D.C. Bar Election Coverage 2007

The D.C. Bar Nominations Committee has announced candidates for office on the Board of Governors for the 2007–2008 term. The nominees are running for the positions of president-elect, secretary, and treasurer; five vacancies for three-year terms on the board; and three seats in the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, one of which is reserved for a candidate under 35 years of age.

Ballots and instructions for voting (by mail or online) were distributed to all active D.C. Bar members on April 27. Members have until June 6 to vote. Results of the election will be announced on the Bar’s Web site and at the Bar’s Annual Business Meeting and Awards Dinner on June 21, which takes place at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue NW.

Concurrently, the D.C. Bar Sections Office has announced nominees for vacancies on the steering committees of the Bar’s 21 sections. Election is determined by ballot among section members, who have until June 1 to vote. The Sections Office will announce election results the week of June 11.

Meet the Candidates for President-Elect
The candidates running for the office of D.C. Bar president-elect are Devarieste Curry and Robert J. Spagnoletti. The winner will serve a one-year term and then succeed Melvin White as president. White will be installed as president on June 21, at which time James J. Sandman, current president, succeeds to the office of immediate past president.

Curry and Spagnoletti talked to Washington Lawyer about their career accomplishments and qualifications for Bar office, as well as the priorities they would set if elected.

Devarieste Curry
Devarieste Curry, a member of McLeod, Watkinson & Miller, focuses her practice on multiparty complex litigation and representing corporate, nonprofit, and individual clients in employment and commercial matters.

Curry’s 23-year legal career has included serving as a principal in The Curry Law Firm, PLLC and Curry & Wilbourn, PLLP; as a partner at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.; as an associate at Howrey & Simon; and as a clerk to Judith Rogers, then an associate judge on the D.C. Court of Appeals.

She has held several leadership positions within the D.C. Bar, including on the Board of Governors, where she served on the Executive, Budget, and Screening Committees. Currently a member of the Legal Ethics Committee, she chaired the Practice Management Service Committee in 2005 when it was named Best Bar Committee, and served on the Judicial Evaluation and Disciplinary System Study Committees.

Curry also has served on court-appointed committees and has participated in the D.C. Circuit and D.C. Judicial Conferences since the early 1990s.

Curry is an active participant in several voluntary bar associations, including the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (cochair of its Diversity Task Force and the Annual Dinner during the 1997–98 bar year); American Bar Association; National Bar Association; Washington Bar Association; and GWAC (board of directors and chair of its Membership and Law Firm Corporate Counsel Committees).

In recognition of her pro bono service, Curry has received awards from Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., a gay male AIDS advocacy organization; the National Opera Association; and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Curry graduated magna cum laude from Stillman College and received her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. She has been active in the affairs of Georgetown University for almost 20 years, serving as a member of its board of governors and National Law Alumni Board for six years and on the African American Advisory Board for four years.

If elected president, Curry plans to focus on three issues: member services, diversity, and access to justice.

The D.C. Bar has many resources that could help members improve their practice management and client relations skills and their professional growth, she points out, but does not advertise them as well as it could. “I think when members improve their practice management and client relations skills, there would be a concomitant decrease in the number of disciplinary cases referred to Bar Counsel,” she says. “We need to do a better job of making members aware of the available services and enhance the delivery of those services. . . . If we improve the delivery of services to our members, at the end of the day the ultimate beneficiaries will be our clients, who are also constituents of the Bar.”

Bar members may not be aware of the many activities in which they can take part. Curry would encourage more lawyers to take an active role. “The Bar also offers many opportunities for professional growth. I want to work with the Bar to get more members to become involved: to participate in our sections, to teach continuing legal education courses, and to serve on committees.”

For example, on the subject of continuing legal education, an area in which Curry says the D.C. Bar has always excelled, “we sometimes use the same people over and over as a result of others not being aware or taking advantage of the opportunities to participate.”

