1. School of Law Celebrates Distinguished Graduates during Law Alumni Weekend

School of Law Celebrates Distinguished Graduates during Law Alumni Weekend Charlie Tomm '68, '75L was honored with the Outstanding Alumnus Award. Eone Beck '95L and Sarah Kathryn Stahling '15L were recognized for volunteer work.

By Law Communications
April 14, 2025

More than 350 Washington and Lee law school alumni and guests returned for this year's reunion celebration, held April 4-6 in Lexington. This reunion was the among the most highly attended on record since the law school began holding a separate alumni weekend in 2007.

Pleasant weather greeted alumni as they rolled into Lexington Friday afternoon to take part in such popular events as "Back to the Classroom," featuring legendary professor Brian Murchison. "Celebrating 50 Years of Women at W&L Law" featured members of the Law Class of 1975 in recognition of their path breaking experience with coeducation of the law school.

Saturday morning kicked off with a student and alumni breakfast, followed by updates from Dean Melanie Wilson and President Will Dudley. Next, during the Law Alumni Association annual meeting, Law Council president Neil Millhiser '11L passed the gavel to Rae Mueller '12L, who will lead the association in the coming year. Afterwards, Dean Melanie Wilson announced the recipients of the Outstanding Alumnus/a Award, Volunteer of the Year Award and Young Volunteer of the Year Award.

The 2024 Outstanding Alumus/a Award was given to Charlie Tomm '68, 75L for exceptional achievements in his career and unselfish service to his community and his alma mater. Tomm graduated from Washington and Lee in 1968 with a BS in Commerce. He was a member of the football team, a Dorm Counselor, and played on the freshman lacrosse team. After graduation, he served from 1968-1972 on the Navy's only troop-carrying submarine as a diver and officer and in the active reserves from 1972-1975; he earned the Navy Achievement, Viet Nam Service, Viet Nam Campaign and National Defense Medals.

Tomm returned to Lexington in the fall of 1972 to join the Law Class of 1975, serving on Law Review and receiving the distinction of the Order of the Coif and cum laude at Commencement. While he was in the private practice of law in New York City with Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman), he earned a Master of Laws in Taxation (1981) from New York University.

Tomm has served his alma maters extensively. Starting as a member of the Law Council in 1985, he went on to serve W&L as president of the Law Council (1994-95), chair of the Annual Fund (1997-99) and a trustee from 1999-2009, when he became an emeritus trustee.

Since 2017 Tomm has been Chairman & CEO of Pablo River Partners, an investor in the retail automotive industry. He is a director of Shoe Carnival Inc., a leading retailer of family footwear (serving as its lead director and as chair of its Audit Committee), a director of Margo Caribe, Inc., a wholesale garden products company (founded by his good friend and '68 classmate, Michael Spector), and a director of Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital.

He was President & CEO of Brumos Automotive from January 2009 until Brumos was sold in 2016. He entered the retail automotive business in April 1994 as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Coggin Automotive and was President & Chief Operating Officer when publicly held Asbury Automotive Group Inc. acquired the company in late 1998. He was President & CEO when the Coggin and Courtesy subsidiaries of Asbury were merged in January 2003 to form Coggin/Courtesy AutoGroup and continued in that position until August 2008.

Prior to entering the retail automotive industry, Tomm was Executive Vice President & COO of PIE Nationwide Inc. (trucking), an investment banker, Deputy General Counsel of Schlumberger Ltd. (oilfield services), Vice President & General Counsel of Arkansas Best Corporation (trucking - now ArcBest Corporation), an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arkansas and in the private practice of law with Winthrop Stimson in New York City. Formerly, he was a trustee of The Bolles School, a trustee and board chair of Jacksonville University, chair of the American Cancer Society Campaign for Hope Lodge in Jacksonville, a trustee of HabiJax (Habitat for Humanity in Jacksonville), a commissioner and chair of the Jacksonville Housing Authority, chair of the Jacksonville Sports Council and a lacrosse coach at Bolles for twelve years.

The Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes those individuals who go above and beyond assisting the Law School. Whether it is hosting an alumni event, mentoring a student, serving as a class agent, raising money in honor of a reunion, or serving on the Law Council, Alumni Board, or Board of Trustees, volunteers take this school to the next level. This year's recipient is Eone Beck '95L.

Before joining the Law Class of 1995, Beck received her B.A. cum laude from Ole Miss, where she was Senior Class President and a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. While in law school, she served as an SBA class officer and participated in the mock trial, moot court, and negotiations competitions.

Beck is Counsel on the Litigation Team at FloranceGordonBrown in Richmond, and her practice centers on medical malpractice defense, premises liability, wrongful death, and general liability litigation. She has tried sixty-one jury trials to verdict as solo chair and has appeared in nearly every courthouse across the Commonwealth. Beck serves as elder at First Presbyterian Church.

Her classmate William Toles '92, '95L shared that "Eone Beck is the epitome of the saying NEVER say no. Since we graduated from law school, Eone has volunteered as a class agent and reunion chair. She does not hesitate to email or call our classmates to encourage their return to Lexington for reunions. Her goal is always the same - maximum attendance and an opportunity for classmates and friends to share our memories from law school."

Beck credits the Honor System of Washington and Lee with providing a framework for integrity, both in the practice of law and as a human being. She has always been proud of being an alumna of W&L, which she believes distinguishes itself by producing the highest caliber of practitioners: considerate, honorable, and thorough. But she values most of all her classmates of 95L and the bond they share with one another.

The Young Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes those young alumni who go out of their way to assist W&L Law in recruiting students and mentoring students in their career searches. The recipient this year is Sarah Kathryn "SK" Stahling from the Law Class of 2015.

SK is a graduate of William and Mary, receiving her bachelor's degree in history and government. During Law School, she served on the Moot Court Executive Board, an Honor Advocate, and President of Phi Delta Phi. SK graduated cum laude and went to Richmond to be an associate attorney at Kalbaugh Pfund & Messersmith until 2019 when she joined the Virginia Office of the Attorney General as an Assistant AG in the Construction Litigation section.

SK has served on the Young Alumni Council for the last eight years and has frequently assisted law students with their job search in the Richmond area. She has served as the W&L Chair of the Virginia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division-Law School Council, and presently serves on the Boards of Governors for both the Young Lawyers Conference and Construction Section of the Virginia State Bar and is President of the John Marshall Inn of Court in Richmond.

The next Law Alumni Weekend is scheduled for April 10-12, 2026.

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