Alumni in the News

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Kennedy
Chief Judge Kennedy '80

February 26, 2013 – Chief Judge Roderick Kennedy ’80 of the New Mexico Court of Appeals was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. to represent its jurisprudence section. Chief Judge Kennedy co-authored a chapter concerning jurisprudence for the book Forensic Science: Current Issues, Future Directions published by Wiley-Blackwell earlier this year for the AAFS.  

January 10, 2013 – The governors of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers elected Chuck Poplstein ’80 a college fellow. Poplstein is a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis, Missouri and the co-chair of the firm’s labor and employment practice. He has more than 30 years of experience in a broad range of labor and employment issues.

January 8, 2013 – Kent M. Shimeall ’81 was named the director of the Ohio Supreme Court’s legal resources division. Previously, Shimeall served as section chief of the Ohio Attorney General’s constitutional office section, which provides legal counsel to all statewide elected officeholders. 

January 7, 2013Gerald D. Greiner ’81 has been appointed as Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s head of global clearing.

January 4, 2013 – Marie-Joelle Khouzam ’91, a managing partner at Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP in Columbus, Ohio, was named an Ohio Super Lawyer in her field for 2013. Khouzam concentrates on representing employers and management in labor and employment law matters, workers’ compensation, and municipal law. She has been previously listed in Ohio Super Lawyers (Corporate Counsel list, Employment Law list, Top 25 Women in Columbus list); listed in Best Lawyers in America; and listed in Super Lawyers Business Edition2011 (Employment & Labor).

January 3, 2013Judge Roderick Kennedy ’80 was sworn in as the chief judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals on New Year's Day.

December 23, 2012 Scott Ciolek ’07 was interviewed for NPR’s program ‘All Things Considered’ about a lawsuit he has filed in Ohio against websites that publish mug shots and charge people to have pictures removed.

Kennedy
Ms. Trimacco '07

December 20, 2012 – Courtney J. Trimacco ’07 was elected a shareholder at Reminger Co., LPA. Trimacco is an attorney in the firm’s Cleveland office. She focuses her practice on the defense of professional liability, commercial, casualty, employment, and securities matters, with an emphasis on the defense of professional liability and catastrophic injury disputes. She was named an Ohio Super Lawyer Rising Starin 2010.

December 20, 2012Corey Minor Smith ’01, legal director for the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority, was interviewed on Tough Talk Radio’s ‘Leadership Talk’ with Elaine Greaves. 

December 17, 2012 – Laura M. Walker ’77 received a PhD from George Mason University’s School of Public Policy after completing her dissertation, "Religious-Related Decisions in Federal Appellate Courts: The Influence of Jurisdictional Characteristics and Judicial Attributes on Voting." She is an assistant professor, the head of the pre-law advising program, and the director of the legal studies minor in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University.

December 13, 2012 – Geoffrey L. Squitiero ’85 joined Halloran & Sage LLP in its New Haven, Connecticut office as a partner. Squitiero practices in the area of civil litigation and real estate law. His practice focuses on the defense of clients in diverse cases, including claims of product liability and toxic torts. He also defends manufacturers against claims of asbestos exposure in both state and federal court.

December 11, 2012 – Ernest W. Auciello ’85 was inducted into the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA) at the LCA’s 2012 Fall Conference & Induction of Fellows in Palm Beach, Florida. Auciello is a partner in the Cleveland office of Tucker Ellis LLP. He is a trial lawyer who focuses on pharmaceutical litigation, medical malpractice, and long-term care litigation with an emphasis on the defense of medical professionals, hospitals, and other medical institutions and product manufacturers.

December 11, 2012John F. McDonough ’82 joined Olinsky Law Group in Syracuse, New York. McDonough practices workers’ compensation and Social Security disability law.

December 7, 2012 – Michael Zack Hohl ’12 joined Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio as an attorney in the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Industry Group, Construction Industry Group, and Banking and Financial Services Industry Group.      

November 27, 2012 – President Obama nominated Jeffrey Schmehl ’80, a Berks County, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas judge, for a seat on the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

November 5, 2012Stephanie Ziebell ’10 joined Waterstone Mortgage Corporation’s corporate office in Pewaukee, Wisconsin as assistant general counsel.

