, JD ’91, has practiced labor and employment law in Sacramento. Spring and a colleague recently authored “The Employer Survival Guide.” Published by the California Restaurant Association, the guide is designed to provide California employers and line managers with a single reference book that answers or provides sources for answers to common personnel issues. Spring manages the Sacramento office of Carlton, DiSante & Freudenberger, a California-based labor law boutique firm. He and his wife, Sheila, welcomed their third child, Julius, on June 9, 2003.
Diane Butler, JD ’92, was promoted to partner in the Seattle office of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky. She concentrates on business immigration and manages the firm’s immigration practice. Previously, she worked in Shanghai, China, for the Canadian firm Bull, Housser & Tupper.
Open Source Software Law by Rod Dixon, JD ’92, was published by Artech House. The work explores the formal and legal aspects of two views of software development and distribution: that software should be offered to users with open access to the source code, and that end-users should be freely able to modify, copy, or redistribute the software they have legally acquired. Dixon has taught cyber law as a visiting assistant professor of law at Rutgers University Law School at Camden.
Brad Gordon, JD ’92, (pictured at left) was named general counsel, vice president, and corporate secretary of Providence, R.I., firm Gilbane. In this role, he will lead all legal affairs for the company including compliance, dispute resolution, litigation management, labor relations, and corporate governance issues. Gordon previously served as counsel to municipal clients on matters concerning public works and public buildings design and construction.
In the Washington office of San Francisco-based firm Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Joseph H. Fagan, JD ’93, was named a shareholder in January. Fagan represents energy clients before federal agencies and courts in matters arising from the restructuring of the natural gas and electric power industries. He also has represented clients on environmental, postal rate, and transporation matters.
In Washington, Gardner Carton & Douglas named Joseph J. Buczynski, JD ’94, (pictured at right) a partner in the firm’s intellectual property practice. He has more than 13 years of IP experience, specializing in electrical, mechanical, computer software, Internet, and telecommunications technologies. He focuses on drafting and prosecuting patent applications and preparing validity, infringement, and patentability opinions. Previously, Buczynski was an electrical engineer for Loral Control Systems.
Philadelphia firm Pepper Hamilton in January elected David Kaplan, JD ’94, (pictured at left) a partner in the firm. He is a member of the firm’s employee benefits section. He focuses on all areas of executive compensation and employee benefits law.
Practicing in the general business litigation and franchise law practice groups with Husch & Eppenberger in Springfield, Mo., Scott E. Garrett, JD ’95, became a member of the firm in January. He has experience representing businesses and individuals in state and federal courts and successfully argued the dismissal of appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He also participated in hearings in federal court resulting in the exclusion of expert witness testimony leading to a favorable result for his clients. Garrett is a member of the American Bar Association, the Missouri Bar, and the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association.
A member of the litigation section with Holland & Knight in Washington, Marc Edmund Miller, JD ’95, was elected partner in January. He focuses on commercial litigation and real estate and land use litigation.
Christina Guerola Sarchio, JD ’95, was named partner in the Washington firm Howrey Simon Arnold & White. She has practiced in the firm’s global litigation group, handling commercial cases and trials, since 2000.
KPMG in San Francisco named Stephen Bates, JD ’96, a partner in November. Bates provides international corporate tax services to the firm’s clients. He is a member of the D.C. Bar Association and the San Francisco Tax Club.
In Washington, the firm Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman named Nicole Lynn Kobrine, JD ’96, a partner. She focuses on complex business and commercial real estate litigation, and has experience litigating construction matters and environmental disputes. Kobrine has participated in numerous trials in state and federal courts as well as arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association.
Minneapolis firm Dorsey & Whitney in January named Steve Kozachok, JD ’96, a partner.
Jonathan D. Tarnow, BA ’93, JD ’96, in February 2003 became a member of Washington firm Drinker Biddle & Reath. He is part of the firm’s education law practice group and focuses on all aspects of the Higher Education Act, particularly Title IV student financial aid programs. He previously served for three years on GW’s Board of Trustees.
Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus of Arlington, Va., named Frederick D. Bailey, BS ’78, MS ’84, JD ’97, a partner in the firm.
In April, John L. “Jack” Clifton, LLM ’97, was promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corp. He currently serves as the staff judge advocate of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey in Monterey, Calif.
Joseph C. Fanaroff, JD ’97, is the deputy attorney general in the Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Law for New Jersey. He is assigned to the election law section.
