Marsha Pechman will never be afraid of change, if there is a good reason behind it. Her core value of "doing good," learned growing up as a minister's daughter, remains constant. Her energy, enthusiasm and integrity helped her express that core value in innovative ways in her chosen profession.
Good reasons for change often can come from mentors. The advice of her mentor, Judge Barbara Rothstein, was at least one reason Judge Pechman married her husband of 31 years, Bill Fitzharris. She also had good advice and luck to land in a perfect setting at the beginning of her career in the late 1970s - the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Dave Boerner, chief criminal deputy, taught Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Pechman the fundamentals of the fair, effective and ethical practice of law.
Boerner had a couple of basic philosophies about being a prosecutor that stuck with Judge Pechman. Because of the great power of the state, he cautioned, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." Regarding the obligation to provide criminal defendants discovery, his policy was, "If it hurts, you've got to give it; if it really hurts, you really have to give it." The office was filled with fun, energetic attorneys interested in working hard and progressive prosecution ideas.
She moved from the prosecutor's office to the civil personal injury firm of Vhugen, Duggan, Horowitz & Bland. Bob Duggan spotted Judge Pechman in a judicial screening committee. He thought she was too young at age 28 to be a judge and that she would benefit by experience at a law firm, his law firm.
One of Duggan's fondest memories involved the then-29-year-old preacher's kid using "bad language" to shock and awe the entire membership of ILWU Local 24 Aberdeen by explaining that a hostile work environment is created by using the "c" word, but not the "p" word. "Long after she left our firm to go to academia and then the bench, longshoremen in every port in Washington would ask me, 'How's Marsha doing?' 'Quite well, I'd say. She is a judge now.' To the Aberdeen Brothers who invariably asked, 'When is Marsha coming back to talk to us about hostile work environment?' I would reply, 'Sooner than you think if you do not shape up.'"
Those who have worked with Judge Pechman during her legal career are remarkably consistent in describing her strongest qualities as a lawyer and a judge. An early co-worker in the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Mark Sidran, described "her passion for any case issue or undertaking." Superior Court mentor, Judge George Mattson, described her as a born teacher, involved in educating judges from her earliest days on the King County Superior Court.
Current colleague Judge Robert Lasnik, chief judge of the Western District, says of Judge Pechman, "Change does not come easily in federal court, but Judge Pechman already has led several efforts to make our civil and criminal justice systems more responsive, more efficient and more just. Her innovative ideas and her amazing energy for hard work are tremendous assets for our federal bench."
Judge Pechman has always been a proponent of innovation, never afraid to build a better mousetrap. Her actions illustrate a belief that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well - and with an eye to whether it can be done better. In King County Superior Court, she devoted time, energy and support to the Unified Family Court, individual calendaring and a variety of committees experimenting with jury innovations, being one of the first judges to use the struck jury system.
She relishes figuring out how to try complex cases. Judge Mattson discusses a potential Weyerhaeuser "monster trial" that she was concerned would be impossible for the jury to grasp. She turned it into 12 trials, all tried to verdict. He reports attorneys on both sides thought she walked on water.
Making the court system more accessible and understandable to juries has been a judicial career commitment. She currently serves on the Ninth Circuit Jury Instruction Committee and keeps a close watch on the related work of the jury innovation committee.
Her strong endorsement of innovation - designed to make trials more understandable, efficient and ultimately just - has continued to win her praise from attorneys who try cases in her courtroom, win or lose. Dave Burman, Mike Reiss and Craig Spiegel find no fault with their recent trials before Judge Pechman. Recent cutting-edge trial innovations included grouping of all experts in a two-day time period with mini-opening statements. Jurors are especially appreciative of the control exercised to move the trial efficiently and fairly, reports Bill Redkey, assistant U.S. attorney and recent juror in Judge Pechman's court.
If participants in trials are happy to be in her court, it may be in part because there is no question the job satisfaction is mutual. Judge Pechman knows she has a great job. Where else can you have complete job security and an inexhaustible supply of intriguing scenarios to ponder? How many pounds a Canada goose defecates on the Green Lake walking path or whether people in Okanogan need to buy "two buck chuck" may not strike everyone as interesting. But you have to admit, there are a lot worse ways to make a living.
On the federal bench, Judge Pechman misses juvenile court the most. She faced the hardest and saddest cases there. Deciding the fate of the most vulnerable and powerless members of society was, thankfully, leavened occasionally by kids saying the damnedest things. She was convinced to acquit one 14-year-old boy for killing another family's chicken, accepting his story he had to kill the chicken to eat and survive. Judge Pechman believed she may have been slightly "had" as the "freed" offender confided on his way out the door: "Judge, that was one mean chicken."
A special interest in other cultures has led her twice to Africa to work with the judicial systems in Malawi and Uganda. Fellow travelers working to improve attorney skills and women's legal rights, Steve Fury, Holly Hill and retired Judge Robert Alsdorf, describe her as the same tireless, energetic teacher. She wonders whether Africa needs better cross-examiners as opposed to more AIDS drugs, but feels comfortable making a contribution that combines the use of her many talents, interests and sympathies in teaching members of the Women's Bar Association of Uganda to represent AIDS orphans in the new legal system.
The teaching and mentoring that started with an early stint teaching trial practice at Seattle University Law School continues. Recently, she coached daughter Colleen's Seattle Prep mock trial team. Displaying typical impartiality in the face of Colleen's continuous hearsay objections, the judge declared she'd made her ruling and ordered her to sit down and stop talking. No preferences even for the first daughter.
Judge Pechman's broad world view also has influenced daughters Colleen and Ellen. Colleen spent a year studying in Siberia - voluntarily. Ellen spent last summer in a village in Nicaragua building ovens to ease the burden on women in the village, while reducing pollution. Ellen and her mother have foster-parented animals for the Elliott Bay Shelter - frequently hitting up friends to take one of the many kittens. In addition to all the "work" work and volunteer work, Judge Pechman knits, skis, walks and paints watercolors, usually while listening to an astonishing array of books on tape.
If you come to her courtroom, be prepared for the traditional because Judge Pechman is a smart, hardworking judge who is dedicated to getting it right. Also, be ready for the non-traditional, because if an innovation enhances the way we try cases, you are likely to see it in use in her courtroom.
