News & Events

Jurisdiction News

California

Gayle Murphy, Senior Director, Admissions, for the State Bar of California Office of Admissions

Gayle E. Murphy, Senior Director, Admissions, for the State Bar of California Office of Admissions, retired at the end of December 2017, after 37 years of service with the Office of Admissions. She had served as Senior Director since 2005. Murphy was chair of the Council of Bar Admission Administrators from 1995 to 1996 and received NCBE’s Outstanding Bar Admission Administrator Award in 2013. A replacement for her position had not been named at the time of publication.

Colorado

Margaret B. Funk has been appointed to the position of Chief Deputy Regulation Counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. She replaces Matthew A. Samuelson, who left the position to become NCBE’s new Director of Test Operations in October 2017. Funk has been with the Colorado Supreme Court for 11 years, most recently as Senior Deputy Regulation Counsel.

Connecticut

The Connecticut Bar Examining Committee has a new member, Amir M. Shaikh of Kaufmann & Shaikh LLP in Vernon, Connecticut. He replaces Kerry Tarpey on the Board.

In June 2017, the judges of the Connecticut Superior Court adopted a new military spouse temporary licensing rule. The rule allows a military spouse who meets certain requirements to apply for temporary admission to the Connecticut bar for three years and allows for one additional two-year extension. The rule became effective on January 1, 2018.

Florida

Elizabeth J. Walters of Panama City, Florida, is the new chair of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Walters has served on the Board since November 2013 and was elected vice-chair in 2016. Walters is a partner at Burke Blue Hutchinson Walters & Smith PA and is a member of the Bay County Bar Association and the St. Andrews Bay American Inn of Court. She holds a J.D. from the Florida State University School of Law.

Scott L. Baena has been elected vice-chair of the Board. Baena, who has served on the Board since November 2014, is a founding partner at Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP in Miami, Florida. He is director of the Dade County Bar Association and of Legal Services of Greater Miami and currently serves on the Senior Lawyers Committee of the Florida Bar. He holds a J.D. from George Washington University.

The Supreme Court of Florida has appointed four new members to the Board of Bar Examiners:

Larry Stewart Hersch of Dade City, Florida, was appointed to succeed Barbara J. Pittman. Hersch, who holds a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law, has his own law practice and is the past president of the East Pasco Bar Association serving Florida Bar members in East Pasco County, Florida.

Major General William F. Hodgkins (United States Air Force, Retired) of Lynn Haven, Florida, was appointed to succeed retiring member Janet M. Sermon. Hodgkins holds an M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Auburn University. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 2006 after 32 years of service, Hodgkins worked as a senior executive for the Boeing Company’s Defense, Space & Security division, a position from which he then retired in 2012.

Jennifer Martinez Mooney of Land O’Lakes, Florida, was appointed to succeed Scott N. Richardson. Mooney, a graduate of Stetson University College of Law, works in the legal department of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Tampa, Florida, and was chair of the Florida Bar’s Unlicensed Practice of Law Committee from 2011 to 2016.

Elaine Terenzi of Tampa, Florida, was appointed to succeed retiring member David Carl Lyles. Terenzi, who holds an M.A. in Psychology from the New York School for Social Research, served as Chief U.S. Probation Officer for the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida from 1996 to 2012 and is currently president of Independent Business Group, LLC.

Georgia

Elizabeth Stone has joined the Supreme Court of Georgia Office of Bar Admissions as Assistant Director. Heidi Faenza is now Senior Assistant Director. Leigh Burgess, who had previously served as Assistant Director/Director of Investigations, left the Office of Admissions in April 2017.

Indiana

The Indiana Office of Admissions and Continuing Education has a new address (the phone number remains the same):

Indiana Office of Admissions and Continuing Education
251 N. Illinois Street, Suite 550
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Iowa

Daniel Saar is the new Assistant Director for Admissions for the Iowa Office of Professional Regulation. He was ­previously the Assistant Director for Boards and Commissions within the same office, in charge of the Commissions on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and Continuing Legal Education. Before joining the Office of Professional Regulation, Saar was a staff attorney for the Iowa Supreme Court Clerk’s Office. Saar succeeds David M. Ewert, who passed away unexpectedly on September 10, 2017.