The Million Dollar Advocates Forum named Michael Vincent Laurato, JD ’97, a member in December. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts, awards, and settlements. Laurato specializes in personal injury and first-party insurance litigation. He resides in Tampa, Fla.
Kathy Ochroch, JD ’97, was named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by American Lawyer Media. The award is given to Pennsylvania lawyers under the age of 40. She is the pro bono coordinator and an associate in the commercial litigation practice group of Blank Rome in Philadelphia.
Working out of Morgan Stanley’s law division in San Francisco, Jonathan Robbins, BA ’93, JD ’97, is vice president and senior attorney. He resides in San Mateo, Calif.
Alex Vogel, JD ’97, serves as chief counsel to Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.). Vogel is responsible for judicial nominations, technology issues, legal reform, privacy, and other related issues. He also is charged with managing Frist’s intergovernmental affairs operations and has been named to Roll Call’s “Fabulous 50,” a listing of the most influential people on Capitol Hill.
Piercing the Veil of Secrecy: Litigation Against U.S. Intelligence by Janine M. Brookner, JD ’98, was published in November by Carolina Academic Press. Brookner works as a plaintiff’s lawyer in Washington, mainly representing federal employees whose rights have been violated by the government. She was the first female CIA station chief in Latin America. She says her career path took a downward turn when the CIA’s inspector general accused her of wrongdoing after she reported a subordinate for abusing his wife. She says she fought back, sued, and prevailed.
Leslie Gross Davis, JD ’98, was named advocacy director of the Mississippi Center for Justice, a new public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice. The center was founded in 2002 by civil rights advocates, trial lawyers, social service advocates, and others committed to pursuing systemic advocacy strategies that combat discrimination and poverty in the state. She resides in Jackson, Miss.
SkyWest Airlines appointed Todd C. Emerson, JD ’98, its director of government and legal affairs. Emerson works at the corporate headquarters in St. George, Utah. He is responsible for the overall government and legal strategies of the airline and serves as its liaison between local, state, and federal government entities. Previously, he was an attorney with Salt Lake City firm Fabian and Clendenin. Emerson and his wife, Dianne, have three children.
Washington firm Alan Banov and Associates named Maria Bremis, JD ’99, an associate. She has focused on workers’ rights issues for more than seven years and has gained experience in the field of employment law.
In November 2003, Richard F. Johns, MPH ’95, JD ’99, founded The Law Offices of Richard F. Johns in Washington.
Los Angeles World Airports named Mark A. Thorpe, MBA ’99, JD ’99, its director of air service marketing in June 2003. He is responsible for air service development, marketing, and related advertising programs for LAWA’s three commercial airports: Los Angeles International, Ontario International, and Palmdale Regional in Palmdale, Calif. He also interprets complex regulations related to the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration, and monitors federal laws including bilateral treaties between the United States and other nations.
Nam Mee Cho, JD ’00, and her husband, Peter Wisner, announced the birth of their son, Paul Soh-Koo Wisner, in January. After working as a human rights attorney in the field of immigration law, she now works from home on a part-time contractual basis with non-profit organizations.
Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein named Gary D. McCollum, JD ’03, an associate in its Charlotte, N.C., office in November 2003.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) named Matthew L. Sandgren, LLM ’03, a legislative aide in his Washington office in April. Sandgren advises the senator on a range of policy issues, including small business, economic development, labor, and affordable housing. Sandgren previously has helped Hatch address constituent concerns about defense, veterans’ affairs, and other military issues. He is a member of the Utah State Bar.
Alyssa Anne Schindler, JD ’03, works in the Washington office of Jennings Strouss, a Phoenix-based firm. She is an associate practicing regulatory and energy law.
Leaps of Faith
“I wasn’t sure what lawyers did, but I knew I wanted to do it,” says J. McDonald “Don” Williams, JD ’66, about his decision to move with his expectant wife from Roswell, N.M., to Washington in 1963 to attend GW Law School. The accounting major from Abilene Christian University in Texas, who became interested in GW after visiting a friend on campus, also wasn’t sure about how to find a home once they arrived. “I didn’t know that you couldn’t just show up in D.C. and find a place to live. So we lived with an acquaintance for a month or so until we finally found one of those old, furnished WWII apartments in Virginia. I worked for my professors during my first year to make ends meet.”
