Fall 20022 Moot Court3 Back To School4 Paralegal Grads5 Alumni Events5 Profiles6 All Class Reunion

Certain comic awards, suggested bythe attendees, were also presented,including recognition for havingconvicted a ferret owner and theprestigious “Worst Joke Teller” award.

The real beauty of SJCL’s buildingcontinues to impress graduates as didthe growing library collection. Someof SJCL’s holdings date from beforethe American Revolution.

Alumni Association President MelissaWhite invited all graduates to become

active members of the AlumniAssociation. In particular, she urgedgraduates to support the upcomingChristmas party for mothers andchildren from the Marjoree MasonCenter.

The event was spearheaded by JoanLassley, Law Coordinator for SJCL,assisted by members of the SJCLAlumni Association and SJCL staff. Agreat time was had by all!

Reunion celebrates valedictoriansSmiles lit up with recognition, surprise, and delight throughout the halls ofSJCL during the All-Class Reunion, September 20, 2002.

Graduates from every class,1974 through 2002,reminisced with classmates,

faculty, board and staff while enjoyingwine and cheese. A memory board foreach class featured pictures of thestudents’ years at SJCL and a listshowing the current employment ofeach graduate.

A medallion was presented to thevaledictorian of each of SJCL’s twenty-nine graduating classes as a permanentmemento of their achievements.

SJCL Valedictorians: FRONT ROW (L-R): Michelle Pepper, Hon. Nancy Cisneros; MIDDLE ROW (L-R): Carol Corey, Bethany Baker,Tamanee Krazan, Mark Pasculli; BACK ROW (L-R): Trisha Beckstead, Kathy Hart, Regina Derryberry, Mark Blum, Cynthia Scully,Dan Green, Deborah Coe, Suzanne McGuire, Randy Penner, Kimberly Nystrom-Geist

See Law Reunion page 6

Board of TrusteesDouglas Noll, J.D., Chair; Hon. James A. Ardaiz, Vice-Chair; John Loomis, J.D., Treasurer

Ross Borba, Jr.; Richard Caglia, J.D.; Hon. Jane Cardoza; Carol Smittcamp Copeland; Edward D. Fanucchi, J.D.;Traci Fritzler, J.D.; James K. Herbert, LL.B.; Jan L. Kahn, J.D.; Kendall Manock, J.D.; Michael Marderosian, J.D.;Elizabeth O’Neill, J.D.; Hon. Robert Oliver; Susie Osterberg; Wanda L. Rogers; Roland Soltesz, SBA President;Dennis Veeh, CPA; Dr. Vivian Vidoli; David Weiland, J.D.; Melissa White, Alumni Representative, J.D.

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Hopper Moot Court CompetitionThis competition provides students the unique experience of participating inoral argument of a fictional Supreme Court case.

Sherrie Flynn was named BestOral Advocate and Ed Day andDeborah Sandoval shared Best

Brief honors at the 23d AnnualGeorge A. Hopper Moot CourtCompetition.

The competition this year involvedissues regarding the right to seekconsideration of a previously dis-missed writ of habeus corpus and theimposition of a life sentence under theThree Strikes law. For the competi-tion, teams of two students preparedbriefs for either the appellant orrespondent. Each student then arguedfirst for one side, then for the otherside, in front of a panel of experiencedattorneys and judges. From thesepreliminary rounds eight semi-finalistsadvanced for another day of argument.The four finalists then competed onthe third day arguing before AssociateJustice Steven Vardabedian, AssociateJustice Rebecca Wiseman, both of theCalifornia Court of Appeal for theFifth District and Judge LawrenceO’Neill, Magistrate Judge of theUnited States District Court for theEastern District of California.

Our congratulations to all theparticipants in the competition andour gratitude to each and everyattorney and judge who gave of theirtime and experience to assist theprocess of creating skilled attorneys.

(L-R) Honorable Steven M. Vartabedian, Associate Justice, 5th District Court of Appeal;Sherrie Flynn, Best Oral Advocate; Honorable Rebecca A. Wiseman, Associate Justice,5th District Court of Appeal; Jason Taylor, Best Oral Advocate Finalist; Jeremy Lusk, BestOral Advocate Finalist; Deborah Sandoval, Best Oral Advocate Finalist; and HonorableLawrence O’Neill, U.S. Magistrate Judge.

