Gold ‘n Gavel 2014 – Gold 'n Gavel

Gold 'n Gavel 2014

Grant Woods

Grant Woods (Class of 1979) is one of Arizona’s premier attorneys and enjoys a superior reputation as a trial lawyer, a negotiator, and in government relations. He graduated from Occidental College in 1976, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from Arizona State University College of Law in 1979 and was the 1999 Alumnus of the Year from the law school. He served as the first Congressional Chief of Staff for then U.S. Representative John McCain of Arizona.

Mr. Woods served as Arizona’s Attorney General from 1991-1999. He was president of the Conference of Western Attorneys General and chaired the Civil Rights and Supreme Court committees for the National Association of Attorneys General. He was selected by his peers as the nation’s top attorney general in 1995. He successfully argued Lewis v. Casey before the United States Supreme Court. He was one of the principal architects of the states’ lawsuits against the tobacco companies and was a key negotiator in the resulting largest civil settlement in history.

Mr. Woods also has a successful government relations practice. Current or former clients include Apollo/University of Phoenix, Diageo, Wellpoint, Monsanto, Phoenix Coyotes, Toyota Motor Company, Meritage Homes, American Communications Network and Best Western International.

Since returning to private practice in 1999, he has won many multimillion dollar verdicts, including successful litigation involving antitrust, fraud, breach of contract, wrongful termination, medical malpractice, and toxic torts. Mr. Woods was appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate public corruption in Apache County, resulting in the conviction and removal from office of the Apache County sheriff. He is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, which is limited to the top 500 trial lawyers in the world.

Mr. Woods is the founder of the Mesa Boys & Girls Club, the Mesa Education Foundation, and the Mesa Arts Academy, one of Arizona’s first successful charter schools. The Mesa Boys & Girls Club, one of the largest in the state, is named after Mr. Woods. Grant and Marlene Woods were among the early forces behind the Phoenix Children’s Museum, and the Woods family sponsors a permanent construction exhibit there.

Mr. Woods is married to former Fox and CBS news anchor Marlene Galan Woods. They have five children: Austin, an attorney practicing in Phoenix; Lauren, a recent ASU graduate; Cole, a recent graduate of the Dodge Film School at Chapman College; Dylan, a sophomore at Santa Barbara City College; and Ava, 10, a fifth grader at Arizona School for the Arts in Phoenix.

John Karalis

John Karalis, a skilled international negotiator, enjoyed a 30-year career as a corporate lawyer and business executive. He is the author of International Joint Ventures: A Practical Guide (West Publishing, 1992). He graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1963, where he was a senior editor of the Minnesota Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Mr. Karalis practiced law in Minnesota until joining Honeywell, Inc. in 1970. As Associate General Counsel, Mr. Karalis negotiated major acquisitions, joint ventures, and distribution arrangements on behalf of Honeywell within the computer industry in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. He led Honeywell’s negotiations with the French State in 1981-1982 regarding the nationalization of the French computer industry and was named a Corporate Vice President in 1982.

In 1985, he joined Sperry Corporation in New York as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. While at Sperry he counseled its senior management and Board of Directors during its hostile takeover by Burroughs to form Unisys. Following the merger, Mr. Karalis was named Vice President and Special Counsel of Unisys. Shortly after Unisys was formed, Mr. Karalis was offered a position with Apple Computer as Vice President and General Counsel. He served on Apple’s management staff in Cupertino, California, during a period of significant growth in the late ‘80s, while establishing a law department to serve Apple’s rapidly expanding operations worldwide.

Mr. Karalis re-entered private practice in Phoenix before joining Tektronix, Inc., a Portland, Oregon-based global electronics company, in 1992. He served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Secretary, and was a member of its management policy committee. His primary role included overall responsibility for acquisitions, alliances, and divestiture programs. He also served as lead director of the company’s long-standing Japanese joint venture, Sony/Tektronix. In addition, he served as Chairman of Tektronix Foundation from 1993 to 1998.

Mr. Karalis retired in 1998, but left retirement for several years to serve as counsel for Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates, a prominent residential real estate development company. Mr. Karalis received a Distinguished Achievement Award from Arizona State University in 1985 and serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Law, Science & Innovation at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. He currently resides in Scottsdale with his wife, Scottsdale with his wife, Mary.

Kellie Manders

Kellie Manders

“I am deeply humbled to have been named one of this year’s Gold ’n Gavel Scholars. Like many of my peers, law school would not be a possibility without the support of scholarships.

David Medina

David Medina

“Being named a Gold ’n Gavel Scholar has helped change my life. Although being a Gold ’n Gavel Scholar has many benefits, including the fact that I am now affiliated with ASU Law’s biggest event of the year, the biggest benefit has been having the financial support to take advantage of the many great legal opportunities around me.

Gold 'n Gavel 2014

Grant Woods

John Karalis

Kellie Manders

David Medina

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