Alumni News and Moves - Winter 2019

Our alumni have forged diverse career paths and taken on interesting new adventures and personal challenges. They are thought leaders, industry experts, advisers, mentors, advocates, business executives, elected and appointed officials, and trusted professionals.

We are so proud of the contributions our alumni continue to make to the legal and business communities, grateful for the time they spent with the firm, and honored that so many have stayed in touch with the firm and each other.

Here are recent news and moves from our alumni community over the past few months.

• Emily (Albertson) Shapiro (CH/Corporate/2014) joined Intersport as Corporate Counsel in March 2019.
• Nicole Graham (PH/Insurance/2007) joined Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP as a Partner in February 2019.
• Nimesh Patel (CH/Labor and Employment/2007) joined Akin Gump as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer in February 2019. 
• Elizabeth Lopez (CH/Litigation/2007) was selected as one of the recipients of the Hispanic National Bar Association 2019 Top Lawyers Under 40 Award. Elizabeth is Litigation Counsel for United Airlines.
• Nate Cardozo (SF/Products Liability and Mass Tort/2010) joined Facebook as Privacy Policy Manager in February 2019.
• Brian Altman (DC/Government and Regulatory Affairs/2009) recently left the federal government, where he worked at the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and completed a detail at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He is now the Director of Federal and Political Affairs at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• Lisa Warren (FP/Litigation/1979) retired from Johnson & Johnson at the end of 2018 after almost 34 years as in-house counsel.
• Beth Stearns (FP/Litigation/1989) was recently appointed to chair a new committee for the New Jersey Bar Association’s Business Law Section, The Retail & Restaurant Law Committee. Beth is currently a partner at the law firm McNelly Law Offices, LLC.
• Matthew Moench (FP/Litigation/2007) started his own law firm, Moench Law, LLC, specializing in litigation and regulatory affairs, after leaving his position as Assistant Commissioner for Legislation and Regulation at the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance in January 2018.
• On January 26, 2019, Richard Brennan (FP/Litigation/1968) participated in ICLE’s annual civil case law seminar. This marked his 21st year as a commentator. ICLE also published the sixth edition of Richard’s book, “A Practice Guide to Wrongful Death and Survival Actions.”
• Nancy Cantaloupo (DC/IP/2003), Associate Professor of Law at Barry University School of Law, has several upcoming publications. You can view the abstracts at:
  • https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3323432
  • https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3255205
  • https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3168909
• Andrea D’Ambra (PH/Litigation/2004) was recently appointed to the Sedona Conference’s Working Group 1’s Steering Committee. Working Group 1 (WG1) is arguably the leading think tank for e-discovery in the United States and is well recognized for its leadership on e-discovery issues. The Sedona Conference Principles are the most cited commentary by U.S. judges when addressing e-discovery. Appointees are selected based on their capacity for dialogue and working to achieve consensus, subject matter expertise, their records of significant contributions to WG1 meetings and drafting team efforts, and demonstrated commitments to the mission of the Sedona Conference.
• Rob Denious (PH/Corporate/1987) joined Conway Mackenzie, Inc. as Senior Managing Director.
• Ken Frazier’s (PH/Litigation/1971) article, Why Big Business Should Support Legal Aid, appeared in Daedalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Winter 2019 edition. Ken has been a Fellow of the American Academy since 2012. He is the Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co, Inc. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Society, The Business Council, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the American Bar Association. Additionally, he is co-chair of the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council. He sits on the boards of PhRMA, Weill Cornell Medicine, Exxon-Mobil Corporation, and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Philadelphia.
• Katie Miller Schilling (CH/Healthcare/ 2011) joined the University of Michigan as Associate General Counsel in January 2019.
• Sandra Moser (PH/Litigation/2003) left DOJ on January 11 to join Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
• Michelle Scharfenberg (PH/Litigation/1999) joined Cantel Medical in Little Falls, New Jersey, on January 7, 2019, as Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer.
• John Ferman (DC/Litigation/2006) opened his own firm, John Ferman Law, in January 2019.
• Vedica Puri (SF/Products/2001) was appointed to a judgeship in the San Francisco County Superior Court in January 2019.
• Amy Blumenthal (PH/Labor/2007) was promoted to Partner at Kutak Rock in Philadelphia in January 2019.
• Viktoriya Torchinsky-Field (PH/Products/1999) was promoted to Associate Chief Counsel at Cigna in January 2019.
• Pete Wolf (CH/Corporate/2010) was promoted to Partner at Mayer Brown in January 2019.
• Jonathan Grossberg (CH/Corporate/2006) joined Robert Morris University as Assistant Professor of Taxation in January 2019.
• Jeff Beyer (FP/Insurance/2007) was promoted to partner at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP, effective January 1, 2019.
• David C. Greenberg (CH/Corporate/1991) joined HomeThrive, Inc. as Managing Director.
• Angela Foster-Rice (CH/Environmental/1997) started her own environmental strategy consulting firm, Aerial Consulting, in late 2018.
• Bree Archambault (PH/Corporate/2007) joined Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP as a Partner in November 2018.
• Neela Paykel (DC/Health Care/1995) joined Waymo as Deputy General Counsel in late 2018.
• Tom Pulliam (SF/Products Liability and Mass Tort/1993) retired in 2017 and has spent the majority of his time coaching rugby and being a grandpa to four children who live within five minutes of him and who, with their mom and dad, have been living in Tom’s San Francisco home since July 2018 while they renovate their home. Tom coaches two grandsons (ages 11 and 9) in rugby and also helps coach Stanford University’s women’s rugby team.
• Robyn Stoter Dickinson (PH/Litigation/2009) joined Qurate Retail Group as Assistant General Counsel, Ethics and Compliance Investigations, in October 2018.