“When I was a young lawyer,” recalls retired Judge Bob Alsdorf, “I had the pleasure of trying a complicated securities fraud case before Judge George Mattson. I had cited a dozen federal cases in support of my arguments, and I had carefully read 11 of them. Judge Mattson had read all 12, and of course asked me about the twelfth! I knew after that never to come before him without being thoroughly prepared. When I was fortunate enough to become a judge and join him on the bench, I of course asked him to be my mentor.”
King County Superior Court Judge George Mattson, who is retiring at the end of this month, is well known for expecting the attorneys who appear before him to be thoroughly prepared. However, lawyers soon realize that he doesn’t expect more of them than he does of himself. Judge Mattson invariably knows their case inside and out, something lawyers grow to appreciate because it makes them strive to do their best.
Longtime defender and RJC SCRAP Supervisor Marc Stenchever puts it this way: “Judge Mattson makes me work much harder and be better at my job. He is always several steps ahead of me and far better prepared on issues than I, no matter how hard I work.” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mike Hogan notes that Judge Mattson is one of the most industrious judges, “always willing to tackle cases big or small with the same enthusiasm.”
A positive word from Judge Mattson is high praise indeed, says Assistant Attorney General Joel Delman: “I’ve had some pretty satisfying trial wins in the past 25-plus years, but many of them pale in comparison to a hard won ‘good point’ from Judge Mattson.”
For the past 39 years, Judge Mattson has served the people of Washington as a judge. “George and I started our judicial careers together on the King County District Court,” said retired Judge Tony Wartnik. “George was the youngest and brightest of the group and outworked all of his colleagues.”
Since 1981, he has been a valued colleague and mentor to judges on the King County Superior Court. In fact, it is difficult for his bench mates to imagine the court after Judge Mattson’s retirement. When the new assignments were released to the bench on November 5, Judge Laura Gene Middaugh said, “It is so strange to look at the assignments for next year and not see Judge Mattson’s name.”
Graduating from the University of Washington School of law in 1966, Judge Mattson enlisted in the “War on Poverty” as a legal aid lawyer in Seattle. He quickly realized, however, that he wasn’t ready to manage a 300-case workload and after one year left to work for King County Prosecutor Charles O. Carroll. That experience of constantly trying cases was when “I knew I wanted to be a judge,” recalls Judge Mattson. He left the prosecutor’s office after 2½ years to work for the firm of Kempton, Savage and Gossard.
Five years out of law school, Judge Mattson was elected to the District Court bench in his hometown of Renton. Mentored by highly respected District Court Judge Gary Utigard, Judge Mattson became active in the precursor to today’s District and Municipal Court Judges’ Association. He saw his role as one of building bridges with the superior and appellate court judges, an early step toward the collegiality between all court levels that exists today.
Judge Mattson earned the respect of judicial officers at other court levels that helped in his appointment to the Superior Court in December 1980. “I suspect it happened to me a lot,” he says of also being helped indirectly along the way. “It’s help you don’t always know you’re getting, but in retrospect, you realize it has occurred.”
In his typical fashion, Judge Mattson credits his appointment to the Superior Court bench to a fair amount of good luck, including the fact that former pro tem judge and colleague Jerry Hanna was counsel to Gov. Dixie Lee Ray. The interview with the governor was short. Gov. Ray asked, “Got any questions?” Judge Mattson responded, “Geez, Governor, I thought you’d have questions.” She grinned at her counsel and that was the end of the interview. (In fairness to Gov. Ray, she had interviewed Judge Mattson for an earlier opening.)
Understanding the value of mentoring and collegiality, Judge Mattson provides both to new judges and young attorneys alike. Judge Holly Hill, Judge Mattson’s newest student, poignantly reflects, “Good fortune shined on me when Judge Mattson generously agreed to be my mentor judge. He has taught me how to think like a judge, how to require the parties to give me what I need in order to make the best possible decision. He embodies all that I aspire to be as a judge.”
Through his high expectations, his own hard work and through the use of humor, Judge Mattson also mentors lawyers. His fairness and impartiality are core qualities of an outstanding judge. SCRAP’s Stenchever says Judge Mattson is “almost revered due to the fact that he is just as tough on DOC and the State as he is on our clients. He doesn’t accept foolishness from either side!”
Stenchever’s colleague Jana Heyd remembers Judge Mattson using his courtroom “as a teaching venue for the lawyers. I owe him a great deal for the lessons about using the rules of evidence. His written findings became training documents in our office as well.”
“Judge Mattson’s passion for the law and the art of being a judge never seems to diminish,” notes Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Mark Larson. “I know he trained many young prosecutors through his insistence on doing things well and getting to the right result, for the right reasons.”
Lawyers also truly appreciate the depth of Judge Mattson’s knowledge of the law and his style of articulating his decisions. Prosecutor Mike Hogan admires “how Judge Mattson could analyze a complicated situation and articulate [his decision] in a way which caused the people to understand, if not agree with, his ruling. I always left Judge Mattson’s courtroom ‘appreciating a master who excels at his craft.’”
Longtime ACA Managing Director Don Madsen says, “There never is a rush to judgment in his court. He will listen to both sides, analyze the law and make a judgment call based upon the facts and the law. I always knew if I was assigned to him, that I would get a fair shake.”