Back Row (L-R): Crissy Jelladian, Best Oral Advocate Semi-Finalist; Jeremy Lusk, BestOral Advocate Finalist; Ed Day, Best Brief; Deborah Sandoval, Best Oral Advocate Finalist& Best Brief; and Brenda Linder, Best Brief Finalist & Best Oral Advocate Semi-Finalist.

Front Row (L-R): Humphrey Valero, Best Brief Finalist; Lazaro Salazar, Best Oral AdvocateSemi-Finalist; Sherrie Flynn, Best Oral Advocate; Jason Taylor, Best Oral Advocate Finalist& Best Brief Finalist; and Paul Jaurique, Best Oral Advocate Semi-Finalist.

Not pictured: Joaquin Borunda, Best Brief Finalist

Full-Time FacultyLawrence M. Artenian, Richard M. Cartier, Denise M. Kerner, Kathryn McTigue-Floyd, Janice L. Pearson, Sally A. Perring, Jeffrey G. Purvis

Adjunct FacultyMarc C. Ament, Hon. James A. Ardaiz, Jesse J. Avila, Barry J. Bennett, Salvador M. Blanco, Stanley A. Boone, David M. Camenson,Lloyd Carter, Catherine J. Cerna, Hilary Chittick, Jonathan Conklin, John P. Eleazarian, Christine Goodrich, Hon. Michael Haubner,Sara Hedgpeth-Harris, Kathi Kesselman, Michael P. Mallery, William T. McLaughlin II, Mark D. Miller, Hon. Lawrence J. O’Neill,Douglas E. Noll, Deborah Davis Owdom, Rosendo Pena, Jr., Neal Pereira, Russell K. Ryan, Rose Safarian, Rene Turner Sample,Sarah A. Schmidt, Michael Seng, Hon. Mark Snauffer, David J. Weiland, E. Robert Wright

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Casino Night at SJCLOn Friday, August 23, SJCL’s Student Bar Association celebrated thebeggining of school with its annual back to school night.

(L-R) Cynthia Brock, SBA Second Year Representative (Law ‘04), Offord Rollins (Law ‘05), Dianne Condley,Eric Kapigian (Law ‘06), Joaquin Borunda, SBA Third Year Representative (Law ‘03), Gianluca Alessia (Law ‘06), andRolland Soltesz, SBA President (Law ‘03).

SBA President, Rolland Soltesz, at the craps table trying to earnmore “fun money”. At the end of the evening the “fun money”was exchanged for raffle tickets for a variety of prizes.

Erin & Brent Woodward (Law ‘04) and Amy & Alex Merriam(Law ‘04) try their luck at blackjack.

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StaffJanice L. Pearson, Dean; Sally A. Perring, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Tom Chacon, Accounting Assistant; Ken Coyle, M.I.S. Director;Mark Enns, Director of Recruitment & Public Relations; Maureen Hayes, Assistant to Chief Financial Officer; Lonzetta Hightower, Secretary/Receptionist; Joan Lassley, Law Program Coordinator / Facilities Administrator; Pamela Matthews, Assistant Director of Development;Kathryn McTigue-Floyd, Library Director; Joyce Morodomi, Admissions Director / Registrar; Tara Crabtree, Assistant Librarian;Pam Ramirez, Director, Paralegal Program / Director, Placement Services; Rick Rodriguez, Maintenance Supervisor;Patricia Smith, MCLE Coordinator; Jill Waller-Randles, Chief Financial Officer; Gwen Watt, Financial Aid Director

CongratulationsParalegal Grads

(L-R) Jennifer Wright; Joshua Thornton; Valerie Sorensen; John Allen Jr.;Jennifer Ezell; Theresa Bryant; Pam Ramirez, Program Director; and Mark Cresci.

Acelebratory reception andprogram was held at SanJoaquin College of Law with

Harry Pascuzzi as the keynote speakerand Valerie Sorensen as the valedictoryspeaker. Mark Cresci received theOutstanding Student award.

All of the graduates were working inthe legal field by the end of theprogram except Valerie Sorensen.Valerie had not looked for localemployment as her husband had beentransferred earlier to the HuntingtonBeach, CA area. We are pleased thatValerie stayed in Fresno to completethe program. She landed a job withintwo days after moving and says she

The Fall 2001-2002 class of the San Joaquin College of LawParalegal Program graduated on August 16, 2002.

loves her new employment as aparalegal with a Worker’s Comp firm.We are proud of these graduates andknow they will join the ranks of SanJoaquin College of Law Paralegalscontributing to the legal profession.

