December is a month when I return to my roots as a retailer. It's not that I really need the cash - my law gig does pay okay - but my law clients' stress levels seem to go up around the holidays, thereby taking the joy out of practicing law. This time of the year, I spend the daylight hours (and I use that term very loosely) dealing with calls about bad office party behavior, workplace violence, people threatening to leave and take their trade secrets with them, etc. Retail, on the other hand, means handing people a cup of cider and a cookie and helping them find the perfect handmade gift for themselves, their clients or their friends and family. The atmosphere is festive, not corporate, and people are complimentary, not grumpy. In other words, it cheers me up. So, if you see me selling stuff at a trunk show, open house or art fair this month, you will know why.
New Firm Owners
Kenneth Myer recently became a member of Foster Pepper PLLC's business practice group. Myer formerly was a partner at Short Cressman & Burgess PLLC. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and business and corporate planning.
Associate Additions
My absolute favorite law firm, Ogden Murphy Wallace P.L.L.C., recently added Amber Quintal as an associate in the firm's business department. Quintal's practice focuses on tax law, primarily in the corporate realm.
Christopher Priddy has become an associate in the Seattle Office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. He is a part of the firm's International Business and Trade Group, where his practice focuses on international business and trade. Priddy previously was with a firm in Washington, D.C., and was an official with the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration before that.
Anne Klosterman has joined Graham & Dunn as an associate, working with the firm's Wealth Management and Emerging Companies & Entrepreneurs teams. Her practice focuses on general corporate and tax issues, corporate formation and governance, stock and asset sales and purchases, and business tax planning.
J. Bowman Neely has become an associate at Hendricks & Lewis. His practice focuses on civil litigation and intellectual property. Before law school, Neely worked for Sotheby's Auction House in New York and also worked as an artist exhibiting in New York and Los Angeles.
Charles Gillman has become an associate at Lane Powell in its Immigration Law Practice Group. His practice focuses on all aspects of employment-based immigration law. He most recently was with a firm in Portland.
Of Counsel and Other Attorney Additions
Linda Clapham has joined Carney Badley Spellman as of counsel. Clapham previously was a partner at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky. She has extensive insurance defense and coverage litigation experience and also focuses on appellate litigation.
Heather Colburn has joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP's intellectual property group. She focuses her practice on patent and trademark prosecution. Colburn previously worked for Barnard, Loop & McCormack LLP and Christensen O'Connor Johnson Kindness PLLC as a patent and litigation attorney.
New Spaces
Seed IP has moved its office to the 54th Floor of the Columbia Center. Its practice continues to focus on intellectual property.
Outside of Private Practice
Prometheus Energy, a Tukwila company co-founded in 2003 by its CEO, attorney Kirt Montague, recently was named one of "The Green 50" by Inc. Magazine. Prometheus Energy converts methane gas into liquefied natural gas, which can be used to power buses.
The University of Washington School of Law recently opened its entrepreneurial law clinic. As the law school's newsletter says, "The mission of the law school's ELC is to promote economic development in Washington state by providing free legal services for low-income microentrepreneurs and early stage high-tech companies that face significant economic barriers to success."
Honors, Awards and Benefits
Ted Vosk, an attorney who co-founded Celestial North, Inc., has been notified by Astronomy magazine that his team is the national winner of its new "Out-Of-This-World" Award for excellence in science outreach.
Douglas Nash, director of the Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate at Seattle University School of Law, recently was elected secretary of the Northwest Indian Bar Association.
The Washington State Bar Association recently held a reception for the APR 6 Law Clerk Program. It was extremely well attended and great to see so many people who have become successful lawyers through the program. This is a great program for people who do not have the time or funds to attend law school.
Richard Salwen, founding general counsel for Dell Computer Corporation (now retired), was honored with the 2006 Sharon Nelson Leadership Award. As the U.W. law school's newsletter states, "This award is given annually to a University of Washington law school graduate who has made significant contributions in the fields of law and technology by the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce + Technology."
The Washington State Bar Association recently honored its members who are celebrating 50 years of membership. The KCBA members who were honored include the following: The Honorable Robert R. Beezer; Fred Butterworth; Craig Campbell; John Costello, The Honorable Robert Dixon; Frank Draper; Dominick Driano; The Honorable Betty Fletcher; Robert Hall; Douglas Hartwich; David Hiscock; Evan Inslee; John Kovarik; John Kruger; Jeremiah Long; Dudley Panchot; Jerome Shulkin; Richard Sprague; and Shannon Stafford.
Former WSBA President Ronald Ward of Jones & Ward PLLC received the 2006 Washington State Trial Lawyers Association President's Award and also was honored as the 2006 Outstanding Plaintiff's Trial Lawyer by the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers. The Loren Miller Bar Association renamed its President's Award as the Ron R. Ward President's Award.
Davis Wright Tremaine is the 2007 recipient of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators' Achievements in Diversity award.
Geoffrey Revelle, a partner in the Seattle office of Stoel Rives, recently was elected to the Board of Directors of TerraLex, an international network of independent law firms.
Lawyers Helping Hungry Children recently had a luncheon to raise funds for organizations that provide food and support to children in need. If you missed the fundraiser, it is probably never too late to donate. Learn more at www.lhhcwa.org.
Future Deadlines
If you want an item included in the February Bar Talk, please send it to me by January 5. The contact information is at the end of this column.
Have a safe and wonderful holiday season!
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 Association Bar Bulletin Committee. Her practice focuses on employment and labor law and complex litigation. She can be reached at 1601 - 5th Avenue, 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.
