It is hard to believe we only have one good month of decent weather left (barring the effects of global warming). Due to a busy workload, I have not been outside much, but this morning I took a break to do some pruning so that I could get the car into the driveway. I cut some fabulous deep-purple hydrangeas that were encroaching into car territory and put them in one of the 75 blown-glass vases in my living room. It’s funny how good some flowers can look even after being pretty much ignored all year.
Normally, my columns this time of year are kind of skimpy because everybody is out enjoying the sunshine instead of focusing on hiring. However, this year there has been more summer attorney movement than usual, so I do have something to talk about besides my overgrown garden.
New Firm Owners
Joseph McCarthy has joined the Seattle office of Stoel Rives LLP as a partner in the firm’s real estate practice group. He was previously with Kantor, Taylor & McCarthy, where he was a founding shareholder. His practice focuses on the development and financing of residential communities, condominiums, apartments and mixed-use projects.
Tammy Williams has become a shareholder with Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, P.S., where her practice will continue to focus on medical malpractice and insurance defense.
Michael Herbst has joined the Seattle office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt as a shareholder. His practice focuses in the areas of corporate and commercial business transactions. Prior to joining Schwabe, Herbst practiced law at Williams Kastner.
Associate Additions
The aforementioned Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, P.S. also added a new associate, Nicholas Jenkins. Jenkins was previously with Patterson Buchanan.
Kenyon Disend, PLLC recently added four new associates: Bob Sterbank, Margaret King, Amy Jo Pearsall and Janet Reis. Sterbank is the former city attorney for Mercer Island, Olympia and Federal Way. King served as legal counsel to the Washington State Senate Water, Energy and Technology Committee and will be serving as city attorney for Roslyn. Pearsall was previously an assistant city attorney for Federal Way. She will serve as the city attorney of Covington and assistant city attorney for Tukwila. Reis previously worked for the city attorney’s offices in Bellevue and Mercer Island and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.
Jason (Jay) Donovan recently joined Foster Pepper PLLC as an associate in its insurance coverage and litigation practice groups. He was most recently with Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago.
Bryan Anderson has joined the Seattle office of Stoel Rives LLP as an associate in the litigation group. He has experience in products liability, commercial law and appellate matters. He was previously an associate at Dykema Gossett PLLC in Detroit.
Cairncross & Hempelmann, P.S. has added four new associates: Margarita Morrow, Charles Newton, Jada Quinn and Ruth Walters. Morrow joins the firm’s hospitality, travel and tourism practice and represents hotels, resorts, conference centers, meeting venues and groups that use their facilities. Morrow previously was corporate counsel at Expedia, Inc. Newton joins C&H’s commercial litigation practice. He was formerly with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office. His practice focuses primarily on dispute resolution of civil cases. Quinn joins the firm’s IP and technology practice, where she assists clients with drafting and negotiating technology transaction agreements. Quinn was previously with Heller Ehrman. Walters has joined the firm’s hospitality, travel and tourism practice. Her background is in technology, including trademark, copyright, right of publicity and domain name assignments.
Joseph Ward McIntosh has become an associate with Schweet Rieke & Linde, PLLC. His practice focuses on creditor’s rights with an emphasis on state court litigation and bankruptcy.
Other Attorney Additions
G. Kim Risenmay has joined the Stoel Rives tax group as of counsel. His practice focuses on multistate tax services. Risenmay was previously a managing partner of Risenmay Law Firm, PLLC.
Zeshan Khan has joined Crocker Kuno PLLC as a team member of its complex bankruptcy and debtor-creditor litigation practice. Khan has an experienced background in diverse areas of litigation.
New Practice Group Formed
Williams Kastner recently formed a travel sports and entertainment law practice team led by Debora Juarez, Gabriel Galanda and Julio Carranza. The team will advise tribal and non-tribal clients on a wide-range of sports and entertainment law matters.
Outside the Private Practice
Geoffrey Boodell, who was formerly with Sebris Busto James, has decided to take a break from private practice and is now currently CEO and general counsel for Jasspirations Enterprises, Inc., a Seattle company developed to establish, own and operate Supercuts hair salons.
Appointments and Elections
Ninth Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown has been selected to chair the Committee on Codes of Conduct of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the national policy-making body for federal courts. McKeown has served on the committee since 2001. Her three-year term begins on October 1. The Code of Conduct was initially adopted by the judicial conference in 1973 and subsequently revised in 1992. The committee has been reviewing proposed provisions for the past year. Judge McKeown was appointed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998. Before that, she was with Perkins Coie.
Susan Drummond was recently appointed the only attorney on the City of Seattle’s new Green Building Task Force. It will serve as an advisory panel to provide recommendations on strategies to make buildings more energy efficient and climate friendly. Drummond is co-chair of Foster Pepper’s Sustainable Development/ Green Building Industry Group.
The Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association recently elected new officers and board members. The officers and board members who are from King County firms include President Ted Buck of Stafford Frey Cooper; President-Elect Jillian Barron of Sebris Busto James; Treasurer Emilia Sweeney of Carney Badley Spellman; Secretary Matthew Wojcik of Mullin Law Group; and new board members Melissa Habeck of Forsberg & Umlauf; Erin Hammond of Fain Sheldon Anderson & VanDerhoef, PLLC; and Jonathan Dirk of Holt, Scheer & Zehnder LLP.
Obituaries
Bradley Diggs recently died of lung cancer at the age of 59. He joined Davis Wright Tremaine after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1973 and served as the firm’s managing partner from 1994 to 2002. His practice focused on commercial transactions.
Karen Sutherland is the chair of the Employment and Labor Law Practice Group of Ogden Murphy Wallace, PLLC, and chair of the King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin Committee. Her practice focuses on employment and labor law and complex litigation. She can be reached at 1601 Fifth Ave., Suite 2100, Seattle, WA 98101, by fax at 206-447-0215 or by email at ksutherland@omwlaw.com.
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