Vanderbilt University Law School

Class of 2006

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

Liping Peng has joined Allen & Overy in its Shanghai office in China as an Associate.

Rett Peaden joined the Atlanta, Georgia firm of Davis Matthew & Quigley in July 2007 after finishing a one-year program of LLM in taxation at the University of Florida Law School. Rett's practice focuses on estate planning and probate, employee benefits, and executive compensation.

Matthew Foster, an associate at Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner (H3GM) in Nashville, has been appointed city attorney of Forest Hills, Tenn. Matthew had served as assistant city attorney since January 1, 2007. At H3GM, Matthew represents clients in the areas of business, real estate and municipal law. Prior to joining H3GM, Matthew served as the vice president of a marketing and consulting firm, and also spent time as special assistant to Nashville mayors Bill Purcell and Phil Bredesen.

Brian Winfrey has become an associate in the Nashville office of Atlanta-based Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart. Brian was formerly with Day & Blair. At Ogletree Deakins, he will concentrate on labor and employment law matters.

David Arens has joined the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison as a member of the Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group. Prior to joining the firm, David was a law clerk to Hon. Cornelia A. Clark, Tennessee Supreme Court; a summer law clerk with two divisions of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office; and an intern to Governor Phil Bredesen’s Legal Counsel, Robert E. Cooper, Jr. Before becoming an attorney, David spent nine years in the forest products industry, first as an executive at a Connecticut manufacturing firm and later in management and marketing for the Forest Stewardship Council and related organizations in the United States and Mexico.

Sayler Ault has joined the St. Louis office of Bryan Cave as an associate in the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Appellate Groups. Prior to joining Bryan Cave, Sayler was a law clerk for Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. in the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Elise O'Connell has joined the Corporate Restructuring Group of the New York office of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

Joseph P. Roger has joined Houston office of Jones Walker Waechter Poitevent Carrère & Denègre. Joe is an associate in the firm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group. He joined the firm’s Baton Rouge office in 2006, and he practices in the areas of securities law, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate law.

Aja Hicks has joined the law firm of Atwood & Associates in Portland, OR.

Stephen L. Adams has joined the Boise-based insurance defense law firm Anderson Julian & Hull. Prior to joining AJH, Adams worked at the San Joaquin County Counsel's office as a law clerk. He also has worked as a law clerk for the Nashville Public Defender's office. His practice areas include insurance defense, education law, employment law, personal injury, copyright and other areas.

Sarah Tobin has joined the law firm of Baker & Hostetler as an associate in the Houston office.

David Oigarden has joined the law firm of Baker & Hostetler as an associate in the Orlando office.

Rett Peaden and Vivien Fang were married in Atlanta, Georgia on January 6, 2007.

Brad Anderson married Barbie Minner on August 5, 2006 at Mountain Brook community Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Jonathan Wardle has joined the law firm of Neal & Harwell as an associate.

Michael Gardner and Monica Acker joined the Nashville office of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis. Michael joined the trial and appellate litigation practice, and Monica is in the real estate practice.

Matt Foster has been named an associate at Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner in Nashville. He represents clients in the areas of general business, real estate and municipal law. Previously, Matt was vice president of a marketing and consulting firm.

Amy Gentry joined the Corporate Mergers and Aquisitions group of Bracewell & Giuliani in Houston, Texas.

Brian Decker has joined the IP group of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta, Georgia.

Joseph Roger has joined the Baton Rouge office of Jones Walker as an associate.

Sarah Clark has joined Lexington, Kentucky-based Frost Brown Todd as an associate in the Nashville office. A Hendersonville native, Sarah will practice in the firm's business, corporate, transactions and real estate practices.

Erik R. Lowe, Thomas C. Brady and Robb A. Leandro have joined the law firm of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein. Erik and Thomas are in Charlotte and Robb is in Raleigh.

Benjamin Sones has joined the law firm of Sherrard & Roe as an associate. Sones' practice areas include general corporate law and commercial litigation.

FutrellAdam

Adam Futrell, Stephen Hinton, and Brandi Holland have joined the Nashville office of Bass Berry & Sims. Adam is with the firm's Litigation Practice Area, while Stephen and Brandi have joined the firm's Corporate and Securities Practice Area.

Alisa Peters has joined the Nashville office of Birmingham's Burr & Forman as an associate. She will focus on corporate and tax law. Prior to her law studies, Alisa, a CPA, was a senior tax accountant with Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, based in Brentwood.

Stephen Lund married Emily Boleman on August 12, 2006 in Tulsa, OK. Stephen is an associate at Tune, Entrekin & White in Nashville, TN, and Emily is a graduate student studying Speech Pathology at Vanderbilt.

Andrew Warth and Emily Boulden were married on August 19, 2006 in Dallas, Texas. Emily works at Locke Liddell & Sapp in Dallas, and Drew works at Jones Day in Dallas.

Fredericka Jura has joined the St. Louis office of Thompson Coburn.

Sarah Zagata has joined King & Spalding in Houston, TX. Her main focus is international arbitration, and she is already working on interesting matters in Argentina, Venezuela, and Bangladesh. In November 2006, she traveled to Paris to complete a brief clerkship with the ICC International Court of Arbitration.

Ashley Moore married Robert Langford Palmer Jr., who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt, on August 12, 2006. Ashley is an associate at Powell Goldstein in Atlanta. Robert is a healthcare consultant.

Grayson Walter and Lynnette Pirilla have announced their engagement. They are planning an August 2007 wedding. Gray is joining Winston & Strawn's Chicago office as an associate, and Lynnette will be an associate with Sidley Austin's Chicago office.