CaliforniaSupremeCourtcomes toFresnoFor the first time in history, theCalifornia Supreme Court helda special session of its oralargument calendar in Fresno onTuesday, October 8, andWednesday, October 9, 2002.The session, which included 10cases, was held in the Court-room for the Fifth DistrictCourt of Appeal.

The special session was openedwith welcoming remarks byChief Justice George andPresiding Justice James Ardaiz,of the Fifth District Court ofAppeal and SJCL BoardMember.

San Joaquin College of Law wasa proud sponsor of the livebroadcast of this event onKVPT (PBS Channel 18)throughout the Central Valleyand the State.

SJCL’s ParalegalProgram was started in1991 and has producedover 4oo graduates manyof whom have gone on to

complete their JurisDoctorate.

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Alumni ProfilesThe year 2002 is the Twentieth Anniversary of the graduation of the Class of1982 and the Tenth Anniversary of the Class of 1992. Throughout the year,we will be letting you know “where they are now.”

1982Deborah ByronDeborah clerked at McCormick,Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruthduring law school, then joined thefirm as an associate upon graduation.She took a two-year hiatus to work asa Senior Research Attorney for JusticeHollis Best at the Fifth District Courtof Appeal from 1988-1990. Thereaf-ter, she returned to litigation at thefirm, becoming a partner. Her practicefor the last 12 years has been repre-senting employers in employment lawlitigation, principally discrimination,wrongful termination, andharassment cases.

Deborah is married to Superior CourtJudge, Don Black; they have two sons.As a family, they enjoy movies, watersports, their mountain cabin, andfollowing the kids’ sports games.

Deborah remembers enjoying lawschool. She would always rather be astudent. The class was a very close-knitgroup and supportive of each other.She remembers Judge Wanger’s final inCivil Procedure that asked about the“EIRE” Doctrine. She could notfigure out what the “EIRE” Doctrinewas. She knew about the ERIEDoctrine, but not the “EIRE”Doctrine. Deborah also remembersJudge Caeton asking Steve Polacek todiagram “the fruit of the poisonoustree” on the blackboard. The class hadnever before been asked to diagram acase. The color went out of Steve’s faceand the entire balance of the class triedto hide to avoid being the back-upcandidate for board work.

Ronda DuncanRonda went immediately to theFresno County District Attorney’sOffice from law school. As a D.A.,

Ronda has served in every possibleassignment, including the SexualAssault and Homicide teams. Shecurrently supervises the WelfareFraud, Child Abduction, and SpecialRemedies Unit. Ronda says hers is agreat job with great people. Rondaserves on the Board of the FresnoRape Counseling Service.

Ronda is married to James Little, aCalifornia Highway Patrol officer of30 years. She has two stepchildren andnow two grandchildren. They enjoytheir cabin at Shaver Lake andhanging out with the grandkids. Thehanging out includes playing Unowith the triplets—children of herbrother-in-law and sister-in-law.

As to law school, Ronda remembersthe great camaraderie of her class. Theywere always doing something together.

Peter WasemillerPeter has worked in higher educationadministration and teaching at FresnoPacific University since shortly aftergraduating from law school. He iscurrently the Director of UniversityGrants and Research. His officecoordinates all grant activity forFresno Pacific from research to grantsubmittal to grant management. He isalso responsible for prospect researchfor the development office. Peter hastaught a variety of courses in theundergraduate program, includingHistory, Political Science, Environ-mental Law, and the Legal Environ-ment of Business. For the latter coursehe often returns fondly to his lawschool Contracts class. He has alsocollaborated with another SJCLgraduate, Adina Janzen (1985) inteaching law for educators.

Alumni AssociationSJCL’s Alumni Association Board encourages you to participate in thefollowing events:

Nominations for Board MembersGet involved by being on the Alumni Association Board. As a BoardMember, you attend monthly meetings and help plan alumni functions.Call 323-2100 by November 7 to nominate alumni that would like toparticipate on the Board, including yourself.

Membership DriveWhen you receive your Membership Drive letter, please fill it in andreturn with your annual dues of $30. The annual dues provide scholar-ships for SJCL students and other activities.

Ninth Annual Christmas PartyWatch for our flyer announcing we are hosting the Marjaree MasonCenter. Please donate to help support this wonderful holiday tradition.

