One of my favorite events at KCBA is the Awards Celebration & Annual Meeting. Each year in June we come together as a profession to honor our colleagues, to celebrate their achievements, and to shine a light on the amazing contributions each has made in the lives of others through their service and dedication to the profession. On June 20th we will gather at the Washington Athletic Club to recognize our members and volunteers for their distinguished and meritorious service to the legal profession, the judiciary, and the public in a profession-related activity.
I am honored to introduce this year’s very deserving award recipients:
- Russell M. Aoki — Outstanding Lawyer Award: Russ’s practice emphasizes criminal defense, personal injury claims, and business litigation. During his 34-year career Russ has served as judge pro tem, mediator, arbitrator, special master, special disciplinary counsel for WSBA and serves as a national coordinating discovery attorney for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Defender Services Office. In addition, he has held numerous leadership positions in multiple associations and was the Washington State Supreme Court’s appointee to the Office of Public Defense Advisory Committee for 12 years.
- Hon. Judith H. Ramseyer — Outstanding Judge Award: Judge Ramseyer began her legal career as the first law clerk for the U.S. District Court Judge William L. Dwyer, who instilled in her a commitment to the highest standards of professionalism, analytical rigor, and compassion for the public we serve. Prior to joining the King County Superior Court, Judge Ramseyer litigated complex civil cases in both state and federal courts, including class action, securities, consumer protection, federal habeas corpus, and death penalty cases. As a lifelong advocate for women, children, and the disenfranchised, Judge Ramseyer has been recognized for her efforts chairing a task force that conducted the first statewide Glass Ceiling Survey documenting the status of women and people of color in private law firms.
- Aaron Paker — Outstanding New Lawyer: Aaron came to the practice of law later in life, being a professional who focused on working with low-income, special needs preschoolers. This allowed him to have a positive effect on helping people in their time of need. He began as a paralegal and is now the firm’s Medicare and Medicaid specialist. After graduating from law school, in less than three years he became a partner at LifePoint Law in Federal Way where he specializes in elder law with an emphasis on Medicaid planning. He has written a book that is a free guide to Medicaid and has distributed hundreds of free copies to those in need.
- SCOTUS Ethics Resolution Team — Friend of the Legal Profession Award: What began as an inspiration and a call to action heard during an award speech by Seattle attorney Llew Pritchard, became the development of one of the most profound resolutions KCBA has undertaken. This year we honor the entire team who came together to make this monumental statement a reality, calling for the Supreme Court of the United States to adopt with dispatch a binding code of ethics for the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Team Members: Neal D. Black, Thomas M. Fitzpatrick, Kathleen J. Hopkins, Lorelie S. Masters, Lucian T. Pera, Llewelyn G. Pritchard, Mark Schickman, and James F. Williams.
- Michael Goldenkranz — Individual Pro Bono Award: Michael Goldenkranz has been an extremely active and passionate volunteer in the Neighborhood Legal Clinics (NLC) for over 17 years. With the broadest client eligibility pool of any KCBA Pro Bono program, the questions Mike has fielded from NLC clients vary widely, including tenant rights, estate planning, personal injury, and everything in between. No matter which cases are assigned to Mike, he is willing to educate himself on the clients’ options before consulting with them. Conservatively, NLC staff estimate that he has dedicated over 340 hours of pro bono service and advised at least 500 clients in his time with our program.
In addition to celebrating this year’s award winners, KCBA will also be holding its Annual Membership Meeting. At the April 19th Board of Trustees meeting, the Board recommended an amendment to correct an inconsistency with the previously approved Bylaws. The vote will commence at 6:45 p.m. and members may attend to vote without attending the full celebration. Information related to the Bylaws change can viewed on the KCBA website at https://www.kcba.org/?pg=KCBA-Bylaws. If you have any questions or concerns related to the proposed bylaws changes, please contact me.
I hope you join us as we celebrate this outstanding line-up of very deserving colleagues. Please visit www.kcba.org for information and to register for the event. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Kathleen Jensen is KCBA’s Interim Executive Director. She can be reached by email at kathleenj@kcba.org or phone 206.267.7053.
