By Karen Sutherland
You skiers out there will probably hate me for this, but about now I get awfully tired of winter. I have a lovely office with a view of the freeway, for which I am quite grateful, but those big glass panes suck the heat right out of the room. I have taken to working wrapped in a blanket, which is not what John Malloy envisioned when he wrote Dress for Success.
Ascension to Ownership Status
Short Cressman & Burgess, PLLC has elected Bruce Cohen and Scott Sleight to be members of the firm. Cohen joined the firm as of counsel in December 2001. He practices in the construction section, where he represents contractors, owners, municipalities, design professionals and sureties in the construction process. He is licensed to practice in Washington and Virginia and received his J.D., with distinction, from Emory University in 1988. He earned a B.A. degree from the University of Virginia in 1984.
Sleight joined SC&B as of counsel in June of 2002. His practice emphasizes construction real estate related litigation. Sleight received his J.D., cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law in 1997 and his B.A., cum laude, in 1994 from the U-Dub. Sleight is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Dorsey & Whitney LLP has elected Gregory Hendershott, Randall Price, Kenneth Sam and David Jacobson as partners. Hendershott’s practice focuses on labor and employment law. Price’s practice focuses on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions. Jacobson’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, and Sam’s practice focuses on securities compliance.
Stacey Crawshaw-Lewis has been named partner in Preston Gates & Ellis’ Seattle office. Crawshaw-Lewis’s practice focuses on assisting public development authorities with financing convention and tourism facilities.
Other new partners at PG & E include Kevin Swan, whose practice focuses on intellectual property; Julie Halter, who is in the firm’s document analysis technology group; Cynthia Kennedy, whose practice focuses on environmental, land use and natural resources; and Robert Dzielak, whose practice focuses on anti-spam litigation.
Associate Additions
Klara Hicks has joined my absolute favorite law firm, Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C.’s employment and labor law practice group. Hicks’ practice will focus on employment and labor law and complex litigation. Hicks was admitted to the bar in 1997. As the person most likely to benefit from the extra help in my ever-growing practice area, I’m darned glad to have her join the firm.
Elizabeth Catterall has joined Betts, Patterson & Mines, P.S. as an associate in the firm’s complex litigation group. Catterall’s practice focuses on the litigation of commercial and construction disputes, including construction defect matters. Catterall earned her undergraduate from Mount Holyoke College in 1994 and earned her J.D. from Seattle University in 2001.
Natacha Allred, Maren Norton and Douglas Silin have become associates at Stoel Rives LLP. Allred joins the firm’s real estate section, where her practice includes leasing and financing. Allred is a graduate of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, where she received her J.D., cum laude, in 2003, and Brigham Young University, where she received her B.A. in 1998. She is admitted to practice in Washington and New York.
Norton is an associate in the firm’s litigation section, where her practice focuses on general commercial litigation. She graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2004 and earned a B.A. from Stanford University in 1999.
Silin practices in the firm’s corporate section. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School in 2004, his MBA from New York University in 1999, and his A.B. degree from Vassar College in 1996.
Leona Colegrove, who previously served as legal counsel for the governing body for the Quinault Indian Nation and Tulalip Tribes, has joined Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC’s Seattle office as an associate. Colegrove’s experience includes enforcement and protection of treaty rights, economic development, environmental protection, civil enforcement, resource protection, and other areas relating to Indian law. Colegrove received her J.D. from the U-Dub School of Law in 2000 and her B.A. in political science from the U-Dub in 1997.
Garvey Schubert Barer has added two associates to its Seattle office, Sara Meinhard and Teresa Byers. Meinhard is an associate in the litigation group, with an emphasis on business and commercial litigation. She received her J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law with highest distinction in 2002, and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Grinnell College in 1998.
Byers is an associate in the firm’s estate planning and probate group. She earned her J.D. from the U-Dub School of Law in 2003 and an LL.M. in taxation from the U-Dub in 2004. Byers received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Lafayette University in 2000.
Emily Crigger recently joined Miller Nash as an associate in its Seattle office. Crigger will be practicing in the firm’s litigation department.
The Mentor Law Group recently added John Ruple as an associate. His experience includes natural resource projects for local governments and agencies.
Steven Masada, Jr. and Brian Free recently became associates at Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson. Both are graduates of the U-Dub Law School. Masada’s practice focuses on litigation; Free’s practice focuses on land use and litigation.
Of Counsel and Other Attorney Additions
Garvey Schubert Barer recently announced that Ruth Kennedy has returned as of counsel in the firm’s labor and employment and Indian law groups, and in the area of commercial litigation. Kennedy received her J.D. from the U-Dub with high honors in 1994.
Leslie Schenck has also joined Garvey Schubert Barer as of counsel, where she practices in the firm’s environment and natural resources group. Schenck obtained her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1988 and was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1996. Schenck’s practice focuses on complex environmental matters including environmental, commercial and land use litigation, regulatory compliance and permitting issues.
Theodore Sheffield has joined Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP, where he is working in the firm’s class action, security litigation and appellate practice groups. Sheffield received his J.D. from Duke University and his B.A. from Pomona College.
