Vanderbilt University Law School

Class of 1992

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

Kirk Henderson writes, “After 16 good years at the Allegheny County Public Defender's Office in Pittsburgh, I have moved to the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender's Office in Pittsburgh to do death penalty work. My kids (ages 7, 5, 4, 2) are excited that I can see into PNC Park and Heinz Field from my new office.” Kirk can be reached at kirk-henderson@comcast.net. Posted 10-31-09

Michael Patrick Bigelow died April 2, 2009, of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 45. Until he succombed to his illness, Mike was Assistant General Counsel, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, Indiana. He enjoyed coaching his children's sports teams and traveling with his family. Mike was also an Indianapolis Colts fan and he and his family were selected as the "Twelfth Man" by the Colts at the first game in Lucas Oil Stadium. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Dayton and, as a law student at Vanderbilt, served as an editor of the Vandebilt Law Review. He passed the Indiana Bar Exam while in his final year of law school. Mike was recently awarded the Chairman's Ovation Award by Eli Lilly for helping to develop the company's policy on Pharmaceutical Industry Information transparency. Mike is survived by his wife of 17 years, Kris Bigelow, his daughters Kate and Maggie, and his son Matthew. Posted 4-2-09

Ike Lawrence Epstein is Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Lawrence is based in Las Vegas, where he is responsible for all of the UFC's legal and regulatory affairs throughout the world. Prior to joining the UFC in 2007, he was the managing partner of Beckley Singleton, a Nevada-based firm that recently combined with Lewis and Roca, and he maintains an "of counsel" relationship with the firm. Posted 1-26-09

Eli Richardson is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, based in Nashville. He serves as the office's Criminal Chief, supervising all of the office's criminal prosecutors and cases, while handling some white-collar criminal cases of his own. He and his family live in Nashville. Posted 10-13-08

Sam Payne moved to Rudy Wood & Winstead in Nashville. Sam was previously a litigation partner at Evans Jones & Reynolds, where he had practiced for just over a decade. Sam is a Nashville native who also earned his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt. Posted 8-26-08

David Ewing has joined the Nashville firm of Rudy Wood & Winstead. David previously served as the finance director for Jim Cooper for Congress. Prior to that, he headed up the local, state and federal lobbying efforts for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Gaylord Entertainment. David is a ninth-generation Nashvillian whose great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert Ewing, became one of the first African-American lawyers in Nashville in 1871. Prince Albert's twin brother, Taylor G. Ewing, also was a Nashville lawyer and was one of the founders of the One Cent Savings Bank, which is now Citizens Bank. Posted 8-26-08

Lisa Kay McClelland Borgeson’s family recently moved to the San Francisco Bay area. She has two girls, Grace (age 5 1/2) and Katie (age 4) and says it was great to see everyone at reunion 2007! Posted 8-19-08

Scott G. Dresser has been named Deputy General Counsel of Virgin Media, a Nasdaq traded media company (VMED) offering television, broadband, mobile and fixed line phone services in the UK and Northern Ireland. His will oversee M&A activity, crisis management, and competition matters. He is also actively engaged in corporate strategy, communications, government affairs and the company's corporate responsibility initiatives. Posted 7/08

John Herman joined the litigation group of Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins. John is head of the firm's Atlanta office and focuses his practice on enforcing the rights of inventors, innovators and universities. "Our clients include a number of the country's leading academic institutions, and they are asking for top-notch IP counsel. We are extremely pleased that some of the nation's most talented IP litigators have selected Coughlin Stoia as the law firm to help them grow their practice," said Darren Robbins of Coughlin Stoia. "Now, investors, innovators and academic institutions with sophisticated IP claims can turn to a firm with the ability and resources to stand toe-to-toe against the world's largest corporations."

Michael J. McSunas has rejoined the law firm of Chambliss Bahner & Stophel. Michael returns as a shareholder, concentrating his practice on marketing, product distribution and dealer relations, advertising and promotional law and business law. He formerly served as in-house counsel for a Detroit advertising agency.

Anthony Kinslow has been named vice president for human resources at the University of Texas at Arlington. An attorney who transitioned into human resources leadership roles, Anthony has more than 15 years experience in diverse fields that include higher education, health care and government. His areas of extensive human resources expertise include compliance, employee and labor relations, compensation, benefits, staffing, diversity, immigration and workers compensation. "Tony brings to UT Arlington an impressive and pertinent mix of professional experience," said UT Arlington President James D. Spaniolo. "With his strong legal and human resources background, proven history of innovation, high-energy and personable management style, he is ideally suited for leading the University's human resources and equal opportunity/affirmative action teams."

