August 2003
Around the State
Cowlitz County Report
by Our Local Correspondent
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney "Rip Snortin" Ed Norton has moved to the Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, where he will be working under a federal domestic-violence grant. This move will allow Ed and his wife to be closer to their families. Although Prosecuting Attorney Sue Baur says that Ed's departure "is like having an arm ripped off," she and her entire staff wish Ed all the best.
During his last week, Ed was presented with a plaque commemorating his seven years of service to the citizens of Cowlitz County and his fierce defense of crime victims' rights. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Shaffer will be moving into Ed's office—no word yet on whether the sunlight will make her less cranky. Arne Denny returned to the Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney's Office after two years in Island County. Arne's first day back was June 23. On June 24, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tierra Busby came back after a couple of months of maternity/Utah leave. Welcome back to T-Buzz.
A surprise party for the ever-irascible Ann Mottet was held June 13 at the Hall of Justice. Happy 50th, Ann!
Congratulations to the newest member of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Bar Association, Dainen Penta. Superior Court Judge Jill Johanson swore in Dainen on May 30. Dainen is the son of attorney Vince Penta, for whom he most recently worked as a clerk while studying for the bar exam. Dainen is now learning the title insurance business at Cowlitz County Title Company in Longview.
Rumor also has it that Anne Mowry Cruser has returned to work in the area. Anne, formerly of the Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, most recently worked for the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney.
(Information for the next report must be received by August 14 at CWBAnews@hotmail.com.)
King County Report
by Jim Varnell
Ads-R-Us
Whatever did the King County legal community do for humor when advertising by attorneys was prohibited? Fortunately, the recently delivered Qwest Dex Yellow Pages' attorney advertisements provide some comic relief. For example, there have been many previous ads of attorneys depicted holding a telephone (presumably talking to someone important). However, we now have the first cellular telephone shot: that of Patrick Moriarty (p. 161), whose ad states that he provides "tough, effective defense 24/7." Eric J. Schurman (p. 146) tells us that he is "aggressive" and "effective," but that may not be the case. In the ad, it appears that one of his clients is being led away in handcuffs instead of being let out the jailhouse door. Tucker & Stein (p. 145) informs us that it has been serious about defense since 1987. That leaves one to wonder how serious it was prior to 1987. But we do know that Don Tesch (p. 138) is serious about practicing law, because he has rolled his sleeves up and appears ready to go to work. Christine A. Foster (p. 178) apparently believes that it lends credence to your workers' compensation practice advertisement to have a hardhat in your ad.
One would presume that this correspondent's former UW Law School classmate Mike Jacobs (p. 106) either submitted the same photo taken when he graduated in 1971 or hasn't changed in 32 years. I vote for the former.
Q: How do you convey to the public you are experienced at handling motorcycle-accident claims?
A: Submit an "Easy Rider" ad featuring yourself in a leather jacket sitting on a Harley, without a helmet, as Martin D. Fox (p. 130) did.
Other dubious photo props or ideas include the full-family shot (Jeffrey S. Floyd, p. 129), the examining-x-rays shot (Joanne Werner, p. 127), the Mt.-Rainier-in-the-background shot (Bishop Law Offices, p. 128), the court-gavel-with-American-flag-in-the-background shot (Anderson Law Group, p. 104), and the handshake-in-front-of-the-Temple-of-Justice-in-Olympia shot (Cespedes & Griffin, p. 89). However, my favorite is the firm-members-gathered-in-the-law-library shot that is featured in the ads of at least seven King County law firms, too numerous to name.
This correspondent's award for the most likeable ad is a tie between that of former U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Charlie Johnson (p. 138) and that of Jim Purcell and Rob Rabine (p. 131). With those casual looks and genial smiles, it just seems that you couldn't go wrong being represented by any of them.
Changing Venues, Honors, and Other Moves
Janet H. Cheetham is now a member of Ryan Swanson & Cleveland. Heather Wolf has joined Brownlie & Evans as a partner. Vincent T. Lombardi was elected a member in Short Cressman & Burgess. Donna M. Chamberlin and Erik B. Anderson have joined Bullivant Houser Bailey as associates in its Seattle office. Peter Ehrlichman has joined Dorsey & Whitney as a partner and co-chair of the Seattle trial practice group. Holly Hearn and Jeffrey Youmans have been made partners at Davis Wright Tremaine. Joaquin M. Hernandez and Anna A. Jancewicz have become associates at Barokas Martin & Tomlinson. Christina L. Corwin has joined Reed, Longyear, Malnati & Ahrens. New associates at Scheer & Zehnder are Benjamin C. Waggoner, Latife H. Neu, and Nathan Furman.
