The Bar Bulletin Bids a Fond Farewell to Bob Anderton
By Gary Maehara
Bob Anderton is retiring from his editor position at KCBA. Bob opted to focus on his law practice and his other pro bono work on behalf of the bar association. Imagine that! His love for reporting the news affecting our local legal community will be sorely missed by the Bar Bulletin readers.
Under his guidance, the newspaper underwent innovations to improve its substantive content, readability and overall appeal. Thanks to Bob, the Bar Bulletin began having a theme each month. Bob also introduced comics. Although he promised during his interview for the editor’s position that he would refrain from printing lawyer jokes, he introduced tasteful comics from the New Yorker magazine about our profession. Bob does, however, admit that at times it is difficult to find humorous, yet tasteful comics about lawyers.
A people person, who majored in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, Bob is proud to now represent the interests of people, most especially bicycle enthusiasts. As a self-described utilitarian rider, his special niche is “bicycle law,” an emerging area of the law. Actually, Bob enjoys representing bicycle riders injured in mishaps. One of his most noteworthy cases involved a public safety issue. Riders on the Burke Gilman Trail as it goes under the Ballard
Bridge systematically crashed due to safety problems; the trail crossed diagonally over the railroad tracks at a curve and the crossing lacked proper signage, all causing the bicycle wheels to get caught in the railroad track grooves. After three years of litigation and an appeal by the City, the case settled. Bob proudly reports the injured bicyclists were compensated and, perhaps more importantly, the dangerous crossing was improved.
Thanks to Bob, the Bar Bulletin is a relevant and topical newspaper. That’s pretty darn good for a guy whose prior experience included work on a small newspaper in a small town in Iowa. Bob does confess that his love of writing and editing will continue with the publication of his own newsletter, Amicus Personae, mailed to his clients and friends.
The KCBA Board and Editor’s Committee will miss your humor, friendly smile, and collaborative ideas. We wish you, your wife and your dog Stan, great adventures in the future.
And Here’s Gene
I am very proud to introduce Gene Barton, Bob’s successor. Gene is a shareholder at Karr Tuttle Campbell where he started in 1996. As a member of the litigation department his practice includes commercial and securities law, asbestos litigation, appellate law and insurance coverage work. Gene joined the firm in 1996 after graduating from the UW Law School. Most noteworthy is the fact that Gene was the top student in his law school class . . . all three years. In addition, he served as the managing editor of the UW Law Review where he earned a maniacal reputation for accuracy.
What makes him an outstanding choice as our editor is his previous 15 years of experience as an editor and writer for newspapers in Oregon and New Mexico. Gene admits he covered every possible “beat” including several years as a police and courts reporter, business editor, food editor, and film critic. During the interview process he disclosed his keen eye for detail and promised that no error -- grammatical or otherwise -- will get by him.
Gene has already hit the pavement running with his contributions to this edition. All of us at the Bar office look forward to Gene’s vision of a vibrant, informative and topical monthly newspaper that will at times humor our senses, and challenge our legal opinions as well. Members of the Association, this is your newspaper, so take Gene up on his offer to submit your constructive ideas, comments and contributing articles. n
Gary Maehara is the current president of the King County Bar Association. He can be reached at garmae@safeco.com.
