February 2010 Alumni Briefs

Brian C. Thomas '01 was named a partner at Graydon Head & Ritchey of Cincinnati. Thomas is also the president of the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, a member of the Board of Trustees for the Cincinnati Bar Association and a member of the Board of Trustees for People Working Cooperatively.

Charles J. Faruki, chairman of the UDSL Advisory Council, was selected as one of the Top Ten attorneys in Ohio by Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. D. Jeffrey Ireland '80 was selected by the magazine as one of the Top 100 attorneys in the state. Jeffrey T. Cox '91 and Ronald I. Raether Jr. '96 were also selected in the Super Lawyers list.

Daniel Brabender '78 was sworn in on January 4 as a judge on the Erie County, Pennsylvania, Common Pleas Court. Brabender, who was elected to a 10-year term in November 2009, will serve on the Erie County Family Court.

Kate Hudson '08 was elected president of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers Augusta Chapter and was selected to the Georgia Bar Association's 2010 Leadership Academy. Kate works for the Augusta Regional Office of the Georgia Legal Services Program.

Shanda L. Spurlock '02 has been appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism for a three-year term. Spurlock is an associate in Greenebaum Doll & McDonald's Cincinnati office, where she works in the firm's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group. She was also selected for inclusion in the 2010 Ohio Super Lawyers-Rising Stars list in the field of Business Litigation. 

Michael Navarre '98 was elected Special Counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Michael is a member of the Litigation Department in Steptoe's Washington office, where he focuses on government contracts and criminal defense matters.

Mark Hilliard '06 joined Hawkins, Parnell & Thackston's Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation Group in Los Angeles.

Cinamon S. Houston '97 and Vaseem S. Hadi '02 cowrote Anderson's Ohio Personal Injury Litigation Manual, which was published in November 2009.

Christopher Epley '99 was sworn in on January 11, 2010, to the Oakwood School Board after being elected to a four-year term in the November 2009 general election.