April 2022 Bar Bulletin
The King County Bar Association’s Leadership Development & Nominations Committee is pleased to announce the following slate of KCBA members for open positions on the Board of Trustees, effective July 1. Additional candidates may run for any of these offices through the petition process prescribed in the bylaws. If no petitions are received by April 10, the slate will be deemed elected. For more information, contact KCBA Executive Director Dua Abudiab by email (duaa@kcba.org) or phone (206-267-7061). Further details are online at www.kcba.org/board. The King County Bar Association expresses its gratitude to the 2021–2022 Leadership Development & Nominations Committee for its work in recruiting this slate of candidates: Sidney Tribe, chair (Carney Badley Spellman); Todd Bowers (WA State Office of the Attorney General); Brian Cadousteau (DLA Piper LLP); Sarah Elerson (Helsell Fetterman LLP); Shawn Larsen-Bright (Dorsey Whitney); Jennifer Payseno (McKinley Irvin); Mary Sakaguchi (Sakaguchi, Felbeck & Reese PLLC); Michael Wampold (Peterson Wampold Rosato Feldman Luna) and board representatives Chalia Stallings Ala-‘ilima (WA State Office of the Attorney General) and Robert Flennaugh II (The Law Office of Robert Flennaugh II, PLLC).
TAHMINA WATSON/ Candidate for President Watson Immigration Law
I joined the King County Bar Association inspired by the history of its inception — helping vulnerable immigrants when the Chinese Exclusion Act was implemented in the late 1800s. As an immigrant and immigration attorney who has dealt with similar challenges in recent years, I deeply appreciate the importance of this legal organization. With that in mind, I am immensely grateful to KCBA for the nomination to serve as President in the coming year.
I moved to Seattle from London, England, in 2005 and started practicing immigration law in 2006. In 2009, I founded Watson Immigration Law, where I practice business immigration law. My practice intersects with many other areas such as family, criminal, tax, contracts, and securities. I see the importance of brilliant lawyers in every discipline and how KCBA has and can continue to make a difference in our practices.
One of my passions has been focusing on human rights. I have seen how current domestic and international affairs affect our communities very directly. I have had a front seat to witness and act on it, serve our communities by matching legal needs with lawyers, and train lawyers to help in the same way KCBA lawyers helped in the 1800s. Some of that work led to creating novel legal clinics, one of which was pioneered right here at KCBA. Yet, there is more that we can do to help both our membership and our community.
Through our events, programming, and pro bono opportunities, I know the KCBA will strive to fulfill the mission “to promote and support a diverse and collegial membership; work with the judiciary to achieve excellence, equity, and accessibility in the administration of justice; and benefit the community through public service and engagement in public policy.”
The year ahead will be challenging for many reasons, but we will have opportunities to make a lasting positive impact. I am grateful for the chance to be on this journey with everyone and be of service.
KAREN OREHOSKI / Candidate for First Vice-President Grube Orehoski PLLC
I am excited to continue serving KCBA in the role of first vice president.
I have worked with the KCBA in many capacities since 2005. First, as a volunteer with the Young Lawyers’ Division (now the New Lawyers’ Division). Next by serving on the YLD Board, and eventually as the Chair of that Board. I continued my involvement with the KCBA by serving four years on the Board of Trustees. I am just now completing my year serving as second vice president. I have served on various committees, including, the Membership Committee, CLE Committee and Public Policy Committee.
All of my work with the KCBA has provided me with an incredible window into our bar’s pursuit of and dedication to justice, as well as giving me a sense of heartfelt community among my colleagues and the staff of KCBA. I have dedicated my entire legal career in Seattle litigating to protect the rights of individuals. Without a doubt, my legal career has been made richer by the people whom I have met at and through the KCBA. Many of those individuals have become friends, mentors and valued colleagues. I look forward to continuing that work and continuing to be a contributing member of this community.
The work KCBA members, staff and volunteers do to make the KCBA a dynamic, responsive and effective institution — providing access to justice and supporting a diverse and collegial bar — is inspiring and impactful. Attorneys are in a unique position to use their education and experience to make a meaningful difference in our communities, and that responsibility only grows more important in relation to the difficult social climate we are all living in. The KCBA provides the attorneys living and practicing in King County with the structure and support to apply their skills and passion to social justice, diversity, and access to justice. It also gives our practitioners opportunities for technical improvement and expertise through its sections, and offers meaningful opportunities for all of us to serve our communities as pro bono volunteers.
