This month’s theme is “fun,” which is not a word normally used to describe lawyers. Personally, I think law is challenging and fascinating, but it really isn’t “fun,” and I’ve never heard anyone describe me (or any other lawyer, for that matter) as being “fun.”
Sometimes blowing glass is fun, but not in August, when I have to keep dunking my head in a bucket of water to avoid heat stroke. I suspect my lack of “fun” is typical for lawyers, because if any of the rest of you are having fun, you’re keeping it to yourselves as opposed to sharing it with your friendly Bar Talk columnist for possible publication.
New Firm Owners
Carla DewBerry has become an owner in Garvey Schubert Barer’s Seattle office. DewBerry practices healthcare law, mergers and acquisitions, and federal, state and local taxation.
Jason Epstein has joined Premier Law Group, PLLC as a partner. He most recently was an associate at Graham Lundberg and Peschel. His practice is devoted entirely to plaintiffs’ personal injury.
Nancy Pacharzina has been promoted to become a member of Tousley Brain Stephens.
The Public Interest Law Group, PLLC has named Hank Balson, Wendy Chen, and Nancy Chupp as members.
Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP has added Steven Fricke as a partner. Fricke was formerly with Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness PLLC. His practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, patent infringement and validity opinions, among other things.
Karr Tuttle Campbell, home of Bar Bulletin Editor Gene Barton, has added shareholders Thomas Adams, Penn Gheen, Dino Vasquez and Medora Marisseau, who formerly were with Bullivant Houser Bailey PC’s Seattle office. Adams, who is in the firm’s Litigation Department, focuses on commercial and environmental disputes. Gheen and Vasquez are also in the firm’s Litigation Department. Gheen has litigated cases in both the state and federal courts of Washington and Oregon for the past 30 years, having tried more than 100 jury cases to verdict. Vasquez handles civil litigation matters in federal and state courts with an emphasis on commercial, professional liability and trade customs litigation. Marisseau has joined the firm’s Employment Relations Department, where she provides employment, ERISA and employee benefits advice and litigation services.
Michael Patterson, Patricia Buchanan, Duncan Fobes, Charles Leitch, Karen Kalzer and William Waechter have become partners in the new law firm known as Patterson Buchanan Fobes Leitch Kalzer & Waechter. They were previously with Lee Smart Cook Martin & Patterson. The firm’s clients include Northwest public entities, governmental risk pools, insurance companies, private schools, employers and communities of faith.
Associate Additions
Karr Tuttle Campbell has added two associates from Bullivant Houser, namely, Celeste M. Monroe and Brian Keeley. Monroe joins the firm’s Litigation Department, where her practice focuses on construction, commercial and personal injury litigation. Keeley is in the firm’s Employment Relations Department, focusing on employment, employee benefits, structured annuity contracts and ERISA litigation.
Tracy Sarich has joined Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC as an associate.
Donald Austin, Sean Jackson, Nicholas Jenkins, Jennifer Porto and Brian Waters have become associates with Patterson Buchanan Fobes Leitch Kalzer & Waechter. They were previously associates with Lee Smart Cook Martin & Patterson.
Jeffrey Young has become an associate with Garvey Schubert Barer, working in the firm’s business, international and China practices. He most recently was on a fellowship at Beijing’s Qinghua University.
Michael Nordtvedt has joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s Seattle office as a corporate associate attorney.
Donald Lam has joined Peterson Russell Kelly PLLC as an associate. His practice focuses on general business, corporate, real estate and tax.
Timothy Jones has joined Lane Powell as an associate in the Real Estate and Land Use Practice Group. He previously was an associate with Williams Kastner & Gibbs.
Lane Powell PC has added Tara Gillespie and Kathryn Andersson as associates. Gillespie is in the firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation Practice Group. She formerly was an associate with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Andersson is in the firm’s Trusts and Estates Practice Group, where she will focus on estate planning. She previously was an associate at a firm in Boston.
Of Counsel and Other Attorney News
Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP’s Seattle office has added James Anable as of counsel and Jeffrey Reis as special counsel. Both come from Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness PLLC.
Gwynne Skinner has become of counsel to the Public Interest Law Group, PLLC.
Anne Tiura has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s Seattle office. Tiura, previously special counsel at Heller Ehrman, focuses on commercial real estate transactions.
Jamie Evans has joined Summit Law Group’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group. He most recently was with the Seattle office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Office Moves
Cowan Miller & Lederman has moved to 1000 Second Avenue. Its fax, phone and email addresses remain the same.
Hendricks & Lewis has moved to 901 Fifth Avenue. The rest of its contact information remains the same.
Peter Buck has moved to a new firm known as The Buck Law Group, PLLC. With his departure, Buck & Gordon LLP has been renamed GordonDerr LLP. Buck & Gordon describes the parting as “amicable.”
Honors and Awards
Teresa Byers has been appointed to the board of the Northwest Women’s Law Center. She is a member of the Estate Planning and Probate Group at Garvey Schubert Barer.
The UW Law School Alumni Association recently presented its Distinguished Alumni award to Jerry McNaul and Chang Rok Woo; its Service Recognition award to Polly McNeill; and its Henry M. Jackson Distinguished Public Service Award to Todd Larsen.
Fredric Tausend has been awarded the Ninth Circuit’s John P. Frank award, recognizing an outstanding lawyer practicing in the federal courts of the western United States. Tausend is a senior counsel at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, LLP.
The KCBA Labor & Employment Law Section has named the following new trustees and officers: Amy Stephson, section chair; Anne Senter, chair-elect and conference chair; Geoff M. Boodell, treasurer; Shelly Shapiro, secretary; Regina (Gina) Cahan, trustee; and Jim Shaker, trustee.
The Washington Law School Foundation has elected Joe Brotherton as president and Polly McNeill as vice president.
Peter Day has joined the National Arbitration Forum’s national panel. He is a principal of Mercer Island Arbitration Chambers Interna-
tional, LLC.
Foster Pepper PLLC has elected Brad Berg, John Nelson and Jane Pearson to its executive committee.
Outside Private Practice
The Honorable Michael Spear-man has announced his retirement from the King County Superior Court bench, effective next month.
Professors Lea Vaughn and Lisa Kelly have agreed to serve as interim associate deans for the coming academic year at the UW School of Law. Both will continue to teach classes. The announcement was the result of Gregory Hicks, professor and former associate dean for faculty and academic administration, being named interim dean of the law school.
In Memoriam
Peter Byrnes died recently at the age of 68 of multiple myeloma. He founded Byrnes & Keller with Brad Keller in 1984. Byrnes was known for his litigation skills, and he was a first vice president of the International Society of Barristers. Memorials may be made to the Swedish Cancer Institute, Swedish Medical Center Foundation or the International Myeloma Foundation.
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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 Avenue, Suite 2100, Seattle, WA 98101, by fax at 206-447-0215 or by email at ksutherland@omwlaw.com.