Once he was acclimated to law school life, Williams found inspiration in many of his instructors, especially his contracts professor and ACLU leader Monroe Friedman. “He taught me not only how to think like a lawyer but to think about the issues that were affecting the country at the time, especially the civil rights movement. He was a master of the dialectic. It was a great time to be in D.C.” The civic interest sparked during his time at GW Law would continue to grow and shape Williams’ life and career path in the years to come.
After graduation, Williams moved to Dallas. He practiced with Gary Brice & Lewis in 1966 before starting his own firm, Stalcup Johnson & Williams, in 1968, which eventually merged with Jones, Day. Williams was then hired to help lead the growth and operations of the commercial real estate services and investment firm Trammell Crow, becoming managing partner and head of international relations in 1973, president and CEO in 1977, chairman in 1994, and chairman emeritus in 2002.
Trammell Crow, at one time named the biggest private real estate operation in the United States by Forbes magazine, has helped to shape the Dallas skyline, developing the city’s first skyscraper built by a single developer as well as the Dallas World Trade Center, among countless other significant undertakings around the world.
In 1994, Williams took what he calls “a big leap” from law to philanthropic work when he founded the Foundation for Community Empowerment, a neighborhood asset-based, comprehensive renewal initiative in the low-income areas of southern Dallas. FCE works with schools, churches, and community-based organizations and leaders to revive urban communities. Williams had held leadership positions in many boards and commissions that were geared toward civic improvement, and he knew that having FCE focus on low-income neighborhoods would best meet the community’s needs.
“I’m concerned about the widening gap between the haves and have-nots in this country and want to help find solutions to problems with affordable housing, economic development, better public education, and faith-based initiatives. History is littered with outside-in interventions that have failed, so we seek to work with and for the community leaders to help them do their jobs, to work with people who were already motivated and active in rebuilding their neighborhoods,” Williams says. “We seek to be a catalyst for change, helping with capacity building and grants, and in some cases as advocates for changes in public systems that, in essence, keep the poor down.”
Williams and his colleagues at FCE have succeeded in becoming a positive force in the Dallas community, joining with more than 75 neighborhood, civic, and religious leaders to improve education, housing conditions, and job opportunities for low-income families. He also has served on numerous boards and committees of universities, banks, foundations, and other non-profits.
Whether leading a law firm, working to build stronger communities, or spending time with his wife, five children, including Bryce Williams, JD ’90, and 11 grandchildren, Williams says he relies on advice he was given his first year at GW Law.
“I was taught to always start with the questions, not to come at challenges thinking only with answers,” Williams says. “When you allow for the fact that you don’t have the solution for every problem from the start, then you discover the importance of being open, building relationships, asking the right questions and trusting people. And the answers will come.”
—Laura Ewald
The Art of Copyright
Peters (far left) at a GW Law Board of Advisors Meeting.
Peters testifies before Congress in March.
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It never occurred to a young Marybeth Peters, JD ’71, that she would actually use the law degree she was studying for at The George Washington University.
“Everybody in Washington seemed to have one. I thought I’d go back to Rhode Island and run for Congress,” the East Providence, R.I., native says.
She soon discovered she could flex her legal muscle, and leverage her love of the arts, with a career in copyright protection.
This August, Peters will celebrate her 10th year as the U.S. Register of Copyrights at the Library of Congress. Nearly 40 years after joining the Library of Congress, the 64-year-old alumna now oversees its 550 copyright employees.
Peters began her Library days while moonlighting as a law student at GW. She had an undergraduate degree from Rhode Island College and was teaching junior high school students when she decided to head south. In 1965, she began working at the Library of Congress as a music examiner. Thus, her nights were spent studying law in and around Foggy Bottom.
The job, and her studies, slowly convinced her that the nation’s capital might be a good place to call home.
“If I had my druthers, I’d be in a symphony orchestra,” says Peters, who plays the piano and the oboe. But the copyright work was a close second: “Here’s a branch of the law that focused on the creative efforts of authors.”
Her plans took a detour when she returned home in the summer of 1967 to care for her dying mother, who was battling cancer. She returned to GW with a new determination to graduate. At the same time, her Library of Congress job only got more intriguing.
“They kept giving me neat things to do,” says Peters, who now serves on the Law School’s Intellectual Property Advisory Board.
Robert Brauneis, associate professor of law and co-director of GW’s IP law program, calls Peters “one of our most accomplished alumni,” who has had an enormous impact on both domestic and international copyright policy.