Pamela H. Feinstein has been selected to receive the first Access to Justice Leadership Award of the Access to Justice Board. The Access to Justice Board was established by the Washington State Supreme Court and is administered by the Washington State Bar Association. Tony Rafel has been elected chair of the litigation group at Riddell Williams.
New KCBA Officers
Newly elected officers and members of the board of trustees of the King County Bar Association are Thomas E. Kelly Jr., president; John M. Cary, first vice-president; Gary A. Maehara, second vice-president; Joseph E. Bringman, secretary/trustee; Karen F. Jones, treasurer; and Carolyn Cairns and Gary Strauss, new trustees.
Oregon Report
Julie M. Zavin has joined Kay B. Wakefield, PC in Portland. Licensed in Oregon, Washington, and California, Zavin concentrates in estate planning, business transactions, and real estate law.
Pierce County Report
A June reception at Tacoma's African-American History Museum honored five black judges serving in the courts of Pierce County. Museum leaders unveiled portraits of the five in a room already honoring the service of black mayors in Washington. Those honored were judges Steen Armstrong, Franklin Burgess, Frank Cuthbertson, Beverly Johnson-Grant, and Jack Tanner.
Spokane County Report
The Spokane County Bar Association has announced its officers for 2003-04: Michael P. Price, president; William C. Maxey, president-elect; Susan W. Troppmann, secretary; and Paul B. Mack, treasurer. Trustees are S. Edward Carroll III, John R. Clark, Arthur K. Hayashi, Angela M. Hayes, Kevin D. O'Rourke, and Patrick M. Risken.
Taudd A. Hume and Kelly E. Konkright have joined the Spokane office of Lukins & Annis. Patrick Harwood, reported in the May Bar News to be practicing in Coeur d'Alene, is actually in Spokane with Kirkpatrick & Startzel, PS. He is a 2000 honors graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law. We regret the error.
Thurston County Report
Elizabeth M. Knight has joined Stephen J. Henderson—he of the snappy bow ties—as a partner in the firm now called Henderson & Knight Lawyers. The firm continues to emphasize personal injury, workers' compensation, real estate, estate planning, and probate matters.
Lawyers at Fristoe, Taylor & Schultz, Ltd. in Olympia are delighted that their partner E. Robert Fristoe won the 2003 Daniel Bigelow Lawyer of the Year Award from the Thurston County Bar Association. Fristoe was honored for 54 years of outstanding professional and community service.
Yakima County Report
Halverson Applegate is pleased to announce Sara Pirk was sworn in as a Washington attorney on June 6, 2003. Sara previously worked for Halverson Applegate as a law clerk during the summer of 2001. She grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Minnesota, where she majored in international relations, with emphasis on international environmental policy. She subsequently graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 2002. Sara will focus her practice on general business law.
Around the State reports are welcome from county and specialty bar associations. There are no rules for writing them, except to mention lots of your members. We leave it up to each organization to decide who does the writing, and to the correspondent to decide how often. Contact the editor at tradelaw@thompson-law.com for more information.
In Memoriam
Remembering our colleagues and friends
Charles O. Carroll
Longtime King County prosecutor was best remembered for '20s gridiron exploits
Seattle native Charles Carroll was a WSBA member for 71 years. Arriving at the University of Washington with 16 high school athletic letters in 1926, he was a sensation on the football field, playing a variety of positions with equal facility. He rushed 136 yards for two touchdowns in UW's 1927 defeat of WSU, and scored six touchdowns in a 1928 defeat of College of Puget Sound, a university record. He played all but six minutes the entire 1928 football season, and President Herbert Hoover declared, "You're the captain of my All-America team." He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Graduating from UW law school, Carroll was a judge advocate general in World War II, leaving the service with the rank of colonel. He was in private practice in Seattle after the war. In 1948 he was appointed King County prosecuting attorney and held the post until 1970. He hired women and minorities, and gave a start to many who became state and local bar leaders and judges.
Defeated in the 1970 Republican primary, Carroll was one of 32 people indicted less than a year later on corruption charges arising from an investigation into gambling, bribery, extortion, and blackmail. He was tried by now-King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng, was acquitted, and returned to private practice. He retired in 1985. Carroll maintained his interest in politics and the law, hosting luncheons at his home for friends like former Governors Albert Rosellini and John Spellman, former Mayor Wes Uhlman, U.S. District Court Judge Carolyn Dimmick, and Maleng, with whom Carroll became friends after his trial.
WSBA member Joe Diamond, a friend of Carroll's since grade school, called Carroll "a good, honest, capable person. He was tough, but he was honest and above-board."
Carroll's wife, Alyce, died in 1995. Survivors include two children and four grandchildren.
Charles O. Carroll was born in Seattle in 1906 and died June 23, 2003, aged 96.
