Advocacy is Rick Jeffries’ passion, in both career and volunteer work.
Business Trial Lawyer Jeffries ‘Helps
Businesses Avoid and Resolve Disputes’
By Dennis Friend
The Daily Record
Richard P. Jeffries is a serious guy, an attorney with Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P. in Omaha. But call him Rick. He’s not that serious. Any conversation with him will reveal a crafty, understated wit hiding not far beneath the surface.
During this interview, he claimed he and a Cline Williams colleague “believe we can set this firm on a path toward world domination.”
One might assume the statement to be a joke, but any consideration of his passion and dedication might convince one that he could, indeed, help move the firm toward a goal like that. The word “advocacy” comes up a lot when he talks about why he does what he does.
 According to Jeffries, a career in the legal profession was his most-likely career choice almost since he was old enough to consider a profession. “I flirted with being a tweed-wearing academic, but advocacy has always been in my blood. Certainly, being a lawyer was always a favorite,” Jeffries said.
“My mother, Kathleen, was an advocate for a number of causes,” he said, while his father, Dick Jeffries, was an Omaha trial lawyer for 12 years as well as executive vice president and general counsel for Godfather’s Pizza between 1980 and 1984.
“I admired my father’s ability to make the complicated [issues] simple,” he said. In addition, Jeffries said he had a teacher who taught him that “I could communicate well and advocate for others.”
Click here for full story
Grand Island District Court Judge
James Livingston to Retire
District Court Judge James D. Livingston of Grand Island will retire October 1, 2014.
In a retirement letter sent to the Governor’s office, Livingston noted, “It has been my honor to serve the citizens of Nebraska and in particular the 9th Judicial District for over 22 years.”
After taking the bench in July 1992, Judge Livingston was retained in his position by area voters through several elections, most recently in 2008.
Judge Livingston has been an active member of the Nebraska District Judges Association as both a chairperson and committee member. Until recently he served as chairman of the Legislative Committee, whose mission is to maintain ongoing relations with the legislature and track new legislation each year. He was a regular participant in the Chief Justice’s leadership meetings and Nebraska District Judges Association meetings.
The first step in replacing Judge Livingston will be for the Judicial Resources Commission to call a meeting to determine whether or not, based on judicial workload statistics, his retirement creates a vacancy in the 9th Judicial District, which includes Hall and Buffalo counties.
 – Photo by Lorraine Boyd
From left: Scholarship winners Fernando Gomez, Lorena Salas, Yessica Aleman and Daisy Beltran are congratulated by Ross Pesek, creator of the “True Potential” award. Jackeline Lopez could not be present.
Scholars Recognized at Mexican Consulate
Never let it be said that one person can’t make a difference. Ross Pesek, a young attorney at Dornan, Lustgarten and Troia, saw a need and set out to fill it. Knowing the value of scholarships – he was a recipient that paid both his undergraduate and law school tuition – he knew that young immigrants who received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA or “Dream Act”) were not eligible for any public benefits, including federal financial aid and many scholarships, to help them through school. So he created the True Potential Scholarship. Click here for full story
 Attorney Eileen Hansen is spirited as she discusses her life and career at The Daily Record offices.
An Extraordinary Woman:
An Extraordinary Life
By Lorraine Boyd
The Daily Record
The blonde hair may be turning silver, but the woman who sports those long tresses is as young as they come, in mind and spirit.
You may have seen her in the Douglas County Courthouse, smartly dressed and walking purposefully toward a courtroom where she will fight for someone’s right to be appointed a guardian who will serve them well.
Although many of her clients are undoubtedly younger than she, she is nowhere close to needing a guardian or conservator – nor, most likely, will she ever be.
Without admitting her age, Eileen Hansen gives us hints that she is fast approaching her tenth decade. But apparently that is just a chronological age. Her actions put her in her prime years of productivity.
She laughed as she told a recent story: “A gentleman at the courthouse was always asking to see my driver’s license (which is still valid). One day we were in the judge’s chambers and he said, ‘Eileen, how old are you?’ I replied, ‘Old enough to be your older sister.’”
What shaped this dynamo of a lawyer? Click here for full story | Mark Weber to Serve as
Nebraska Counsel for Discipline  The Nebraska Supreme Court has announced the appointment of Mark A. Weber of Omaha as Nebraska Counsel for Discipline. He will begin his work with the Judicial Branch in September 2014.