Curry also plans to continue the efforts of past D.C. Bar presidents to increase diversity within the legal profession, especially in leadership roles. “We need to work to ensure that all segments of our membership are represented in the Bar leadership,” she says. “I think perhaps we need a new paradigm for expanding diversity and helping everyone to embrace the idea that diversity is good for society. Once we embrace that idea, I think it would become easier to diversify the Bar and our law firms.”

Access to justice for the poor and disadvantaged is another of Curry’s priorities. In addition to continuing support for pro bono work, Curry views the office of president as an opportunity to encourage lawyers to become more engaged in addressing society-wide problems. “I’m interested in refocusing and expanding the concept of access to justice to include some type of collaborative efforts with the divisions of the court system that address some of the systemic problems leading so many members of our society to end up before the court, either in the criminal justice system or in the abuse and neglect division.

“I would serve the Bar with honor, integrity, an open mind, and a desire to work collaboratively with others, and would work on building upon the Bar’s strong foundation. . . . I can say that if [Bar members] vote for me, I don’t think they would be disappointed.”

Robert J. Spagnoletti
Robert J. Spagnoletti has been a partner at Schertler & Onorato, L.L.P. since November 2006. His practice includes representing individuals and businesses before local and federal courts and government agencies; employment law cases; and other civil, criminal, and domestic relations matters.

Before reentering private practice, Spagnoletti served as attorney general (formerly the corporation counsel) for the District of Columbia beginning in 2003. His duties as the District’s chief legal officer included providing legal advice to former mayor Anthony Williams, the Council of the District of Columbia, and District agencies. He represented the city in local and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels on civil, commercial, family, and administrative matters.

As attorney general, Spagnoletti supervised more than 340 attorneys and 320 support staff members. During his tenure, the management and supervisory structures of the office were streamlined and updated. He presided over an $80 million balanced budget, developed the first collective-bargaining agreement with the attorney union, and established pay parity between attorneys for the District of Columbia and attorneys for the federal government. He also served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General.

From 1990 to 2003 Spagnoletti served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. As chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he prosecuted all criminal cases involving sexual abuse of adults and children, child abuse, and domestic violence offenses. He was lead counsel in more than 100 jury and nonjury trials, and briefed and argued appeals before the D.C. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

From 1998 to 2003 Spagnoletti was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a one-semester trial practice course for third-year students.

Spagnoletti began his legal career as a summer associate and litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York and Washington, D.C., from 1986 to 1989, and as a litigation associate for Mayor, Day, Caldwell & Keeton, L.L.P. in Houston from 1989 to 1990.

Spagnoletti is a 1984 graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and a 1987 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif.

Spagnoletti points to his broad legal experience in the federal and local government and the private sector as one of his qualifications for the presidency. “I’ve been plugged into much of what goes on in the legal community—on civil, criminal, administrative, and family law matters,” he says. “It gives you a tremendous sense of what the needs are in the legal community.”

When asked to name an area in which the D.C. Bar has been very successful, Spagnoletti praises Bar members’ commitment to public service. “I think the Bar does an extremely good job at providing opportunities for lawyers to provide public service. The D.C. Bar probably does the best job making those opportunities available.”

He adds, however, that “it’s the same group of very dedicated, talented individuals carrying the lion’s share of the responsibilities.” The Bar would be wise to build upon its efforts to “bring in others, such as government attorneys or attorneys from the legal service provider sector, to be more engaged in the Bar and in other public service areas.”

Spagnoletti also believes that the D.C. Bar could improve upon its relationship with the D.C. government. “The mayor and some D.C. Council members are Bar members. I think we can get them actively engaged to bring a closer relationship with the D.C. administration. The D.C. Bar is an excellent District citizen, and as any responsible citizen, we can give back to the city where we live, work, and practice.

“For example, no matter how the issue of education reform is decided, there are many opportunities for members of the D.C. Bar to help, whether adopting schools, mentoring, providing legal advice and guidance to charter schools, or working with the council to shepherd bills through the council committees.”

