Have I mentioned lately that summer is my favorite time of the year around here? People in general seem a little more relaxed, which makes practicing employment law slightly less stressful. Besides, it’s fun to take my work home and sit here in the living room with the doors to the deck open, watching the ferries go by, with my paperweight collection working hard to keep my pile of press releases and notes from blowing away. I also enjoy all the neighborhood summer festivals with their weird food on a stick and drippy Sno Cones. Even hardworking lawyers need a little break now and then.
New Firm Owners
Kathleen Petrich recently became a shareholder at Graham & Dunn, where she joins the firm’s Intellectual Property Team. Petrich’s practice focuses on all areas of intellectual property, including trademarks and mechanical/electrical patent prosecution. Besides having a law degree, she is registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Joe Wallin joined Davis Wright Tremaine’s Corporate Finance Practice Group as a partner. He provides general counsel services to public and private companies on a wide variety of matters, including mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions. He was previously a partner at DLA Piper US LLP.
Associate News
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has added a slew of new associates, including Matt Staples, who is part of the firm’s Technology Transactions Practice Group; Andrew Braff and Jason Keyes, who are in the firm’s Energy Practice Group; Mike Moyer and Susan Min, who are part of the firm’s Corporate Group; and Andrew Bryant, who is in the firm’s Tax Practice Group.
Jeannie Simpson has joined Foster Pepper PLLC as an associate in the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. She was previously an associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP in its Palo Alto and Tokyo offices.
Of Counsel and Other Attorney Additions
Ryan McBride has joined Lane Powell as of counsel to the firm in the Litigation Practice Group. McBride was previously with Heller Ehrman LLP, where his practice emphasized complex commercial litigation, mediation and appeals.
Alexandra Smith has joined Lane Powell as of counsel to the firm in the Environmental Practice Group. She was previously an assistant attorney general. Her practice focuses on environmental and natural resource regulatory issues and appellate litigation.
J.D. Smith has joined Stritmatter Kessler’s Seattle office. His practice focuses on representing individuals who have been damaged through the negligence of others.
Three healthcare attorneys who previously practiced with Reed McClure have joined Helsell Fetterman LLP’s Health Care Practice Group. The new additions are Nancy Elliott, Jake Winfrey and Dan Keefe. Elliott, who is licensed in Washington and Montana, was previously a shareholder with Reed McClure. She represents physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers in medical malpractice cases, disciplinary actions and professional board and privilege disputes. Keefe, who also was a shareholder with Reed McClure, focuses on medical malpractice litigation and defending actions before the medical, nursing and dental Quality Assurance Commission. Winfrey’s practice focuses on medical malpractice litigation.
New Digs
Reed Schifferman has moved his practice to Lake City. He focuses on plaintiff’s cases involving serious personal injuries, including medical negligence and products liability, and other personal injury cases as well.
Outside of Private Practice
Justice Bobbe Bridge has announced that she is retiring from the Washington Supreme Court to become founding president of the Center for Children & Youth Justice, which is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to advancing justice and enhancing the lives of children and youth through juvenile justice, child welfare and related systems reform. The organization will lead the MacArthur Foundation’s work in Washington, which includes $10 million in funding for investments in the juvenile justice reform efforts in Washington. Justice Bridge has been on the Supreme Court since 1999. Before that, she served for 10 years as a King County Superior Court judge.
Debra Stephens has been appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire to Division III of the Court of Appeals. Stephens’ practice has focused on appellate work since 1995. She is a founding member of the Washington Appellate Lawyers Association.
Diana Singleton has been named director of the Access to Justice Institute at Seattle University School of Law. She previously was an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project and co-founded the Legal Services Consumer Law Task Force. The Access to Justice Institute links Seattle University School of Law students to a wide range of public interest organizations and community justice centers.
