When Eileen Concannon was awarded the Betty Crocker and Ms. Future Homemaker of America Awards in 1968 in her all-girls, home economics classes, a future career as a tough litigator, women’s rights advocate and leader of the King County Bar Association was as unimaginable to her as it surely would have been to her Irish-immigrant parents struggling to make a life for their family in Miami, Florida. But by the time her mother died when Eileen was only 16, her parents’ old-world values of strong family, personal responsibility and achievement, helping those less fortunate, thinking independently, and fighting for social causes, already were strongly inculcated, and they became the forces that shaped the course of Eileen’s life.
As a high-school student, Eileen balanced her new role as family housekeeper and surrogate mother to her younger siblings with her love of math, astronomy and physics, and she managed to earn straight A’s (even though her math teacher directed her away from the advanced math track and into “serious home ec”). She also supplemented the family’s income by working in a factory, ironing, babysitting and making clothes and household goods.
Despite the demands of work, home and family, Eileen began — while still in high school — her lifelong devotion to activism and community service. Her parents taught her always to share with those less fortunate, and she recalls vividly the time her mother gave away the last quarter of the family’s weekly food allowance to someone who knocked on the door seeking a charitable contribution.
And so Eileen began giving her own “quarter” to those less fortunate, volunteering as a Head Start worker in a Miami ghetto, and with disabled and Down syndrome children. She also studied as a high-school exchange student in Managua, Nicaragua.
Miami in the 1960s was still deeply segregated, and issues of race and discrimination were flaming. Eileen became fascinated with the civil rights and women’s movements, collecting news articles and memorabilia, which she still treasures today. She noticed that women were beginning to organize and to seek full legal, social and financial rights and opportunities. The kernel of her own dream began to grow and Eileen became determined to experience freedom from a life of domestic responsibilities and to find a place for herself in the larger world.
Although she had never planned to go to college, at the last minute Eileen borrowed money for the application fee and was awarded scholarships and grants that allowed her to attend the University of Florida. While in college, she supported herself with a variety of jobs from cocktail waitress to student-housing manager to tutor. In 1973, she graduated summa cum laude.
The only woman in her graduate program for two years at the University of Notre Dame, she completed an M.S. in sociology and anthropology in 1975. In 1980, she graduated with honors from DePaul University College of Law. Throughout this period, she continued to give her “quarter” to the community, volunteering as a math tutor in impoverished neighborhoods, serving as a drug counselor, helping victims of domestic violence and working as a civil rights activist.
Eileen arrived in Seattle in January 1983, with two unhappy cats and a couple of suitcases. Fresh from her first job as a lawyer in Chicago, she had landed a new job at Garvey, Schubert, Adams & Barer, a progressive firm that had actually made not one, but two women partners (Sharon Armstrong and Bobbe Bridge). Eileen and I had both been drawn to the firm as idealistic young lawyers fresh out of law school in the era when women entering the profession still wore only the proscribed uniform of male-tailored skirt suits, bow ties, stockings and pumps. We shared status as the only two unmarried lawyers in the firm, although Eileen soon changed that by introducing me to my future husband.
As the young matriarch of her own family, Eileen drew two of her three siblings — each of whom ultimately achieved professional careers in public service — to live in Seattle. In 1990, she married her husband, Roger Sprinkle, and helped to raise his son, Darren. Eileen and Roger have a 13-year-old son, Shawn, an eighth-grader at Islander Middle School on Mercer Island, of whom they are very proud. They also are grandparents of Mia (8), Tyler (7) and Thomas (3). Eileen describes her family as bringing her “great joy and happiness beyond words.” Another great joy in Eileen’s life is her love of travel, particularly to her family’s ancestral home in Ireland and most recently to Machu Picchu, Peru.
A partner at the firm of Riddell Williams since 1993, Eileen has focused her practice on commercial litigation, while also developing her skills and reputation as an effective mediator and arbitrator. Her success in the law profession has not, however, diminished her devotion to giving her full “quarter” back to the community. Her activism and accomplishments now include work on a local, national and international scale.