Continued page 8

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Law Reunion

Valedictorian Kathy Hart (Law ‘77) and Donna Korotie (Law ‘85)

Angela Ransom (Law ‘97), Traci Fritzler (Law ‘97), andSteve Alfieris (Law ‘97)

Geoffrey Sims (Law ‘93) and Steve Hrdlicka (Law ‘84)

SJCL’s Valedictorians1974 Leland D. Sterling1975 Robert G. Williams1976 Deborah Davis Owdom1977 Kathy Hart Seiler1978 Mary Ann Bluhm

Judy Evans1979 Fran Wessel Christiansen1980 Hon. Nancy Cisneros1981 Randall M. Penner1982 Deborah A. Byron1983 Linda M. Rousse1984 Carolyn Albers1985 Reggie Derryberry1986 Tamanee A. Charnin Krazan1987 Carol S. Corey1988 Bethany R. Baker1989 Cynthia R. Scully1990 Michael J. Jurkovich1991 Deborah Ann Coe1992 Mark A. Blum

Kimberly J. Nystrom-Geist1993 Carla Rae Dietle Bourne1994 Mark Andre Pasculli1995 Jeremias F. DeMelo, Jr.1996 Lori J. Anderson1997 Danny William Green1998 Tracy Elizabeth Sagle1999 Suzanne D. McGuire2000 Stefanie Jill Krause-Cota2001 Michelle Pepper2002 Trisha Lynn Beckstead

San Joaquin College ofLaw decided to start anew tradition of giving the

Valedictorian a comemorativemedallion. The medallionfeatures the SJCL Seal incorpo-rating a “V” in the backgroundand includes a display standwith the student’s name andgraduation year engraved on thebase. SJCL retroactiveleyhonored all of its Valedictoriansat this year’s All Class Reunionon September 20, 2002.

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Kathleen McKenna (Law ‘99) and AlumniBoard President Melissa White (Law ‘96)

David Schneider (Law ‘00) holding his daughter Courtney with wife Melissa

Mark Blum (Law ‘92) and Ka’Ren Ketendjian (Law ‘92)

Annette Ballatore-Williamson (Law ‘97), Judith Baron (Law ‘97),Mark Pasculli (Law ‘94) and Mark’s wife Lori

Flora Istanboulian (Law ‘87)and Judy Ward (Law ‘74)

SJCL would like to thank the followingpeople for helping make the All ClassReunion possible.Richard Caglia and Richard & Michelle Oleksadonated the wine.

Gene Bruce donated the grapes.

Michelle Oleksa, Kathy (McGurty) McKenna,Pat Harter, Melissa White, Paul Rodriguez,Linda Richardson, Traci Fritzler, andLisa Sondergard donated their time to makecalls to invite other alumni. They also helpedJan Pearson, Dean, with the “Where are they now”sheets listing each graduate’s current legalemployment.

SJCL Founder and Board of Trustee memberJohn Loomis and Jim Wasson (Law ‘75)

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Peter is married to Diana who worksfor a food packaging and distributioncompany. She has the accountant’smind to balance Peter’s lawyer/philosopher bent. Their daughter is afreshman at Bullard. She is interestedin math and science, plays piano, lovesphotography, and is a Jimmy Stewartfan. Their son is in fifth grade, lovesbooks (the whole family does, really),has a red belt in Tae Kwon Do, andloves the Beatles. In fact, they arecurrently adding a room to their houseto accommodate an enormous organinherited from Diana’s great aunt.They also enjoy family travel, garden-ing, and cooking.

Peter says his wife had the goodfortune not to meet him until he wasin his fourth year of law school. Hecelebrated his 20th anniversary of lawschool graduation alone in a condo atPismo Beach working on his masters’thesis.

Peter also remembers the “fruit of thepoisonous tree” incident; the class washorrified. Peter was grateful that hisname was long and more difficult topronounce because Judge Caetonseemed to call more frequently on thestudents with simple names. Outsideof class, however, Judge Caeton was aparty animal, always having a goodtime with the class. ContractsProfessor Mike Case gave Peter aconcept he remembers to this day anduses in his own classes – “Let the IdiotKnow.” In other words, when you areanswering an essay question, assumethe reader knows nothing and spell itall out so even an idiot, like theprofessor who is reading it, canunderstand it.

Peter remembers his study grouppreparing for finals in a mountaincabin. Everyone became fabulouscooks because meals were the big eventof the day. Peter really enjoyed hisclassmates a lot and, better still, heknows so many lawyers, he can alwaysget help on any sort of issue.

