Vanderbilt University Law School

Class of 1973

(Notes posted in the order they were received, with the newest posts on top.)

 Mark R. von Sternberg is a co-chair of the immigration and naturalization committee of the American Bar Association's international division and senior attorney at Catholic Charities Community Services/Archdiocese of New York, where he concentrates on litigation before the immigration courts and the board of immigration appeals. Since 1999 Mark has served as an adjunct faculty member at Pace University School of Law, where he teaches general immigration and comparative refugee law. From 2003 Mark also has been an adjunct professor at St. John's University Law School where he co-teaches an immigration rights clinic. Mark earned an LL.M. degree in international legal studies from New York University School of Law in 1984. He has lectured in law schools and at professional associations regarding immigration matters and has written extensively, particularly in the areas of refugee law, international humanitarian law, and human rights. In 2002 he received the American Immigration Lawyers Association Pro Bono Award.
Posted on web 9-12-08

BurkeBrian1 Brian K. Burke, who is a partner in Baker & Daniels, has helped form the Leadership Advisory Board as a new service for law firm managing partners. Burke served as Baker & Daniels' chair and CEO from 1993 to 2007. In January 2008, he co-facilitated a seminar, "First 100 Days for the New Managing Partner" in New York City and then helped develop the Leadership Advisory Board, which offers newly appointed law firm managing partners access to advice from experienced peers. During his tenure as managing partner, Burke led the firm's expansion and established a consulting division. In 2007, Burke returned to his civil litigation practice with Baker & Daniels, which now has offices in Indiana, Washington, D.C., and China. In addition to professional activities, Burke serves on the board of directors and executive committee for the Boy Scouts of America, Crossroads of America Council. He is the past president of the Indianapolis City Market Corporation's Board of Directors.

Gordon O. Tanner has been named the deputy general counsel of environment and installations for the U.S. Air Force, officials announced. Tanner will be responsible for providing legal advice to the secretary of the Air Force and others "on all environmental, real estate and installation management matters worldwide," according to an Air Force news release.

William J. Chadwick has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission. He was also appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Exposition Park and California Science Center Board of Directors for a four-year term, from 2007 to 2011. He resides in Malibu, California.

Nathaniel Doliner, Managing Shareholder of the Tampa office of Carlton Fields, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Section of Business Law of the American Bar Association and, in addition, has become the Editor-in-Chief of The Business Lawyer. Doliner practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and other areas of corporate law. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, including the sale or acquisition of: manufacturing companies, software and other technology companies, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and behavioral healthcare companies, temporary staffing businesses, insurance and related companies, broadcasting stations, advertising agencies, beverage businesses, electric utilities, automobile dealerships, numerous transactions involving joint ventures and partnerships and the acquisition of financially troubled businesses. Doliner also has extensive experience in transactions between governmental bodies and private companies.

Richard G. Murphy has been appointed the Partner-in-Charge of the Washington D.C. office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. A member of the Litigation Practice Group, Rick has represented organizations in various industries, including banking, factoring, telecommunications and nuclear energy in court and in various forms of alternative dispute resolution. As the senior litigator in the firm’s Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group, his particular emphasis is on disputes involving creditors’ rights and bankruptcy-related issues.

Noel Stahl has been inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in America. Stahl is a member of the Nashville office of Miller & Martin.

Charles "Charlie" Ray of Nashville, TN passed away suddenly after suffering a heart attack while traveling to Kentucky. He was 65. A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, which he entered after working for several years as a baggage handler for American Airlines, Ray began his career in criminal law but also established a reputation as a civil litigator in employment law cases. According to Chip Frensley, his partner in the firm of Ray & Frensley downtown, Ray won one of the first age discrimination cases -- if not the very first -- in Middle Tennessee.

He often represented plaintiffs in such cases, but having been a law school classmate of Corrections Corp. of America co-founder Tom Beasley, Ray took on a number of labor-relations cases for the Nashville-based private-prison operator. In the highest-profile engagement, he represented CCA in Richardson v. McKnight, a case involving the legal immunity of the company's prison guards that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997. Ray argued the company's case before the high court, which eventually handed down a 5-4 decision in favor of CCA's opponents.

Ray was lead attorney in a 2000 lawsuit against Vanderbilt University involving nine members of the Vandy women's track, field, and cross country team who charged the university with Title IX discrimination. Title IX, a component of the Education Amendments of 1972, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program receiving federal funding. The case was eventually settled. Local attorneys polled by NashvillePost.com for a 2003 feature on the city's "best lawyers" cited Ray as one of the best criminal defense attorneys in town. One colleague called him a defender of "crimes in the streets, as opposed to crimes in the suites," while another termed Ray an "excellent defense lawyer."

Perhaps a higher distinction was what the late Federal Judge L. Clure Morton told a young colleague shortly before he died in 1998. Morton was a famously crusty curmudgeon; attorneys tended to approach his courtroom with some trepidation. But he called Ray the best lawyer who had ever practiced before him, and he said if he ever needed an attorney himself, Ray is the man he would call.

Ray took a sabbatical and moved to Ireland for a year and a half in the late 1990s. He retired from full-time practice at the end of 2004. Ray is survived by his wife Sandra, daughters Shannon Lumpkin and Lauren Arrigo, and three grandchildren.

Ben L. Cundiff was profiled in the August 2006 "Entrepreneurs" section of the Lane Report. Click here to read the article.

R. Lee Bennett, a shareholder with Gray Robinson in Orlando, Florida, was re-appointed by the Orange County Bar Association to serve a two-year term as its delegate to the American Bar Association's House of Delegates. The House of Delegates is the primary governing body of the ABA, consisting of approximately 530 Delegates from all of the states and territories of the United States. Lee focuses his practice in the commercial transaction, business, trademark, copyright, and hi-tech areas of law and is a Certified Circuit Mediator. He has been the Orange County Bar Association's delegate to the American Bar Association since 1996.

Shelley Stiles passed away on April 4, 2006. He practiced law in the Nashville area for over 30 years.

Richard Murphy was quoted in a March 3, 2006, Washington Post article regarding his representation of Mohammed Bawazir, a Yemeni national held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, since May 2002.

Philip C. Wolf is vice president and general counsel of Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL). He has more than 30 years of legal experience, with 20 years of experience in the mining industry. Philip will provide legal counsel for Hecla's business activities and also be responsible for the land and environmental departments. Prior to joining Hecla, he served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Cyprus Amax Minerals and General Attorney for Amoco Minerals Company. In addition to his experience as general counsel and corporate secretary, Philip has been instrumental in facilitating joint ventures and acquisitions, and has managed government affairs, environmental and human resources departments.

Jim Bradford has been appointed to the board of directors of Granite Construction, Inc. Jim is dean of Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and has previously served as Associate Dean of Corporate Relations and Clinical Professor of Management at Owen. Before returning to his alma mater to mentor the next generation of business leaders, Jim was president and CEO of United Glass Corporation, a consolidation of domestic glass fabricators in the United States and Canada. He also served as president and CEO of AFG Industries, the nation's largest vertically-integrated glass manufacturing company in that category. He began his career with 11 years in a private law practice.

Robert Watson is vice president of legal affairs and government relations for the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. Bob has been with the U.S. Attorney's Middle Tennessee division for 20 years, serving as the division's civil chief and first assistant.

Do you have news you would like to share or just want to let everyone know what you are up to these days? Submit your class note online, e-mail Grace Renshaw or call 615-322-2606.

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