Kansas

Francine D. Angell, Attorney Admissions Administrator for the Kansas Board of Law Examiners

Francine D. Angell, Attorney Admissions Administrator for the Kansas Board of Law Examiners, resigned from the position in October 2017 after 18 years of service. Replacing Angell as Attorney Admissions Administrator is Barry Garrison.

Maine

Marianne Tarraza has joined the Maine Board of Bar Examiners as its newest lay member. Tarraza, a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, is a nurse practitioner and the Administrative Director of Psychiatric Services at Maine Behavioral Healthcare in Portland, Maine.

Maryland

Maryland has adopted the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE). The first administration of the UBE in Maryland is expected to be no sooner than July 2019. The date on which Maryland will begin accepting transferred UBE scores from other UBE jurisdictions is yet to be determined.

Minnesota

Joining the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners as its new Character and Fitness Attorney is Erin Wacker. Wacker replaces Michelle Hayes, who had been in the position since October 2014. The Board also has a new Managing Attorney, Natasha Karn.

In response to a May 2017 Order from the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners is conducting a yearlong comprehensive study on admission on motion, including a review of whether and how the Board should treat part-time legal work and periods of leave. The Board is holding a public hearing to solicit feedback on its initial recommendation derived from receipt of comments and a study of provisions in other jurisdictions. It will then compile the results of its study and provide feedback to the Court no later than June 1, 2018.

Mississippi

The Mississippi Supreme Court has appointed two new members to the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions. Joseph D. “Jody” Neyman, Jr., has a civil litigation practice in Hernando, Mississippi, and also serves as the municipal judge of Southaven, Mississippi. He earned a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Neyman succeeds Smith Murphey V, who has served on the Board since January 2009.
Kristopher A. “Kris” Powell is a member of the law firm Bryan Nelson PA in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He earned a law degree from the University of Florida. Powell succeeds Herman M. Hollensed, Jr., who has served on the Board since November 2014.

North Carolina

North Carolina has adopted the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE). The first administration of the UBE in North Carolina will be with the February 2019 bar examination. North Carolina will begin accepting transferred UBE scores on June 30, 2018.

Ohio

Lee Ann Ward, Director of Bar Admissions, Supreme Court of Ohio Office of Bar Admissions

Lee Ann Ward, Director of Bar Admissions for the Supreme Court of Ohio Office of Bar Admissions, retired on December 31, 2017, after 21 years of service with the Office of Bar Admissions. She had served as Director of Bar Admissions since January 2007. Ward was chair of the Council of Bar Admission Administrators from 2013 to 2014 and received NCBE’s Outstanding Bar Admission Administrator Award in 2016. A replacement for her position had not been named at the time of publication.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Joseph Watt, who has served as the Supreme Court liaison to the Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners, retired on December 31, 2017. Justice Watt was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1992 and served two terms as Chief Justice, from 2003 until 2007.

Palau

Vernice Rechebei, the new Chief Appellate Clerk for the Appellate Division of the Palau Supreme Court, will be taking over bar admissions duties from Allison Sengebau, Clerk of Courts for the Palau Supreme Court. The change is the result of the separation of the Appellate and Trial Divisions of the Palau Supreme Court that occurred in January 2017.

Texas

Bruce Wyatt, Staff Attorney for the Texas Board of Law Examiners, retired in August 2017 after 30 years of service. Allan Cook has been hired to serve as General Counsel for the Board. Rebecca Henly, Executive Assistant for the Board, retired in September 2017; Kendelyn Schiller has been hired to serve in the position of Executive Assistant.

John Cayce has resigned from the Texas Board of Law Examiners; Dwaine Massey of Houston has been appointed to fill the Board position. The Court has reappointed Teresa Ereon Giltner, Augustin Rivera, and C. Alfred Mackenzie to the Board.

Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett, who has served as the Supreme Court liaison to the Texas Board of Law Examiners since 2013, has been nominated by President Trump to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Virginia

Henry M. Sackett III, longtime chair of the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners’ Character and Fitness Committee, resigned in September 2017 after having served as chair of the Committee since its inception in 1995. Curtis M. Hairston, Jr., of Richmond, Virginia, who has also served on the Committee since 1995, has succeeded Sackett as chair of the Committee. Hairston is in private practice with the Gee Law Firm in Richmond. The Supreme Court of Virginia has appointed Bryce J. Hunter to fill the vacancy created by Sackett’s resignation. Hunter is with the firm Spilman Thomas & Battle in Roanoke, Virginia, where he is also co-chair of the Tax Credits Practice Group. He holds a J.D. from the College of William and Mary Marshall Wythe School of Law.

Wyoming

Brenda Wylie from Jackson, Wyoming, has been appointed to the Wyoming Board of Law Examiners to fill the vacancy left by Christopher Hawks, whose term expired on December 31, 2017, after his six years of service on the Board, including a term as chair in 2014. Wylie, a cum laude graduate of the Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, Texas, is co-founder of the Wylie Law Firm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

NCBE News

Myra Andreassen, NCBE Manager of Operations, 1998–2018

Myra Andreassen, NCBE’s longtime Manager of Operations, retired on January 5, 2018, after 20 years of service with NCBE. Andreassen was instrumental in developing the three offices that NCBE has had in Wisconsin since 1998, including the organization’s current headquarters, to which it moved in 2008. While her chief responsibility was the care and maintenance of NCBE’s facility, she also provided key support to the NCBE Board of Trustees and performed an impor­tant liaison function to the Council of Bar Admission Administrators throughout her career with NCBE. Prior to joining the staff at NCBE, Andreassen was employed by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s Board of Bar Examiners for 20 years. All of us at NCBE wish her happiness in her retirement.

C. Beth Hill, NCBE Director of Test and Information Security

C. Beth Hill has been named NCBE’s new Director of Test and Information Security. Hill, who has been NCBE’s MBE Program Director since November 2012, will be responsible for overseeing the identification, prevention, and response to security threats. Hill will continue supporting the MBE program until a new MBE Program Director has been named.

Deb Kuranz, NCBE Manager of Operations and Human Resources

Deb Kuranz joined NCBE in October 2017 to succeed Myra Andreassen as Manager of Operations, under the new title of Manager of Operations and Human Resources. Kuranz was previously employed for over 10 years with NCBE, most recently as Executive Assistant to the President. She left NCBE in July 2015 and has spent the past two years with Physicians Plus Corporation as Facilities Coordinator and Secretary to the Board of Directors.

2017–2018 NCBE Committees

(Updates to announcement in the September 2017 Bar Examiner)

Three NCBE committees have had membership changes since announced in the September 2017 Bar Examiner. Joining the Special Committee on the Uniform Bar Examination are Jonathan A. Azrael (MD), Hon. Edward L. Chavez (NM), Laura Maresca (CO), and Lee A. Vlahos (NC). Updated committee rosters for the other two committees, Character and Fitness Investigations and Diversity Issues, are listed as follows.

Character and Fitness Investigations Committee

• Hulett H. Askew (GA), Chair
• Cheryl Beatty (OK)
• Gregory R. Bordelon (LA)
• Patrick R. Dixon (CA)
• Michele A. Gavagni (FL)
• Elizabeth A. Greenidge (DC)
• Penny Miller (ND)
• Gus V. Quiniones (WA)
• Jeffrey Shipley (MD)

Diversity Issues Committee

• Bryan R. Williams (NY), Chair
• Robert A. Chong (HI)
• Karen M. Goodman (CA)
• Juan Hoyos (MN)
• R. Fred Lewis (FL)
• Jaye Meyer (NC)
• Carol Mitchell (AZ)
• Shellie Park-Hoapili (HI)

(NCBE Chair Hon. Rebecca White Berch and NCBE President Judith A. Gundersen are ex-officio members of all NCBE committees.)