F. Robert DeBruyn
Devoted family man, Civil War student, and fan of the symphony and theater
A tax lawyer, CPA, and businessman, Robert DeBruyn was a Seattle native who wandered far in his career but came home to spend the last decade of his life in his hometown. A Garfield High School graduate, he served in the Korean War, then graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Washington School of Law. He received his tax degree from NYU. Variously a lawyer and CPA, DeBruyn worked in New York City; San Francisco; Rapid City, SD; and Lincoln, NE, where most of his career was spent as partner with several area firms. He returned to Seattle in 1994 to work for the family business, Pacific American Commercial Company (PACO), with his father and brother.
Survivors include a brother, a daughter, and two grandchildren.
F. Robert DeBruyn was born April 24, 1934, in Seattle and died in Seattle May 1, 2003, aged 69.
Ralph E. Julnes
Leader in education law had national influence
Ralph Julnes spent his professional life at the intersection of education and law. A graduate of Roosevelt High School in Seattle, he earned his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Washington. His law degree was from the University of Puget Sound.
Julnes served as executive director of the Legislature's Joint Commission on Education, then as assistant and legal counsel to the superintendent of public instruction (SPI). He created and directed the School Law Division in the UW College of Education, and taught school law at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in the summers. His annual Pacific Northwest Institute on Special Education and the Law attracted more than 1,200 participants. While with SPI, he drafted the state code of professional responsibility for K-12 teachers. His work was so thorough it has never been amended, a friend wrote.
Survivors include his wife, Joan; a sister and brother; two children; and one grandchild.
Ralph E. Julnes was born November 28, 1937, in Moldes, Norway, and died in Washington October 13, 2002, aged 64.
Charles J. McCullough
Tacoma trial lawyer
Charles McCullough was noted for his easy-going manner and unique sense of humor, as well as for his successful 20-year career as a trial lawyer in Pierce County. He was a graduate of the University of Puget Sound School of Law.
Survivors include two children.
Charles Joseph McCullough was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1950, and died in Tacoma May 28, 2003, aged 52.
Andrew T. Nielsen
Fifty-year Everett attorney loved the outdoors and raising horses
Raised in the Arlington-Marysville area, Andy Nielsen graduated from high school in 1941 and entered the service during World War II. He was discharged in 1946 and entered Everett Junior College, where he met his wife. They were married in 1948. He received his law degree from the University of Washington in 1951 and joined the Everett firm of Black Christiansen & Nielsen. In 1975 his son, WSBA member Drew Nielsen, joined the firm, which became Nielsen & Nielsen.
Survivors include his wife, a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.
Andrew Toft Neilsen was born in Fairmont, Minnesota, May 28, 1923, and died in Everett June 7, 2003, aged 70.
John C. O'Rourke
Longtime Des Moines attorney
John O'Rourke was a Gonzaga alum through and through, attending Gonzaga Prep, the university, and the law school. Joining the WSBA in 1957, he practiced with the Attorney General's Office for a number of years before going into private practice. He opened his own firm in Des Moines in 1970 and was active in practice until a few months before he died.
Survivors include his wife, six children, 12 grandchildren, and a large extended family.
John Carroll O'Rourke died June 29, 2003, aged 69.
David C. Stewart
Seattle attorney died on eve of son's wedding
David Stewart's family gathered in Oahu, Hawaii, in April for the marriage of his son Jonathan. Coming down the stairs in a rented home the morning of the wedding, Stewart tripped, fell to the bottom of the stairs, and fractured his skull. He died later in the day. The marriage proceeded because the family agreed Stewart would have wanted it so.
His law partners at Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker recalled "you could tell if you listened carefully to his not-quite-Pacific standard broadcast speech that he was a New Englander." After graduating from the University of Massachusetts in 1963, Stewart did a stint in the Navy. One of his ports of call was Seattle. He liked it so well he returned to attend law school at the UW. Graduating in 1971, Stewart spent his career at the Oles firm, and served for a number of years as managing partner.
Stewart was a past president of the Mercer Island Rotary Club and a member of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church choir. Survivors include his wife, three sons, and two grandchildren.
David C. Stewart was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 17, 1940, and died April 14, 2003, aged 62.
Bar News has been advised of the deaths of the following WSBA members:
- Rebecca T. Borton, Bakersfield, CA, admitted 1994, died March 29, 2003.
- Paul W. Houser, Renton, admitted 1941, died December 13, 2002.
- Lewis A. Hutchison, Olympia, admitted 1969, died January 31, 2003.
- Brian R. Jones, Portland, OR, admitted 1992, died December 16, 2002.
- John Eddy Nelson, Kent, admitted 1968, died April 20, 2003.
Obituaries and remembrances of WSBA members are welcome. Please forward to the editor at the WSBA office or e-mail tradelaw@thompson-law.com.
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