In a city devoted to all things green, you’d think there would be some way to get my name off the mailing lists for the campaign literature that clogs my tiny urban condo mailbox. It’s preventing or delaying the delivery of important mail such as the incoming Christmas catalogs, fall fashion previews and state court advance sheets. Does anybody actually read the campaign literature, other than opposing candidates, political consultants and bloggers? Frankly, when I receive all those fliers and postcards, they go straight into the recycle bin.
New Members and Shareholders
Portia Moore has joined Lane Powell as a shareholder in the Labor and Employment Practice Group and the Complex Litigation Practice Group, where she will focus her practice on complex litigation with an emphasis on wrongful termination and race and sex discrimination claims. Moore previously was with Morrison & Foerster. Besides the requisite law degree, Moore also has a B.S. in nursing.
Charles (Chuck) Willmes recently left Bullivant Houser Bailey PC to join Merrick Hofstedt & Lindsey as a shareholder. Willmes’s practice focuses on product liability and commercial litigation.
Tom Kilbane has become a member of Short Cressman & Burgess PLLC’s Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group. He was formerly a partner in Ater Wynne LLP. His practice continues to focus on environmental law.
Associate Additions
Tyson Kade has joined Van Ness Feldman P.C.’s Seattle office as an associate. He is part of the firm’s environmental and natural resources practices and assists clients affected by the Endangered Species Act, climate change, waste regulation, fisheries management and other issues.
Jessica Munk has become an associate with McKinley Irvin, a family law firm. Munk previously was a clerk for the Honorable Ronald Cox at the Washington Court of Appeals Division I.
Chris Nelson has joined the Seattle office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as an associate in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.
Other Attorney News
Craig Aird has joined Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson, where he advises clients with respect to privately owned business entities and gift and estate planning matters. Aird recently spent two years in Frankfurt, Germany as a consultant on U.S. tax law and translating international and German tax matters.
Deirdre Glynn Levin has concluded a clerkship with Chief Judge Philip H. Brandt of the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit and has joined the Seattle law office of Thomas R. Dreiling on an of counsel basis. She will be developing an appellate practice focusing on bankruptcy and creditor-debtor matters and handling general business law and litigation.
Lourdes Fuentes has joined Stoel Rives LLP as director of lawyer recruiting and diversity. Most recently, Fuentes was director of the University of Washington School of Law’s Immigration Law Clinic.
John A. (Tony) McHugh has left Bullivant Houser Bailey for McHugh Law Offices, LLC, where he will emphasize insurance coverage disputes, construction defect litigation, mediation and ADR services.
Nancy Maisano has left the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after six years to provide mediation services through Maisano Mediation, LLC.
Outside of Private Practice
Masako Kanazawa of the Attorney General’s Office is also putting in time as the managing director of Atsui Tokyo, a new purveyor of cutting-edge designer fashion from Tokyo for men and women. It is located on Madison Street, in the same building as the Alexis Hotel, a short run down the hill from the AG’s Office.
Honors, Appointments and Awards
Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr has been appointed chairman of the new committee to review the exemptions to the Public Records Act (formerly the Public Disclosure Act). Four members of the 13-member committee are appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire. Tim Ford, the public-records ombudsman for Attorney General Rob McKenna, and Ramsey Ramerman, an associate with Foster Pepper PLLC, also are attorney members of the committee.
David Dicks, a partner of Cascadia Law Group, has been named by Gov. Gregoire to lead the Puget Sound Partnership. According to its Web page, the Puget Sound Partnership is a state agency established this year to lead efforts to protect and restore Puget Sound “and its spectacular diversity of life, now and for future generations.” As of January 1, it will assume the functions now performed by the Shared Strategy for Puget Sound.
Eric Stahl has been elected a national trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., which represents copyright owners and users. Stahl is a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
Judge Richard Jones will be honored next month for his volunteer contributions to the community at the 24th Annual YMCA A.K. Guy Award Luncheon. Judge Jones has been a board member of the YMCA of Greater Seattle for 14 years. He also has been a King County Superior Court judge since 1994 and recently was nominated for a U.S. District Court judgeship.
Karen Koehler has become president of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. She practices with Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio. WSTLA also recently honored Victoria Vreeland of Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim’s Seattle office as Trial Lawyer of the Year and bestowed its Professionalism Award upon Bill McGonagle of Sherrard McGonagle Bohannon & Miller, P.S., of Bainbridge Island. Additionally, WSTLA named Lori Haskell of the Law Offices of Lori S. Haskell its Carl Maxey Award winner. This award is presented to a WSTLA member who has demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in the legal profession.
David Swartling of Mills, Meyers, Swartling has been elected to a six-year term as secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is the first lay person to hold the post.
Gabe Galanda has been appointed chair of the ABA Business Law Section Committee on Gaming Law. The Committee monitors and explores regulatory, financial and transactional developments in tribal governmental and commercial gaming industries. Galanda is a senior associate at Williams Kastner and an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes.
Tom Dreiling recently won two gold medals rowing at the Canadian National Masters Championships. One of the categories was a sweep (one oar per person) four-person boat, which also included Dreiling’s wife and Seattle attorney Russell Love and his wife on the crew. The regatta boasted crews from Anchorage to San Diego, with some boats coming from as far away as Ontario and Sydney, Australia.
Hank Wang of Garvey Schubert Barer has been appointed vice president of the University of Washington’s new Beijing office. The opening of the Beijing office was announced in August as part of the university’s effort to expand its presence in China.
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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 Ave., Suite 2100, Seattle, WA 98101, by fax at 206-447-0215 or by email at ksutherland@omwlaw.com.