I am committed to the KCBA’s mission. I want the KCBA to be important and relevant to all of our members and to the people we serve. I am excited for this opportunity and am grateful to be given the chance to continue my work with the KCBA.
ERIN OVERBEY / Candidate for Second Vice-President King County Sheriff’s Office
I really am honored to be considered for a role with the KCBA leadership team. I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people in the legal community over the past 20 years and many of them are people I met while volunteering at the KCBA. I have served on several committees and co-chaired the Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee. I also served on the Board of Trustees and look forward to trying a new role at KCBA.
I have spent most of my career in public service, working in the civil divisions of both the Seattle City Attorney’s Office and the King County Prosecutor’s Office. I am currently providing legal support to the King County Sheriff’s Office. I find that devoting time and energy to the work of organizations that take an active role in improving our community is so rewarding. The KCBA is a great way to give back to the community and to meet some of the talented and inspiring attorneys in our community.
MICHELLE PHAM / Candidate for Secretary Helsell Fetterman
I am honored and grateful to be nominated for the King County Bar Association Board of Trustees. I am a litigation and intellectual property partner at Helsell Fetterman, where I serve on the firm’s Diversity Committee. In my practice, I help clients strategically develop and protect their intellectual property, and I litigate commercial and IP infringement matters at the state and federal trial court and appellate levels.
Board service is a significant part of my professional and civic involvement in the community. I currently serve as Vice Chair of Verity Credit Union’s Board where I enjoy taking an active role in its DEIB efforts. I also support Washington State’s civil litigators as the Immediate Past Chair of the WSBA Litigation Section’s Executive Committee. I previously served as the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington’s President in 2014, and I co-chaired the Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee in 2016 and 2019.
KCBA has always had a special place in my heart for its pro bono programs, professional development opportunities, and advocacy efforts to advance our profession and those it serves. When I graduated during the Great Recession, it was KCBA’s Family Law Mentor Program that allowed me to provide pro bono services to a domestic violence victim and her child, connected me to an experienced mentor, and allowed me to gain the necessary tools to advocate for my client in my very first trial. Now, I look forward to the opportunity to support the KCBA and play a part in furthering its mission and goals.
IAN WARNER / Candidate for Trustee - Central Zillow Group
I am humbled to serve on the KCBA board, after years of benefiting from the essential services that the KCBA provides. The opportunity to play a part in continuing those services, while meeting the new challenges confronting our legal system today is exciting.
I am currently the Senior Director of Public Policy at Zillow where I advise business lines and government about regulations and consumer interests in the changing real estate, technology, and mortgage industries. Prior to Zillow, I served as the Seattle Mayor’s Office Legal Counsel. In that role, I advised mayors and their senior leadership teams on a broad array of legal matters affecting city policy through a legal lens. Before joining the Mayor’s Office, I was an associate with Dorsey & Whitney LLP where I worked with the Monitoring Team overseeing the Seattle Police Department’s implementation of the federal consent decree. I have has also served as the President of the Loren Miller Bar Association, which is a chapter of the oldest and largest organization of African American attorneys in the United States.
Thank you for the nomination and I look forward to engaging with you all.
DYLAN KILPATRIC / Candidate for Trustee - Eastside Davidson, Kilpatric, & Krislock PLLC
I am honored to be nominated to serve on the board of the King County Bar Association. I am committed to continuing the work of the board aimed at achieving access to legal aid for our community and promoting equity and justice through public policy.
I have practiced in King County since I became a lawyer in 2012. I was born in Seattle and graduated form Seattle University School of Law. I am a partner at Davidson, Kilpatric & Krislock located in downtown Kirkland where I practice plaintiff’s personal injury law. Advocating for those who are the most vulnerable has been a great joy and privilege of my career.
My firm has a long history of volunteering with and supporting the Eastside Legal Assistance Program, helping domestic violence survivors, victims of crimes, and advocating for immigrants regardless of their citizenship status. As a member of the board, I look forward to continuing to extend that work to help our broad and diverse community throughout King County.