Dan Gandara began his exemplary career as a King County lawyer in 1978, when he moved to Seattle from Los Angeles where he had been a deputy city attorney. Formerly a partner at Lane Powell, PC and later at Graham and Dunn, he has been a named partner at Vande-berg Johnson & Gandara since 1993.
Gandara had to overcome many hurdles to obtain his law degree. Inspired by his grandfather's deep belief in his potential, Gandara first thought of becoming a lawyer while still in high school. Upon obtaining his undergraduate degree from UCLA, he enrolled in Harvard Law School, graduating in 1974.
During the first phase of his career, Gandara avoided specializing, choosing instead to gain a breadth of experience both in and out of the courtroom. For a number of years, he has focused on a business and transactions practice while continuing to engage in commercial and intellectual property litigation. Throughout his years as a lawyer and his partnerships in three distinguished law firms, Gandara has demonstrated exceptional skill as his clients' zealous advocate and wise counselor. His passion to do and make "good" take him beyond the law and into the community.
Gandara serves on the Advisory Board of the Business and Economic Development Program at the University of Washington. In years past, he has served on the Board of Visitors for both the University of Washington and Seattle University schools of law. He has been a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Gandara is a frequent panelist and presenter for continuing legal education courses on topics ranging from strategies for success and diversity to employment issues, litigation and trial practice.
With the retirement of the Seattle Mariners' long time catcher, Dan Wilson, it is more than fitting now to dub Gandara "Dan the Man." When Gandara moved to Seattle in the 1970s, there were very few Latino lawyers in our community. He quickly recognized this and took on the challenge of succeeding, not only for his own sake and that of his family, but to blaze a wide path for others to follow as well.
While still a new lawyer, Gandara began his unrelenting effort to improve opportunities in the legal profession for Latinos and to increase diversity in the legal profession for all ethnic groups and at all levels. As chair of the King County Bar Association's Ethnic Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee, Gandara pioneered the role of that committee in requiring accountability from both the U.W. and S.U. law schools regarding their efforts to diversify their student bodies and faculties and to implement realistic and effective recruitment and retention procedures. He continues as a member of the committee today.
Gandara has taken on leadership roles in the King County Bar Foundation and the KCBA, working with others to gain increased funding and long-term stability for minority law school scholarships, equal access to justice and lawyer pro bono services. During Gandara's tenure as president of the Foundation in 2004, funding for all of the Foundation's programs reached new heights and set the course for even greater success to this day.
Of all of Gandara's contributions to our profession and the King County bar, perhaps the most enduring (and the one of which he is proudest) is his dedication to the success of young Latina/o attorneys as they embark on and pursue careers in the law, a dedication fueled by the role that those who came before him played in his own success. A younger colleague observed, "As a relatively new Latino attorney, I looked to Gandara not only as an excellent mentor, but also as a role model for all attorneys who wish to contribute to their profession and the broader community."
Gandara and his wife, Dr. Juleann Gandara, are the parents of two adult sons, Mario and Enrique. Mario is a first-year student at the University of Washington School of Law, and Gandara, at least, is enjoying the experience greatly.
Gandara's outstanding career to date - with much more to come - personifies the effective lawyer-leader. With a wisdom rooted in his beginnings, he has broadened and diversified his approach to developing a law practice and to the context of that practice as well. His appreciation and understanding of his practice's context within the profession and in the community at large has led to an integrated, unified and satisfying professional life for Gandara to the benefit of all of us.
His dedication as a lawyer and as a community leader for so many years in Seattle and King County have earned Gandara the title of Outstanding Lawyer, 2006.
