Work, personal obligations, and long laundry lists can make it difficult to check off personal or professional bucket list items. Yet, personal growth and a healthier work-life balance arrive with the process of thoughtfully asking what is important to us. Spending the time to complete one professional bucket list item might have lasting benefits that spill over into personal life as well. This might include becoming a mentor, retiring early, starting a podcast, or using up the annual leave.
Partner Pronouncements
Kiran Griffith has returned to Stoel Rives LLP as a partner. Griffith, an employee benefits lawyer who joins the firm from Perkins Coie, was an associate at Stoel Rives from 2013 to 2016. She brings to the firm 10 years of experience in employee benefit matters relating to health and welfare plans. Griffith has significant experience advising public and private sector employers, associations, and boards of trustees, as well as service providers in the health and welfare space. She advises on plan design and drafting, strategy and innovation, and regulatory compliance, with a focus on the Affordable Care Act, health care transparency (including the No Surprises Act), ERISA, mental health parity, COBRA, and other federal and state laws that affect health and welfare plans. Griffith also regularly advises on HIPAA privacy and security matters for health plan benefits. Griffith attended the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate education and earned her J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law.
Associate Additions
Sebastian Toth has joined Helsell Fetterman as part of the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Business practice groups. Toth has litigated commercial contract disputes, represented contractors and developers in multi-family condominium complex disputes, and protected the business interests of corporations against claims of personal injury. Previously, he was part of the in-house legal department at the Institute for Environmental Health, Inc., where he focused on transactional matters. Toth obtained his B.A. from Washington State University and his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law.
Nidal Dirini has joined Helsell Fetterman’s Commercial Litigation practice group. Dirini’s practice focuses on the areas of personal injury defense, insurance defense, medical malpractice as well as general litigation. Dirini started his career as a Public Defender in Benton and Snohomish Counties, then become a senior trial attorney for Allstate, and finally represented insureds in automobile, premises liability, and UIM actions at American Family Mutual Insurance. Dirini earned his B.A. from Central Washington University and his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law.
Outside of Private Practice
Jeremy Racca is the new Chief of Staff and General Counsel for the City of Seattle Mayor. Racca was previously General Counsel/Chief Administrative Officer and Counsel to the Mayor. Before that, Racca was an Associate for Clyde & Co, a New York-based law firm. Racca earned his B.S. from the University of Washington and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.
Martha Sandoval is now General Counsel at The Krusteaz Company. Sandoval was previously a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, where she focused on advising closely held companies and family-owned businesses across various industries on corporate governance and general business matters, counseling private companies on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and private investment funds. Sandoval earned her B.A. from the University of Washington and her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law.
Honors, Appointments, and Awards
Professor James Brown has been awarded the James M. Brown Lifetime Achievement Award by the Washington Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Professor Brown is managing senior partner at Phillips, Krause & Brown. His practice is devoted almost entirely to Elder Law. Professor Brown has been an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law since 2005, where he teaches Elder Law.
Mike Townsend, a University of Washington School of Law associate professor, has been awarded the David. B. Thorud Leadership Award as part of the 53rd annual University of Washington Awards of Excellence. Townsend has been an Associate Professor of Law since 1997, teaching courses on Contracts, ConTorts, Copyright/Trademarks, Introduction to Law, Property, Quantitative Methods, and Torts. Townsend earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan, and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
Mark Larrañaga has been appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to the King County Superior Court, replacing Judge Steve Rosen. Larrañaga is a career criminal defense attorney, having practiced for nearly three decades. Larrañaga was director of Washington State’s Death Penalty Assistance Center from 2001 to 2004 and then co-founded Walsh & Larrañaga in 2005. From 2005 to 2018, Larrañaga taught death penalty jurisprudence as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law. Larrañaga earned his B.A. from San Diego State University and his J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law.
Obituaries
Hugh G. Hafer recently passed away at the age of 90. Hafer graduated from Saint Martin’s College and earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. In 1962, Hafer joined a Seattle labor law firm, where he practiced for over thirty years. His clients included IAM Lodge 751, IBEW, Plumbers & Pipefitters, and the Teamsters.
Marvin Lee Gray (Monty) has passed away at the age of 77. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Gray worked as a criminal prosecutor at the office of the United States Attorney in Seattle. In 1976, Gray joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, where he practiced for over forty years and served as the firm’s managing partner for three years. His focus was on complex business litigation, mediations, and arbitrations.
Tracey A. Thompson has passed away. Admitted to the Washington state bar in 1994, Thompson joined Teamsters Local 117 as a Staff Attorney in 2003. She focused on workers’ rights, employment, and labor law and advocated in mediations, arbitrations, and court proceedings. In 2008, she was elected as Secretary-Treasurer at Teamsters Local 117 as well and re-elected in 2010.
Ruth Apahidean Harper is an attorney at Cobalt Law PLLC. She is easily reached via email: ruth@cobaltlawfirm.com, by phone: 253.234.4676, or by mail: PO Box 1134, Enumclaw, WA 98022-1134.