1992Karen DuncanKaren Duncan joined the partnershipof Oliver & Duncan in Oakhurst sixmonths after graduating from lawschool and passing the bar. She tookand passed the Oregon bar in 1997.The partnership moved to Redmond,Oregon in January, 1998. Theirpractice consists of plaintiff 's laborand employment cases and family law,especially interstate family law mattersbecause of their membership in boththe California and Oregon bars.

Karen picked Redmond because “it isa good place to rodeo out of” whichtells you the real love of Karen's life -team roping, calf roping, andbreakaway roping. Karen says she is“living the dream.” She does much ofher legal work on a laptop whiletraveling from rodeo to rodeo on theNational Senior Professional Rodeocircuit. Last year she was ranked thirdin the United States in the 40-50 agegroup in Team Roping (headers). Thisyear she is currently ranked first in theBreakaway Roping and won theWomen's All Around competition inthe Northwest Circuit. The year-endFinals will be in Reno, Nevada thefirst week of November. Karen is alsoon her way to Canada this month forthe Canadian Senior ProfessionalRodeo Finals where she is ranked thirdin Ribbon Roping and eighth in TeamRoping for 2002. Needless to say, thepractice also does a significant amountof equine law.

All Karen really remembers about lawschool is the big personal transitionshe had to go through to get there andthe hours and hours of work. Shenever wanted the big firm job, just asmall practice that could be integratedwith rodeo and ranching. Karen’soffice is located 2 miles from herranch in central Oregon where sheraises longhorn and corriente-crosscattle as a sideline. She takes her blue-heeler dog (Dally) to work with herevery day – that is every day that she’s

actually in the office. “It’s wonderfulto be living the lifestyle that I used toonly dream was possible.”

Richard HembRichard hung out a shingle andopened his own practice the day hegot word he had passed the bar. Hispractice emphasizes estate planningand business transactions. He is amember of the Fresno County BarAssociation and the Estate PlanningSection of the California State Bar. Healso teaches an estate planning class atClovis Adult School. And in his freetime —he golfs!!!Richard remembers the camaraderie ofhis class. If you got beaten up in classyou knew that it would soon besomeone else’s turn, so everyone stucktogether.

Maureen HolfordMaureen had worked in every possiblecapacity at Parichan, Renberg,Crossland & Harvey before startinglaw school. During law school, sheclerked for the firm, then became anassociate upon graduation. In April of1997, Maureen opened her ownpractice concentrating on research andwriting projects on a contract basis,exclusively in civil litigation. Sheprepares discovery motions, briefs, andwrits, but the bulk of her work iscomplex summary judgment motions.

Maureen’s daughter served inAmericorp and is now studyingpsychology at California StateUniversity, Sacramento. Her son is anEmergency Medical Technician withAmerican Ambulance currentlystationed at the Command DispatchCenter.

When asked what she did for fun,Maureen responded “What??? Fun??What’s that?” Her practice keeps hervery busy. She does, however, read ALOT and is totally hooked on politics.

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Maureen remembers being terrified ofJan Pearson in Torts. (?????) She reallyenjoyed the intellectual challenge andstimulation of law school.

Marlene HubbellMarlene commenced practicing law asan associate with Sarah Schmidt forher first 4 years after graduation, thenbecoming a partner in SchmidtHubbell LLP until December 2000.The firm focused on investigating,preventing and litigating insurancefraud cases including personal injuryfraud, arson, residential, vehicle andcommercial frauds. She worked closelywith Special Investigation Units,Licensing Boards, Law Enforcementand District Attorneys in combatingfraud. During that time, Marlene alsotaught the Moot Court class at SJCLfor five years and coached travelingteams. Beginning January 2001,Marlene served as in-house counsel forFarmers Insurance Group of Compa-nies through the firm of Banner &Wells, with her primary caseloadservicing the Bakersfield BranchClaims Office. Her trial results havebeen published regularly. Commenc-ing January 2002, Marlene opened herown general practice involving civiland certain criminal cases, unlawfuldetainer law, collections, family law,and bankruptcy as well as providingsupport in the form of contract andspecial appearance work. She iscurrently adding mediation andalternative dispute resolution to herarray of services.

