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Class Note Summer 2026

Bethany A. Breetz, a member at Stites & Harbison PLLC, was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2026 list of litigation stars in Kentucky. Her practice focuses on federal and state appellate advocacy as well as complex commercial litigation, including matters involving financial institutions, real estate, and trusts and estate litigation. Breetz is co-chair of the firm’s appellate advocacy group.

Class Note Summer 2026

Jeffrey Sherman, a corporate partner in the Denver office of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, was appointed to the firm’s board. He advises clients through mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions, and provides counsel to growing companies related to governance and Securities and Exchange Commission compliance issues. Sherman previously served as a deputy leader of Faegre Drinker’s corporate practice group.

Class Note Summer 2026

Wycliffe “Wyc” Grousbeck was elected to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s board of trustees for a three-year term. He was the owner of the Boston Celtics from 2002 to 2025 and is an experienced investor, CEO, and founder. Grousbeck began his career as a venture capital investor before leading the acquisition of the Boston Celtics. He also serves as a trustee of giving for the Grousbeck Fazzalari charitable foundation that supports initiatives related to health care, education, and justice.

Class Note Summer 2026

Donica T. Varner stepped down from her position as vice president and general counsel of Cornell University in February. She was the first Black person to serve as the university’s chief legal officer; she also mentored undergraduates in the Meinig Family National Scholars Program and was an executive sponsor of the Women of Color Colleague Network. Varner previously held leadership roles at Oberlin College, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. 

Class Note Summer 2026

Gabriel J. Chin and three other University of Michigan alumni connected at a recent conference at UC Davis School of Law. Chin, the Edward L. Barrett Jr. Distinguished Professor at UC Davis School of Law, is pictured, left to right, with Christiana Ochoa, BA ’93, dean at Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Angela Onwuachi-Willig, ’97, dean at Boston University School of Law; and Meera E. Deo, ’00, the Honorable Vaino Spencer Chair at Southwestern Law School.

Class Note Summer 2026

David Plunkett, a shareholder with business law firm Williams Williams Rattner & Plunkett PC, was included in the commercial dispute category of Legal 500’s Elite City Focus regional list for Detroit. Plunkett is a litigator and business lawyer who handles contract disputes, shareholder disputes, land use and zoning, employment law, and real estate matters. He also is an experienced probate litigator, including will and trust disputes.

Class Note Summer 2026

John E. Mogk is the 2025 recipient of the John W. Reed Michigan Lawyer Legacy Award, named in honor of the late Michigan Law professor. Presented periodically by the State Bar of Michigan, the award honors a law school educator in Michigan whose influence has elevated the quality of legal practice in the state. Mogk is a distinguished service professor of law at Wayne State University; he first joined the faculty in 1968. He also serves as chair of the faculty committee at Wayne State’s Levin Center for Legislative Oversight and Democracy. 

Class Note Summer 2026

Donald Dripps, the Warren Distinguished Professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, published Sentencing Discretion and the Constitution: Due Process of Time (Oxford University Press, 2026). The book argues that the US Supreme Court’s treatment of prosecutorial sentencing power is inconsistent with due process, as prosecutors effectively set sentences by choosing charges while judges must be neutral arbiters.

Class Note Summer 2026

The Hon. Donald E. Shelton, a former Washtenaw County Circuit Court judge, authored the lead article in the December 2025 Michigan Bar Journal, “New rules for better science in forensic science, and now AI comes along.” Judge Shelton retired in 2024 after 10 years as director of the criminology and criminal justice program at the University of Michigan Dearborn. He continues to teach online at Michigan State University and the University of Arizona. Also, Judge Shelton recently received the Exceptional Achievement Award from the University of Nevada, where he earned his PhD in judicial studies in 2010.

Class Note Summer 2026

Claudio Visco, LLM, assumed the presidency of the International Bar Association (IBA) for the 2026 calendar year. Visco has held multiple senior positions in the IBA and has been a member of the management board since 2015. He is a senior partner in the Rome office of Lipani Legal & Tax.