News

James Bassett MJS ‘23 has returned to the Concord, New Hampshire law firm Orr & Reno after stepping down from the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He will focus his practice on alternative dispute resolutions, working as a mediator and arbitrator, and in appellate litigation cases working their way through the state and federal court systems.

During his 13-year tenure as justice, Jim served as chair of the Commission on Judicial Branch Workplace Environment, co-chair of the Committee of the Judiciary and the Media, and co-chair of the Access to Justice Commission. In 2016, he was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules, the national policy-making body for the federal courts. He was reappointed in 2019 and served until 2022.

Prior to his court tenure, Jim worked at Orr & Reno for 27 years as a trial and appellate lawyer, concentrating on constitutional law, commercial litigation, medical malpractice defense, First Amendment and Right-to-Know issues, and land use matters.

Timothy R. Johnson JD ‘87 has retired after a 21-year career in the Foreign Service with the U.S. Department of State. His assignments included overseas postings to El Salvador, Colombia, Russia, Iraq, and Chad, as well as several Washington, D.C. positions.  Tim makes his retirement home in the Columbia, South Carolina metro area.

Natalie Lamarque JD ‘02 has joined Vanguard as Chief Legal Officer. She will be responsible for all legal and compliance activities, public policy, and investment stewardship. She will also serve as managing director of Vanguard’s legal division, secretary of the Vanguard Board of Directors, and secretary of the Vanguard funds.

Natalie joins Vanguard from Principal Financial Group, where she served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary since 2022. Prior to Principal, she was the senior vice president and general counsel at New York Life Insurance Company. Earlier in her career, Natalie was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. She began her legal career as a federal district court and court of appeals law clerk and was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton.

Jessica P. Lange JD ‘98 has joined Bodman’s Business Practice Group in Detroit, where she advises corporate senior leadership teams and boards of directors on corporate governance, corporate transactions, securities law, and finance matters. Jessica served for more than 20 years as in-house counsel to several large and multifaceted publicly-traded corporations, most recently as vice president and associate general counsel for securities and finance for Darden, the world’s largest full-service restaurant company. She has previous experience as an expert attorney for securities, finance, and governance for a Detroit-based diversified energy company and as vice president of corporate finance & securities counsel for a major regional bank, among others.

Robert Parrish JD ‘78 has joined GrayRobinson of counsel in Jacksonville, Florida. Bob is a veteran trial lawyer with more than 45 years of experience in maritime, environmental, and complex civil litigation. He represents shipowners, insurers, manufacturers, and businesses in high-stakes disputes, including vessel collisions, marine insurance coverage, environmental claims, and catastrophic personal injury and death cases. His practice also includes class action defense and product liability, where he has served as lead local trial counsel for one of the nation’s largest tobacco companies.

C.J. Polito JD ‘09 has joined Vinson & Elkins as a Washington, D.C.-based partner in the firm’s Energy Regulatory Practice. C.J. joins the firm from Sidley Austin, where he was an energy regulatory partner, and brings has extensive experience in regulatory proceedings and investigations before federal and state agencies.

He advises clients on physical and financial wholesale power transactions, mergers and asset acquisition approvals, regional energy market rules and tariff requirements, power purchase and sale agreements, and issues related to the design and operation of wholesale energy and capacity markets.

Keith Smith JD ’93 has been elevated to chief legal officer for WellSpan Health, a York, Pennsylvania-based regional healthcare provider, where he was served as vice president and deputy general counsel since October 2022. Keith began his legal career as an associate with Robinson Bradshaw and in 1997 moved to Atrium Health, serving at the company for more than 23 years, most recently as executive vice president and general counsel.

Richard Van Nostrand JD ’80, general counsel at Mirick, was recently selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2026 edition) in Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Employment Law - Management, and Litigation - Labor and Employment. He has been recognized in Best Lawyers since 2011. In July, Rich was designated Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers by appointment of the Supreme Judicial Court and also was named to the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame this year.

Yan Xuan JD ‘87 has joined Robo.ai Inc. as chief legal and compliance officer, corporate secretary, and president of the Americas, spearheading the company's business development, investor and stakeholder engagement there. A seasoned CEO, attorney, venture capitalist and private equity investor, Yan Xuan has held leading positions at companies including AT&T/Lucent, Microsoft, Oracle, and Qualcomm, and served on numerous boards.