Class of 2004

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

Wendy Hilderbrand '04 honored with TBA's Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award - Wendee Hilderbrand was was honored for her work on behalv of death row inmate Edward Jerome Hardison. Posted 1-25.12

Damon Michael Brown and his wife, Elizabeth Brown, welcomed their first child, Mason Conner, on December 28, 2011. Damon was installed as president of the John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles on February 4 at the Annual Installation & Awards Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Posted 01-27-12

Amy K. Jordan has been named partner in the Birmingham, Alabama, office of Burr & Forman. Amy advises and represents employers in a broad range of labor and employment matters. Posted 01-19-12

Erika Rose Cramton Barnes has joined the regional law firm Stites & Harbison. Erika is a member of the firm’s Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group and the Business Litigation Service Group. She represents creditors and franchisors in bankruptcy cases nationwide, and creditors’ committees and Chapter 11 Trustees. She also handles complex commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts. Posted 01-10-12

Autumn Witt Boyd and her husband David welcomed twin boys, Samuel Graham and Tyson Witt, on October 24, 2011. Everyone is healthy and adjusting to the lack of sleep! Posted 01-10-12

Heather J. Hubbard has been named a partner at Waller Landsen Dortch and Davis. Hubbard practices in the areas of intellectual property and trial and appellate litigation. She also serves on Waller Lansden's diversity and social development committees. Hubbard joined Waller Lansden in 2006 as an associate and was named a "Rising Star" by Mid-South Super Lawyers in 2010 and 2011 and chosen as one of Nashville's Top "30 Under 30" in 2010. Prior to joining Waller Lansden, Hubbard was an associate with Hall Booth Smith & Slover, P. C. in Nashville. Posted 01-10-12

Mark Ison has been named a member of law firm Sherrard & Roe. Ison joined the firm’s health care and corporate law groups in 2004. Posted 01-10-12

Kristal H. Boone, founding member of Boone Law, graduated from the Tennessee Bar Association's Leadership Law program, which prepares Tennessee lawyers to serve as leaders in their profession and communities, in July. Posted 10-17-11

Robert Eric DuFour has been promoted to the position of Deputy District Attorney III, serving as a Senior Felony Trial Attorney, with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Posted 10-17-11

Ashley Jones Johnson was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to the Texas Judicial Council for a term set to expire June 30, 2017. The council studies and reports on the organization and practices of the Texas judicial system. Johnson is an attorney at Gibson Dunn and Crutcher. She served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. Posted 10-17-11

Jessica Harris Telligman and her husband, Avery, welcomed a son, Henry Miles, on August 8. Jessica is an associate with Carruthers & Bailey in Winston-Salem. Posted 10-17-11

Damon M. Brown has been recognized by IMPACT and the National Bar Association as a finalist for the "Nation's Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40.” Damon is an associate at Liebert Cassidy Whitmorein the firm’s Los Angeles office where he devotes a significant part of his practice to helping clients anticipate and prevent claims through training, and the drafting of employment and separation agreements, employee handbooks and general employment policies and procedures. The awardees will be celebrated in late July at the Nation's Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40 Gala during the 86th Annual NBA Convention in Baltimore. Posted 7-15-11

Nicole D’Amato has assumed the position of Global Intellectual Property Counsel at Samsonite, the world's largest luggage brand, following six years as an associate in the New York office of Ropes & Gray. Nicole assumes primary responsibility for management of the "Samsonite" and "American Tourister" brands worldwide and the strategic, tactical and operational policies that protect the company's intellectual property assets. Recently, Nicole became engaged to Patrick Sherwood, an analyst in McKinsey's Investment Office, who will enroll in Yale's School of Management in the Fall of 2011. Posted 7-15-11

Sarah Glasgow Jacobs (AS ’01) was married to Dr. Ryan Jacobs on December 4, 2010 at the Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville. The couple lives in Nashville where Sarah is corporate counsel for Community Health Systems, Inc and Ryan is a Resident at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Posted 7-15-11

