The Story of Cooley Godward’s 1993 Summer Associate Class

March 7, 2022 · by · in Former Employers, Legal Industry

I was one of 25 summer associates in Cooley Godward’s program in 1993. I recently rediscovered my summer associate “resume book”/”facebook” (we all looked SO YOUNG), and it made me wonder how their careers developed over the past three decades. This post rounds up what I could find:

Molly Brown (now Molly Forstall). According to this 2011 article, she did a federal clerkship and joined Cooley in 1995. According to her LinkedIn profile, she left Cooley in 2005. Her bar license went inactive in 2007. According to the 2011 article, “Molly, after practicing employment law for several years, now enjoys her full-time role as a mother of two.” She co-produced a couple of Broadway plays in the mid-2010s and a documentary in 2020. Her Google search results show active philanthropy, including liberal political causes. Her husband was a key Apple executive, and he has his own page on Getty Images that includes some photos of Molly.

Theodore Chen. According to his LinkedIn profile, Teddy worked at Cooley from 1994 to 1997, then worked in-house at various companies. He’s now Associate General Counsel at Calix. Teddy was my next-door officemate for some of our time together.

Kristin Croft (now Kristin Pedersen). According to her LinkedIn profile, Kristin worked at Cooley from 1994-2004. She left to join another firm. Since 2007, she has practiced at her own firm, Daijogo & Pedersen LLP, in Marin County.

Linda DeMelis. According to her LinkedIn profile, Linda worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1998. She switched to VLG/Heller Ehrman and apparently stopped practicing law in 2008. She most recently worked as an editor at

Roger D. Edwards. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at Cooley until December 1995. His resume after that reflects stints in investment banking, law practice, and management jobs. His current position is listed as “Privacy Evangelist” at BlueOwl.

Adriana Estrada. According to her LinkedIn profile, she did a clerkship after law school and then started at a different law firm for a few years before holding various business positions. She is now VP of Brand Strategy for Stash.

Robert Galvin. He started at Cooley but I can’t tell how long he stayed. He joined Wilmer Hale in 2011 after stints at Day Casebeer and Howrey. He’s not on the Wilmer site any more, and his bar license went inactive at the end of 2021, so he may be taking a break or has retired.

Kirk Hobbs. According to this alumni profile, Kirk worked at Cooley until switching to become an entrepreneur. He is now CEO of ICU Eyewear.

Jeffrey N. Hyman. According to his LinkedIn profile, Jeff worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1997. He switched to another law firm, then went in-house at Intel, Apple, and Pebble before joining Google in Strategic Relations. He now runs his own consultancy/law practice.

Noel C. Johnson. According to his LinkedIn profile, Noel worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1997. He then rotated among law firm and in-house jobs. He now holds the title “Managing Director and Associate General Counsel” at JP Morgan Chase Bank.

Dan S. Johnston. According to his LinkedIn profile, Dan worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1999, then went in-house. He now holds the title of “E.V.P and Chief Legal & Administrative Officer” at Omnicell. Dan was also a next-door officemate for some of our time together.

Tracy S. Kaplan. According to her LinkedIn profile, Tracy worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1998. She went inactive with the bar in 2000. She currently lists her job as “

David D. Kim. David’s LinkedIn profile is sparse, but he’s now in-house counsel at ASML.

Martin J. Lobdell. According to his LinkedIn profile, Martin worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1997. He then went into investment banking, then corporate development, and now lists his position as running a hedge fund.

Clarisa Long. According to her faculty bio, Clarisa worked at a DC law firm and clerked at the Federal Circuit before becoming a full-time professor. She now is a faculty member at Columbia Law School.

Julie Lythcott-Haims. According to her LinkedIn profile, Julie worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1997. She then went in-house at Intel before taking on various administrative roles at Stanford Law School. She has become a best-selling author.

Quang D. Nguyen. I could not find any information about him.

Ricardo Rodriguez. He worked at Cooley until at least 2010. His bar license went inactive in 2019.

Charles M. Schaible. Charles joined Cooley in 1994 and is still there! 🎉

Eric Schlachter (now Eric Goldman). I changed my name in 1997 while still at the law firm. I joined Cooley in 1994 and left in 2000. I was Epinions’ General Counsel for two years and became a full-time law professor in 2002.

Mark G. Seneker. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mark worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1999. He then took business roles at Nike. According to this angel investor bio, he retired in 2020.

Sarah R. Wauters. According to her LinkedIn profile, Sarah joined an LA law firm in 1994 and then worked in-house and at her own firm before switching into business roles.

Patrick Walravens. According to his firm bio, Patrick worked at Cooley until he switched to investment banking. He now works as an equity analyst. Little-known fact: there were six UCLA JD/MBA students in the class of 1994, and two of them (Patrick and me) started at Cooley in Fall 1994.

Laurie A. Webb. According to her LinkedIn profile, Laurie worked at Cooley from 1994 until 1998. She then went in-house and is now a VP in Seagate’s legal department.

Michael L. Weiner. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at Cooley from 1994 until 2003. He then switched firms and is now a partner at Dorsey & Whitney.

* * *

Some observations:

1) This rundown provides additional evidence that GenXers really did have better career prospects and economic opportunities than millennials. Most of my classmates appear to have been continuously employed for as long as they’ve wanted to work, and many have held positions over their careers that they would have viewed as dream jobs back in 1993.

2) This summer associate class was filled with extremely talented people. I remember feeling a little imposter syndrome when I saw the resumes of my classmates. We now know that many of them were destined for remarkable careers in a wide range of fields, including law, finance, entrepreneurship, management, academia, and more.

3) You can see how many people left the law firm in 1997-1999 (I left shortly thereafter in 2000). The late 1990s was a crazy time, and the law firm had a tough time competing. 28 years later, it appears that only 1 cohort member is still at the law firm; and it appears only a few stayed more than a decade. I wonder if that yield rate is consistent with the law firm’s projections in Fall 1992 when it set this class…?

4) I can’t decide if I’m envious or not of my retired classmates. Obviously retirement is a strong indication that they achieved their life’s wealth objectives, but I also love my job and don’t want to stop doing it!

As I’ve said many times, I didn’t leave the law firm because I was unhappy there (though 1999 was a brutal year workwise). I left because I was more excited about the opportunity at Epinions. I can imagine a scenario where I stayed at the law firm in 2000, made partner, and stuck around until today. However, as much as I enjoyed being a lawyer and working at Cooley, I love my current job even more…even when I remember that I’m earning 10-20% of what I’d be earning as a partner at Cooley.