The pregnancy that persuadedMarlene to miss most of Mr. Evans’P.R. course is now eleven years old.Austin attends Rio Vista MiddleSchool and wants to grow up to sellBaby Bobcats, and construction andagricultural equipment (allearthmoving machines). Marlene isinto anything that is energetic andpushes her limits. For Marlene, theseinclude ballroom and swing dancing,white water rafting and kayaking,hiking, and spelunking (cave exploringincluding swimming through under-

ground lakes). She says she looks andlistens for the possibility that ispresent in people and situations topromote the greatness in each.

Marlene’s (very successful) MootCourt competitions are some of herbest memories of law school. She alsoremembers having to read more thanshe ever had to read before in her life,resulting in having to get thickerglasses. Above all, she was impressedthat law school draws so manydifferent people from different walksof life together to learn the same skills,and then disperses them out again tocontribute those skills to create andachieve so many things in the name ofpracticing law.

Ka’Ren KetendjianKa’Ren immigrated from Armeniashortly before starting law school.Although he had taught English in theSoviet Union, adjusting to immersionin English and American culture was amajor challenge. Ka’Ren describes hisfour years of law school as the mostdifficult of his life. That he succeededand passed the California bar was asignificant personal victory for him.

After graduation, Ka’Ren first workedfor Greg Morris & Associates. InSeptember of 1994, he joined the firmof Villareal & Farley which becameFarley & Ketendjian in June of 1995.Ka’ren’s practice now consists ofworker’s compensation and immigra-tion cases. From fall of 1993 to fall of1996, he also taught Russian languageat California State University, Fresno.

Ka’ren’s parents and brother also live inFresno. His brother, Armen, is aclassical musician. Ka’Ren loves toread history and fiction and travelsextensively. He went back to Armeniafor the first time in 2001 where hefound that introduction of a marketeconomy had significantly improvedthe variety and quality of goodsavailable. Although he still saw someelements of corruption, the economywas growing rapidly with muchpromise for people for the future.

Kile McCartyUpon graduating and passing the bar,Kile says the first thing he did wasreally celebrate. Then he worked fortwo years with Horswill, Mederos &Dorman in Tulare. In 1994, Kileopened his own practice doing familylaw, real estate transactions, andconstruction and general businesslitigation. In 1999, he joinedMcCormick, Kabot, Jenner & Watsondoing litigation for public entities inTulare County. In March of 2001, heventured out on his own again,emphasizing business and construc-tion litigation.

On June 15, 2002, Kile married hiswife, Shereen. With Shereen’s son,Steven, and Kile’s two girls, Kaitlinand Megan, from his previousmarriage, Kile’s free time is devotedalmost exclusively to family stuff -boating at Don Pedro and Pine Flatreservoirs and trips to the coast.

Kile says the first night of class in CivilProcedure with Judge Wanger isetched in his mind for eternity. Hehad not read every page of theassignment and when called upon todefine a Latin term, he had no clue.That experience guaranteed he wouldnever show up for class unpreparedagain. Kile also remembers manyexhausting and rewarding hours ofdiscussion, usually arguing over thefiner points of the law, with his studygroup, which included classmates TimMazzela, Bruce Nickel, WesHammond, and Karen McCarter.

Rose MohanSince graduating from law school,Rose worked with Forrest, Henderson,Sloan & Davis and Jory, Peterson,Watkins & Smith. On September 16,2002, she opened the Law Offices ofRose E. Mohan, specializing inemployment law in state and federalcourt and business and civil litigation.Rose says the best two years of hercareer were spent as an understudy toTed Forrest. Her goal is to endow fullythe Theodore Forrest Memorial

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Scholarship Fund at SJCL so that anannual scholarship can be given to afuture litigator to pay the cost of thebar exam.

Five years ago on a trip to Ireland,Rose discovered her Irish relatives,including a half brother living in NewYork who is twenty-five years olderthan her. The extensive research thatled to this discovery was sipping a tallone in a local pub in the village whereher father was born. The pub ownerdirected her straight to her father’sbirthplace. Rose is spending thisOctober in the west of Ireland withher brother and his family to meettheir only known surviving Irishcousins who still live on the landowned by Rose’s grandparents. Sheplans to do more pub research.

Rose’s other family members includeDoe One, who as a kitten studied forthe bar sitting on bar outlines, Dinky,Rose’s guardian angel, and Tigger, thealpha upstart youngster. Rose enjoysgourmet cooking, giving dinnerparties, designing her Japanese garden,the self-named Beautiful and Intelli-gent Women’s Book Club, writing,and genealogy. She has raised fundsfor the Mary Haven Center forhomeless women and served as a MootCourt judge at SJCL.

