By Karen Sutherland
This month’s Bar Bulletin theme is “on the road.” Your Bar Talk columnist, however, has not made it any farther away than Ballard in ages, and therefore has nothing of her own to contribute on this topic. However, Don Vogt, who was recently on the road in Hawaii, reports that Bruce Corker, a retired partner at Perkins Coie, was awarded first prize in the annual Kona Coffee Cupping Contest for his “rancho aloha” estate Kona coffee. Corker apparently has a very nice coffee farm in Holualoa, just up the mountain from the main town in Kona, Kailua. If any of you are on the road in Hawaii, you might want to drop in and say “hi” and ask him for a cuppa Joe.
New Firm Owners
Jessica Jensen and Zach Lell have been promoted to member status in my absolute favorite law firm, Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C. Jensen is a member of the firm’s litigation department, where she practices complex litigation, including products liability and commercial litigation. Lell is a member of OMW’s municipal department, where his practice focuses on all aspects of municipal law. Lell also serves as city attorney for the City of Woodinville.
Associate Additions
Rohde & Van Kampen PLLC has added Lee Rousso as an associate. Rousso, who was formerly an associate at Stanislaw Ashbaugh LLP, will focus his practice on securities, arbitration, antitrust and intellectual property.
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has added two new associates, Cameron Cohen and Evan Shapiro, to its Seattle office. Cohen focuses his practice on corporate finance law, with an emphasis on secondary market mortgage and structured finance transactions. Cohen was formerly an associate with Heller Ehrman in Seattle. Shapiro is a member of DWT’s corporate group. He previously was an associate with Dionne & Rorick.
Colin Folawn has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s commercial litigation group. Folawn was previously an attorney at Gordon, Thomas, Honey-well, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim, LLP in Tacoma.
A Rose by Any Other Name
Foster Pepper & Shefelman PLLC recently changed its name to Foster Pepper PLLC, which will make dictating the spellings in Bar Talk much easier. Harold Shefelman, the attorney whose name is being dropped, retired from practicing law in 1980. Shefel-man had established the firm’s municipal bond practice.
Cowan & Miller, P.S. has made Kevin Leder-man a named partner in the firm, metamorphosing into Cowan, Miller & Lederman. Lederman practices immigration law.
Outside the Private Practice
The Washington State Office of Financial Management recently announced that Lucy Isaki has been named the new OFM senior assistant director and legal counsel. Isaki will be overseeing the risk management and contracts offices and will also be assisting the Governor on legal issues. Isaki was formerly a senior assistant attorney general in charge of special litigation at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. She is a past president of the King County Bar Association.
Bart Waldman, who has served the Mariners as outside counsel for many years, has left his position as a partner at Perkins Coie to become the Mariners’ vice president, baseball counsel and associate general counsel. In case you’re wondering, yes, he does play competitive baseball himself, and no, he cannot get you free tickets.
Honors and Awards
The Federal Bar Association of the Western District of Washington announced the following new officers and trustees for 2006: President J. Todd Tracy; Vice President Steve Y. Koh; Treasurer Spencer Hall; Secretary Paula Olson; and Trustees Annette Hayes, Sally Gustafson Garratt, Laurin Schweet, Andrew Salter and Peter Alan Offenbecher.
Stephanie Berntsen was recently elected to the Board of Directors for the Work Force Development Center. Berntsen, who is an attorney with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, is WFDC’s first female board member. WFDC is a non-profit vocational training center that provides high school students a higher economic and social potential and a unique outsource opportunity for socially conscious corporations.
Greg Guedel, a member of Foster Pepper’s litigation and construction practice groups, has been named to the Board of Directors for AIDS Housing of Washington. AHW strives to increase the quality and quantity of housing resources for people living with HIV/AIDS through local AIDS housing development and national technical assistance.
The Northwest Indian Bar Association recently provided scholarships to 11 Northwest Native Amer-ican law students as part of an ongoing effort to support Indian students seeking legal education. The scholarship monies come from membership dues, a benefit auction and charitable grants from several tribes.
Reed Schifferman has been appointed to the Gonzaga University Board of Regents, which serves as an advisory board to the Gonzaga University trustees and president. Schifferman, who graduated cum laude from Gonzaga in 1977, will serve a three-year term. He is a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney at Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio.
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 -- 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.
