February 2024

Fellows:

As I prepared my first draft of this monthly message, the fans of Baltimore were excited about the Ravens’ win over Houston in a home playoff game. That game was played in 20-degree weather after the sun had set. Unfortunately, the Ravens collapsed in the AFC Championship game during a cold, rainy afternoon in Baltimore, about which nothing more need be said. During the earlier Wild Card weekend those Kansas City Swifties prevailed over the Dolphins in negative (Fahrenheit) temperatures and the Steelers-Bills game was postponed because of more than a foot of snow covering the playing surface of Highmark Stadium. Meanwhile, the temperatures in Phoenix are likely to reach the 70s this week and next.  

This breezy introduction from the Weather Channel is simply to remind our many friends from North of the Border, the Great Plains, the Upper and Lower Midwest, and the Northeast that warmer weather awaits you when you register to join us in Phoenix for the Spring Meeting. Thus far, we anticipate strong attendance – which no doubt will be enhanced by further Arctic Blasts predicted in the coming weeks. 

President-Elect Rick Deane has arranged for a fabulous group of speakers to enlighten and entertain us in Phoenix. On Friday morning, we will be greeted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. We will learn about the use of floating islands to improve water quality, and the political and environmental aspects of the water shortage in the desert Southwest. We will be uplifted by the Montreal lawyers who are the recipients of the Beverley McLachlin Access to Justice Award and by the remarkable career of Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of the Morehouse School of Medicine. 

On day two, we will hear from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has chronicled the treatment of Black Americans in the post-Reconstruction era and witness a debate between distinguished legal scholars on the use of Originalism as a tool of constitutional interpretation. We will also welcome into Honorary Fellowship Madam Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin, the first indigenous judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. And we will benefit from the wisdom of another distinguished law professor who will speak on leadership, character and ethics in our profession. Finally, our General Sessions will close with remarks from retired Canadian Supreme Court Judge “Rosie” Abella – an ACTL favorite who has always succeeded in entertaining and inspiring us.



We will begin on Thursday with a CLE program on Artificial Intelligence and that evening’s President’s Welcome Reception, during which we expect to be joined by more than eighty new inductees who will “enter our portals” during Saturday evening’s formal dinner. The point of this President’s message should be obvious – if you have not yet registered for the Spring Meeting – act now. The Arizona Biltmore is a fabulous venue, and although evenings in the desert can be cool, I promise there is no sign of snow in the forecast.   

William J. Murphy

ACTL President

The ACTL hotel room block at the Arizona Biltmore ends February 6 (or once sold out). Don’t miss this chance to escape the winter chill and join us for the 2024 Spring Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. With a CLE on AI, unique local tours and activities, a Roaring 20s Friday evening event and warm, desert sunshine, this is a meeting not to be missed. Click here to register online. 

Fellow Kimberly Henderson Baird was awarded the Professional Achievement Award at the 2023 Law Alumni Association Hall of Fame & Alumni Awards. This award recognizes a particularly noteworthy accomplishment in a given year but may be given to one who has achieved and sustained an extraordinary level of excellence in a particular area of law. Kimberly Henderson Baird (UK Rosenberg Law ’96), the 2023 recipient, is the first African American female in Kentucky to serve as Commonwealth’s Attorney and the first African American in Fayette County to serve in the role of Commonwealth’s Attorney.

California Fellows Elliot R. Peters and Robert A. Van Nest were selected as nationwide “Leading Commercial Litigators” in the Daily Journal California Lawyer supplement. 

Colorado: The Colorado Fellows are helping host the regional rounds for the National Trial Competition at the University of Denver School of Law. Fellow Laura Menninger is spearheading this effort, and numerous Fellows will judge the competition which takes place February 2-4, 2024. At the February 21 Colorado Winter Dinner, we will have a panel discussion with leaders of our most prominent local pro bono organizations: Kristin Bronson of the Colorado Lawyers Committee, Matt Baca of Colorado Legal Services, and Fellow Tim MacDonald, Legal Director of the ACLU of Colorado. Finally, Fellows Maureen Witt and Jon Sands are co-chairing the all-day ACTL Colorado Top Trial Skills program which will be held at the CBA-CLE offices on Friday, March 15. 

