Page 85 - ACTL Journal_Sum24

MICHELLE KELLY, K.C., Halifax NS, has volunteered for many years with Alice House, an organiza- tion that assists women and children fleeing intimate partner violence. In 2021-2023, Michelle served as lead counsel to the Mass Casualty Commission, a joint federal/provincial public inquiry that re- leased a 3,000 page report on the murder of twenty-three people in Nova Scotia in a two-day rampage in 2020 by a disturbed perpetrator.
THOMAS KERRICK, Bowling Green KY, almost dropped out of college and had to decide between being a college football coach or going to law school. He chose law school, and though his practice has been rewarding, given what college football coaches now make, he probably made the wrong decision. Tom is proud that the small firm at which he spent his profes- sional life has produced two State Bar Association presidents, a State Circuit Judge, a Federal District Court Judge, a Federal Magistrate Judge, and an Administrative Law Judge. Not bad for a small-town boy.
TAMA BETH KUDMAN, Palm Beach Gardens FL, got to give the welcoming speech to new American citizens at their Immi- gration ceremony, with her father tearfully in attendance. Her father had emigrated to the United States from Poland when he was one-year-old with his parents; the remainder of the family was killed in the Holocaust. Tama Beth thought about pursuing acting in early life; she was admitted to the Lee Strasberg Institute and the HB Acting Studio in NYC to study with Uta Hagen. But she decided on a legal career that included a successful defense of the Catering Director of The Waldorf As- toria, which led to an invitation to attend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony where she got to meet Keith Richards, Melissa Etheridge, Bono, Steven Tyler, Moby, and others.
HEATHER J. LAING, K.C., Saskatoon SK, claims she hasn’t done anything worth writing about. Her real adventures, she claims, will begin when she retires from practice. But she is proud to follow in the footsteps of her father, the Honourable Robert D. Laing, K.C., who was a fellow of the ACTL.
STEPHEN C. LAIRD, Fort Worth TX, is a trucking good lawyer; he is Board certified in truck accident law.
STEPHEN G. LARSON, Los Angeles CA, is a former Federal judge and father of seven, the oldest of whom is a Marine JAG lawyer. As a judge, Steve presided over many significant high-profile matters, such as the Barbie v. Bratz copyright infringement dispute be-
tween toymakers Mattel and MGA Entertainment and Siegel v. Warner
Bros. Entertainment, Inc., which determined the ownership of the copy- rights to the iconic comic strip Superman. Hopefully, our use of a few graphics here constitute fair use . . .
CHRISTOPHER K. LARUS, Minneapolis MN, was a collegiate boxer and is now an avid hiker and climber who recently hiked in Peru and Chile. Chris represented a client in a trademark infringement suit in which the American College of Trial Lawyers was a co-plaintiff (Past President Sam Franklin represented the College).
SUMMER 2024 JOURNAL 84