As to law school, Rose remembers:• being afraid Justice Ardaiz would

call on her and she wouldn’t knowthe answer.

• Judge Ardaiz’s final exam questioninvolving the wink test.

• Judge Wanger’s war stories andhis suits.

• the thrill of her practice trial inMagistrate Judge O’Neill’s TrialPractice class.

• Jackie Schaad Yates waiving herhand every time an instructorasked a question.

• Mark Blum’s irritating habit ofknowing everything, includingcase cites.

• the feoffment ceremony inReal Property.

• Jan Pearson’s negligence chart• midnight hours in the law review

office giving birth to the firstvolume of the San Joaquin Agricul-tural Law Review. Marlene Hubbellhad to top that by giving realbirth while she was an editor ofthat edition.

• Moot Court road trips with SarahSchmidt, Mark Blum, andJim Dubbels.

• a diet of coffee, cigarettes,and donuts.

• parking lot dialogues withclass members

• nightly phone calls withLeah Cole during bar review.

• friendships that endure.

KimberlyNystrom-GeistKim began clerking for Judith Leslie-Soley after Kim’s first year of lawschool. She joined the Leslie-Soleyfirm as an associate immediately upongraduation. She became a CertifiedFamily Law Specialist in February of1997. Kim became a shareholder andthe firm became Leslie-Soley andNystrom-Geist in 1998.

Kim blames this association on DeanPearson. She says at the end of the firstyear, Dean Pearson asked her if shewanted to practice family law. Kimanswered “No”. Two weeks later, thedean repeated the question, so Kimdecided she should check it out. Sheinterviewed with Judy Leslie-Soley andnever left. Fortunately, Kim also says itall worked out wonderfully.

Kim’s practice is exclusively family law.She served on the ResolutionsCommittee of the Conference ofDelegates of the State Bar of Califor-nia for three years. She then served forthree years on the Executive Commit-tee of the Conference of Delegates. In2000, Kim was the chair of the localFamily Law Section and now serves onthe Family Law Section ExecutiveCommittee of the State Bar. She sitsregularly as Judge Pro Tem on adomestic violence calendar.

Kim is still married to Rod whom shedescribes as the nicest man in theworld. Their son is in his third year ofcollege in the Smitcamp program atCalifornia State University, Fresno.The family also consists of a fat oldbichon and a lhasa apso who is an avidTV watcher, except for basketballwhich he hates. Kim loves to be homespending time with friends and family.She is a devoted, but only moderatelysuccessful, gardener.

Kim says she loved law school: “it wasthe most fun ever. I loved the peopleand the material and the school.When you go to school as an adult,you value it much more.”

Kathryn RobertsFresh out of law school, Kathrynopened her own office in Merced asunder Roberts Law Office. She nowalso has a satellite office in Fresno,where she still lives. After training inmediation procedures, she changedthe name of her practice to RobertsLaw & Mediation Offices. Herpractice consists of family law andpersonal injury. As the “boss” in heroffice, Kathryn reports that it is goodnot to have someone else looking overher shoulder. She will admit, however,that knowing the “buck stops at herdesk” for everything, especially payroll,can be a bit stressful.

As to Kathryn’s personal life, she andKen still live in Woodward Park whereKathryn spends as much timegardening as possible, while Ken isdeep into “dead ancestors.” Theirchildren, who were teens during lawschool causing typical teen problems,are now professionals themselves.Jennifer is a registered dietician atCorona Regional Hospital. Burke,who has a degree in finance, is now a“headhunter” with a local company(that is, when he is not golfing). BothKathryn and Ken have an interest injazz and are resolved to stop re-remodeling the house and starttraveling to as many jazz festivalsas possible.

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Recalling her days at SJCL, Kathryngoes back to her first interview withDean Pearson. Having conflictingthoughts about going to law schoolafter so many years of teaching, theDean is reported to have said “Well,you can do a ‘little work’ and have aJD in four years, or you can muckaround for four years, and at the endof the four years, you will still be fouryears older but have no degree.”Kathryn is certain that was the Dean’swell-rehearsed line to potentialstudents; nevertheless, it worked (andprobably still does!). As to otherspecifics about SJCL, Kathrynremembers many long night classesand many early mornings writingpapers on her old Apple 2E computer.She also remembers many goodfriends and many exciting lectures.And Kathryn remembers that afterfour long years of study, when she wasalso law-clerking 40 hours-plus, shewas so excited about graduating thatshe literally had difficulty sitting still,let alone concentrating for classes. Butmore than anything, Kathryn willalways remember the SJCL experienceas the most intellectually stimulatingtime in her life.

