I am pleased to see the number of people who read all the way to the end of last month's Bar Talk column. Far more of you than I expected took the time to send me an e-mail to let me know you had accomplished this task, but, alas, only one person can be first and the Mariners ticket for speediest responder goes to multi-tasking reader Shelley Buckholtz of Mikkel-borg, Broz, Wells & Fryer, PLLC. Now if only the Mariners would stop playing sub-.500 baseball.
New Firm Owners
Reed McClure recently elected Dan Keefe as a shareholder. He will continue his work in the area of medical malpractice defense.
Lawrence Gottlieb and Joseph Hampton have joined Betts, Patterson & Mines, P.S. They were formerly with Gordon & Polscer, L.L.C., and are part of a five-attorney group joining BP&M from G&P. They have extensive experience in the representation of insurance carriers in insurance coverage and bad-faith matters.
Benjamin Stone recently joined Cozen O'Connor's Seattle office as a member in the firm's insurance department. Stone was formerly an associate in the insurance coverage and employment litigation departments of Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Stone's practice focuses on representing employers against employment-based claims, and on defending insurance companies in bad-faith litigation and coverage actions, among other things.
Associate News
Catherine Pruett and Daniel Syhre have joined Betts, Patterson & Mines, P.S. as associates. They were formerly practicing with Gordon & Polscer, L.L.C. Their experience lies in the representation of insurance carriers in insurance coverage and bad-faith matters. Betts, Patterson & Mines also recently hired Geniel Ashcraft, who practices as an associate in the firm's estate planning and probate group. Her work includes revocable and irrevocable trusts, wills, asset protection, special needs planning and a variety of other matters.
Michael Budelsky and Michael Howard have joined Reed McClure's litigation defense team as associates. I hope they can avoid the identity confusion issues that are likely to arise when people start referring to "Michael, the new litigation defense associate." I'm familiar with this problem, as we used to have three Phils, which would lead to occasional Abbott & Costello-like discourses while the participants tried to determine which Phil was being discussed.
Abigail Robinson recently joined Michael & Alexander PLLC as an associate. Robinson was formerly a law clerk for the Honorable Ann Schindler, Washington Court of Appeals, Division I.
Andrew May has joined Rogers & Fleck, PLLC as an associate. May formerly was with Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner & Preece LLP.
Other Attorney News
Brett Sommermeyer has joined Betts, Patterson & Mines as a senior attorney. He was formerly with Gordon & Polscer.
William Hickman has become of counsel with Reed McClure. He will be available as an arbitrator and expert witness and for appellate consultation.
Honors, Events and Awards
University of Washington School of Law Professor Roy Prosterman was recently named the recipient of the inaugural Henry Kravis Prize in Leadership. The law school notes in its announcement that the award was for Prosterman's pioneering work in fighting for the rights of the rural poor to own land.
Kathleen Hopkins of the Real Property Law Group, PLLC has been named editor-in-chief of the ABA Business Law Today magazine. Her two-year term starts in August.
Rudy Englund has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Englund is a shareholder at Lane Powell and serves as the firm's director of litigation.
Obituaries
Gordon Culp, co-founder of Culp, Dwyer, Guterson & Grader, recently died at the age of 79. Besides his law practice, he served two terms on the University of Washington Board of Regents, after which he served on the Board of the UW Medical Center. Remembrances may be made in his honor to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
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 Fifth Ave., 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.