Nathan Lloyd and his wife, Jamie, announce the birth of a baby boy, Jackson Stephen Hudson, born on December 24, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nathan I an attorney with MGM Resorts International. Posted 5-5-11

Todd W. Hoppe was elected to shareholder at Foster Swift Collins & Smith as of January 2011 and in April was named the new Business & Corporate Law practice group leader. Todd practices in the areas of business organization and planning, business transactions, tax exempt organizations and charitable giving, estate planning and administration and succession planning. Posted 4-6-11

Junaid Odubeko, former legal counsel to Gov. Phil Bredesen, has joined Miller & Martin as an associate will bolster its litigation and government relations practices. Junaid joined the Bredesen administration as deputy legal counsel more than three years before being promoted. Before joining the Bredesen team, Odubeko practiced law at Burch Porter & Johnson in Memphis, focusing on litigation. Posted 2-14-11

Christopher Freeman and his wife Melissa are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Katherine Lily. She was born on December 15, 2010. Posted 1-18-11

J. Michael Meenan (BS 2001, JD 2004) and Anna Waszkowski Meenan (BA, 2001) announce the birth of their daughter, Margaret Sanders (Maisy), born into this world on October 13, 2010 in Washington, DC, joining brother Jack, 17 months. Posted 12-14-10

Michelle Bedoya Barnett has co-founded the labor and employment boutique of Alexander DeGance Barnett specializing in the representation of management in employment related issues. Previously she worked at Holland and Knight. Posted 12-14-10

Krista Thornton Cooper and her husband, Tobias, welcomed a daughter, AnnaLeigh (Annie) Frances Cooper, into the world on March 16, 2010. Posted 12-14-10

Ari Kuchinsky is a Texas-based transactional lawyer representing startups and small businesses, including representation of small businesses and investors in commercial real estate transactions. He is the Principal in his new startup firm, Kuchinsky Law Firm, a Dallas based law firm providing transactional legal services in the State of Texas. Previously, Ari was an attorney in the Dallas office of the international law firm Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, handling commercial real estate and corporate transactions. Ari blogs at on subjects related to startups, entrepreneurship and commercial real estate. Posted 12-14-10

Dan Steimel and Natalie Mathews Steimel welcomed twin boys, Max Gardner and Samuel Earl, to the world on November 9, 2010. Max and Sam join big brother Jake Steimel. The family resides in Phoenix, Arizona. Natalie is now the Director of Attorney Recruiting and Development for Snell & Wilmer and Dan is Assistant General Counsel for U-Haul International. Posted 12-9-10

Kyonzte Hughes was married to DeAngelo Toombs on October 9, 2010 in Hammond, Louisiana. Kyonzte is an attorney with the Tennessee Department of Health. Posted 11-23-10

Jill K. Jensen was married to Krishnan Kandasamy on November 12, 2010 in Birmingham, Alabama. Jill is an attorney with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Posted 11-18-10

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen named Junaid Odubeko as his new legal counsel, replacing Steve Elkins who announced plans to leave the administration earlier this month. Odubeko has served as deputy legal counsel since 2007. Before joining the governor's office, he was an associate at Burch, Porter & Johnson in Memphis where his practice focused on the areas of civil litigation and municipal law. Posted 11-3-10

J. Michael Showalter has joined Schiff Hardin as an associate in the Environmental Group of the firm's Chicago office. Posted 11-3-10

Rachel Crews has been promoted from associate to senior associate at Gray Robinson. Joining GrayRobinson in 2007, Rachel practices eminent domain law, general litigation and creditor's rights for both bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy issues. She is a member of the Florida Bar and the Orange County Bar Association. Posted 9-29-10

Alison Brown has joined Gunster as an associate in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office. Brown will concentrate her area of practice in business litigation. Posted 9-14-10

Junaid Odubeko has graduated from the Tennessee Bar Association's Leadership Law program, a nine-month program designed to equip Tennessee lawyers with the knowledge and skills to be leaders in the legal profession and in their communities. Junaid is deputy legal counsel to Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. Posted 7-6-10