Mark Sidran has joined Foster Pepper & Schefelman PLLC’s Seattle office, and is working in the firm’s municipal practice group. Sidran was the Seattle City Attorney from 1990 to 2001. He holds a B.A. degree from Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude, and a J.D. from the U-Dub. Sidran was a candidate for Washington State Attorney General in 2004 and for mayor of Seattle in 2001.
Scott Smith has joined Riddell Williams PS. Smith, who was formerly the chair of the litigation department of Short Cressman & Burgess PLLC, focuses his practice on real estate and commercial litigation. Smith is a past president of the King County Bar Association, the august institution that brings you this paper. Smith received his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1981 and his B.A. from Stanford University in 1978.
James McGuire has joined McGlothin Myhre PLLP as of counsel. McGuire graduated, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law in 1998, and is admitted to practice in Washington and California. McGuire’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation relating to employment, family law and commercial and real estate disputes.
Solo Status
Bruce O’Connor, formerly a senior member of Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness, is continuing his practice in intellectual property law as a counselor and expert witness and in alternate dispute resolution as a neutral. His office is on First Avenue, and he can be reached at bruce.occonnor@att.net.
Outside of Private Practice
Lambda Legal has hired Sarah Luthens to work as a community organizer on marriage equality and domestic partner advocacy in Washington State. Luthens earned her J.D. from the U-Dub School of Law in 1991, and spent the past 14 years working primarily as an organizer and contract negotiator for a number of local unions.
Kellye Testy has been appointed dean of the Seattle University School of Law. Testy was previously the school’s associate dean for academic administration and faculty director of the Center on Corporations, Law and Society. She succeeds Rudolph Hasl, who was dean for the past five years. Testy joined the faculty in 1992. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Indiana University School of Law in 1991.
Honors and Awards
Stanley Barer has been appointed to the University of Washington Board of Regents. The appointment continues through 2010. The Board of Regents is the governing body for the U-Dub. Barer is a U-Dub two-timer, having received his J.D. from the law school in 1963 and his B.A. in economics and political science in 1961. Barer donated a million dollars towards construction of the new law school in 2000. Barer is of counsel to Garvey Schubert Barer and a founding partner of the firm.
Ada Ko, a partner with Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP, has been appointed chair of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association Tax Committee. Her term will run from May 2005 to May 2007. The IPBA is an international association of business and commercial lawyers with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. It was founded in April 1991 and has a membership of approximately 2000 lawyers from 67 jurisdictions around the world.
Geoff Bridgman has become the chair of the litigation department at Ogden Murphy Wallace, PLLC, my absolute favorite law firm. Bridgman, who has been with the firm since he was a summer associate, received a B.A. in Philosophy from Central Washington University in 1988, graduating magna cum laude. He received his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law in 1995, graduating first in his class summa cum laude. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, products liability and construction law.
William Ruckelshaus has joined the board of directors of Isilon Systems. Ruckelshaus has been, among other things, the founding administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and acting director of the FBI.
Eileen Concannon has been named one of the Girl Scouts-Totem Council’s 2004 Women of Distinction. She was recognized for her contributions in her field of expertise while continuing to exemplify the values of Girl Scouts in her professional and personal life. The award is in its 24th year. Concannon is an attorney, mediator and arbitrator at Riddell Williams P.S.
Obituaries
Dan Brink recently died of esophageal cancer at the age of 75. Brink served in the United States Army JAG in Virginia before returning to Seattle to practice law. In addition to a career in private practice, Brink served in the state house of representatives from 1959 through 1963, as counsel to the speaker of the house, and as special counsel to several state insurance commissioners.
Juan Gabriel (“Gabe”) Ibarra of the Law Office of J. Gabriel Ibarra recently died at the age of 34 in a car accident. He was admitted to practice in 1999.
The WSBA recently announced that it will not send e-mails announcing memorial services for deceased lawyers, but that it will post the information on its home page, www.wsba.org.
Digression of the Month
For the last couple of years, I have been reading about Soap Lake’s efforts to revitalize its tourist industry by building or acquiring a giant lava lamp. I was surprised and encouraged to hear that they are finally getting one, which was billed in an AP press release as “the world’s largest functional lava lamp.” I was subsequently disappointed to discover that, according to a local paper, the lava lamp is not functional after all, but is merely decorative. I was further disappointed to discover that it isn’t actually there yet- at least as of the date I wrote this column. Nevertheless, as a long-time lava lamp fan, I welcome the addition of a giant lava lamp to our state, even if it is non-functional.
Also, as a side note to all of you who know I am a lava lamp fan and who told me about and/or forwarded me the news articles about the guy who got killed heating his lava lamp on the stove, please be assured that: 1) my lava lamp and I have successfully co-existed for nearly two decades without incident; and 2) as a glassblower, I know full well what happens if you heat up glass whose contents is under pressure, and I would never do anything as stupid as sticking my lava lamp on a hot stove. n
Karen Sutherland is the chair of the Employment and Labor Law Practice Group at Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C., and chair of the King County Bar Bulletin Committee. Her practice focuses on employment and labor law and complex litigation. She can be reached at 1601 Ð 5th 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.