October 30, 2012 - Daniel Nathan ’04, a clinical professor in the Domestic Violence and Juvenile Law Clinic at Toledo Law, was elected secretary of the Lucas County CASA/CRB Volunteer Association Advisory Board.

October 23, 2012 – Paul H. Mitrovich ’65, a retired judge with 30 years on the bench of the Lake County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas, published the book Justice Delayed: The Road to Brown v. Brd. of Ed. of Topeka and the Civil Rights Movement with Halo Publishing International.

October 18, 2012 – John R. Condren ’92, a partner with the Buffalo, New York firm of Rupp, Baase Pfalzgraf, Cunningham & Coppola, LLC, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Western New York Defense Trial Lawyers Association. Condren practices in the areas of insurance defense litigation and insurance coverage.

October 8, 2012David R. Hudson ’09 was appointed assistant law director for the City of Maumee. Hudson, an attorney at Reminger Co., LPA in Toledo, Ohio, where he focuses on the defense of medical malpractice, professional liability, and employment practices claims, is also an adjunct faculty member at Toledo Law, where he teaches the fundamentals of trial advocacy to second and third year students.

October 6, 2012 Michelle L. Christie ’93 joined the Oak Harbor, Ohio office of Kocher & Gillum as a partner.

October 5, 2012 – Michael Lonesky ’08, an investigator in the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy on this date.

October 3, 2012 – Matthew Podmenik ’01 is now managing partner at McCarthy & Holthus, LLP in San Diego, California.

September 21, 2012Richard Walinski ’69, an attorney with Thacker Martinsek LPA, has been appointed to serve on the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission. Members of the commission are charged with the task of recommending changes to the Ohio constitution to the general assembly.

September 10, 2012Cheri A. Budzynski ’07, associate in Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP’s Toledo office, has been appointed as Social Media Vice Chair for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Air Quality Committee for the 2012-2013 term year.

September 4, 2012Fredric E. Roth V ’12 joined Husch Blackwell LLP’s Chicago office in the Intellectual Property Litigation group.

August 24, 2012Betty Montgomery ’76, an attorney with the firm of MacMurray, Petersen & Shuster LLP in Columbus, Ohio, has been appointed by Gov. John Kasich to the Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees.

August 6, 2012 – Corey Minor Smith ’01, Legal Director for Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority, was invited to speak during the Housing and Development Law Institute’s national conference in Washington, D.C., and at the Southern African Housing Foundation’s International Conference and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa.

August 1, 2012Linda Mansour ’79 was profiled by the Arab American Institute in a piece titled, “Inspiring Arab Americans to Get Involved.”

July 25, 2012Elizabeth Smith ’05 joined the Hancock County, Ohio Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecutor to prosecute felony cases in the Hancock County Common Pleas Court.

July 18, 2012Brandon Sewell ’11 entered the Columbus Bar Incubator Program.

July 11, 2012T.J. Ackert ’84 will be the next Grand Rapids Bar Association president.

July 10, 2012Matthew Bryant ’09, Kathryn Carlisle-Kesling ’99, D. Chris Cook ’92, and Randy Dixon ’80 were featured in an article titled “Legal legacies: Passing down the love of the law”  in a summer issue of the Ohio Lawyer, an Ohio State Bar Association publication.

July 9, 2012 – Michael J. Todak ’82 was sworn in as 112th president of the Toledo Bar Association for the 2012-2013 membership year.

July 2, 2012Kevin J. Cooper ’01, an associate at Roetzel & Andress, has been appointed to serve a one-year term as chairman of the Toledo Bar Association Workers' Compensation Committee.

June 21, 2012 – Personal injury attorney Carolyn Salzmann ’01 of The Salzmann Firm in Orlando, Florida was awarded the James G. Glazebrook Professionalism and Service Award by the George C. Young First Central Florida American Inn of Courts.

June 20, 2012Gary M. Farmer ’91, a partner at Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman, P.L., was named president of the Florida Justice Association, a statewide legal organization comprised of civil trial lawyers in the State of Florida.

June 8, 2012 – William Rountree ’98 joined Rosenberg & Associates, LLC as an associate.