J. Michael Meenan (BS '01) and Anna Waszkowski Meenan (BA '01) welcomed a son, John Conlin Meenan, on June 17, 2009. Posted 10-31-09

Erika Barnes and her husband, Jason Barnes, welcomed a baby girl, Julia Louise Barnes, on August 10, 2008. Erika practices with the firm of Stites & Harbison in Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on creditors' rights and bankruptcy. Posted 12-21-08

Ashley Jones Johnson has moved to Dallas, where she is now an associate with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, from Raleigh, North Carolina. Posted 12-31-08

Daniel E. Orr of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Princeton was one of 10 individual attorneys to receive an Equal Justice Medal at the 2008 annual awards reception held by Legal Services of New Jersey. The citation he received notes that over the past three years, he contributed more than 600 hours to pro bono work, particularly on behalf of a program that helps disabled children appeal denials of Supplementary Security Income (SSI) benefits. Daniel is in commercial and civil litigation at Morgan Lewis, where other lawyers also participate in the program. Daniel serves as the point man for the project at Morgan Lewis, said Kate Myers, pro bono director at South Jersey Legal Services. Daniel earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania before earning his law degree at Vanderbilt. Before joining Morgan Lewis, he was on the staff of Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). Posted 8-26-08

Daniel Orr was awarded an Equal Justice Medal by the New Jersey State Bar Association and Legal Services of New Jersey. The award was for helping children with disabilities obtain supplemental security income benefits from the U.S. government. A photo of Dan landed on the cover of the NJ Lawyer as he accepted the award from Justice Coleman of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Posted 8-19-08

Kathleen Albers Renda has joined Middleton Reutlinger in Louisville, Kentucky, where her practice will focus on commercial litigation and business law. Kathleen was previously a legal case officer for the Irish Competition Authority in Dublin, Ireland, where she investigated alleged violations of Irish and European competition law, particularly in relation to telecommunications companies, trade unions and professional representative organizations. After earning her undergraduate and law degrees at Vanderbilt, she earned a Masters in Law at the University of Dublin, Trinity College in 2005. Posted 8-19-08

Michelle Bedoya Barnett was married to Richard Barnett on December 29, 2007 in St. Augustine, Florida. The couple will continue living in Jacksonville, Florida where Michelle practices employment law at the law firm of Holland and Knight.
Posted 7-9-08

Ashley Jones Johnson and her husband Adam Johnson welcomed a son, Andrew Lucas, on March 18, 2008.

James Craig and his wife, Jacquelyn Jackson Craig, welcomed a song, Jackson Dean, on February 22, 2008.

Amy Todd Holmes and her husband, Dr. Kevin Craig Holmes, celebrated the birth of their daughter, Hadley Harper, on February 13, 2008. Amy is working in Houston as Corporate Counsel for Champion Technologies, an international specialty chemical company.

Dan and Natalie Steimel welcomed their son, Jacob Presley, into the world on December 20th, 2007 at 11:16 a.m. Dan, Natalie and Jake reside in Phoenix, Arizona.

Caroline Gobbell Beauchamp and her husband, Luke Beauchamp, welcomed a precious baby boy, Maxwell Vance, on December 5, 2007. Caroline is an associate with Kay Griffin Enkema & Brothers in Nashville.

Tim Weatherholt is an associate with Greenebaum Doll & McDonald in Louisville, Kentucky. He focuses his practice on labor and employment law. Prior to working for Greenebaum, Tim clerked for U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. He and his wife Emily Turner Weatherholt, also a member of the class of 2004, live happily in Louisville with their two dogs. Emily practices criminal law for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy.

Kelly Worman has transferred from Birmingham to the Nashville office of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. Kelly concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial real estate development, financing and leasing.

Kyonzté Hughes has joined the law firm of Howell & Fisher as an associate. Kyonzté practices primarily in the areas of medical malpractice and insurance defense.

Heather Hubbard has joined the trial and appellate practice and intellectual property groups of Nashville office of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis.