Pamela Muller Swartzberg and husband Mark recently welcomed their sixth child, Joshua Alexander. He joins sisters Anna, Allyson and Mary and brothers Peter and Matthew. In addition to full-time mothering, Pam is currently serving as the first woman Trustee and Secretary to the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University as well as chairing the Women's Commission of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ.

John Herman, a partner in the Atlanta office of Duane Morris, has been named vice chair of the Intellectual Property Practice Group. John’s experience includes handling traditional patent, trademark and copyright matters, as well as entertainment, media, biotechnology, franchising, distribution, trade secret matters and licensing projects. He also assists clients in disputes regarding rights of privacy, antitrust and Internet and e-commerce issues. John is recognized by his peers as being among the leading intellectual property litigators in Georgia. He is regularly named as a Georgia Super Lawyer by Atlanta Magazine, and in 2007 he was named to the “Top 100” Georgia Super Lawyers list. John also has been named one of “Georgia’s Most Effective Lawyers” by Legal Trend. A member of the Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries and the Section of Science and Technology Law of the American Bar Association, he is also active in the Intellectual Property Law and Entertainment and Sports Law sections of the State Bar of Georgia and a member of the International Trademark Association. John is a frequent author on intellectual property and technology issues. Prior to practicing law, John worked in a genetics laboratory handling a NASA-sponsored project.

Mark Baugh, has been named a new shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. Mark concentrates his practice in the areas of litigation and labor and employment law. He has served as chair of the Tennessee Bar Association Tort and Insurance Practice Section as well as of the Workers' Compensation Section of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. Mark also was a member of the Hearing Panel of the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. "Mark's work on behalf of our clients has been outstanding," said Bruce Doeg, managing shareholder of Baker Donelson's Nashville office. "His experience and proficiency contribute greatly to our labor and employment practice. We are proud to welcome him as shareholder and anticipate that Mark will continue to add to the success of Baker Donelson."

Zachary T. Fardon has joined the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins as a partner in the Litigation Department. Immediately prior to joining Latham, Zach served as the First Assistant US Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville where he was one of the lead attorneys from the US Department of Justice in the successful prosecution of former Illinois Governor George Ryan for corruption.

From 1997 to 2003, Zach served as an Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) for the Northern District of Illinois and participated in "Operation Safe Road," an extensive investigation of corruption by public officials that led to the indictment of former Governor Ryan. While an AUSA, Fardon assisted in the successful prosecution of Scott Fawell, an aide to former Governor Ryan and Citizens for George Ryan, Ryan's campaign organization. The landmark trial was the first time that a campaign organization was convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

"Zach is another outstanding addition to our firm," stated Stephen Bowen, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in Chicago. "He is an accomplished lawyer whose talent and experience will further enhance Chicago's litigation practice and Latham's high profile national white collar practice."

William Outhier has joined the law firm of Bowen Riley Warnock & Jacobson as an associate. He was previously managing director with the Carmen Group Inc., a government relations firm in Washington.

Martin S. Brown Jr., a partner in the Nashville law firm of Adams and Reese/Stokes Bartholomew, has joined the board of Jack Daniel's whiskey maker Brown-Forman Corp. The Nashville resident is one of three new board members for the Louisville-based company, and all three are fifth-generation descendants of George Garvin Brown, who founded the company in 1870. In addition to Jack Daniel's, the company makes or markets wine and spirits such as Southern Comfort, Canadian Mist and the Fetzer label, and it owns Hartmann Luggage.

Scott Dresser is senior vice president with Folksamerica Reinsurance Company in New York City. Scott previously spent three years as senior legal and financial advisor for the Global Conservation at Conservation International in Washington, D.C.

Ric Keller, a third-term Republican U.S. Congress Representative who represents the Orlando, Florida, area, was named chairman of the Subcommittee on 21st-Century Competitiveness, the panel that oversees post-secondary education policy in the House of Representatives. He moved to the top slot on the subcommittee as part of a chain of House leadership moves following former Congressman Tom DeLay's resignation as House majority leader.

Jon Jordan's first book, Lone Star Navy: Texas, the Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West was published in early 2006.

Ben Vernia accepted the National Exploited Children Award on behalf of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division in May. "The award was given for work I and others did on Operation Falcon, a multi-agency prosecution of a large, Belarus-based commercial child pornography syndicate," Vernia said. "The investigation led to more than 1,400 arrests worldwide." Vernia left his position as a prosecutor with the DOJ's Criminal Division last summer to join the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Covington & Burling as special counsel handling white-collar criminal and government investigation cases.

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.

Please check the "Alumni MIA" list to see if you can help us find any of your "lost" classmates!