February 2003

Changing Venues

Jillian Barron, a senior attorney with the Bellevue firm Sebris Busto James, has been elected chair of the employment law section of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers.

Seattle lawyer David K.Y. Tang has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Mr. Tang is a partner with Preston Gates & Ellis LLP.

Rosemary Daszkiewicz has been appointed to the Group Health Cooperative board of trustees. She is a partner in the Seattle firm Cairncross & Hempelmann, and chairs the firm's employment law group.

The Federal Bar Association of the Western District of Washington has elected the following officers and trustees: Kevin Swan, president; Todd True, vice-president; Steve Koh, treasurer; Beth Andrus, secretary; Allen Bentley, trustee; J. Richard Creatura, trustee; Dan Dubitzky, trustee; Karen Jones trustee; and Paula Olson, trustee.

WSBA Governor Zulema Hinojos-Fall has been appointed a Presidential Classroom instructor, providing high-school student leaders an opportunity to participate in a dynamic study of American government, current issues, and the inner workings of the federal government. Ms. Hinojos-Fall is an administrative law judge for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Seattle.

Gary Peterson has joined the Moscow, Idaho, Law Office of Duncan Palmatier, focusing on patent law. Mr. Peterson is admitted to practice in Washington, Idaho, U.S. District Court for Idaho, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Dana Ferestien, Mary Re Knack and Peter Hicks have been promoted to partner in the Seattle office of Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC. Mr. Ferestien is a commercial litigator concentrating on contractual disputes, property rights, and business torts. Ms. Knack focuses on defense litigation related to health care, product liability, mass tort and civil matters. Mr. Hicks focuses on insurance defense and employment-related litigation.

Steve Parkinson has joined Ater Wynne LLP in Seattle. He helps businesses resolve environmental problems, meet regulatory requirements, and defend against environmental claims and liability.

Jason W. Anderson and Timothy C. Layton (member of the New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C., bars) have joined the Seattle firm Carney Badley Spellman PS as associates. Mr. Anderson focuses on civil litigation, and Mr. Layton works with the firm's government affairs group. Kenneth S. Kagan has been named shareholder in the firm. He focuses on criminal law, legal ethics and professional responsibility, and commercial litigation.

Lincoln C. Beauregard, Loren A. Cochran, Max E. Jacobs and Sue E. O'Reilly have joined the Tacoma office of Gordon Thomas Honeywell Malanca Peterson & Daheim as associates. Mr. Beauregard concentrates on litigation, including personal injury, civil rights and discrimination. Mr. Cochran focuses on media law, defamation, plaintiffs' litigation, personal injury and criminal defense. Mr. Jacobs practices civil litigation involving products liability, commercial matters, personal injury and civil rights. Ms. O'Reilly focuses on estate planning, business organization and transactions, and taxation.

J. Markham Marshall has joined the Seattle office of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky as of counsel in the labor and employment group. Mr. Marshall is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Michelle A. Wong has joined the firm's Seattle office as an associate in the business group. She previously served as an extern in the Washington Court of Appeals.

Kenneth D. Stoker has joined the Spokane firm Waldo, Schweda, Montgomery PS.

David M. Knutson and Jody M. McCormick have become shareholders in the Spokane firm Witherspoon, Kelley, Davenport & Toole. Mr. Knutson focuses on business and tax, while Ms. McCormick concentrates on banking, real estate and creditor rights.

Thomas D. Adams has been appointed shareholder-in-charge of the Seattle office of Bullivant Houser Bailey PC. Mr. Adams has been a member of the firm for more than 16 years, focusing on commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Preston Gates & Ellis LLP has named six new partners in the Seattle office. James A. Andrus's practice includes a broad range of corporate finance transactions, including venture-capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters. Jonathan J. Fisher focuses on mergers and acquisitions, as well as public and private securities offerings. Philip M. Guess focuses on commercial litigation, including derivative actions, large contractual disputes, large construction disputes, and class-action litigation. Mark G. Jackson concentrates on federal procurement counseling and litigation, including disputes arising from the award and performance of federal contract, government audits and investigations, and defective pricing. Todd L. Nunn practices general commercial litigation in state and federal court on behalf of corporate and municipal clients. Matthew D. Wells focuses on environmental and land use law counseling and litigation.

Bruce E. Dick has rejoined the Bellevue office of Perkins Coie LLP as a partner. He concentrates on the representation of technology companies, closely held businesses, and high net-worth individuals in connection with business formation and transactions.

"I have a personal bias in favor of judges working their way up through the judicial system," Barbara Durham told a reporter, "so that when one gets to the higher court, one is familiar with the system, bottom to top." Durham was the only Washington judge to serve at all four levels of the state's courts, starting on the Mercer Island District Court in 1973 and retiring in 1999 as chief justice of Washington. The comment also reflects the absolute confidence Durham always displayed. From childhood she planned a career in law.

A debater and finance major at Georgetown, Durham spent a boring year with Merrill Lynch in New York before entering Stanford Law School. She joined the King County Prosecutor's Office in 1968, then went into private practice, serving as a part-time judge on Mercer Island until she moved to a King County Superior Court seat. After three years there, Governor Ray appointed her to the Court of Appeals; four years later Governor Spellman appointed her to the Supreme Court. She was the second woman to serve on the court. Justice Durham was subsequently elected and re-elected the court's first woman chief justice by her colleagues.

Durham took a great interest in court improvement, sitting on numerous commissions and study groups and even advocating, unsuccessfully, reducing the court's size by two members and changing the way appellate judges are selected, to reduce the influence of politics and campaigning on judicial selection. During her tenure the first voter's pamphlet for judicial races appeared, and Supreme Court oral arguments were televised on TVW. Failing health forced her to resign from the court and decline appointment to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1999.

Durham was a conservative on criminal law issues and saw part of her role on the high court as bringing it back to the middle philosophically. But she was always keenly aware of her role as a pioneer in the law, from law school to the Supreme Court, and served as counsel and mentor to many women who followed in the profession. Her death occurred two weeks before Justice Mary Fairhurst made the Washington State Supreme Court one of the few in the nation with a majority of women members.

A memorial service and reception for Justice Durham will be held February 14 at 5:00 p.m. at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle. Friends have established the Barbara Durham Fund for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Contributions may be directed to Jeneil Lagasse, Department of Neurology, University of Washington, PO Box 356465, Seattle WA 98195. Justice Durham's husband, Dr. Charles Divelbiss, survives her.

Barbara Durham was born in Anacortes October 6, 1942. She died in Mount Vernon December 30, 2002, age 60