Dear Alumni and Friends,

The Law School is a place of boundless curiosity, where our faculty seek to deepen our understanding of the law and the world. At times, a single scholar working independently advances brilliant insights, and at other times, a group of faculty devotes its collective energy to understanding an area of law. The latter is particularly well suited to our environment of questioning, debate, and discussion. The concentrated energy of multiple minds can produce a renaissance of thinking about a particular area of law. When this happens, it is a moment of great excitement, and the Law School becomes the place to learn and study the topic. The Law School is having such a moment now in international law and legal questions in international contexts. This issue of The Record highlights the astonishing range of work our faculty are undertaking in international contexts and the global impact they are having.

Our clinics are similarly trailblazers within their fields, and the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic is expanding its focus on equity through its long-term work with underserved communities. This focus on environmental justice has meant tackling a variety of complex issues, and it marks the Abrams Clinic as a leader within the field.

Multiple faculty colleagues have found new ways to share their ideas with the world. Professor Randy Picker created a vibrant intellectual community with alums spanning multiple generations to examine recent issues in antitrust. Also, several colleagues have launched successful podcasts. Professor William Baude, a leading scholar of constitutional law and interpretation, launched Dissenting Opinions, a series that explores constitutional issues in new ways. Clinical Professor Claudia Flores and Professor Tom Ginsburg, leading experts in human rights law, teamed up to create Entitled to examine the complexity of legal rights. Both podcasts offer insight into how our scholars think about important issues, respectfully navigate disagreement, and explore new ideas.

What accounts for the insatiable appetite for the ideas of our faculty across the globe, in so many fields, and through different venues? Professor Anup Malani, whose recent work contributed valuable knowledge to the global fight against COVID-19, once told students: the University of Chicago “is the one school that places no bounds on your curiosity. Our seriousness is … why people seek our advice so often. It is what makes us indispensable.” Indeed, it is these values that set us apart.

These examples, which you can read about in the pages to come, are important reminders of the ways in which our faculty apply our core values to confront important problems through hands-on work, field-defining scholarship, and by sharing their knowledge with the public. As we move toward the end of a successful academic year, I am particularly grateful for these and the many other contributions of our faculty—and for the culture that encouraged and inspired such transformative work.

Warmly,

Thomas J. Miles
Dean and Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics

A Message from the Associate Dean of External Affairs

Dear Alumni,

During my time at the Law School, it has been evident that our community is committed to using their legal education as an instrument of social, economic, and political change. Over and over again, the strength of the Law School has endured. As our students, faculty, and staff faced unforeseen burdens, their tireless efforts ensured the continuation of every facet of the Law School.

Your philanthropy brings our mission to life by supporting our faculty as they produce transformative research, allowing us to attract the brightest students with scholarship support, and increasing our impact on the surrounding community. We cannot thank you enough for all that you do to strengthen our institution.

This year, as a sign of our gratitude, we are pleased to introduce updated tiers and benefits to our Dean’s Circle Giving Society, a group committed to supporting our mission of academic excellence and the advancement of our institution. Beyond these updates, I look forward to celebrating your long-lasting support during Reunion Weekend and other future events.

Because of your loyal contributions, we look to our Law School’s future with great confidence and optimism. Thank you for helping us provide opportunities and ensuring our students gain the necessary skills and legal knowledge to become exceptional lawyers. With your support and involvement, our tradition of academic excellence will continue for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Carolyn M. Grunst
Associate Dean for External Affairs

Join the Dean’s Circle

The Dean’s Circle is a community of alumni and friends who, with annual leadership giving, demonstrate extraordinary commitment to the University of Chicago Law School. We invite you to join this group of supporters.

Beginning in the 2021-22 fiscal year, we are pleased to introduce updated benefits and tiers. There are five recognition levels with the following cumulative benefits:

Benefactor: $25,000+

• All of the benefits below, plus a personalized statement of impact and token of gratitude

Patron: $10,000 - $24,999

• All of the benefits below, plus early access to special events and programs

Fellow: $5,000 - $9,999

• All of the benefits below, plus exclusive opportunities for engagement with student programming, faculty, and the Dean

Partner: $2,500 - $4,999

• All of the benefits below, plus complimentary admission to in-person Harper Lectures

Young Alumni Advocate*: $1,000 - $2,499

• Recognition in honor rolls
• Exclusive invitations to University and Law School events
• Opportunity to share personal experience to inspire others

*Alumni who graduated in the past 10 years qualify to be a Young Alumni Advocate member

Please note that matching gifts can count toward these giving levels.

