By Karen Sutherland
It’s campaign season again, with a bright and ambitious crop of campaign signs bursting forth from the soil in local rights-of-way and front yards, mine included. I am seriously bummed, however, that I will be unable to vote for my Republican father in the primary and also vote for my favorite Democratic candidate for governor due to the requirement that we limit our primary votes to one party. At least on the non-partisan races I can still vote for whoever I want, including voting for one of my co-workers who has decided to plunge into the race for an open judicial seat.
On the national campaign level, all I can say is that I am glad I don’t have a TV and therefore do not have to watch the political commercials. The radio commercials are bad enough as far as I am concerned.
New Firm Owners
Eric Laschever and Charles Lewis, III have become principals in the Seattle office of Stoel Rives LLP. Laschever focuses on land use, environmental and hazardous waste law to help folks get permits and approvals needed to implement large infrastructure and other complex projects. He received his J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown Law Center in 1978, his M.M.A. from the U-Dub in 1980 and his B.A. magna cum laude from Williams College in 1978. He was formerly with Preston Gates & Ellis LLP.
Lewis migrated northward from the Portland office of Stoel Rives. He is the lead partner for the firm’s tax practice group and is the firm’s lead financial partner. His practice focuses primarily on federal income tax. He received his J.D. magna cum laude from Willamette University College of Law in 1978 and his B.S. magna cum laude from Lewis and Clark College in 1975. He is admitted to the State Bar of Oregon and the U.S. Tax Court Bar.
Shannon Jost and Kathleen Petrich have become shareholders with Stokes Lawrence, P.S. Jost practices in the areas of intellectual property, corporate law and commercial litigation. She has also represented clients in civil litigation and contested administrative proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Petrich practices exclusively in the area of intellectual property, and is registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and prepares and prosecutes patent applications in the mechanical and electro-mechanical arts, among other things.
Tina Kyle Livingston has become a partner in the Seattle office of Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP. Her practice focuses on federal income tax and tax exempt finance. She was previously with law firms in Houston and Denver.
Associate News
Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson has added two new associates, Karl Weiss and Adrienne Finnell. Weiss has an L.L.M. in taxation from New York University and a J.D. from Willam-ette University School of Law, and has experience in tax planning, compliance, state tax audit defense, business entity formation and related agreements.
Finnell, who earned her J.D. cum laude from Seattle University School of Law, will practice family and employment law.
Diane Feth has joined Betts Patterson & Mines, P.S. as an associate. Feth practices litigation with a concentration in products liability and construction cases. Feth received her undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University and her J.D. from Hofstra University. She is licensed to practice in Washington, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Mareesa Elmquist has joined Miller Nash LLP as an associate. She practices in the firm’s business department, concentrating primarily on health and hospital law. She will be practicing in both the firm’s Portland and Seattle offices, and presently is a member of the Oregon Bar. Before joining Miller Nash, Elmquist was an associate at Stoel Rives LLP. Prior to turning into a lawyer, Elmquist was an officer and director at Terrel Bell & Associates, a 501(c)(3) corporation centered on education programs in public schools. Elmquist received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Utah and her law degree, cum laude, from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. The firm notes that Elmquist is proficient in Spanish as well.
Garvey Schubert Barer has added Charles Guiping Lu as an associate in the corporate securities, tax and international practice groups.
Routh Crabtree Olsen has added Wendy Walter and Steven Linkon as associates.
Of Counsel and Other Attorney Additions
Lee & Hayes, PLLC recently announced that Mary Williamson has joined the firm to lead its technology transactions and IP licensing practice. Williamson has extensive experience developing strategies and handling legal issues in support of technology and IT development, acquisition and exploitation efforts. She was previously with Preston Gates & Ellis. Williamson received her J.D. from Stanford Law School and holds an M.A. with distinction from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. in international relations and history from Stanford University. Before becoming a lawyer, Williamson worked at a variety of international financial institutions.
