Search ABF

• Home
• About
• Officers & Directors

Board of Directors, Biographies

Susan Frelich Appleton

Mortimer M. Caplin

Mortimer M. Caplin, lawyer and educator, is founder of the law firm of Caplin & Drysdale, Washington, D.C. Prior to organizing the firm, he served as U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 until mid-1964. During World War II, he served as a U.S. Navy beachmaster in the Normandy invasion, was cited as a member of the D-Day landing force, and later named "Chevalier" of the French Legion of Honor.

Mr. Caplin is also Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia, where he taught as Professor of Law (1950-61) and Visiting Professor of Law (1965-87). He is recipient of U.Va. 's highest honor, Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law, and participates today in numerous University activities--inc1uding member Governing Council Miller Center of Public Affairs, Honorary Trustee U.Va. Law School Foundation and Honorary Chair U. Va. Council for the Arts. Mr. Caplin's contributions to pro bono and public service,
activities, teaching, and the educational process itself, are recognized by a wide variety of organizations. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer Caplin)

Mr. Caplin has served as D.C. Delegate in the American Bar Association House of Delegates, number of ABA committees, and President of D.C. Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. He continues as member of ABA's Section of Taxation and Board of Directors of the American Bar Foundation.

Lauren B. Edelman

Lauren B. Edelman is Associate Dean for Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Agnes Roddy Robb Professor of Law, and Professor of Sociology at the University of California-Berkeley.  She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University and her JD from the University of California, Berkeley.  Her research addresses the intersection of law and organizations, focusing on how organizations both respond to and shape the meaning of law. She directed the Center for the Study of Law and Society at UC Berkeley from 2004-2009, served as President of the Law and Society Association in 2002-2003, won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000 for her work on the formation of law in the workplace, and has twice been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Science. She is currently writing a book titled: Working Law: How Managers Transform Civil Rights in the American Workplace. 

George Frazza

George Frazza is Of Counsel to Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.  Mr. Frazza joined the firm in 1997 after more than 30 years with Johnson & Johnson where he held the positions of Corporate Secretary (1975-1978), Vice President and General Counsel (1979-1997) and member of the Johnson & Johnson’s Executive Committee (1987-1966).  He is a past co-chair of the American Arbitration Association’s large Complex Case Program and has been serving since 1997 as an arbitrator in a number of commercial disputes conducted under AAA and ICC rules.  He is past president of the Association of General Counsel (an organization comprised of the chief legal officers of Fortune 100 companies), and a former editor of The Business Lawyer.   Mr. Frazza has served as a member of the New York Stock Exchange’s Legal Advisory Committee and a Trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2000-2010).  He is director of the National Center for State Courts.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: American Bar Association (Member, Federal Judiciary Committee (1999-2002), House of Delegates; Chair, Business Law Section 1996-1997; Member, Committee on Judicial Independence and Ad Hoc Committee on Judicial Campaign Finance; Mass Tort Commission); Chair, American Arbitration Association Complex Case Program (1995-1997); Legal Advisory Committee, N.Y. Stock Exchange (1994-1997); President, Association of General Counsel (1993-1995); Arbitrator (AAA & ICC) of Commercial Disputes; Director, American Arbitration Association (1994-2000); frequent contributor and speaker; Trustee, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2000-2010); Director, National Center for State Courts (2007-    ).

PUBLICATIONS: Editor, The Business Lawyer (1994-1995)

Kay H. Hodge

Kay H. Hodge is Chair of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. She is a partner in the labor law firm of Stoneman, Chandler & Miller LLP, where she represents management in labor, employment, and employee relations matters, including defending employers in employment related litigation and advising employers on methods and procedures to avoid litigation. She is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Kay is the Massachusetts State Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, past member of the ABA Board of Governors, and immediate past Chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity. She is a past President of both the National Conference of Bar Presidents and the Massachusetts Bar Association. Kay is a member of the Race and Ethnic Advisory Board for the Massachusetts Trial Court. She has been a member of numerous commissions of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, including the Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Massachusetts Courts, the Juvenile Justice Commission, and the Committee on Gender Equality. She served for eight years as a member, and for six years as Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Council, evaluating and recommending candidates for Massachusetts state court judicial appointments.

Kay serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit entities, including the American Arbitration Association, Newbury College in Boston, Boys and Girls Club of Metrowest, Inc., Starr King School for Ministry (Berkeley, CA) and Advocates, Inc. She also serves on the Board of Overseers of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, the Board of Advisors of Bay Cove Human Services, Inc. and the Boston University Law Alumni Association Executive Committee.

Kay has received the Massachusetts Bar Association Gold Medal for outstanding legal services in Massachusetts benefiting the public, the legal profession and the Association (1999), the Boston University Alumni Association Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession (1996), and the Boston University School of Law Silver Shingle Award (1995). Kay received a B.A. (1969) from Boston University and a J.D. (1972), and LL.M in Taxation (1977) from the Boston University School of Law.

David S. Houghton

Mr. Houghton has 36 years of experience as a business and trial lawyer. He has an extensive background in both jury and non-jury cases involving construction, claims involving design professionals, taxes, healthcare and corporate and general commercial transactions. Mr. Houghton has successfully handled matters before all state and federal courts, and has broad experience in director and officer liability matters and construction law, as well as extensive business experience in the areas of taxation and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Houghton is a past President of the Nebraska State Bar Association and the Omaha Bar Association and serves as Nebraska’s State Delegate to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. He is also a past President of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. He is currently the Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the Nebraska Bar Foundation. He is "AV" rated in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America in the area of commercial litigation and is named in the Great Plains Superlawyers list.

Mr. Houghton graduated from Drake University in 1973, and in 1975, he graduated with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was Notes and Comments Editor of the Iowa Law Review. After graduation, Mr. Houghton served as judicial clerk to the Honorable Donald P. Lay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Mr. Houghton has taught trial practice at Creighton University School of Law and has spoken at numerous construction and architect/engineer seminars.

Richard Pena

Richard is the past President of the American Bar Foundation.  Long active in the Texas bar, Mr. Pena is past President of the State Bar of Texas and of the Travis County Bar Association, and served as Chair of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Mr. Pena has received three Presidential Citations from the State Bar of Texas for his meritorious service to the profession and has been selected a member of the prestigious American Inns of Court. He received the Distinguished Lawyer Award presented by the Austin Bar Association in 2007. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas where the law school faculty awarded him an honorary membership in the Order of the Coif.

At the national level, Mr. Pena currently serves on the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and led the Texas delegation to the ABA. He also served on the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and was chair of the ABA’s Commission on Immigration. He is on the Advisory Board of People to People Ambassador Programs and has led delegations of Texas and U.S lawyers to China, Tibet, South Africa, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and Russia. Mr. Pena is listed in numerous Who’s Who publications, including Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in the World.