NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW MAGAZINE

Jeff Feldman was recently named Philip A. Trautman Professor of the Year by the University of Washington School of Law for the third time. Inspired by his mentor, Professor Steve Subrin, Jeff teaches constitutional law, civil procedure and trial practice and co-directs the school’s Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic in addition to his trial and appellate practice with Summit Law Group in Seattle.

Carolynn Fischel, a retired administrative law judge, continues to enjoy her life as an artist and author. Her 2018 book, Provincetown Drew Me In, is a history of P-town that includes Carolynn’s drawings as well as historical anecdotes, maps and suggestions for visiting town. She now lives with her wife, Lea, in a senior residence in Prairie Village, Kansas, and is still drawing and painting. She drew the cover art for Orchard House, a collaborative novel written by several neighbors. During the pandemic, she started writing lengthy newsletters to her dear artist friend Ilona Royce Smithkin, and after Smithkin passed away at 101, Carolynn wanted to keep opining about the news and now has 80 readers for her e-mailed letters. If you wish to receive her newsletter, send a note to [email protected].

Renardo (Rick) Hicks has joined Eckert Seaman’s Harrisburg, Penn., office as a member of the firm’s utilities and telecommunications
practice group. He brings more than 30 years of legal and government experience to his new role and most recently served as chief counsel at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

The second edition of Stephen Casscle’s book, Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada, revised and updated to include New England grapes, is now in print and available at flintminepress.com.

Gerry Ciejka has joined the board of directors of CATIC Financial. Prior to his retirement in 2020, Gerry served as general counsel and human resources director at Western New England Bancorp and its subsidiary Westfield Bank in Westfield, Mass. He was a member of the executive management team of both companies, responsible for all legal, human resources, and compensation and insurance-related matters.

Shepard Davidson, a partner in the business litigation group at Burns & Levinson in Boston, has been named a 2023 Client Service All-Star in BTI Consulting Group’s survey of general counsel from the world’s largest corporations. The prestigious list highlights lawyers who deliver the absolute best client service above all others. Shep’s practice spans all manner of business disputes, including complex business torts, contract claims, non-compete litigation and issues involving closely held businesses.

Robert Shea was recently confirmed as a claims commissioner for the Connecticut Office of the Claims Commissioner in Hartford. Robert previously served as assistant attorney general for the Office of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, where he was responsible for issues pertaining to eDiscovery in legal proceedings, including litigation and government investigations. He began his legal career in private practice as a compliance and government relations attorney.

Elizabeth Ford has joined Seattle University School of Law as assistant professor. She has been affiliated with the law school since 2005 as a visiting assistant professor and distinguished practitioner in residence. She continues to teach in the school’s renowned Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic and to direct the Workers’ Rights Clinic. In private practice for 25 years, Elizabeth represented unions and individual employees. She also served as chief counsel for the Washington State Nurses Association and the director of labor relations for King County. In 2015, she founded the Fair Work Center Legal Clinic, a nonprofit legal services office that operates in collaboration with the law clinic to provide representation to low-wage workers.

Mike Sams, a shareholder at Kenney & Sams in Boston, has been named Lawyer of the Year by the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association (MassDLA), an association of trial lawyers who defend corporations, individuals and insurance companies in civil lawsuits. Mike is well known as a trial lawyer and risk manager for those in the construction industry, including owners, contractors, architects, engineers, subcontractors, suppliers and manufacturers.

Karen Kithan Yau has been named a partner at Getman, Sweeney & Dunn in Kingston, New York. Karen joined the wage-and-hour focused firm as of counsel in 2022 after three years as of counsel at Kakalec Law. She continues to serve as an adjunct professor of law at CUNY School of Law.

Peter Orner was a finalist for the 2023 Pen America Literary Award for the Art of the Essay for Still No Word from You: Notes in the Margin, his collection of pieces on literature and life. Peter is also the author of two highly acclaimed novels and three short story collections. Many of his works have appeared in leading papers and journals, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Paris Review.

Amy Reardon Doherty has joined Web Industries, a global manufacturing partner in the medical market, as vice president of legal. Previously, Amy counseled the automotive, manufacturing and global supply chain businesses at Bose Corporation. She also worked at Nypro in Clinton, Mass., advising the healthcare business division as well as Nypro’s strategic companies. Prior to that, Amy spent nearly a decade in private practice at the Boston office of law firm Goodwin Procter, where she worked on cases involving general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, and financial restructuring.

Susan Mills was a finalist for the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the First Novel category for On the Wings of a Hummingbird. As a Spanish-speaking immigration attorney for 20 years, Susan prepared asylum cases for thousands of immigrants from Central America. Her book tells the story of Petra, 15, who must grow into the lessons of the Mayan hummingbird as she carves her future in the United States out of a childhood scarred by gang violence in her small Guatemalan village.