One of Spagnoletti’s most pressing objectives if elected Bar president would be securing sustained, long-term funding for the Access to Justice Commission’s projects. As attorney general, he was closely involved in the recent D.C. Council legislation granting $3.2 million for public interest attorneys. “I’m very aware of the reality of the funding stream,” he says.

“As we are now entering into the next budget cycle, . . . it’s very important to try to ensure that the mayor and the council are committed going forward. Otherwise there’s no guarantee from one year to the next that that funding will be there. . . . [Y]ou need to at least have a commitment from the government to make that effort to get it done. I think that I can work with the administration to figure out the mechanism to do it.

“I have had the privilege and honor of working in strategic positions in the federal government and the D.C. government. That has given me the opportunity to interact with attorneys from every kind of practice, from all across the country. . . . I will draw upon all three areas of my background—the federal government, the D.C. government, and private practice—in serving the D.C. Bar.”

Nominations Committee Announces Board Candidates
The D.C. Bar Nominations Committee has also announced the slate of candidates vying for other positions on the Bar’s Board of Governors, including offices of secretary and treasurer.

Ballots and instructions for voting were distributed to all active D.C. Bar members on April 27. Members may return their ballots either by mail using the special envelope provided or electronically by following instructions on the ballot. In either case, the first ballot received, electronic or paper, will be the only ballot counted. All ballots must be received by June 6. Results will be announced at the D.C. Bar Annual Business Meeting and Awards Dinner on June 21 and posted on the Bar’s Web site at www.dcbar.org/elections.

Nominated for one-year terms are, as secretary, Rebecca McNeill of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP and Cynthia G. Wright of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; and, as treasurer, Don A. Resnikoff of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and Thomas Mugavero of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP.

Seeking one of the five vacancies for three-year terms on the Bar’s Board of Governors are Anthony P. Bisceglie of Bisceglie & Walsh; Judith M. Conti of the District of Columbia Employment Justice Center; David Florin of Crowell & Moring LLP; incumbent Nathalie F. P. Gilfoyle of the American Psychological Association; Theodore C. Hirt of the U.S. Department of Justice; incumbent Ellen M. Jakovic of White & Case LLP; incumbent Charles R. Lowery Jr. of the Center for Responsible Lending; Stephen J. Price of Washington Gas Light Company; Christine Guerola Sarchio of Howrey LLP; and incumbent secretary Anthony Tu-Sekine of Seward & Kissel LLP.

Also open are three seats in the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, one of which is reserved for a candidate under the age of 35. Seeking the regular seats are Barbara Berish Brown of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP; Tracy-Gene G. Durkin of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.; John Payton of WilmerHale; and incumbent Mark H. Tuohey III of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. Seeking the under-35 seat are Ryan P. Phair of WilmerHale and Elizabeth A. Scully of Baker & Hostetler LLP.

Sections Office Announces Steering Committee Nominees
The following nominees are running for vacancies on the steering committees of the Bar’s 21 sections. Ballots, which will be mailed to members of the sections by May 4, must be received in the envelope provided with those ballots by June 1. The Sections Office will announce election results the week of June 11.

Section members who have not received their ballots by May 18 should call the Sections Office at 202-626-3463 to obtain a duplicate.

Administrative Law and Agency Practice (three vacancies): Jonathan G. Cedarbaum, WilmerHale; Heather Elliott, Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law; Ronald M. Jacobs, Venable LLP; Miguel A. Sapp, attorney at law; Evan P. Schultz, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP; Deborah M. Shelton, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

Antitrust and Consumer Law (three vacancies): Michael R. Bissegger, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.; Ann E. Bushmiller, Federal Communications Commission; Ronald G. Isaac, Federal Trade Commission; Sondra L. Mills, U.S. Department of Justice; Karin F. R. Moore, O’Melveny & Myers LLP; Maribeth Petrizzi, U.S. Department of Justice.