Before heading the Copyright Office, Peters served as its chief of the Examining and Information and Reference Divisions; senior attorney; acting general counsel; education officer for the new copyright law (in 1977); and as a consultant on copyright law to the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1989 to 1990.
“It was never a goal to head the Copyright Office,” she says of her career path, but her time in that division gave her perhaps the proudest moments in her career.
Peters, the author of The General Guide to the Copyright Act of 1976, recalls a nearly three-year struggle to help enact legislation to allow schools to use copyrighted materials for distance education.
The legislation’s success started when Peters spearheaded a study to examine the subject then shifted to dealing with political powerhouses like Sens. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.) and Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah).
“It’s kind of nice to start with Congress asking you to see if you can bring the parties together… to seeing all your recommendations appear in the law, even if it takes two years,” she says.
Peters, who also serves on board of the Intellectual Property Section of the American Bar Association, says her current duties can change from one day to the next. The Copyright Office is undergoing a radical transformation to keep up with the digital age, as future copyright submissions—which number over a million a year—will soon be filed online as part of a new, automated system.
She’s used to testifying before Congress on a fairly regular basis, but she says the dawn of the Internet age has caused the legal activity surrounding copyright rules to balloon dramatically.
“We’re involved in more litigation than we ever have been,” she says. “When a writer’s story is posted on the Internet and transmitted all over the world, the legal implications suddenly get magnified.” Additionally, suddenly, there are challenges to the constitutionality of copyright legislation.
When Peters isn’t unraveling the intricacies of copyright minutiae, she sails, listens to classical music at the Kennedy Center, and travels when her schedule permits.
“I love meeting people and learning their cultures,” she says.
“I feel very grateful to GW,” she continues. “Had I not had a positive experience, and had I not gone to a law school the quality of GW, I wouldn’t be where I am.”
The Road to Athens
“Growing up, to call me a ‘mediocre athlete’ would have been an act of charity,” says Wayne Johnson, JD ’69, who now holds 11 world records and 13 gold medals in just over four years as an amputee athlete. He set his first record in 2001 at the National Sports Festival in New London, Conn., at age 57. Now, Johnson has earned the title of champion as he pushes through rigorous training schedules that would challenge any man in his 60s. From weight circuits to sprints, it’s all part of doing the impossible, something Johnson does very well.
Johnson is the first known amputee with a 6-inch residual limb to run leg over leg and complete the 100-meter race, and many other events. After losing most of his right leg to cancer at 18, Johnson was told by doctors that it was unlikely that he would ever walk without the aid of crutches. From that moment on, he has made a habit out of “categorically ignoring the experts,” from climbing the stairs at Sloan-Kettering in New York in the first few weeks after his amputation to working with the team at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics to find more comfortable and durable prosthetics. Johnson says the technology and training provided by Hanger have been key factors in his athletic success.
He had made a promise to his late wife, Janet, who fought against cancer and encouraged him to continue her battle after she passed away in 2000. His successes are the realization of the vow he made to her during her final days that he would break a world record in her honor. Johnson holds several records including the 100, 200, and 400 meter individual races, and the discus, javelin, and shot put categories in national competitions. His mission is to qualify for the 2004 U.S. Paralympic Team, which will compete in Athens, Greece.
“Janet always supported my athletic involvement even though she didn’t realize I would be competing against people half my age who had been training for years,” Johnson says. The journey began in 1999, when he drove to Disabled Sports USA’s National Summer Games in Fairfax, Va.
“I was watching people with various conditions and prothestetics fling themselves around the room, and I thought, ‘I want to do that…but I’m going to kill myself doing that,’” Johnson says. “But that wasn’t the time to ‘lawyer things’ to death. I just got in there and did it.”
With the help of coaches and Paralympians Dennis Oehler and Todd Schaffhauser, Johnson learned to stretch and strengthen his legs in order to run and throw the discus, javelin, and shot put. “It wasn’t easy,” Johnson says. “The first time I tried to throw javelin in competition, the official had to move me away from the crowd.”
While describing his accomplishments, Johnson often says he has met his goals because he is a determined, stubborn dreamer, “just like any GW graduate.”
“I came to GW Law in the 1960s from the University of Maine with three of my friends, and we called ourselves the ‘Maniacs,’” Johnson says. “We found another friend in former President Lloyd Elliott, who had been at Maine when we were there. Whether I was debating University politics with that crew at the Elliotts’ dinner table or trying to hold my own with Professors Barron and Starrs, GW Law taught me to be loud, hard-working, and to never settle for the status quo.”