Travis Swearingen has joined Miller & Martin as an associate in the firm's general litigation and commercial departments. Travis was an associate editor for the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law and a member of the Phi Delta Phi National Honor Society.

The following awards were announced at or shortly before graduation:

Robin Hart Smith of Senatobia, Mississippi, is the winner of the Founder's Medal for Vanderbilt University Law School. The Founder's Medals recognize the leading scholars in each of Vanderbilt's undergraduate and professional schools. In 2004-05, Smith also won the Robert E. Jackson Memorial Prize, awarded to the member of the second-year law class who maintained the highest scholastic average over two years, and he was awarded the Archie B. Martin Memorial Prize for Scholarship, awarded to the first-year law student with the highest general average for the year, in 2003-04.

As a Vanderbilt undergraduate, Smith finished second in his class and was banner bearer for the 2003 Commencement. He served as a research assistant for Professor Tracey George and will clerk next year for Chief Judge Irma Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California in San Diego. The awarding of Founder's Medals is a more than century-old tradition at Vanderbilt, started by a special endowment in 1877 by university founder Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Other award winners include:

Amanda Schlager of Fort Myers, Florida, winner of the Junius L. Allison Legal Aid Award, awarded annually to the student who made the most significant contribution to the work of the Legal Aid Society, and of the Thomas C. Banks Award to the outstanding Jessup Moot Court team member.

Liza Q. Wirtz of Knoxville, Tennessee, winner of the Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Award, which goes to the graduating student who is not only well versed in the law, but who embodies the highest conception of the ethics of the profession, and of the Damali K. Booker Award, presented annually to the third-year law student who has a keen dedication to legal activism and a demonstrated commitment to confronting social issues facing both Vanderbilt Law School and the greater Nashville community.

Michael Anthony Roche of Indialantic, Florida, winner of the G. Scott Briggs Transnational Legal Studies Award, which goes to the senior who has exhibited a high degree of scholastic achievement in transnational legal studies and who has made the most significant contribution to the development of international legal inquiry while a student of Vanderbilt Law School.

C. Jade Rutland of Atlanta, Georgia, winner of the Philip G. Davidson III Memorial Award, presented to the student chosen by the Vanderbilt Bar Association Board of Governors who is dedicated to the law and its problem-solving role in society, and who provides exemplary leadership in service to the Law School and the greater community.

Eun A. Chung of Seoul, Korea, winner of the LL.M. Research Prize, awarded annually to the LL.M. student whose scholarly research and writing project is judged best by the faculty.

Michael DeSantis of Staten Island, New York, winner of the Jordan A. Quick Award, which honors the student who has made the greatest contribution through leadership with the Vanderbilt Bar Association.

Charles P. Trumbull of Morgantown, West Virginia, winner of the Weldon B. White Prize, awarded to the graduating student who submitted the best paper in the fulfillment of the law school's advanced writing requirement.

Andrew Warth (05-06) of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Diana Goff (04-05) of Seattle, Washington, winners of the Stanley D. Rose Memorial Book Awards, which honor the students who submitted the best papers in the field of jurisprudence or legal history in fulfillment of the Law School's advanced writing requirement.

Joel Eckert of Columbus, Indiana, and Sarah Reisman of Claremont, California, winners of the Carl J. Ruskowski Clinical Legal Education Award, which honors students who demonstrate excellence in practice of law and best exemplify the highest standards of the legal profession in their representation of clients in the law school's clinical program.

Meredith Capps, winner of the ALA-ABA Scholarship and Leadership Award.

Miguel Gonzalez of Hialeah, Florida, winner of the Grace Wilson Sims Prize for excellence in student writing in transnational law.

Joshua Michael Goodwin of Lancaster, Ohio, winner of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law Outstanding Editor Award.

Teresa Kay Fus of Kent, Washington, winner of the Grace Wilson Sims Medal in Transnational Law, awarded to the editorial board member, other than the editor-in-chief, selected as having done the most outstanding work on the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law during the academic year.

Emily Susanne Boulden of Dallas, Texas,, winner of the Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law Outstanding Service Award, awarded to the student who submits the most outstanding piece of student writing to the journal.

Stephen Lee Adams of Stockton, California, winner of the Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law Student Writing Award, for contributing the most outstanding piece of student writing to the journal

Stayce Burkhart of Elyria, Ohio, winner of the K. Harlan Dodson Moot Court Staff Award, awarded to the senior member of the Moot Court staff, other than the chief justice, whose service throughout the year was most outstanding.

Ashley Jenell Moore of Chattanooga, Tennessee, winner of the National Association of Women Lawyers' Outstanding Law Student Award, awarded the the student who Law School involvement best fulfills the goals of contributing to the advancement of women in society and promoting women's issues in the legal profession.

Elise Snowden O'Connell of Newton Square, Pennsylvania, winner of the Law Review Candidates Award, awarded by second-year students to the third-year staff member who, other than the editor-in-chief, has made the most significant contribution to their development as a Law Review staff member.

Frederick David Taylor Arens of Ellington, Connecticut, winner of the Law Review Editor's Award, awarded to the third-year board member who made the most significant contribution to the Law Review.

Robert Franklin Dugas of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, winner of the Morgan Prize, which goes to the student who submitted the most outstanding piece of student writing to the Vanderbilt Law Review during the academic year.

Matthew O'Brien of Worthington, Ohio, winner of the Myron Penn Laughlin Note Award, for the student who -- other than the Morgan Prize -- contributed the best student note published in the Vanderbilt Law Review.

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!