Alumni Forum - October

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October - November 2013

A Note from the Dean

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Fall of 2013 has brought new life and energy to Valparaiso Law School. Students are fully engaged in the rigor of the semester and are preparing for pending mid-term examinations. Faculty and staff are eager to evaluate the effects of the new curriculum. At the same time, we are congratulating our recent graduates who have passed the Bar exam in several states.

When I became Interim Dean, I worked with the Faculty and Staff to form several task-forces to help us work together on various components of the institution. The Alumni Relations task-force quickly determined that we should publish an Annual Review. It is the first printed magazine the Law School has produced since 2007. We are very proud of it and we hope that you are as well.

Another recent achievement for the Law School was our incorporation of events and activities during Homecoming Weekend of Valparaiso University at large. It was a full weekend of connecting with the alumni community. Thank you to all VULS graduates who participated over the course of four days. Alumni gathered in Chicago for lunch, came back to campus for our annual Professional Development Day, and attended the Continuing Legal Education presentation by Professor David Herzig. We gathered in the Wesemann Hall Café for an alumni reception where I had the pleasure of recognizing Gromely Society members. On Sunday, two of our graduates, Eugene Schoon '80 and Jonathan Pasky '05, received VUAA Board of Directors Awards.

An active alumni community is a productive alumni community. We've seen positive results from all of the recent interactions and we hope to see more. Please provide us with your reaction to the magazine at law.alumni@valpo.edu. Of course, we are interested in your comments about any recent VULS events you have attended. If we haven't reached you, please tell us what alumni service would be most useful to you. Also, remember to consider supporting the Law School by mentoring our students, by strongly considering Valparaiso Law students and graduates for positions at your firm or organization, and by giving to the Law School Annual Fund. I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your continuing support of VULS.

Sincerely,
Ivan Bodensteiner
Dean and Professor, Valparaiso University Law School

Homecoming 2013 was a big success! Events were held between September 26 - 29, 2013. Thank you to all the alumni who attended the lunch in Chicago on Thursday, talked with our students at Professional Development Day on Friday, and those in attendance at the National Council Meeting, Continuing Legal ... read more

We welcome your feedback! If you have suggestions of what you would like to see, what services you would like provided from your Office of Alumni Relations, please send a note to law.alumni@valpo.edu. In the meantime, be sure to keep your eyes open for this e-newsletter, join/like the Valparaiso Law Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages and please join us at an alumni event in the coming year.

CLASS NOTES

CLASS OF 1974

David L. Hollenbeck '74, was recognized for his legal expertise by being named to The Best Lawyers in America ... read more

CLASS OF 1976

Thomas Kautz '76, has been recognized as one of the 2014 Best Lawyers in America. Kautz is an attorney at ... read more

CLASS OF 1980

Steven Langer '80, was recognized for his legal expertise by being named to The Best Lawyers in America ... read more

CLASS OF 1989

Debra Denslaw '89, has joined the Valparaiso School of Law as the new Faculty Services Librarian. Prior to returning ... read more

CLASS OF 1995

Kevin Sprecher '95, has joined Strauss Troy, a leading law firm in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky ... read more

CLASS OF 2007

Dana Rifai '07, was recently recognized as the "Up and Coming" 2013 Influential Woman of the Year in Law at ... read more

CLASS OF 2007

J. Sebastian Smelko '07, was recently hired at Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP's Indianapolis ... read more

CLASS OF 2009

Leslie Charters '09, was recently hired by Purdue University to serve as the school's first director of student legal ... read more

CLASS OF 2009

Amanda L. Krenson '09, has joined the law firm of Bingham Greenebaum Doll, LLP. Krenson is a member of the ... read more

CLASS OF 2009

Brianna Schroeder '09, has been elected the Secretary-Treasurer for the Indiana State Bar Association (ISBA) Agricultural ... read more

CLASS OF 2009

Pierre Zado '09, has opened his own law practice after spending two years working as a junior attorney for ... read more

Click here to read more Class Notes.

IN MEMORIAM

Legendary civil rights attorney Hilbert L. Bradley '50, who was the first African-American graduate of the Valparaiso University School of Law in 1950, died Sunday in Naples, Fla. He was 93. Bradley, city attorney under former mayor Richard G. Hatcher, founded the Fair Share Organization in the 1960s to fight for equal employment opportunities for blacks.

Bradley was also instrumental in getting blacks on the bench. In 1987, he founded the Indiana Coalition for Black Judicial Officials and led protests on the steps of the Indiana Supreme Court.

His efforts culminated with the 1990 election of Bernard Carter as Lake Superior Court judge. Carter is now Lake County prosecutor. Bradley also later became a Lake County judge. ... read more