The KCBA Young Lawyers Division is pleased to recognize Theodore Angelis as the 2006 KCBA Outstanding Young Lawyer. Angelis is an associate at Preston Gates & Ellis LLP and has actively sought to contribute his efforts to assist the legal profession and the community.
Angelis has dedicated significant time helping to produce and improve the Washington Lawyers' Practice Manual (WLPM), which is published by the KCBA's Young Lawyers Division. The WLPM offers local practitioners an excellent source of practical guidance on procedural and substantive issues. Sales of the manual provide the majority of the funding for the KCBA's Neighborhood Legal Clinics, thus helping to ensure more equal access to justice.
Angelis has served as editor-in-chief of the WLPM since 2003. Angelis's duties include not only managing the WLPM's day-to-day operations but also formulating long-term strategies for improving the product and using it as a springboard for helping young lawyers.
In addition to this work, Angelis also is a founding participant in the newly formed federal civil rights legal clinic, a pilot program jointly sponsored by the KCBA and Federal Bar Associa-tion Pro Bono Committee.
Angelis has made substantial contributions to other bar associations and the legal profession. Angelis assisted the WSBA in a case pending before the Washington Supreme Court, which presents the question of whether police should be allowed to pose as lawyers to obtain incriminating evidence from a criminal suspect. At the request of the WSBA amicus committee, Angelis, Fred Tausend and Shaakirrah Sanders drafted the amicus brief.
Under the supervision of Bill Neukom and with co-authorship of colleague Jonathan Harrison, Angelis also produced a White Paper for the ABA Task Force on Goal VIII. The task force is dedicated to improving the lives of people around the world by promoting the rule of law.
Angelis researched and drafted the sections of the committee's White Paper that examined the impacts of rule of law reforms on economic growth and democratization, the critical scholarship assessing the success of rule of law reforms to date, and the lessons learned and next steps for rule-of-law reformers. The work draws not only on the contributions of legal scholars, but also on the works of political scientists and economists.
Much of Angelis's practice focuses on cutting-edge questions of cyberlaw, illegal Internet conduct and distribution of malicious software, which generally is referred to as "malware." Persons allegedly engaged in illegal Internet activities frequently seek bankruptcy protection, and Angelis has been at the forefront of resolving the issues raised by the intersection of Internet misconduct and bankruptcy. Angelis presented many of the lessons learned and problems solved in his practice at the ABA spring meeting.
Angelis dedicates in excess of 400 hours per year to pro bono activities to assist others in our community, including asylum case work, St. Demetrios Foundation, Sunday school instruction and the United Way of King County.