Robert Eric DuFour was promoted to the position of Deputy District Attorney II with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Darby Green, Virginia Butler, Jessica Miller, Beth Thomas, Megan Duncan (fiancée of Prestin Weidner) and Prestin Weidner at pre-wedding festivites for the October 14, 2006 wedding of Jessica Miller and Travis Sellers (cousin of Virginia Butler). Also at the wedding but not pictured here were Michelle Bedoya and Christina Leath '05.

Melinda Creasman was honored by Sanctuary for Families' Center for Battered Women's Legal Services in New York for her outstanding pro bono work on behalf of indigent victims of domestic violence. Melinda was recognized for her diligent and compassionate pro bono advocate for an elderly woman in a complex spousal support trial against an abusive husband. Melinda pursued justice for her client through meticulous, exhaustive, and compassionate legal work. Throughout the extensive litigation, Melinda showed unflagging support for her client as the client struggled to achieve the safety and economic stability she deserved. Melinda is an associate at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy in New York.

Heather M. McCarter and John S. Ducat were married at Green Valley Country Club in South Carolina. Heather works for Hunton & Williams and John practices with Alston & Bird in Atlanta, GA.

Dan Steimel and Natalie (Mathews) Steimel were married May 13, 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona. Dan and Natalie live in Phoenix with their three dogs and both work at the law firm of Snell & Wilmer. Dan's practice focuses in commercial litigation and Natalie concentrates on employee benefits and executive compensation.

Krista L. Thornton has joined the Healthcare Practice Area at the Nashville Downtown office of Bass Berry & Sims. She was previously an associate with Manier & Herod in Nashville. She is a member of the American, Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations and the Lawyers' Association for Women.

Carolyn Seugling has been chosen as a 2006-2008 Equal Justice Works fellow. Her fellowship is sponsored by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and she will begin working at The National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children in Washington, DC in September, 2006. Her work will benefit unaccompanied minors and specifically focus on children eligible for a special form of immigration relief known as special immigrant juvenile status.

Timothy C. Klink has joined Husch & Eppenberger's business transactions practice group as an associate in the Kansas City office.

Raanon Gal has transferred to the Atlanta office of Ford & Harrison.

Michael A. de Gennaro has joined Baker Botts in Houston.

Wendee M. Hilderbrand has joined Bass Berry & Sims' Nashville office as a litigation associate. Hildebrand earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado.

June Hong is chief financial officer for Nike Korea.

Chloe Truslow Shafer has joined the real estate team at Boult Cummings Conners & Berry. Chloe previously practiced at Moore & Van Allen in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before attending law school, she worked as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, and Mexico City. Chloe earned her undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998.

David Roland was featured in the Wall Street Journal's "Toney & Tacky" column on April 7 for his role as attorney for the not-for-profit "Summer's Best Two Weeks" or SB2W Christian camp near Boswell, Pennsylvania. Of all the activities at the nonprofit camp, none was more eagerly awaited than the annual rafting trip down the Lower Youghiogheny River. In 2001, though, Pennsylvania state authorities demanded that SB2W hire commercial outfitters as guides. But the camp couldn't afford the $30,000 this would cost, and campers were forced to stay off the river. Working with the nonprofit Institute for Justice, Dave paddled to the rescue by helping SB2W file a suit charging that the state's denial of its freedom to raft - as other private groups can and do - is unconstitutional. As Dave explains, the Pennsylvania Constitution "requires that restrictions on liberty 'bear a real and substantial relationship' to a legitimate government purpose; protecting the profits of businesses that are part of a government-created cartel is not such a purpose." "Amen to that," commented the Wall Street Journal.

Ashley (Rogers) Fisheris an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of O'Melveny & Myers, focusing on private equity and corporate transactions. Ashley married to Dan Fisher, '02, in October 2005. Dan is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Skadden Arps, focusing on M&A and corporate governance matters. Ashley and Dan live in Arlington, Virginia, and have exciting dinner conversations focusing on developments in corporate law and practice.

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!