Irish Eyes; UCI Medal; DTSA Cool

Céad míle fáilte to Tom Donovan, whose fine Irish surname might not sound like a natural match for the Italian influences of the Resort at Pelican Hill, where he signed on as managing director just in time for St. Patrick’s Day and is slated to report for duty later this month. It’s worth noting, however, that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish by birth but had the keen sense to adapt to his good fortune … Donovan doesn’t have anything on Dan Callahan, who started Callahan & Blaine on St. Pat’s in 1984, and will be taking his firm bowling at Lucky Strike in Orange to mark the anniversary … Callahan might want to carry his shillelagh if the route to the party takes him past the Orange County Register. He’s tussled and gotten entwined with the one-time flagship of Freedom Communications at various times over the years. Start with the multimillion-dollar payday Callahan got out of the $30.5 million he won from Freedom on behalf of newspaper carriers a few years ago. Subtract several hundred thousand dollars he lost as an investor during the brief era of Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz. And stay tuned—now Callahan has been retained to defend Spitz from claims related to Freedom’s handling of pension funds … Strong reviews for Doug Ingram as emcee of the Forum for Corporate Directors’ 22nd annual Corporate Director of the Year awards at the Ritz Carlton last week, an event that somehow managed to maintain a positive vibe even as the crowd bid farewell to one of the group’s own directors and recognized another who’s been ailing. A moment of silence was observed for the late CoreLogic CEO Anand Nallathambi (see related item, page 4). Then came Jim Loss, a colleague of Chris Cox at Morgan Lewis who provided the crowd an email address and the notion of sending along words of support to the former congressman and SEC chief, who’s been having a tough go lately but nevertheless spent the next morning responding to several hundred well-wishers … Anyone else hear that the UCI Medal slated for Michael Drake and his wife, Brenda, during the Lauds & Laurels event set for March 30 might be a capper of sorts? Talk around campus indicates the stage has been set for possible changes in the concept of the award and perhaps even its physical form in the future (see Addendum item, page 12) … Anyone else notice that the listing for the home Warren Buffett is selling in Laguna Beach (see related item in Luxury Homes column, page 31) went to Villa Real Estate despite the fact that the Sage of Omaha’s Berkshire Hathaway is in the market here? … Notable: First American Financial Corp. has gone back-to-back on the Fortune 100 Best Places to Work, where it’s the lone OC-based entry … Kudos: to Connie Ho, digital content coordinator at Westways magazine in Costa Mesa, and Diya Chacko, recently arrived digital news director for the Register, on an engaging and worthwhile mixer on diversity in the media. The midweek event came under the banners of the Journalism and Women Symposium-Southern California and Online News Association-Los Angeles, drawing a smart crowd to Chapter One, which positively buzzed throughout the evening, offering a clear indicator that the cool factor of downtown Santa Ana is real … Sullivan says: Thumbs up to the Irvine Ranch Water District’s new logo (left), which looks more in line with emoji culture of the digital age compared with the overhead-projector feel of its predecessor.