All Dean’s Circle members will be recognized in the fiscal year Honor Roll of Donors (for gifts made between July 1 and June 30) that is published each fall.

For more information about the Dean’s Circle, please visit www.law.uchicago.edu/deanscircle.

Collective Philanthropy Motivates Peers and Breaks Giving Day Records

When the Law School surpassed its targets at last year’s Giving Day, part of that success was attributable to a challenge grant sponsored by LLM graduates at the Zurich-based law firm Homburger. Six graduates—Peter Widmer, ’68; Franz Hoffet, ’88; René Bösch, ’91; Daniel Daeniker, ’96; Claudio Bazzani, ’06; and Benjamin Leisinger, ’12—made a challenge of $20,000, payable if more than 50 Law School Alumni were to give at the $1,000 Dean’s Circle level. Needless to say, the target was met.

The challenge was led by Daniel Daeniker. An indefatigable supporter of the Law School, he currently serves on the Law School Council, has spearheaded a strong reunion presence among alumni from his class, and for 25 years has coordinated ongoing communication among those alumni.

“I am grateful to the Law School for the eye-opening and career-enhancing education I received there,” he said. “Beyond that, I also appreciate the values that it continuously practices—intellectual honesty, respect for the free market and free enterprise, and a commitment to an open marketplace of ideas.”

Daeniker joined Homburger in 1988, right out of law school. He completed a doctoral degree in law in 1992. His practice largely focuses on mergers and acquisitions, particularly cross-border transactions. Ranked as a top European and global attorney for more than 15 years, he headed Homburger’s M&A practice group for five years, was managing partner from 2013 until 2019, and now serves as the senior partner of the firm.

He said that he particularly enjoys cross-border transactions that require his on-the-ground presence in different countries. “I have always loved travel, and I’m glad to have been able to do more than my share of it,” he said. It helps that he speaks what he calls four and a half languages—German, English, French, and Spanish, plus “enough Italian to get by.” He leads Homburger’s India focus group and has traveled regularly to India during the past decade on client assignments.

He described what he called a “stealth tactic” that he has employed during negotiations in languages he doesn’t know: “I would get a phrasebook and make myself fluent in one or two essential things that I could say when things got tense—‘Sab kuchh chalta hai’ in Hindi, or ‘hakol beseder’ in Hebrew, for example, both of which loosely translate into ‘Everything is fine.’ Used at the right moments, this approach could be quite disarming, and it also caused the participants to wonder how much else I understood of what they were saying among themselves.”

Increasingly, he is committed to sharing experiences and insights as he mentors the firm’s younger lawyers. “René Bösch, who used to run our finance team, and I consider it our responsibility to empower the next generation that is going to sustain and grow Homburger, so we both have been handing off more and more client assignments to create opportunities for our young partners to grow. This also opens more space for us to gauge what’s ahead in life,” he said. He is doing more teaching at the University of Zurich’s law school, serving on corporate boards that include the Rothschild and Co bank and the global construction company Hilti, and leading fundraising for Avenir Suisse, a Swiss free-market think tank.

His wife shares his love of travel, and they are anxious for the end of COVID restrictions so they can resume their journeys. “We have roamed the world together, including many wonderful experiences with our two children, who are grown now,” he said. “We might not know where we’ll be going in the near future, but one thing is as certain as can be in these crazy days—we’ll be in Chicago for my class’s 2026 reunion, celebrating with a strong contingent of my classmates all that the Law School has meant to us and what we have meant to each other.”

1950

William R. Brandt

October 11, 2021

Brandt served in the US Army and Navy, and earned degrees at the US Naval Academy and the University of Illinois. A founder of the firm of Livingston, Barger, Brandt & Schroeder in Bloomington, Illinois, he also volunteered his time for a number of professional and civic organizations. He was a licensed private pilot who loved reading, playing tennis, and baking. Brandt was a resident of Bloomington.