Weber is a private practice attorney who has focused on personal injury, criminal cases, insurance litigation, and commercial work for more than 20 years. He has been a member of the Nebraska Supreme Court Advisory Committee (which advises on attorney ethics issues) since 2004, and he has chaired the committee since 2007. His professional associations and memberships include the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association, and the Omaha Bar Association. Click here for full story
United Way of the Midlands CEO Hospitalized
 United Way of the Midlands’ (UWM) President and CEO, Karen Bricklemyer, is hospitalized at Creighton University Medical Center. Bricklemyer was admitted last Tuesday and is undergoing treatment for a serious heart condition.
UWM’s senior vice presidents are handling day-to-day operations, including work on the annual fundraising campaign that kicks off in August. The executive committee of UWM’s board of directors met last week to discuss an interim leadership plan.
Bricklemyer’s family has respectfully requested privacy. United Way will share additional information as it becomes available.
The UWM team’s thoughts and prayers are with Karen and her family. All “well wishes” and messages for the Bricklemyers can be sent to United Way of the Midlands at 1805 Harney Street, Omaha, NE, 68102. Email messages can be sent to Glenda Land, Executive Assistant to the CEO at gland@uwmidlands.org.
For more information regarding United Way of the Midlands, please visit their website at www.UnitedWayMidlands.org. Commissioner Mary Ann Borgeson, Chair of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, was among 2,600 elected and appointed officials to participate in the 79th National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference. The event focused on key issues important to counties like transportation, resiliency, healthcare, criminal justice and economic development.
“NACo’s annual conference is the largest opportunity for counties to learn from one another, share best practices and set national priorities for the year ahead,” said NACo President Linda Langston. “Counties constantly work to strengthen resilient, safe, healthy, economically competitive communities across the county. This gathering provided countless concrete examples of delivering cost-effective services to residents.”
The purpose of the conference, held in a different county each July, is to provide opportunities for county leaders and staff to learn, network and guide the direction of the association’s national advocacy efforts.
Borgeson participated in several healthcare and cybersecurity workshops. Borgeson sits on the NACo Board of Directors and the board met to recommend various policy resolutions to conference delegates. Conference delgates then adopted official policy resolutions that will guide the association’s federal legislative and regulatory efforts over the next year. Resolutions will be available online in the coming weeks.
During the conference, Borgeson was named Chair of the NACo Health Services Committee and President Elect to the Women of NACo. For a more detailed, daily account of conference highlights along with photos, go to: http://bit.ly/NACo.ConferenceDaily.
Leadership Omaha Class 37
The Greater Omaha Chamber will launch its 37th session of Leadership Omaha with an orientation on August 14. Established in 1978, the program is designed to develop effective leaders who will strengthen and transform the community. The 47 members of Class 37 are set to join a diverse network of more than 1,500 Leadership Omaha alumni.
Class members are chosen based on their demonstrated community involvement and career advancement. In addition to orientation – and prior to graduating in June – they will attend a retreat in September and then monthly, daylong seminars. The sessions will encourage open dialogue among class members and more than 100 government officials, civil figures and business leaders who contribute as speakers. Class members will also complete a small group project and can participate in several optional programs, including a police ride-along.
Members of Leadership Omaha Class 37 are: Rick Anderson, Jr., Rick Anderson Image Gallery; David Arnold, Straight Shot; Brian Barks, Food Bank for the Heartland; Karin Campbell, Joslyn Art Museum; Shonna Dorsey, Interface Web School; Mona Dowding, Metropolitan Community College; Nicole Everingham, Collective for Youth; Andrew Fereday, SilverStone Group; Debbie Ferrara, Cox Communications; Joe Flaxbeard, Lamp, Rynearson and Associates, Inc.; Cydney Franklin, Greater Omaha Chamber; Jo Giles, Emspace Group; Shannon Gilroy, Steier Group; Mosah Goodman, Gavilon; Lance Grigsby, Mutual of Omaha; BJ Hansen, McCarthy Capital; Erin Harms, Tenaska Capital Management; Jim Hempel, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska; Adrian Hernandez, Dundee Bank; Kathy Katt, Habitat for Humanity of Omaha; Steve Kerschke, QLI; Jeremy Krumwiede, Mutual of Omaha Bank; Ann Marie Kudlacz, SSCA Omaha; Bill Lamme, The Weitz Company; Joe Menaugh, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.; Jane Meza, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Craig Moody, Verdis Group; Aaron Moser, Sage Capital Investments; Kristi Nohavec, LEO A DALY; Gwen Olney, Omaha World-Herald; Julia Parker, Omaha Small Business Network; David Patterson, Merck & Co.; Ross Polking, Foster Group; Justin Ptacnik, First National Bank of Omaha; Troy Romero, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Robin Shaddy, Sushi Balloon LLC; Amy Shreck, BKD, LLP; Jesse Sitz, Baird Holm LLP; Michaela Smith, McGrath North Mullin & Kratz, PC LLO; Matt Speiker, Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O.; Brian Spencer, RDG Planning & Design; Malinie Staben, Union Bank and Trust Company; Robb Steffes, Kiewit Building Group; Theresa Thibodeau, Primrose School of La Vista; Mark Weichel, Westside Community Schools; Doc Wininger, Pinpoint Broadband, Inc.; and Kim Yungtum, Robert B. Daugherty Foundation.