June 6, 2012 – Defense attorney Cheryl Meyers Buth ’93 was profiled by the Buffalo News (New York) in an article titled “Low-key lawyer turns ultimate defender.”

June 4, 2012Kristina L. M. Wildman ’11 joined Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP as an attorney in its Trusts and Estates Department.

May 31, 2012Walter Celley ’87 was chosen by the Ohio Association of Community Colleges to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award “for his outstanding commitment to the local community and higher education.”

May 29, 2012Neema M. Bell ’86, a partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP received the Mercy College of Northwest Ohio Misericordia et Cura Award, which recognizes alumni or community leaders who act with "compassion and care."

May 11, 2012 – The Toledo Blade noted the retirement of assistant U.S. attorney David Bauer ’75 after a 36-year career as prosecutor.

May 8, 2012Adam M. Galat ’06 joined Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP as associate in the firm’s litigation practice group.

May 4, 2012Paul Kelly ’80 joined Jackson Lewis LLP as a partner after leaving College Hockey, Inc., the educational and promotional arm of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey, where he served as executive director since November 2007.

April 25, 2012Jennifer L. Strazzella ’00 joined Porter Wright as Of Counsel in its banking and finance practice.

April 13, 2012Ralph J. DiLeone ’84, managing partner of The DiLeone Law Group, P.C., has been named one of Wake County, North Carolina’s top attorneys in the 2012 Best of Downtowner Awards by Raleigh Downtowner Magazine.

April 1, 2012 – The Buffalo News shared a Q&A with Mark C. Poloncarz ’97, county executive of Erie County, New York.

March 30, 2012East Asian Labor and Employment Law: International and Comparative Context by Ronald C. Brown ’68, professor of law at the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law, was published by Cambridge University Press.

March 30, 2012Joel McGormley ’99, the appellate division chief for the Michigan attorney general, has been named the managing director of the NCAA Committees on Infractions.

March 27, 2012 – Sarah V. Beaubien ’11 joined Rohrbachers Cron Manahan Trimble & Zimmerman Co., LPA as an associate in the litigation division.

March 21, 2012 – Sheila Nolan Gartland ’86, a partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, was inducted into the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

March 16, 2012 – Kevin Taylor ’77 has been appointed juvenile/probate judge in Van Wert County, Ohio by Governor Kasich.

March 14, 2012 – Andrea M. Kimball ’97 named a partner at SNR Denton.

March 1, 2012David C. Bruhl ’04 named a shareholder at Rohrbachers Cron Manahan Trimble & Zimmerman Co., LPA.

February 27, 2012William J. Hallan ’07 named Michigan Retailers Association vice president government affairs and general counsel.

February 19, 2012Beth L. O’Laughlin ’10 joined Currie Kendall PLC as an associate.

February 19, 2012 – The Aspen, Colorado Daily News applauded the retirement of John Worcester ’74 after nearly 38 years in practice.

February 13, 2012Sara Rios ’85 has been named president of the Ruth Mott Foundation.

February 13, 2012Robert C. Helmer ’04 was named the ninth president of Baldwin-Wallace College.

February 9, 2012 – The University of Toledo honored former women’s basketball star Dana Drew-Shaw ’98 by retiring her jersey.

February 6, 2012 – The Lucas County Court Appointed Special Advocates selected Christy Cole ’01 as a Lucas County CASA/CRB Volunteer Association Advisory Board member.

January 30, 2012 – The Washtenaw County Commissioners appointed James J. Carty ’10 to a five-year term on the county’s Environmental Health Code Appeals Board/Public Health Advisory Committee.

January 17, 2012Michael K. Gall ’04 named a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP.

January 9, 2012E. Mark Young ’01 named a partner at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP.

January 5, 2012Sarah A. Corpening ’99 named executive director of the Toledo Bar Association.

January 4, 2012 – Brian S. Spitler ’03 named a partner at Carlock, Copeland & Stair, LLP.

January 1, 2012Mark C. Poloncarz ’97 elected and sworn in as county executive of Erie County, New York.

December 1, 2011 – Elizabeth G. Simcox ’88 named executive director of the Dauphin County Bar Association in Pennsylvania.