Lionel G. Gross

October 25, 2021

Gross took a leave from his studies at the University to enlist in the military, serving as a paratrooper in the Pacific during World War II. He spent his legal career at the Chicago firm of Altheimer and Grey, and was an avid reader as well as a fan of many genres of music.

Milton A. Levenfeld

October 21, 2021

Levenfeld served in the US Navy before earning his BA and JD at the University. He cofounded the Chicago firm now known as Levenfeld Pearlstein and was also a certified public accountant. Levenfeld was active in his synagogue and in the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, served as president of the Chicago Israel Chamber of Commerce, and was a strong supporter of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival. He lived in Canton, Massachusetts.

1951

Mychal P. Angelos

August 12, 2021

A US Navy veteran, Angelos practiced law in his own firm for five decades. He was an accomplished swimmer, a private pilot, and a lifelong learner who earned a PhD in history from Loyola University in his 60s and was still taking classes at UChicago. Angelos loved to travel and read and was a dedicated patron of the arts.

1953

Leon Gabinet

December 6, 2021

Gabinet enlisted in the US Navy at 17 and attended the University on the GI Bill, taking a break during his Law School studies to help transport European Jewish refugees to the nascent State of Israel. He worked for several years on the Oregon Tax Commission and practiced law at a Portland firm before joining the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he taught for more than 50 years and served as executive director of the graduate program in taxation.

1957

Marshall J. Hartman

September 22, 2021

A graduate of the College, Hartman began his career as a lawyer probation officer at the Juvenile Court of Cook County and administrator of the appeals division in the Cook County public defender’s office. He later served as executive director of the Criminal Defense Consortium of Cook County and worked at the National Defender Institute in Washington, DC, before becoming chief public defender of Lake County. He led the capital litigation division of the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender until his retirement.

Peter Lederer

August 8, 2021

Lederer practiced law for more than 40 years with the firm of Baker & McKenzie, first in Zurich and then becoming senior partner in the New York office. He was a longtime adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, where he mentored students and faculty; he also consulted for global companies and founded an Internet start-up. Lederer lived in New Milford, Connecticut.

Carl F. Salans

October 20, 2021

Salans was a graduate of Harvard College and earned an advanced degree in international law from Cambridge University. He was legal advisor for the US delegation to the talks on the Paris Peace Accords to end the war in Vietnam, and was head of the US delegation to the UNESCO conference that established the World Heritage Convention. He founded the Paris firm that bears his name and chaired the ICC International Court of Arbitration. He was named a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur in recognition of his contributions to the nation of France.

1959

Julius Kaplan

September 1, 2021

A graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Kaplan also earned an MCL from the Law School. He was an attorney at the US Agency for International Development before entering private practice. He was a founding partner of Kirkwood, Kaplan, Russin, and Vecchi, and later of counsel to Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft. In retirement, he chaired the Explorers Club Washington Group and traveled all over the world with the group. He was also a well-known art collector and the author of two books.

John D. Proffitt

June 30, 2021

Proffitt was a graduate of Wabash College and a US Army veteran. He cofounded the Carmel, Indiana, firm of Campbell Kyle Proffitt and capped his career as counsel at Altman, Poindexter & Wyatt in the same city. He served as president of the Hamilton County Bar Association, the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Association, and the Indiana Bar Association, and volunteered as a board member of many civic and cultural organizations. He loved travel, outdoor activities, and the Chicago Cubs.

Sandor Shuch

March 10, 2021

Shuch worked for legal aid organizations in Pinal County and Maricopa County, Arizona, serving as director of the latter, and focusing in both positions on assisting migrant workers. He later worked in the civil division of the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. After retiring, he was a volunteer docent for the Phoenix Art Museum and served on the Arizona State Board of Equalization.

1960

Ira Bell

November 3, 2021

Bell was a graduate of Northwestern University and worked as an attorney in Chicago. He was a lifelong fan of jazz and folk music; an accomplished sailor; and an enthusiastic student in exercise, dance, and improvisation classes even after his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Bell lived in Wilmette, Illinois.

1961

Gene B. Brandzel

October 18, 2021

Brandzel earned a BA at the University of Michigan. He clerked for Eugene Wright, Circuit Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and later served as a judge. He spent many years as an attorney at the Seattle firm now known as Stoel Rives. Brandzel loved to travel and volunteered in many organizations; he was also active in conservation and beautification efforts in Seattle.