Arts, Entertainment, Media and Sports Law (three vacancies): Julie Chen Clocker, Constantine Cannon LLP; Caryn L. Hines, Hudson Global Management; Joshua M. Javits, Dispute Resolution Services; Rosalind A. Lazarus, U.S. Department of Transportation; Karl W. Means, Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A.; Bradley A. Thomas, Law Office of Bradley A. Thomas; Ellen Zavian, George Washington University, Department of Tourism/Sports.

Computer and Telecommunications Law (three vacancies): Carolyn W. Brandon, CTIA The Wireless Association; Emmitt H. Carlton Jr., Federal Communications Commission; Lynn R. Charytan, WilmerHale; Russell P. Hanser, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP; Christopher D. Libertelli, Skype Communications S.A.R.L.; Milton B. Whitfield, Haynes and Boone, LLP.

Corporation, Finance and Securities Law (three vacancies): Azfar Sonny Abbasi, Fannie Mae; Daniel T. Brown, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP; Larry P. Ellsworth, Jenner & Block LLP; Keir D. Gumbs, Covington & Burling LLP; Paul H. Pashkoff, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP; Lisa Jones Toms, NASD; Donald A. Workman, Baker & Hostetler LLP.

Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice (three vacancies): Robyn M. Holtzman, Arnold & Porter LLP; Marcia T. Maack, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP; Stephen B. Pershing, Center for Constitutional Litigation, P.C.; Rebecca K. Troth, Sidley Austin LLP; Moxila A. Upadhyaya, Venable LLP; Michael J. Zoeller, attorney at law.

Criminal Law and Individual Rights (three vacancies): Cheryl L. Crumpton, McKee Nelson LLP; David B. Deitch, Janis, Schuelke & Wechsler; Jamila Z. Hoard, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; Alain Jeff Ifrah, Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Mary C. Kennedy, Arnold & Porter LLP; Amit P. Mehta, D.C. Public Defender Service; Moxila A. Upadhyaya, Venable LLP.

District of Columbia Affairs (three vacancies): Charles K. Barber, The George Washington University; Jon S. Bouker Jr., Arent Fox LLP; Esther S. Bushman, D.C. Office of Zoning; Brian K. Flowers, Council of the District of Columbia; Traci L. Hughes, Office of the Attorney General; Nicole L. Streeter, Office of D.C. Council Chair Vincent C. Gray; Nicola Y. Whiteman, Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington.

Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (three vacancies): Seth M. Barsky, U.S. Department of Justice; Ethan C. Eddy, Humane Society of the United States; Kevin P. Holewinski, Jones Day; Kimberly Katzenbarger, D.C. Department of the Environment; Brenda Mallory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Amy E. McDonnell, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Peter H. Oppenheimer, NOAA Office of General Counsel; Janice M. Schneider, Latham & Watkins LLP; Anna L. Wolgast, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Estates, Trusts and Probate Law (three vacancies): Natanya H. Allan, Baker & Hostetler LLP; Robert S. Bullock, The Elder and Disability Law Center, PC; Kimberly K. Edley, attorney at law; Kate M. H. Kilberg, Law Offices of Virginia A. McArthur; Morris Klein, attorney at law; Lauren Burger Krauthamer, Pasternak & Fidis, P.C.; Archie L. Palmore, attorney at law; Janelle S. Strazheim, Sandy Spring Bank.

Family Law (three vacancies): Regina A. DeMeo, Law Offices of Regina A. DeMeo; Olekanma A. Ekekwe, Law Offices of Olekanma A. Ekekwe; Mark S. Haufrect, Bread for the City; Amy F. Hogan-Burney, Wendy H. Schwartz and Associates, PLLC; Mariela Olivares, Ayuda Inc.; Kathrina S. Peterson, Kuder, Smollar & Friedman, P.C.; Cristina W. Ritchie, Women Empowered Against Violence, Inc.; Jill B. Savedoff, Strickler, Sachitano & Hatfield, P.A.