After graduation, Johnson and his wife stayed in Washington where he worked as a rehab specialist with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, securing housing and mortgages for low-income individuals and families.
When Johnson was 29, they moved back to Maine, where he became the youngest HUD field office director in the state, working to help Native Americans gain better employment rights as builders and contractors. “I did what I could to wipe out discrimination with a pen, because it was the right thing to do.”
After Johnson and Janet raised three children—Liza, Sven, and Eric—Johnson became a private legal and financial consultant, working with hospitals, nursing homes, and other service organizations.
Now, Johnson has remarried, and he and his wife, Ginny, a registered nurse, enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren, renovating their home, and tending their garden. Johnson also speaks to students of all ages—from the fifth grade to graduate school classes—encouraging them to pursue their dreams with dedication and hope.
“I tell them that no matter what is happening in their day or their lives to take a moment and look to the sky,” Johnson says. “Be grateful for who and where you are. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. And always go after what you want with everything you’ve got.”
—Laura Ewald
Editor’s note: Johnson’s world records are based on the fact that no amputee athlete with a 6-inch residual limb has ever run leg over leg, because it was thought to be impossible. As there is no official classification for amputees with a 6-inch limb, these records are not recognized by any official sanctioning body for either the Olympics or the Paralympics.
Adventurer of a Lifetime
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Kiley on one of his many fly-fishing excursions.
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Many students are drawn to GW Law for its location, reputation, and academic atmosphere. But for Thomas Kiley, JD ’69, the deciding factor was rejection.
“The same day that I got a rejection letter from GW, I was offered a scholarship to Duquesne,” Kiley says. “From that I concluded GW must be the better school. So I came to D.C. and camped out on its door step until I was admitted.”
Once there, hard work and interest in the law turned the self-declared “average” Penn State engineering student into a scholar.
“When I was planning for college, it was a time of change—the time of Sputnik—and I was told by my father and my high school chemistry teacher that America needed more engineers. So I studied engineering and didn’t really enjoy it,” Kiley says. “But in law school, I became fascinated with IP law, and surprisingly graduated second in my class.”
While attending classes in the night session, Kiley worked as a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and later as a patent solicitor in the elastomer chemicals department of DuPont. In 1969, Kiley became an associate and later partner in the Los Angeles firm Lyon & Lyon, concentrating on patents, trademarks, antitrust, unfair competition, and contracts. Through a partner, Kiley was introduced to Bob Swanson, a venture capitalist looking to launch a biotechnology company geared toward addressing medical needs using recombinant DNA. After representing Genentech for three years as outside counsel, Kiley was asked to join the upstart company and move to San Francisco.
“My partners said that I should go ahead and try it,” Kiley says. “They told me my position at Lyon & Lyon would be there for me if it didn’t work out.”
So Kiley moved near the Silicon Valley in 1980 and helped to build Genentech as general counsel. From the early days, Genentech was focused on using biotechnology to make advancements in the fields of endocrinology, cardiovascular disease, oncology, and other specialty areas.
“Initially, our question was ‘Can we use our labs and technology to produce copious amounts of scarce but useful materials?’ It was a challenge to ‘scale up’ to industrial levels,” Kiley says.
From Genentech’s outset, Kiley negotiated arrangements with industry leaders such as Eli Lilly and Bayer. He also managed a host of patent lawsuits that attended the company’s growth and authored Genentech’s brief amicus curiae in Diamond vs. Chakrabarty (447 US 303) in 1980. In its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held 5-4 that living, manmade microorganisms are patentable. The court ruled that patents could be issued for “anything under the sun that is made by man,” a milestone statement for scientists and manufacturers around the world.
As Genentech was a pioneer in the biotherapeutics industry, it faced the challenges of creating products that raised legal and ethical questions with the media and the public. And gene-splicing is not the only controversial technology Kiley has confronted. Other companies on whose boards he has served have pioneered in matters ranging from transgenic animals to the applications of embryonic stem cells.
“People are frightened of what they don’t understand. Any time you bring into existence things that are not foreseen, it can be a challenge,” Kiley says. “But we worked hard to provide information and answers about the products and technology we were developing, and listening to public feedback helped us to weigh the pros and cons of some of our endeavors.”
In 1988, after serving as vice president and general counsel and vice president for corporate affairs at Genentech, Kiley was ready for a change. “I found myself sitting in meetings and getting restless,” he says. “I decided to take a year off—and it turned into 16.”