Martin H. Burns

September 15, 2021

Burns earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University. He was a partner in the firm of Russell and Bridewell in Chicago, where he lived.

Harry G. Wilkinson

November 30, 2020

Wilkinson was a graduate of Michigan State University and a US Air Force veteran. He began his career as counsel to US Senate subcommittees on migratory labor and constitutional rights, and went on to work at the US Department of Justice and as the congressional liaison for the Secretary of Labor. He was deputy director of the Peace Corps in Ethiopia and director in Costa Rica before becoming a foreign service officer with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). After his government service, Wilkinson worked for South Africa Lawyers for Human Rights and as a consultant to USAID. He served on the board of the South Carolina American Civil Liberties Union.

1962

David S. Chernoff

September 18, 2021

Chernoff was an alumnus of the Lab School and the College. He was associate general counsel and unofficial historian at the MacArthur Foundation and was active in many other nonprofit organizations, including the Chicago Architecture Center, the Donor’s Forum, and the Cliff Dwellers. A third-degree black belt in judo, he taught the martial art to children; he also taught in the LLM program at John Marshall Law School and taught celestial navigation with the Chicago Sail and Power Squadron.

Lowell N. Elsen

June 2020

William B. Fisch

July 7, 2021

Fisch earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University, an LLB from the University of Illinois College of Law, and a JD from Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Germany. He taught at the University of North Dakota School of Law and at the University of Missouri School of Law. Fisch coauthored two books and many chapters and articles, and served on the board of directors and executive committee of the American Society of Comparative Law. He loved birding, photography, golf, and travel.

Justin Morris Johnson

October 29, 2021

Johnson was a graduate of the College and a US Air Force veteran. The first African American member of the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners, Johnson worked for the Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh–Mount Oliver Board of Education and at the firm of Berkman, Ruslander, Pohl, Lieber & Engel. He was appointed to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania by Governor Richard Thornburgh, and taught at Duquesne University Law School. He was a devoted mentor and volunteer as well as a life trustee of Carnegie Mellon University.

1964

Charles A. Heckman

August 2, 2021

Heckman earned an undergraduate degree at Brown University. He taught legal history and commercial law at the University of North Dakota, the University of Houston, Western New England University, Whittier Law School, and Quinnipiac University, where was professor emeritus. He enjoyed music, his Newfoundland dogs, bridge, crossword puzzles, and detective novels.

Carl E. Klotz

October 22, 2021

Klotz was a graduate of Columbia University. He cofounded the firm of Klotz & McCann in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and later practiced solo; he lived in Hawthorne, New Jersey.

David M. Madway

June 26, 2021

A graduate of Earlham College, Madway began his legal career at the National Housing Law Project. He was a consultant to the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development before becoming general counsel at the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, where he helped to develop the San Francisco Giants stadium and Yerba Buena Gardens. He retired from the firm of Sheppard Mullin.

1965

Michael E. Braude

November 17, 2021

Braude earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and practiced law for more than five decades. He was president of the Chicago chapter of the Federal Bar Association and served on many of its committees; he was also a vice president of the national Federal Bar Association. Braude was a longtime volunteer for the Jewish United Fund of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania department of admissions.

1966

Lawrence G. Martin

November 6, 2021

Martin earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and a graduate degree in history from Northwestern University. He spent his career in private practice and real estate investment and liquidation. An accomplished woodworker, he founded the nonprofit Woodworking for the Blind. Martin was a resident of Barrington, Illinois, and Venice, Florida.

1968

John N. Tierney

August 3, 2021

Tierney was a graduate of Holy Cross College. He practiced law in Chicago before becoming president and CEO of the Radio Ranch advertising firm in Los Angeles, where he also practiced civil rights, real estate, and entertainment law. He was a trustee of Pitzer College and an avid reader, fox hunter, hiker, bicyclist, and motorcycle rider.

1969

Douglas Delange Graham

October 8, 2021

Graham earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Utah. He practiced law in Pasadena and Glendora, California, and was a talented builder and handyman, gardener, and cook. Graham lived in Lake Havasu City, Utah.