Observing Judge Mattson on the bench, Judge Harry McCarthy recalls that “he displayed an almost LEXIS-quality recall of relevant case authority and a dazzling on-the-spot scholarship in analyzing the issues before him — and he did it all in a very civil discourse with counsel. After being in Judge Mattson’s presence for this relatively brief time, I realized that I had witnessed the gold standard for judging.”
And then there is his consummate love of the law. “I don’t know another person who can say they love the law more than Judge Mattson,” says Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steven Kim. Judge Suzanne Barnett simply states, “He was born to be a judge.”
Reflecting on his career, Judge Mattson says the most productive work he has done has been in the child dependency area. In 1985, Chief Juvenile Court Judge Terry Carroll assigned Judge Mattson to address delays in processing child dependency cases. Judge Mattson was a pioneer in realizing that case scheduling and tracking are critical to children’s chances for a permanent home and a real childhood.
He constituted a huge committee involving all the stakeholders to identify ways to move cases more efficiently. The committee ultimately developed a system of fast-tracking some of the cases, setting a standard (later adopted by the Legislature) to require dependency trials within 75 days of filing a petition. Judge Carroll remarks that this effort was “so typical of George — conscientious, thorough and willing to work with others toward a solution.”
In the early 1990s, Judge Mattson was named chief juvenile judge. Using his talent for consensus building, he created another stakeholder committee to draft the local juvenile court rules to memorialize and improve the 1985 procedures, including establishing a formal motions practice and a new procedure called the “permanency planning hearings.” In 1997, when Presiding Judge Dale Ramerman called upon him to “fix” the trial calendar for dependency/termination cases, Judge Mattson scheduled another round of 7 a.m. meetings, this time to set up procedures and rules for pre-trial conferences in dependency cases. The scene was repeated a few years later, this time for parental termination cases.
Recalls retired Justice Bobbe Bridge, “Judge Mattson’s passion and compassion for the particular needs of kids and families who appeared in our courts inspired a host of judges, including me, to work for reform in our family and juvenile court procedures.”
Dependency CASA attorney Lori Irwin recalls, “My first memory of Judge Mattson is at a meeting at Juvenile Court in 1986 where he had drawn a very intricate and incomprehensible web chart on the black board to describe the dependency court process in preparation for drafting court rules.” After many years of early morning meetings, “I had a waking ‘nightmare’ that we would all be old, wrinkled and gray, and still sitting in those meetings.”
She wasn’t far off the mark. “We are still sitting in meetings about dependency operations and we still haven’t solved all the problems,” she says, “but Judge Mattson has been a real force for positive change in dependency practice and we’ve really missed him since he’s gone back to adult court.”
“I learned from this experience that if you involve everyone and take into account their needs so they know you have listened, you can successfully change a longstanding system of operation,” Judge Mattson says. “I was concerned that the lawyers could kill the major changes we proposed.”
In the end, Dennis Ichikawa of SCRAP and Tim Sell of The Defenders Association came to him and said, “We want you to know we will try to make this work.” And they did. While there are always improvements that can continue to be made in any system, today’s system strives to focus on the children’s needs.
Throughout his career, Judge Mattson has “kept vigilant watch for problems in the workings of the court and was always willing to volunteer to work, alone or on a committee, to find solutions,” remembers retired Judge Bob Winsor.
“The life of a trial judge is in many ways a very lonely one. George has always been willing to stay in touch with his colleagues, not only to discuss legal issues, but also to talk about life in our community and personal matters. He is a treasured friend and much admired colleague.”
Among her many memories of Judge Mattson, retired Judge Mary Brucker says, “George is a Renaissance man. His curiosity about the world covers all subjects: science and its applicability to the justice system, nature, mathematics, literature, history, politics, drama, philosophy and religion. He can build a stone wall for his garden as well as articulate his ideas in a two-way conversation. The greatest tribute I can make about this good man is his loyalty to friends.”
Judge Mattson’s abiding love of the law is based in part on his respect for lawyers, particularly those working in the areas of dependency and termination of parental rights. He knows that the most important work of the Superior Court involves families and children, and some of the toughest, most heart-wrenching cases.
“The lawyers handling termination trials work together professionally and run good trials. They never go for the jugular, never try to be judgmental,” notes Judge Mattson.
King County Superior Court judges work in one of the largest general jurisdiction courts in the nation. We recognize that within a short time after our retirement, lawyers will say, “Judge who?” if asked about most of us. But not so with Judge Mattson.
His judicial career is not only one of the longest in our state’s history, but one that embodies a steady pursuit of justice. It will not be forgotten.
Judge Jay White encapsulates succinctly what Judge Mattson means to his colleagues. “His hiking adventures inspire us,” he says, “his good humor and genuine concern for his colleagues make us all feel we are his friends, and his institutional memory which he patiently shares when we sometimes struggle to reinvent the wheel is invaluable.”
As Judge Alsdorf said, “When he steps down, the court will be losing one of its giants.” Judge Jim Cayce puts it this way: “As I think of what he has meant to this bench I can only draw a parallel to the late Judge Bill Dwyer. I feel fortunate to call him my friend and colleague.” And as Judge Carroll notes: “We can never replace the likes of George Mattson. We can only hope that those that follow will learn from him.”
High praise — and so well deserved.
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