USD Law Advocate, Spring 2026

LEADING BY EXAMPLE Vickie Turner ’82 (JD) recognized for a lifetime of good works

Col. Sarah Schaffer ’11 (LLM) named a SDBJ 2025 Woman of Influence in Law and named a SDBJ 2025 Leader of Influence in Law. Dhananjay Shahi (LLM) joined Deloitte as general counsel, South Asia. Ronson Shamoun ’98 (BA), ’03 (LLM) named a SD Metro Top 2025 Attorney. 2003 David Brennan (LLM) hon ored with 2025 San Diego County Bar Association Service Award. Emily Burns joined Santa Clara School of Law as an assistant clinical professor. Erin Gibson honored with the Recorder ’s 2025 Women Leaders in Tech Law, Intellectual Property Award. Gibson is a Legal 500 Hall of Fame-ranked trial lawyer in International Trade Commission proceed ings and was recognized as a 2025 Chambers Top Lawyer in International Trade: Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation. Amy Rose Martel recognized in Top 25: 2025 Women San Diego Super Lawyers & Top 50: 2025 San Diego Super Lawyers. Rose Huelskamp Serrano named a SDBJ 2025 Woman of Influence in Law. 2004 Courtney L. Baird named a SDBJ 2025 Woman of Influence in Law. Eve Brackmann named a LABJ 2025 Woman of Influence.

❱❱ Vickie Turner ’82 (JD), partner emeritus at Wilson Turner Kosmo LLC, is a profound influencer in the legal, philanthropic, corporate leadership and STEM education com munities. Across San Diego and the nation, Turner has earned accolades and awards from prestigious organizations recognizing her contributions, leadership and impact. In October 2024, she was inducted into the class of Lifetime Laureates in the Junior Achievement of San Diego Business Hall of Fame. Laureates are individuals in the San Diego community who represent business excellence, inspiring leadership, entre preneurial achievement and innovation with a mindfulness toward community and philanthropy. They serve as an inspiration to the next generation of leaders. Soon after, Turner was named to San Diego Business Journal ’s 2025 Black Leaders of Influence.

It did not take long for the Corporate Directors Forum to select Turner as the Emerging Board Leader Director of the Year, which recognizes outstanding performance and leadership by corporate board members. Of the honor, Turner remarked, “Serving on boards has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career—a place where curios ity, collaboration and purpose come together to create meaningful impact on the lives of others.” In the spring of 2025, Turner traveled to Puerto Rico to accept the Cora T. Walker Award from the National Bar Association

Vickie Turner ’82 (JD)

Commercial Law Section. Named after Cora T. Walker, one of the first Black women to practice law in New York, the award is given to a National Bar Association member who has a long-standing history of supporting the section and promoting diversity. Turner said, “I am humbled to receive an award named after a legal visionary on whose shoulders we stand.” Perhaps her most meaningful honor was when the National Bar Association inducted Turner into the 2025 Fred D. Gray Hall of Fame during its historic 100th convention in Chicago. Fred D. Gray, a civil rights pioneer and counsel to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Congressman John Lewis, placed the medal around her neck. When she is not onstage receiving well-earned praise from her peers, Turner is pouring her heart into the Links to STEM program for fourth to eighth grade students which she cofounded in 2014—a program where young minds discover their poten tial. And the impact shows: Their robotics team recently soared to first place in robot design at the First Lego League robotic competition, a testament to the students’ bril liance and to Turner’s visionary leadership. For decades, Turner has embodied the strength and values of the USD School of Law alumni community. She is an emerita member of USD Law’s Board of Visitors and was honored with the 2018 Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award and the 2009 USD Law Distinguished Alumni Award.

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