Kathryn Olson has been appointed to lead the Office of Professional Accountability, which investigates complaints against Seattle police officers. She was formerly with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Benefits, Honors and Awards
The Western Washington Pro Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists awarded a column that ran in the King County Bar Bulletin second place in the “Editorial-Non-Dailies” category. The column, “A New Ugly Era for Supreme Court Elections,” was written by KCBA President John Ruhl and appeared in the Bar Bulletin’s October 2006 issue.
The Bankruptcy Bar recently hosted its Sixth Annual Fundraiser of Consumer Education and Training Services, better known as “CENTS.” Besides cocktails, food, and silent, live and dessert auctions, the event featured music by the Deadbeats, all of whom are involved in some way in the world of bankruptcy law. I would list all of them, except I didn’t bring a pen to the event (my bad!). The only people whose names I can remember off the top of my head are the percussion section, which consisted of Bankruptcy Court Judge Karen Overstreet and bankruptcy attorney Michael Wickstead, who I am compelled to remember since I have been practicing with him at Ogden Murphy Wallace for the past 17 years and he invited me to the event. The Deadbeats were quite good, resulting in numerous bankruptcy practitioners dancing their way through two full sets of music and a rousing encore. If you missed this event and feel like contributing, to this cause, you can find out more at www.centsprogram.com.
Marlys Palumbo of Van Ness Feldman PC recently appeared in the Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, representing one of Bluebeard’s three former wives. No, she didn’t get to sing, in case you were wondering.
Deborah Juarez, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, was one of four Native American women to receive the Native Action Network’s Enduring Spirit Award. This award recognizes the lifetime achievements of Native American women who contribute to healthy communities. Juarez is of counsel to Williams Kastner.
Greg Plichta has been appointed chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the King County Bar Association. He is an attorney in Woodcock Washburn’s Seattle office, where he focuses his practice on patent prosecution.
Kraig Marini Baker has been named chair of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s Technology Practice Group. Baker is a partner in the firm and advises clients on intellectual property issues, among other things.
Robert Kunold, Jr. has been appointed chair of Foster Pepper PLLC’s Executive Committee, which is the equivalent of being a managing partner. Kunold is a member of the firm’s Business Practice Group.
Obituaries
Bob Nickels, who founded the Society of Counsel Representing Accused Persons, better known as “SCRAP,” recently died of complications from cancer at the age of 81. Nickels had six children, including Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.
The Fine Print
Bar Talk is a way to share information about lawyers who practice or live in King County when any of the following events occur: landing a new job; receiving a promotion; appointment or election to a board or corporate office; receiving an award from a non-profit, trade group or governmental or educational institution; or doing something that seems uncharacteristic of lawyers, such as writing a novel, producing a play, riding a unicycle around the world, etc. We also run items about events that benefit non-profits that have a connection to the legal community, like Lawyerpalooza or CENTS.
Bar Talk is written five or six weeks before publication, depending on my schedule. If you write to me about something that occurred more than a month before you send it, the item probably will not run in the column because it will be old news by the time it appears.
This column does not include CLE information, notices that a lawyer was recognized by another publication or announcements that a lawyer has written something about a legal topic. I edit what you send to me unless I’m in a hurry, and I may add comments that were not in your submission. Also, the decision about whether to run an item is up to the editor and me, which means your submission may not run or that we may deviate from these guidelines.
The easiest way to get submissions to me is by email. My address is at the bottom of this column. You are also welcome to send things by fax or regular mail. If you are the first lawyer who sends me an email confirming that you actually read this fine print, you will receive a genuine free glass paperweight created by yours truly, compliments of Sutherland Art Glass. Lawyers at Ogden Murphy Wallace, Karr Tuttle Campbell or the KCBA are not eligible.
Karen Sutherland is the chair of the Employment and Labor Law Practice Group at Ogden Murphy Wallace, PLLC, 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 Fifth Ave., Suite 2100, Seattle, WA 98101, by fax at 206-447-0215 or by email at ksutherland@omwlaw.com.