Mary RogersMary joined the firm of Crowe,Williams, Jordan, Richey & Brodersonin Visalia as an associate upongraduation from law school. Whenthat partnership dissolved, she becamepart of Richey & Rogers. In Januaryof 1997, Mary opened a sole propri-etorship. She contracts with TulareCounty to act as public defender independency hearings, generallyrepresenting the child. She alsohandles plaintiff personal injury work,along with some medical malpracticecases and some estate planning.

Between her husband and herself, theyhave five children- all grown - andnow 8 grandchildren. Most of theirfree time is spent visiting the scatteredchildren and grandchildren, as well asin other travel. Mary’s daughtermarried an Englishman. Now thefamily is going to England nextAugust to attend her son-in-law’smother’s wedding ceremony. Mary isalso active in committee work for herMethodist church.

Mary says her memories of law schoolget better with the passage of time.She remembers the “post mortems” inthe parking lot after exams; she alwaysthought she had missed every issueafter those discussions. Mary remem-bers the camaraderie of the class.There was a special bonding that doesnot occur in undergraduate work; thestressors bring people together.

Scott VanwagenenScott has worked for a total of 14 yearsfor Perez, Williams & Medina, first asa paralegal, then as a law clerk, andnow as an associate. His practiceconsists principally of plaintiff ’spersonal injury cases and workers’compensation.

Scott and his two children, Shawn, 15,and Courtney, 12, live on 5 ½ acres inPrather. Shawn attends Sierra HighSchool where he is active in the jazzband. Courtney is into volleyball anddrama. As a family, they enjoyanything that gets them outdoors—skiing (snow and water), ridingmotorcycles, taking cross-country jeepexcursions.

Scott has very particular memories oflaw school. He remembers OliverWanger’s lectures which he describesas more like demonstrations thanlectures. He remembers “fee tail male”,an ancient conveyancing term from

Sally Perring’s Real Property class. Heremembers the banana peel cases fromTorts, mainly because of the demon-strative evidence — real, brown, icky-sticky old banana peels. Oddlyenough, this is the type of evidence henow looks for in his “slip and fall”cases against supermarkets. Last of all,he remembers the first year of lawschool when Jackie Yates won the titleof “Prom Queen” for the class of 1992.

Melanie O’Mara TaylorShortly after she learned she hadpassed the bar, Judge O’Neill calledMelanie asking if she could fill in atthe Public Defender’s office for twomonths for an attorney on medicalleave. She handled dependencyhearings during that period, then didcontract work with the conflict officefor the P.D. In April, 1996, Melaniebecame a Deputy District Attorney,representing minors in dependencyhearings and somehow managing notto burn out.

In September, 1992, Melanie marriedNick Taylor. Their daughter, Annie,was born in February, 1996. SonsJohn and Nick were born in January,1999 and August, 2001 respectively.Nick is now the principal at WilsonElementary School in Sanger. Theylive on five acres in Clovis where theyboard two horses. With three children,most free time is spend doing kid stuffas well as a lot of yard work.

Melanie remembers the difficulty ofworking, going to school, and tryingto get to know her eventual husbandwhen she didn’t get out of school until10 p.m. every night. She also remem-bers hanging out and studying withJane Woodcock, Wes Hammond, GailSears, and Cheryl Stollar.

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BookstoreThe Bookstore also has acomplete listing of the books itcarries on SJCL’s website atwww.sjcl.edu/bookstore.html

We wantupdatesWe want to know what you aredoing. Include your currentaddress, family information, recentaccomplishments, and any otherinformation or photos you wouldlike to provide. Then send us theinformation by fax: (559) 323-5566,email: menns@sjcl.edu, or mail:Mark Enns, SJCL, 901 5th Street,Clovis, California 93612.

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LegalPad

LegalPad is San Joaquin College of Law’s new bulletin board. LegalPad isa great way for SJCL’s alumni and students to share ideas and expertise witheach other. LegalPad also features SJCL’s official calendar where all ofSJCL’s events and programs will be posted. Registration is quick, simple,and free. If you have any questions about this new feature of our website,please contact Mark Enns at 559/323-2100 or menns@sjcl.edu.