William L. Severns

October 13, 2021

A graduate of Trinity College, Severns began his career in Deadwood, South Dakota, where he served as city attorney. He was later appointed as a magistrate judge and served in Deadwood, Sturgis, Custer, Hot Springs, and Rapid City. He was an amateur actor, jazz enthusiast, and photographer, and volunteered for many civic organizations and his church. Severns lived in Spearfish, South Dakota.

1971

Schuyler K. Henderson

October 4, 2021

Henderson was a graduate of Princeton University and a US Marine Corps Reserve veteran. He completed his JD while also earning an MBA at the Booth School of Business. He was partner at Mayer, Brown, and Platt and ran the firm’s European office in London; he also became a partner at the firms of Baker & McKenzie and Norton Rose. He was the author of books on currency and interest swaps and derivatives. A world traveler, Henderson lived in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

1973

Steven Lee Harris

November 6, 2021

A graduate of the College, Harris clerked in the Illinois Appellate Court and spent time in private practice in Chicago. He then taught law at Wayne State University, the University of Illinois College of Law, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, specializing in commercial law; he also taught American law overseas. The American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers recognized him with the Homer Kripke Achievement Award in 2021. Harris loved the outdoors, travel, music, and baseball.

Thomas Clark Hill

August 21, 2021

Hill earned his undergraduate degree at the school now known as Case Western Reserve University. He began his career at the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm of Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister. A longtime student of Quaker history, he wrote about the denomination and volunteered in his congregation. Hill lived in Charlottesville, Virginia.

1974

Lee Martin

November 7, 2021

Martin was a graduate of Vanderbilt University and practiced law in Chicago before returning to his home state of Alabama to practice law. He was an avid stamp collector, reader, food lover, and ballroom dancer.

Linda Susan Miller

July 15, 2021

Miller held an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois. She lived in New York City.

1975

Ronald K. K. Sakimura

September 9, 2021

Sakimura was a graduate of the University of Hawaii and a decorated US Army Ranger and captain who served in Vietnam before entering the Law School. He practiced law in his hometown of Honolulu and was a partner in the firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel.

1977

Ann Virginia Bartsch

June 11, 2021

Bartsch was a graduate of Stanford University and began her legal career in Minnesota. She worked for the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, and the Minnesota State Bar Association, and chaired the American Bar Association Commission on Legal Services for the Poor. After moving to Portland, Oregon, she worked for the state bar association. Bartsch volunteered in her church and was director and president of Friendly House, a Portland nonprofit community center and social service agency.

1981

Zachary Samuel Weiss

August 2, 2021

Weiss earned his undergraduate degree at Sarah Lawrence College. He was a prosecutor in the Manhattan, New York, district attorney’s office and the office of the New York State attorney general before being appointed chair of the state’s workers’ compensation board. Later, he served as an administrative law judge at the Social Security Administration. Weiss lived in White Plains, New York.

1983

John E. Ryan

August 9, 2021

Ryan was a graduate of Haverford College. A specialist in corporate and real estate law, he was a partner in the Philadelphia firm of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel and had his own practice for a time. A history enthusiast, he was also an avid fossil hunter and active in his church. Ryan was a resident of Rosemont, Pennsylvania.

1984

Joseph Harrison Young

October 6, 2021

Young was a graduate of Dartmouth College and worked as a reporter covering Vermont politics before entering the Law School. After clerking for a US district judge, he entered private practice at the firm of Hogan Lovells and then became an assistant US attorney for the District of Maryland. He later returned to Hogan Lovells, where he specialized in civil litigation and coordinated the firm’s pro bono and community service program. He concluded his career working for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. Young lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1991

Albert J. Birkbeck

November 1, 2021

Birkbeck earned undergraduate degrees in geosciences and economics, as well as an MBA, from the University of Michigan. He practiced corporate law in Chicago before starting an environmental law practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He worked on behalf of communities with drinking water contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), cofounding the nonprofit PFAS Alliance to advocate for safe water for all.

2003

Juliana Sanchez Schafer

August 5, 2021

A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Schafer practiced law at the Chicago firm of Sidley Austin. She was a dedicated volunteer for the American Cancer Society, the American Brain Tumor Association, and her temple; she also founded and ran a prison pen pal program. Schafer lived in Chicago.