Since leaving Genentech, Kiley has served as director of nearly two dozen public and private companies and has spoken at universities across the nation about the interface of law and technology. In his spare time, he enjoys fly fishing and wing shooting around the world. He also spends time with his wife, Lynn, and their three grown children.
Whether in the courtroom or in the lab, Kiley says communication has been a key factor in his career. “It has been very rewarding for me to work with a diverse group of people to bring about change, and to help make consumers comfortable with change. At the end of the day, what we’ve tried to do is build a better future for people afflicted with disease.”
—Laura Ewald
The Science of Life
Clyde E. Bailey, LLM ’89, is probably the only person who would use the term “one-dimensional” to describe his career mind set.
Bailey, patent counsel for Eastman Kodak of Rochester, N.Y., began his professional life steeped in engineering and science. Eventually, he trained his sights exclusively on becoming a patent attorney.
He certainly had the background for it.
Bailey, 57, accumulated an array of degrees before stepping foot in Foggy Bottom, including both a bachelor of science in mathematics and a master of science in physics from Virginia State University. He also earned a master of science in materials science from the University of Rochester and a JD from Cleveland State University. And he still wasn’t finished.
“I decided I wanted something far more fulfilling than science. Patent law enabled me to practice and enjoy the best of law and science,” he says. The field also would leverage his commitment to science.
“It had one of the finest intellectual property programs in the country, if not the world,” Bailey says. “I was not disappointed. The professors were incredibly knowledgeable and the students’ exchanges were almost always meaningful.”
Bailey, who earned his LLM in patent and trade regulation law, says his zeal for education began at home.
“As a boy, my parents and family always urged me to pursue engineering and medicine,” he says. “My mom was a teacher at one point. It wasn’t uncommon for her to be persuasive on the question of the best career choices for her kids,” he says.
Since he joined Kodak in 1991, Bailey has prepared and prosecuted more than 500 patent applications ranging from photosensitive materials to terrestrial analytical equipment. It’s his duty to protect the innovations of Kodak’s engineers and their intellectual property.
Prior to Kodak, Bailey’s law practice included intellectual property law, space commercialization law, and equal employment law for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
He added another substantial responsibility last year when the National Bar Association, the nation’s oldest and largest national association of predominately African-American lawyers and judges, tapped him to be its 61st president.
The ambitious president has stacked his 2004 “to do” list with some lofty goals. He hopes to promote increased economic opportunities for ethnic minorities and women lawyers, promote positive drug policies that help the addicted instead of prosecuting them, and prevent voter disenfranchisement in the upcoming presidential elections.
“We will have our lawyers all around the country involved at the polls, giving advice to civic groups,” he says.
Racial harmony will be of paramount importance in the years to come, he says.
“We’re approaching a state in this country where the people of color will outnumber those of the Caucasian race,” he says. “We must demonstrate that diversity and inclusions are valued in our society.”
The National Bar Association also is formulating a judicial grading process, aided Alfreda Robinson, associate dean for strategic planning and skills training, to help the current administration fill judicial seats.
Bailey’s efforts toward equality extend far beyond U.S. borders.
“As you get older, you begin to think service to others. I came up in the era when it was important for people to give back to the community,” he says. “My interests are far more global and include the challenges facing people in Africa such as human rights violations, HIV/AIDS, capacity building, judicial strengthening, etc.”
Looking back on his considerable career, Bailey beams the brightest over his ascension to the National Bar Association’s leadership role. His contributions to Kodak’s $10 billion divestiture of its pharmaceutical assets in the mid-1990s also brings a smile, in part, because it required him to use legal skills outside his comfort zone.
“I had no experience in transactional law, but I was asked to participate,” he says.
Bailey, who somehow finds time to serve as president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation Board of Directors, keeps healthy by running marathons with his wife, Ura Jean. Together, they have completed 12 Marine Corps Marathons. The couple has two children and two grandchildren.
—Christian Toto
In Memoriam
1938
Wingate Underhill, JD ’38
April 11, 2004
Washington, D.C.
1939
Frank M. Thompson, BL ’39, BA ’46
Dec. 28, 2003
Chattanooga, Tenn.
1968
Thomas B. Cantieri, LLM ’68
Nov. 23, 2003
Virginia Beach, Va.
Student
Chris R. Bartok
Dec. 19, 2003
Morro Bay, Calif.
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And What About You?
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