It would take pages to list all of Eileen’s many activities and accomplishments. How-ever, some of which she is most proud are her service as a member of the Washington State Supreme Court Commission on Gender and Justice (1999–2007), Chair of the Bar’s Glass Ceiling Task Force (2001–04), member of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence (2007–08), and chair of the University of Washington Women’s Center Board (1999–2007). In 2006, she received Washington Women Lawyers’ “President’s Award,” was awarded the Girl Scouts of America’s “Woman of Distinction” award in 2004, and earned WSBA’s “Excellence in Diversity” award in 2003. As a member of Women and Democracy, she experienced one of the highlights of her life when she participated in a 2004 human-rights panel in South Africa with Helen Suzman, the only South African parliamentarian who unequivocally opposed apartheid in the 1960s and ’70s.
Washington Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen, who worked with Eileen on the Gender and Justice Commission, expressed that, while some women talk about inequality issues still confronting women, Eileen “extends the ladder.” In her quiet way, says Justice Madsen, Eileen looks for opportunities to mentor and bring others along.
Although many lawyers in Eileen’s position as a successful partner choose to “retire” and enjoy the fruits of their labor, Eileen has turned her considerable energy and passion to helping others succeed. “In my view,” says Justice Madsen, “Eileen is the ultimate role model.”
Lisa Hayes, a former Riddell Williams associate, agrees. She states that, “Eileen is one of the most generous people I have ever met — one who ‘walks the walk’ every day. She has opened her home to domestic violence victims and people working with women in Afghanistan. She hosts baby showers when no one else can make time to do so, and never misses an opportunity to send a card of encouragement when it’s needed. She advocates tirelessly for people who otherwise would not be heard, both on a local and national level, and is truly dedicated to women’s issues and social justice.”
Hayes recalls that while she was at Riddell Williams, there was never a day when Eileen’s door was closed to someone needing a sounding board or informal mentor. She observed that Eileen pushes people to excel in their law practices and sets the same high standards for herself. If more lawyers were like Eileen, Hayes says, we would quickly see the end of jokes beginning with, “What do you call 100 lawyers on the bottom of the ocean?”
One of Eileen’s predecessors at Garvey Schubert, Washington Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge, also has expressed great admiration for Eileen. Calling her a “fierce defender of the rights of women to full and equal participation in civic life on an international scale,” Justice Bridge noted that from the time she worked with her at Garvey Schubert, she knew Eileen would be a leader in our community and in the bar.
Loren Dunn, Eileen’s partner at Riddell Williams, believes that, although Eileen is typically seen through the prism of her great community service, she also is hitting her stride as a litigator. He recited a recent conversation with a well-respected plaintiffs’ lawyer and frequent legal opponent of Eileen’s, who called her “the best” and “as good as litigators in my field get — respectful, effective and someone who gets great results for her client.”
Eileen believes the core values she learned from her parents accord with KCBA’s goals of promoting the highest ideals in our profession: commitment to justice, professionalism, integrity, volunteerism, equality, a fair and impartial legal system, and access for all to necessary legal services. Eileen knew little about KCBA until she was asked to run for a trustee’s position in 2001. During her subsequent service as a trustee, she became so impressed with the board, its staff and volunteers, that she remained active, and ultimately accepted the nomination to run for president. She is looking forward to a great year in her new role.
I hope many of you will get to know Eileen this year. If you do, I am sure you’ll experience the delight of hearing her inimitable, self-effacing laugh and leave the encounter inspired to give back more to our profession and the community. I think Eileen’s parents and even Betty Crocker herself would be proud of what their young award winner has achieved in helping to shape the new roles of women and homemakers in the 21st century.
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Christine E. Dinsdale has been a friend and colleague of Eileen Concannon’s since they worked together at Garvey Schubert Adams & Barer in the early 1980s. She currently is a shareholder at Soha & Lang, where her practice is focused on commercial, product liability and insurance coverage litigation.