Michigan: Michigan will host the regional rounds for the National Trial Competition (the region includes Ohio, Michigan and NE Indiana) on February 8-10, 2024 at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse. Several Michigan Fellows are scheduled to serve as judges at the Competition. Additionally, the Fellows will be hosting the Region 9 Summer Meeting (Fellows from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee) on June 21-23, 2024 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Michigan.

North Carolina: The Fellows are conducting a number of law school professionalism programs and have scheduled luncheon seminars at Duke, Campbell, Wake Forest and UNC Chapel Hill law schools, and will schedule seminars with all law schools in the state. The ACTL panel members will discuss difficult ethical situations and appropriate responses with the law school students. The seminar will be interactive, thought-provoking, and will provide a forum for law students to interact with some of the most experienced litigators in North Carolina.

Dean J. Kitchens

Los Angeles, California

Judge Kitchens

Los Angeles County Superior Court

January, 2024

John D. Russell

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Judge Russell

US District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma

January, 2024

The College recognizes extraordinary individuals and their important contributions to the law through the awards described below. A nominator need only submit a letter of support, and the award committee will complete an investigation before deciding whether to recommend the person to the Board of Regents. Please consider nominating a worthy recipient. You may send your letter to nationaloffice@actl.com or directly to the committee chair indicated below.

Thurgood Marshall Equality and Justice Award

The Thurgood Marshall Equality and Justice Award, named for the revered lawyer, civil rights advocate and first Black Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, is to be given from time to time to an individual who has been a champion of justice and equality in all forms, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation or other form. The candidate must possess vision, courage, and fortitude, and must have stood steadfast in the passionate and effective pursuit of equal justice under the law.

Chair: Lamont A. Jefferson

Eastern Pennsylvania Fellows Dinner, Philadelphia: January 17, 2024:

President Murphy joined fifty-six Pennsylvania Fellows for the Eastern Pennsylvania Fellows Dinner held at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia. The gathering celebrated and paid tribute to long time Fellow and Former Regent Dennis Suplee. Dennis and his wife Pat, along with President Murphy, were honored by numerous dignitaries, including Past President Bart Dalton, Regent Katie Recker, State Chair Mike Engle, Vice Chair Veronica Richards, Former Regent Bob Welsh and colleagues from Dennis’s many years of trial practice. U.S. District Court Judge Jerry McHugh offered insights on Dennis’s skill as a leading trial lawyer and his years of assistance to younger lawyers practicing with him, as well as across the country. Others described Dennis as a “Jesuit- trained rabbi,” assisting lawyers navigating the challenges of the profession. Dennis was presented with a plaque crafted by Regent Recker’s husband, woodworker Matt Pappajohn, acknowledging Dennis’s “…tireless mentorship of generations of lawyers as well as his standard of excellence which has elevated the art of trial practice.” It was a warm and wonderful evening with stories of the old days, fellowship, and the opportunity to gather and reminisce with great friends. 

The College has been notified of the passing of the Fellows listed below. The date after each name notes the year of induction into the College, and the date following the city is the date of his or her passing. A tribute to each will appear in the In Memoriam section of a subsequent issue of the Journal.

California

Marvin Morgenstein, ’77, Rancho Mirage, December 30, 2023

Mississippi

John Corlew, ’07, Jackson, December 6, 2023

New York

Richard Godosky, ’00, New York, April 23, 2023

George R. Goltzer, ’12, New York, December 26, 2023 

Rhode Island

Kenneth P. Borden, Sr., ’85, North Scituate, December 23, 2023 

Tennessee

Saul Charles Belz, ’03, Memphis, August 16, 2023

William Rainey, ’04, Franklin, December 3, 2023

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Email: nationaloffice@actl.com@actl.com



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