Navy’s Legal Service
Office Recognizes
Wide-Ranging Practice
Add Hillyer & Irwin to the list of San Diego law firms with a presence in Silicon Valley.
The firm is settling into an office in Los Gatos, which officially opened in March. Dirk Michels is the partner overseeing the office; he’s joined by Hillyer & Irwin attorneys William A. Reavey and Michael L. Madgett.
“With the expansion of our client base to the northern Pacific coast, we felt that now is the time to expand into Silicon Valley,” Madgett said.
The firm intends to use the new office to assist high-tech and Internet-related start-up companies, not just domestically but internationally.
Michels, who is licensed in both Germany and California, said the office has developed a niche in providing legal services to German companies opening offices in Silicon Valley, as well as U.S. companies based in Silicon Valley that want to do business in Germany.
The firm’s new office will also represent San Diego companies interested in attracting venture capital financing from Silicon Valley investors.
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National Recognition: John W. McHenry, the first civilian legal assistance attorney at the Naval Legal Service Office Southwest at NAS North Island, received the American Bar Association’s Legal Assistance for Military Personnel Distinguished Service Award for 1999 in ceremonies April 18.
A statement released by the Commander, Navy Region Southwest said McHenry carried “the most extensive and complicated caseload in the department” during 1999, when he helped more than 1,500 clients.
“In addition to his full-time appointment schedule of family law, consumer law, landlord-tenant relations, immigration, military rights and benefits, he was the only attorney routinely handling real estate, taxation, mediation and complex estate planning,” the statement said.
McHenry served as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve and was discharged in 1995. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the California Western School of Law.
On April 1, he received a direct appointment to the Navy’s Judge Advocate Corps as a lieutenant.
International Accolade: David Casey Jr., a senior partner at the San Diego-based law firm of Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk, has been named a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
A resident of La Jolla, Casey specializes in personal injury, wrongful death and business and consumer fraud cases.
The Minneapolis-based International Academy of Trial Lawyers was founded in 1954, and membership is by invitation only. Casey called the recognition “a high point in my career.”
Casey received his bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and his law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. In 1974, he joined what is now Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk, a law firm his father founded 50 years ago.
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Foundation’s New Faces: The board of the San Diego County Bar Foundation has new officers and four new members. Todd Stevens of Keeney Waite & Stevens will succeed Neal Rockwood of Thorsnes Bartolotta & McGuire as president. Stevens is former county bar president. Other board members elected include Ann Parode, campus counsel at UCSD and Ray Aragon from the Department of the Public Defender as vice presidents; Steve Cologne of Higgs Fletcher & Mack as chief financial officer; and sole practitioner David Norris as secretary.
New members include Chris Todd of Wingert Grebing Brubaker & Ryan, Cathy Bencivengo of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, Deputy District Attorney Lisa Weinreb and former North County Bar President Polly Voorhies. Finishing their terms and stepping down from the board are U.S. Magistrate James Stiven and Karen Heffron of Greenman, Lacy, Klein, O’Hara & Heffron. Barbara Iredale of the San Diego County Bar Auxiliary and Rockwood will remain on the foundation board.
The foundation is the fund-raising arm of the San Diego County Bar Association.
New Partner: Martin Tongi, who works in the San Diego office of Los Angeles-based Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, has been named a partner in the firm, which specializes in business and real estate law.
Spring Rites: Up to 108 juris doctor candidates, 18 foreign lawyers seeking comparative law degrees and two candidates seeking dual master of social work/juris doctor degrees were scheduled to graduate from California Western School of Law on April 28.
Graves’ law column appears weekly. Contact him with story ideas at (858) 277-6359, ext. 149, or via E-mail at (bgraves@sdbj.com).