Karen Koehler has joined Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio’s Seattle office. Koehler was formerly a partner at LePley & Koehler in Bellevue. Her practice is devoted to serious personal injury and wrongful death claims from motor vehicle collisions, governmental misconduct, insurance bad faith and defective products. She received her undergraduate degree from the U-Dub in 1982 and her J.D. from the University of Puget Sound School of Law in 1985.
Beth McCaw has joined Stokes Lawrence, P.S. as of counsel. Her practice focuses on estate planning, gift and estate taxation, probate and the law of exempt organizations.
Stoel Rives has added Rob Sargeant to the firm’s real estate practice group. His experience focuses on commercial and residential real estate matters. He is a 1982 graduate of the Indiana School of Law and received his B.A. cum laude in 1979 from Macalaster College. He formerly managed the Stewart Title Guaranty Company’s National Title Services office.
Blake Marks-Dias, formerly an associate at Stafford Frey Cooper, has moved to Riddell Williams. His practice concentrates on litigation and alternate dispute resolution.
Ken Laderman, formerly with Floyd & Pflueger has also joined Riddell Williams. His practice emphasizes work with condominium owners and environmental groups.
Davis Wright Tremaine has added three attorneys to its employment-related services group, all of whom were formerly partners with Holland & Knight. The lateral movers are Weldon Latham, Michael Hatcher and John Bryson, II.
New Firm Forms
Several Betts, Patterson & Mines, P.S. attorneys have broken away to form the Socius Law Group, PLLC. The new firm’s focus is on business, real estate, wealth preservation and related litigation. The new firm’s attorneys are Ron Allen (business law and real estate), Charles Davis (business law, tax, and estate planning), Natalie Adams Dearie (business law and real estate), Susan Goplen (matrimonial law and litigation), Jeanette Adams Gorman (employment law and commercial litigation), Lori Guzzo (matrimonial law and litigation), Rob Lopez (business law and commercial litigation), and Tom Peterson (real estate and land use). The new firm is located in Two Union Square.
Outside of Private Practice
Elliott Marks has left Nature Conservancy after 27 years with the organization, as his position as Seattle regional director of the organization has been eliminated. Marks received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkley and also has a masters in divinity.
Wayne Barnett has been appointed executive director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. Barnett graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1996 and was staff counsel for the State Ethics Commission in Massachusetts. The position has a six year term limit, subject to reappointment and confirmation by the Commission.
Sue Tanner has been reappointed as hearing examiner by the Seattle City Council. She administers the Office of Hearing Examiner and is its principal hearing officer.
Lawrence Graham has joined U.S. Trust’s Seattle office as a vice president in financial planning. He will head the Financial Planning Department of the Trust’s offices in the Pacific Northwest. Graham was previously the director of the personal financial services group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and, prior to that, worked as an associate at Gores & Blais and Williams Kastner & Gibbs, though, of course, not at the same time. Graham began his career as a senior tax consultant at Ernst & Young in 1986. He earned his B.S. in accounting from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, his J.D. cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul and his LL.M. in taxation from Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the Washington, Minnesota and Massachusetts state bars.
One More Thing to Join
The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. has recently added a Northwest chapter. This society describes itself as “a center of the American copyright community.” The Northwest chapter provides opportunities for members and non-members to hold informal gatherings around timely copyright topics. It is the eleventh Copyright Society chapter nationwide. If you are interested in more information, contact Chapter Chairman Eric Stahl at Davis Wright Tremaine or check out www.csusa.org.
Honors, Appointments and Awards
Vicki Orrico has been named to the City of Bellevue Planning Commission for a three year term beginning June, 2004. Orrico is an associate attorney in the municipal department of my absolute favorite law firm, Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C. She has experience in telecommunication matters, taxation issues, land use matters, and labor and employment law matters, among other things. Orrico received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983 and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1986. She is a member of the Wisconsin and Washington state bars.
Ken Dehn was recently elected chair and Sarah Weaver was elected vice chair of the KCBA’s Solo and Small Practice section. This section is one of the outstanding services that the King County Bar Association provides to its members, and is a great help to those who are going at it alone or in a small firm.
Christopher Marks has been named vice chair of the ABA Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Committee. It is part of the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice section. Marks’ practice centers on commercial and tort litigation.
The Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association recently announced the election results from its annual convention, which include the election of Jeffrey Frank as president; Jill Haavig Stone, president-elect; Michelle Menely, secretary; and Steve Stocker as treasurer.
Steve Block has been selected as president-elect of the Association for Transportation Law, Logistics and Policy. Barring some sort of coup d’ Žtat, Block will assume the office of president in June, 2005. He is a director of Betts, Patterson & Mines, P.S. whose litigation practice is concentrated on a variety of transportation, customs, business and other matters.
Estate planning attorney Michael Carrico has become president of the Estate Planning Council of Seattle for 2004-05. Carrico practices with Riddell Williams.
The Washington State Trial Lawyers Association recently presented Renton attorney Todd Gardner with the Trial Lawyer of the Year award for his critical work in the area of medical negligence. He is with the firm Swanson & Gardner, PLLC and received his J.D. from the U-Dub Law School in 1980.
Jean Magladry received WSTLA’s Professionalism Award for her leadership in the legal community and extraordinary efforts to mentor young lawyers. She practices with the Bellevue-based firm of Magladry Weigel, P.S., where she focuses on personal injury and employment law. She graduated cum laude from Gonzaga Law School in 1982.
Judith Lonnquist received WSTLA’s President’s Award for her distinguished work in updating WSTLA’s guide to employment law. Lonnquist’s practice focuses on employment, labor and civil rights. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and has been a solo practitioner for the past 15 years.
The Northwest Indian Bar Association recently received the solo and small firm project award from the general practice, solo and small firm section of the American Bar Association. The award acknowledges the success of the Indian law section in NIBA’s Indian law scholarship program.
The annual Food Frenzy competition among law firms, accounting firms and banks concluded with the award for top overall law firm going to Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, with second place going to Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP, and third place to Danielson, Harrigan, Leyh & Tollefson, LLP. In terms of law firm per capita participation, the honors go to first place Aoki & Sakamoto LLP, second place Danielson, Harrigan, Leyh & Tollefson, LLP, and third place Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. The following firms had 100% employee participation: Aiken, St. Louis & Siljeg, Aoki & Sakamoto LLP, Danielson, Harrigan, Leyh & Tollefson LLP, Federal Public Defender’s Office, Grant Thornton LLP, Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP, Lake Forest Park Municipal Court, Marten Law Group PLLC, my absolute favorite law firm Ogden Murphy Wallace P.L.L.C., Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Riddell Williams P.S., Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC, Stanislaw Ashbaugh, LLP, and Vandeberg Johnson & Gandara.
In my somewhat biased opinion, Food Frenzy’s efforts compare favorably to the showier annual Canstruction event held at the Bite of Seattle, where the Society of Design Administration and Food Lifeline sponsor sculptures from packaged food, which is then subsequently donated to Food Lifeline. Though the sculptures were interesting, I prefer the legal community’s approach, which focuses more on raising money and donating food than on making the food look artistic. That said, I’m kind of glad Food Frenzy is over because my office spends a lot of time raising money by selling random food items to each other, and if anybody ever tries to sell me one of those disgusting red vines from out of an industrial-sized plastic jar again, I think I’ll scream.
Digression of the Month
Kirkland attorney Rick Ocker-man’s summer included buying a 40 foot bus through EBay and using it to take his little league team to a tournament in Cooperstown, New York, along with many other baseball-oriented road side attractions between here and there. In a storybook ending, the Kirkland City Bombers won their first title. For some reason, this odyssey reminded me of Ken Kesey’s cross-country bus trip with the Merry Pranksters in the psychedelic bus, “Furthur,” only without the hallucinogenic substances. n
Karen Sutherland is the Assistant Managing Member and chair of the Employment and Labor Law Practice Group at Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C., and chair of the Bar Bulletin Committee. Her practice focuses on employment law and complex litigation. She can be reached at 1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2100, Seattle, WA 98101, by phone at (206) 447-7000, by fax at (206) 447-0215, or by e-mail at ksutherland@omwlaw.com.
