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Class Note Summer 2025

Claire Madill joined the appellate division of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland. She previously was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, an appellate public defender at the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office in Florida, and a staff attorney in the special litigation division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Madill also clerked at all three levels of the federal judiciary: for US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Hon. William A. Fletcher on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Hon. Alison J. Nathan, who at the time was serving on the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Class Note Summer 2025

Leah Mintz was promoted to partner at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia, where she works in the firm’s trial practice group. She is an appellate lawyer and counselor with experience representing clients during strategic motion practice and throughout the post-trial and appellate process in federal and state courts. Mintz also routinely litigates original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction matters in the Commonwealth Court, including in challenges to decisions of various administrative agencies. She joined Duane Morris in 2017.

Class Note Summer 2025

Sean O’Neill was elected to partner at Cooley LLP. O’Neill is a member of the firm’s emerging companies and venture capital group and represents emerging growth companies at all stages, as well as venture capital firms and strategic investors that finance and acquire these companies. O’Neill’s practice also involves venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and general corporate matters.

Class Note Summer 2025

Nathan Schuur joined Proskauer Rose LLP as a partner in the firm’s private funds group. He previously was counsel to a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where he provided legal and policy advice on rulemaking, enforcement, and litigation, with a focus on investment management issues. Schuur also served in the rulemaking office of the SEC’s division of investment management. At Proskauer Rose, his practice will focus on regulatory and compliance issues related to the Advisers Act and Investment Company Act.

Class Note Summer 2025

Anna Mouw Thompson was appointed partner at Perkins Coie LLP, where she previously served as counsel and is a member of the firm’s privacy and security practice. Thompson litigates and counsels clients on issues related to state and federal privacy and data protection laws, including laws addressing biometric data and the collection, use, disclosure, and security of personal information. She also has experience drafting at the appellate level and has assisted clients with appeals and amici curiae briefs in matters involving novel issues of state and federal privacy law.

Class Note Summer 2025

Lori Arakaki was promoted to partner at Hicks Johnson. Based in the firm’s Houston office, Arakaki litigates complex commercial disputes before federal and state courts at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as in arbitration proceedings. Recent client matters have involved trade secrets and complex patent infringement and a contract dispute involving a prominent aerospace and defense company. Arakaki handles all stages of litigation, from drafting pre- and post-trial motions to deposing fact and expert witnesses, arguing motions in court, and trying cases.

Class Note Summer 2025

Kyle Fraser, ’21, recently added the title “sole survivor” to his resume after becoming the latest champion on CBS’s long-running reality-television competition Survivor, which finished airing its 48th season in May. Fraser, an associate at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC in New York, married Maggie Turner, ’20, just weeks after the filming wrapped. He first watched Survivor while quarantining with Turner and her family during the pandemic. He is currently filming Survivor 50, which will air in 2026. Read more about Fraser's experience on Survivor on the Law School website.

Class Note Summer 2025

Trevor Parkes joined the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) as the counsel and project director of its First Step Act Resource Center, which advocates for the full implementation of the 2018 First Step Act. Before joining NACDL, he clerked in two federal district courts and was a litigation associate at a large law firm in Minneapolis.

Class Note Summer 2025

Howard Kramer published his first novel, Hitching to Bowie: A ’70s Road Trip Tale of Music, Miles, and Discovery (Mascot Books, 2025). Kramer is a retired financial regulatory attorney who worked in government and private practice. He has published extensively on the topics of financial market regulation and securities law. Kramer currently serves as the senior adviser to the board of SEDA Experts LLC, a consulting firm specializing in financial services.

Class Note Summer 2025

Stephen Merkel was named chairman of the board of directors for BGC Group Inc., a global brokerage and financial technology company. He has been with BGC since the company’s founding and retains his current roles as executive vice president and general counsel. Merkel is also on the board of directors of the company’s FMX Futures Exchange business and serves as the executive vice chairman, executive managing director, and general counsel for the Cantor Fitzgerald LP group of companies, which includes BGC Group Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., and Newmark Group Inc.