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Laura A. Riddlebarger
Class of 2009
It is with heavy hearts that we announce Laura A. Riddlebarger (‘09) passed away peacefully on Monday, October 9, 2023, in her home surrounded with love. Laura’s life, though short in years, was very full. She had so many great friends and she cherished her relationships. Laura was successful at everything she did starting as a young girl. She achieved her goals and had many accomplishments.
Laura’s successes included: Assistant Commonwealth Attorney for Fairfax County from 2010-2020; Law Clerk to the Honorable Leslie M. Alden 2009-2010; Intern for the Office of the Commonwealth Attorney Fairfax County 2008; Law Clerk for the Law Office of Jay B Myerson 2007-2008; Paralegal for Sensei Enterprises, Inc. 2007.
Laura’s Education: Juris Doctorate—George Mason University Law School (Summa cum laude), Roanoke College, Northside High School (Valedictorian), Roanoke VA. Laura leaves to cherish her memories and her love Eric Denlinger, her life partner; Carl Riddlebarger, her father; Pat Riddlebarger, her mother and her two beloved cats: Alice aka Pooh and Gryphon aka Gru.
There was never anything too tough for her. She went at everything all out and nonstop. This is a warning to heaven; watch out Laura’s coming, let the debate begin.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Fairfax CASA.
Michael Tobin
Class of 2014
A member of Haynes Boone’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, Mike assists clients in building patent portfolios through preparation and prosecution of high-quality patent applications. He focuses on innovations in the chemical arts and related fields. Mike’s practice also includes inter partes reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, design patent applications, and general IP counseling. Mike was ranked in the “Ones to Watch” category of The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc. in 2022 and 2023. Michael was recently promoted to counsel.
Kathleen McCowin
Class of 1980
After serving as Patent Counsel at Silicon Valley startups, the National Labs, NASA, the Navy, and UC Berkeley for 40 years, Kathleen has retired to found a medical device startup. She lives in San Francisco by the ocean. Kathleen has three children, Garrett in Berkeley, Liz in Cornwall UK and Jan in Olympia Oregon. They boogie board with her when they visit.
Jason Winslow
Class of 2007
Jason Winslow (J.D., 2007) has joined the law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as a partner in the firm’s healthcare practice group in its St. Louis office. Jason regularly defends hospitals, physician groups, doctors, mid-level providers, and other medical professionals.
Heidi Wagner
Class of 1992
A Scalia Law alum, Heidi L. Wagner, ’92 JD, was announced as Global Head of Government Affairs on the executive team at ElevateBio, LLC, a technology-driven company focused on powering transformative cell and gene therapies.
A health care policy executive and consultant, Ms. Wagner has more than 25 years of experience as an attorney in health care legislative and regulatory policy issues. Her policy expertise encompasses issues related to biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and public payer policy. She has led numerous U.S.-based federal legislative and regulatory strategic efforts. More recently, she has focused on political and policy advocacy efforts worldwide.
Prior to joining ElevateBio, Ms. Wagner spent decades at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, and Global Blood Therapeutics. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President, Head of Government Affairs & Policy at Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc., where she was responsible for directing the company’s government affairs strategy and implementation in the U.S. and Europe. She also held various leadership positions over a nine-year tenure at Alexion, culminating in Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs where she led a broad range of activities, including engagement on legislative and regulatory policy issues and advancing global patient access objectives for a portfolio of products (Soliris, Strensiq, and Kanuma). Prior to Alexion, Ms. Wagner managed a broad portfolio of U.S. federal legislative and regulatory policy issues for 11 years at Genentech. She started her career in health policy and had managed cross-functional industry coalitions on the HIPAA privacy rule and on antitrust issues.
In addition to Mason, Ms. Wagner received a BS degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Susan Rodriguez
Class of 2009
“Susan Rodriguez will be appointed U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of North Carolina, effective April 3, 2023. In her new role, Rodriguez will preside over criminal and civil cases. On the criminal side, she will handle matters such as initial appearances, arraignments, plea and competency hearing, inquiries of counsel and motions to suppress. On the civil side, her matters will include discovery disputes, mediations, settlement conferences, referred motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment” (McGuireWoods, “McGuireWoods Partner Susan Rodriquez to Become U.S. Magistrate Judge,” March 14, 2023). For more details, please read the press release on McGuireWoods’ website.
Stephen Jackson
Class of 2016
Penn State’s Journal of Law & International Affairs recently published Antonin Scalia Law School alum, Stephen Jackson’s, ’16 JD, paper entitled: “An Imperfect Way: The Legality of the ‘Soleimani Strike’ and Why the Biden Administration Should Adopt its Precedent for Future Operation in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Citation - 11 Penn. St. J.L. & Int’l Aff. 34 (2023). The paper is available on the Journal of Law & International Affairs' website.
David J. Rashid
Class of 2010
The Illinois law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. has hired George Mason University Law alum David J. Rashid (JD. 2010) as a Partner. Mr. Rashid joined the firm on February 14, 2023. He will concentrate his legal practice in cases concerning personal injury, medical negligence, premises liability and products liability. Prior to joining Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, Mr. Rashid worked at a well-known Chicago personal injury law firm where he secured more than $130 million dollars in verdicts and settlements for his deserving clients. A native of Peoria, Illinois, Mr. Rashid has obtained successful results for clients throughout the state. He holds records for medical malpractice verdicts/settlements in Cook County, Richland County, and Crawford County.
Mr. Rashid has been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers as a Super Lawyer in the area of medical malpractice, and by Law Bulletin Media as an Emerging Lawyer. In 2019, Mr. Rashid was honored as one of the National Trial Lawyers “Top 40 Under 40.” In 2016, Law Bulletin Media honored Mr. Rashid with a Trial Lawyer Excellence Award for his role in a record-setting verdict in Cook County. Mr. Rashid is a highly involved member of the state’s legal community, holding memberships in the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association. He has authored several articles that were published in the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association’s “Trial Journal.”
Saleha Mohamedulla
Class of 2004
Saleha Mohamedulla (J.D.) was recently selected as Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Influential Women of Law” for 2022. This honor is given to women attorneys and judges who have an impact in the community, perform influential work on behalf of the justice system, and/or accomplish meaningful outcomes during their careers.
Philip Kiko
Class of 1977
Phil Kiko (J.D. 1977) has joined Williams & Jensen as their newest Principal. Kiko will bring his experience as a non-partisan Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to his new role.