For more information regarding the Greater Omaha Chamber, please visit their website at www.omahachamber.org.
 Susan Henricks is ICAN’s newest president and CEO, but she’s not new to the organization, having spent the past two years on the board of directors.
ICAN Message ‘All About Understanding
Yourself, So You Can Be a Better Leader’
By Elizabeth Elliott
The Daily Record
Susan Henricks has brought her extensive experience in leading large, well-known companies to bear as the new president and CEO of the Institute for Career Advancement Needs (ICAN). She is no novice to the organization though, having served on the board of directors since 2012. Click here for full story For more information regarding the Institute for Career Advancement Needs, please visit www.icanglobal.net
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
Here are some of our recent articles. Click on "Click here" to access the entire article.
 Laurie Wolford shifted careers in 2008, trading her work as a lawyer for the reins of the popular wine and spirits store.
Moving to Aksarben Village
Spirits Are High
For Spirit World’s Future
By Julien R. Fielding
The Daily Record
Laurie Wolford has found her passion.
Some years ago, the former business attorney developed an interest in food and wine, and as that interest grew, she happened upon an opportunity. “It just sort of fell into my lap,” she said. Click here for full story For more information about Spirit World, go to www.spiritworldwine.com.
 As owner of Great Plains Realty-Auction Co., Randy Fleming is carrying on the Fleming family tradition. His father Dean and two partners founded the company in 1964.From Big to Small
Great Plains Realty-Auction
Sells It All
Julien R. Fielding
The Daily Record
The name Fleming has become synonymous with auctioneering. Inducted into the National Auctioneers Association, Dean W. Fleming, CAI, worked in the industry for 43 years, before he passed away in 1996. A graduate of Iowa State, he was the former owner of and instructor at the Nebraska Auction School, and held a variety of leadership positions, including President of the Nebraska and National Auctioneers Association. Click here for full story For more information about the Springfield-based Great Plains Realty-Auction Co., go to gpsold.com or call Randy at 402-210-4885.
 On a clear day the view can be picturesque, 360 degrees – especially if you are in a WWII B-17 bomber. – Photos by Lorraine BoydTake Advantage of a Rare Opportunity
To Relive Experience of WWII Pilots By Lorraine Boyd
The Daily Record
• First, there’s the noise. Deafening, earplugs-advised noise. A low growl that builds slowly, but surely. Then a sound like a wet towel slapping a board.
• The odor of gasoline tickles the nose, then grows stronger, until you imagine you can taste it in your mouth.
• A vibration from below becomes a rumble, then a vigorous shaking. The powerful roar from underfoot begins to propel you forward.
• Next, seemingly inexplicably, you feel the wind. It grows stronger until it pulls your hair straight up and threatens to strip your glasses off your face.
• Then, there it is, the whole metropolitan area spread out before your eyes – like you’ve never seen it before – as you soar above it. Click here for full story
NePA’ s “Legal Beagles”
Race to the Top in Relay for Life
The Nebraska Paralegal Association (NePA) recently participated in this year’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life with their team, the Legal Beagles. The team included six NePA members and three family members. The theme for this year’s event was “Superheroes.” The Legal Beagles were awarded the trophy for the Top Business Fundraising Team, raising $3,330.15. The relay event culminated with a sunset luminary ceremony, honoring the memory of those who have died from cancer.
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