In July, Sunu Chandy, an award-winning poet, activist and civil rights attorney, was presented with the 2023 Hero Award by the South Asian Bar Association of North America Foundation. Sunu is legal director of the National Women’s Law Center and author of My Dear Comrades, a collection of poetry about her experiences as a woman, civil rights attorney, parent, partner, daughter of South Asian immigrants and member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Lennox Chase, founder of Chase Legal Services, has been named to the 2023 list of the 50 Most Influential Business Leaders of Color by the Charles River Regional Chamber and Get Konnected! Lennox focuses his general practice on real estate and has chaired numerous committees for nonprofits that address urban education, expanding access to legal services and domestic violence issues. He is a past member of the board of Needham Bank

In January, Lara Sutherlin was appointed to lead the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Legal Services (DLS). She previously worked for DLS in civil litigation and consumer protection from 2006 to 2019 and returns after four years of serving as a division administrator at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Marla Matthews has joined Pierce Atwood as a partner in the firm’s trusts and estates practice group. Previously a founding partner at Myskowski & Matthews, Marla has extensive experience in trusts and estates planning. In addition, Marla frequently represents clients in the probate court who are petitioning for guardianship over an incapacitated person.

Cyrus Chin has joined the Houston, Texas, office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as partner. He represents clients across many industries in all phases of the business life cycle, from corporate structuring and formation to daily operations and negotiating the acquisition and sale of businesses. Previously, he was a partner at Balch & Bingham in Houston.

Rebecca Knudson, a partner at Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog in Wilmington, N.C., was named to the 2023 Legal Elite list by Business North Carolina magazine. Rebecca focuses her civil litigation practice on representing builders, developers, homeowner association boards and other business professionals in construction law, mechanic lien law, community association law and other complex litigation matters.

Jennifer Kamocsay is now general counsel at The Spatial Biology Company at Akoya Biosciences. She previously served as general counsel of Rubius Therapeutics, after working as associate general counsel for Progress Software Corporation.

Benjamin Landry has been promoted to general counsel and corporate secretary at Health Catalyst, a leading provider of data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations. He previously served as the Boston-based company’s assistant general counsel.

Stephanie Swanson is now executive vice president of government affairs at Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), the state’s largest business association. Prior to joining AIM, Stephanie spent more than a decade working on Beacon Hill in the Massachusetts Senate, most recently as chief of staff and general counsel to former Senator Eric Lesser.

Kaitlyn Dunn has joined the Chicago office of Reed Smith as counsel in the firm’s life sciences health industry group. Katie previously served as counsel at Manatt,
Phelps & Phillips in Boston. Prior to entering private practice in 2013, she served as an associate counsel with the Office of Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Valerie Jackson is now of counsel with Littler’s Boston office, where she focuses on labor management relations, including obligations of employers in unionized workplaces and compliance with applicable state and federal laws. Previously an associate at Jackson Lewis, Valerie is a member of the Boston Bar Foundation’s
Society of Fellows Junior Fellow Steering Committee and a board member of Northeastern Law’s Boston Regional Alumni/ae Chapter.

Michael Kippins recently joined Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) as the Lauren Sampson Fellow. In his new role, he represents clients in a variety of civil rights cases, including police accountability, education, employment and climate justice. Prior to joining LCR, Michael worked at Seyfarth Shaw, where he represented clients in commercial and business litigation matters. He was also actively involved in pro bono work, including LCR matters.

Harley Racer has been elevated to partner at Lurie Friedman in Boston. He focuses his practice on complex business litigation, including contract disputes; land use disputes, including matters relating to eminent domain and land conservation; and employment matters, including Wage Act violations, discrimination and separation.

Michael Andreasen has been elevated to partner at Burns & Levinson in Boston. As a business law attorney, he represents public and private companies in corporate matters, including private equity and venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, SEC and securities law compliance, and other transactional matters.

S. Mayumi “Umi” Grigsby is now chief of policy for the City of Chicago. She was appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. She previously served as chief of policy and advocacy for the Office of the City Clerk of Chicago and chair of the Cook County Human Rights Commission. She is the author of EmpowHERed Health: Reforming a Dismissive Health Care System.

Nicholas Balatsos has joined Boston labor and employment law firm Morgan, Brown & Joy as an associate. Previously, Nicholas was a hearing officer for the
Department of Labor Relations within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and prior to that he worked as an attorney at Sandulli Grace in Boston.

Kaitlyn Malkin has joined Verill’s Boston office as an associate in the firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation group. Kaitlyn was previously a consulting attorney at The Phia Group, a consulting firm servicing sponsors of self-funded group health plans and plan service providers.

Kat Delos Reyes, an intellectual property and IP litigation attorney at Burns & Levinson in Boston, has been named to the board of the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, which serves the Asian American legal community and seeks to improve and facilitate the administration of law and justice.

Grant King is now an associate at Morgan, Brown & Joy in Boston, where he works with clients to resolve disputes
regarding contracts, disciplinary issues, harassment and discrimination allegations, retaliation and more. Grant previously served as an associate handling litigation matters at Cetrulo in Boston.

Jake Hooker has joined his father’s firm, Attorney Michael Hooker Elder Law, the only law firm based in Hampshire County, Mass., that works exclusively in elder law and estate planning. While a student at Northeastern, Jake completed two co-ops at the firm and one with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services at the Massachusetts General Counsel’s Office.