Once you have known John Ruhl for a while, you realize that you have met somebody special. The recently installed president of the King County Bar Association takes life seriously, but has a remarkable, self-effacing sense of humor. He is well regarded and admired by all who know him as a professional colleague, husband and family man, member of the community and leader in his parish; yet he is one of the most humble, unassuming people you will ever meet.
Ruhl is a native Washingtonian. As he tells the story, his parents were on their way to Alaska via Washington in 1951 when they ran out of money and decided to settle in Tacoma. A year later, Ruhl was born.
Ruhl attended high school at St. Edward's, a Catholic seminary in Kenmore, graduating in 1970. His graduating class numbered a grand total of 12. As Ruhl has put it, "There was nowhere to hide in Latin class." Following his graduation, Ruhl made the difficult decision to leave his studies for the priesthood, believing that he was not cut out for the life of a priest.
Transitioning back to secular life, Ruhl enrolled at Seattle University in the fall of 1970. Based upon his strong academic record at St. Edward's, Ruhl was admitted to the Honors Program, and in 1974 graduated summa cum laude in history and journalism. Ruhl also found the time to serve as a three-term president of the varsity rowing team and was the sports editor for the campus newspaper in his senior year. Summers found him hard at work in salmon canneries in Alaska.
Back in Alaska following his graduation from Seattle University, Ruhl stayed on in Juneau when cannery work ended. Trying his hand at journalism, he joined the local daily newspaper as a "cub" reporter, covering the local courts and government.
His living arrangement, however, was a bit unconventional. Working for his room and board in order to save money, Ruhl lived at the Juneau Fire Department, where he went on night fire and ambulance calls. Although his work as a reporter proved interesting and often exciting, covering the courts convinced him that studying law was his real interest and calling.
With just enough money to get him through his first semester, Ruhl enrolled in the University of Notre Dame Law School in the fall of 1975. He managed to scrape through the second semester on borrowed funds and arrived back in Seattle broke and without a summer job.
Understating his circumstances, as is his habit, Ruhl allowed as how his law school adventure was in "a bit of financial jeopardy." In the course of a hectic three weeks, Ruhl sold Kirby vacuum cleaners (just one sale: to Mom and Dad), collected garbage during a labor strike and clerked at the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office.
With economic disaster staring him in the face, Ruhl's career was rescued by an Alaskan cannery job. The canneries, a work-study job as a firefighter in the Notre Dame Fire Department, an assortment of short term jobs and student loans rivaling the national debt allowed him to finish law school in 1978.
Following his graduation from Notre Dame, Ruhl clerked for Judge Edward Reed of the Washington State Court of Appeals, and then in 1979 joined Sax and MacIver in Seattle, where he became a partner in 1985.
In late 1985, Ruhl joined Merkel Caine & Donohue, which in 1989 became the Seattle office of Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, a New York-based firm. Ruhl served as the managing partner of Hiscock & Barclay's Seattle office between 1991 and 1995.
He joined the Seattle office of Eisenhower & Carlson in 1995, where he pursues a commercial trial practice with emphasis in the areas of transportation, employment, construction and banking. Additionally, he is a commercial arbitrator for the American Bar Association, an arbitrator for the King County Superior Court and also frequently serves as a mediator in commercial disputes.
First and forever foremost in Ruhl's life is his family: his wife of 21 years, Melanie, and daughters Catherine (20), Elizabeth (18) and Margaret (15). Melanie has served as a volunteer Girl Scout leader for more than 12 years; Catherine is currently majoring in fashion design at Pratt Institute in New York City; Elizabeth embarks on her freshman year this fall at the University of Notre Dame; and Margaret will be a sophomore at Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle. No lawyers yet, but as Ruhl puts it, "Hope springs eternal."
A competitive sculler for several years after law school, today Ruhl is an avid bicyclist. He describes his two favorite Saturday morning rides as, "Go down the driveway and turn right!" and, alternately, "Go down the driveway and turn left!" Two years ago, he and then-KCBA president John Cary spent a week together on the Cascade Bicycle Club's annual "Ride Around Washington."
Ruhl also has a passion for travel. While single, he traveled extensively in Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, the Middle East and Africa. During the past five years, he has accompanied Melanie as she has led their daughters' Girl Scout troops on trips to Ireland, England and Italy - with each trip financed almost entirely by the troop members' fundraising efforts.
As a veteran trial lawyer, Ruhl is deeply concerned about the fact that civil litigation costs are so prohibitive as to put the courts out of reach for most citizens and businesses. One of his favorite quotations is from Voltaire: "I was financially ruined only twice in my life - once when I lost a lawsuit and once when I won one." The quotation is not funny for Ruhl.
Most of Ruhl's bar-related work has focused primarily on projects to assist the judiciary, streamline court procedures and increase the accessibility of alternative dispute resolution services to the community.
In 1987, Ruhl received the KCBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in recognition of his work in establishing the King County Dispute Resolution Center, which is the largest community mediation program in the Pacific Northwest. He served as its first president and has continued on its board for more than 20 years.
Recently, under Ruhl's leadership, the KCBA Judiciary and the Courts Committee recommended key limits on civil discovery, which the King County Superior Court incorporated into its local civil rules in 2005.
John and I first met at the Dispute Resolution Center in 1986. We worked closely together for 15 years at the Center. During that time, I developed a deep respect for him as a colleague and as a good friend. I am excited for him and I wish him all the best during his term as the president of the King County Bar Association.
Jim Metz worked with John Ruhl from 1986 until 2000, while serving as the first executive director of the King County Dispute Resolution Center. He currently is the housing ordinance supervisor for the City of Seattle's Department of Planning and Development.