Government Contracts and Litigation (two vacancies): Richard L. Hanson, attorney at law; Nancy K. Hapeman, D.C. Office of Contracting and Procurement; Michael A. Hordell, Pepper Hamilton LLP; Elizabeth W. Newsom, Crowell & Moring LLP.

Health Law (two vacancies): Robyn W. Diaz, MedStar Health Inc.; Daniel J. Gilman, Federal Trade Commission; Kendra A. Martello, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; Shawnte M. Mitchell, Ropes & Gray LLP; Nicolas D. Muzin, Williams & Connolly LLP; Patricia M. Wagner, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Intellectual Property Law (three vacancies): Stephen E. Belisle, Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto; Maureen F. Browne, Heller Ehrman LLP; Murriel E. Crawford, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; David J. Kera, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.; Robert J. Kimmer, Maple Life Financial Inc.; Robert F. Shafer, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P.; Kevin G. Smith, Sughrue Mion PLLC; Benjamin C. Spehlmann, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

International Law (two vacancies): Patrick B. Fazzone, Tighe Patton Armstrong Teasdale, PLLC; Susan M. C. Kovarovics, Bryan Cave LLP; Christopher J. Le Mon, Shearman & Sterling LLP; Jay H. Reiziss, U.S. International Trade Commission; Louis K. Rothberg, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army; William A. Wilson III, Wilson International Law, L.L.C.

Labor and Employment Law (three vacancies): Malcolm Carter DeLorme, Winston & Strawn LLP; Sundeep Hora, Alderman, Devorsetz & Hora, PLLC; Joshua M. Javits, Dispute Resolution Services; Christine N. Kearns, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; James T. Langford, attorney at law; Thomas P. McCarthy, National Labor Relations Board; Miguel A. Sapp, attorney at law; Robert C. Seldon, Robert C. Seldon & Associates, P.C.; Brenda C. Zwack, O’Donnell, Schwartz & Anderson, P.C.

Law Practice Management (three vacancies): Thomas M. Contois, Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Joel R. Grosberg, McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Alvin M. Guttman, attorney at law; Sundeep Hora, Alderman, Devorsetz & Hora, PLLC; Christopher Manning, Manning & Sossamon PLLC; Coke M. Stewart, Stewart Consulting.

Litigation (three vacancies): Theresa A. Coetzee, Verizon Business; Olekanma A. Ekekwe, Law Offices of Olekanma A. Ekekwe; Audrey J. Jenkins, attorney at law; Charles C. Lemley, Wiley Rein LLP; Bruce V. Spiva, Spiva & Hartnett LLP; Moxila A. Upadhyaya, Venable LLP.

Real Estate, Housing and Land Use (two vacancies): Steven L. Dube, Holland & Knight LLP; Ray A. Johnson, Law Offices of Ray A. Johnson PLLC; Meridith H. Moldenhauer, Griffin & Murphy LLP; Lauren J. Pair, D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; David A. Rosen, Bierman, Geesing & Ward, LLC.

Taxation (three vacancies): Ramon Camacho, WTAS Inc.; Jasper L. Cummings Jr., Alston & Bird LLP; Andrew M. Eisenberg, Jones Day; Brian P. Kaufman, Capital One Services, Inc.; Christian M. McBurney, Nixon Peabody LLP; Serena G. Simons, Venable LLP.

Tort Law (three vacancies): Paul J. Cornoni, Regan, Zambri & Long, PLLC; Kelly Jean Fisher, Koonz, McKenney, Johnson, DePaolis & Lightfoot; Steven H. Kaminski, Chaikin & Sherman, P.C.; Christopher Manning, Manning & Sossamon PLLC; Andrew J. Marcus, Bonner Kiernan Trebach & Crociata, LLP; Denis C. Mitchell, Stein, Mitchell & Mezines LLP.