It's February, the perfect time to highlight some of our alumni who met during their time at USC Gould. If you have a story you would like to share, email us at [email protected]. Fight On!
Debby Stegura JD 1984 and Larry Vanden Bos JD/MBA 1985
While at Gould, Debby noticed a tall guy who was always running over to Marshall to 'TA' a class. He was a staff member on the SoCal Law Review while Debby was an editor so they continued to meet. They started dating the April of her last year of law school and were married in November 1985. The rest, Debby says, is history. Three grown up children later, Debby and Larry are empty nesters in Los Angeles and loving it.
Shari Munson JD 1985 and Todd Swanson JD 1985
Shari and Todd met when they were both participants in a class on group dynamics in negotiation. Todd had control and was pitted against three of his classmates. The students had various scenarios that would result in different pay-outs; real money was in play and Todd ended up with the bulk of it. When Shari asked Todd what he was going to do with all his money; he replied, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that." A few months later, the couple was engaged. They married after their first year with former Dean Bice and his wife Barbara in attendance. They now have two grown children and two granddaughters.
Cynthia Janis DeNeve JD 1998 and Jorge deNeve JD 1998
Cynthia Janis and Jorge deNeve worked together in the Post-Conviction Justice Project (PCJP) as law students. When they graduated, they went their separate ways; Cynthia began work with the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office and ultimately to the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender's Office and Jorge went on to O'Melveny and the Securities Exchange Commission. In 2012, they met again on campus at a PCJP anniversary celebration. They exchanged numbers at the end of the evening and went on their first date that February. At the time, Jorge was a widower raising three kids on his own and Cynthia was a divorced single mom with two young girls. On July 19, 2014, they were married and became a modern day Brady Bunch, blending a family of five kids and two busy law careers.
Jaime Shean JD 2001 and Mark Shean JD 2001
Jaime and Mark met in advanced legal research just before the start of their first year of law school. They started dating in February of their first year, became engaged during their second year and married during spring break of their third year. The couple then started their careers in Orange County at large law firms and nearly 20 years later, live in Irvine with their three children. Mark is an in-house attorney at Western Digital and Jaime is Assistant General Counsel at Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP. The couple loves spending time with their family and traveling the world.
Jessica E. Forman JD 2002 and Julian Forman JD 2002
Jessica and Julian met on the first day of class in Contracts class with Professor Eric Talley. Julian was running late and there was only one remaining seat in the front row. Jessica was in the second row and recalls Julian rushing in, taking a seat and giving her a big smile. They studied together for most of first year, started dating later that year and have been together ever since. Jessica and Julian loved Professor Talley's class and were thrilled that he was able to attend their wedding in August 2003. The couple has since relocated to Vancouver, B.C. where they practice law while raising their three children. They still have very fond memories of their time together at USC.
Alexis R. Alonzo JD 2006 and Christopher Nilsen JD 2007
Christopher and Alexis met in the law library. They became friends and started studying together, but it was nothing more until they were studying for finals the next semester. One day during finals week, Alexis casually mentioned that she was craving dried pineapple. The next day, Christopher arrived at the law school with a giant shopping bag filled with dried pineapple and numerous other types of her favorite snack foods. (She later learned that he had spent the last of his student loan stipend on those snacks.) They started dating soon afterward. Twelve years later, Alexis and Chris are married with two beautiful children. Life is hectic juggling two demanding careers and two preschoolers, but they would not trade it for the world.
Chris Cianci JD 2009 and Yungsheng Wang 2010
Chris Cianci JD 2009 and Yungsheng Wang JD 2010 supposedly met while in law school, but Chris has no memory of it. They were in the same class (Gifts, Wills and Trusts) and even on the same journal (Interdisciplinary Law Journal). However, while Yung secretly pined for Chris, Chris remained oblivious. In October 2011, Yung began chatting with Chris on USC Lawmail and finally gathered the courage to ask him out. Chris agreed to it. On September 3, 2017, Chris and Yung got married in downtown Los Angeles.
