March 2003
Around the State
Benton-Franklin County Report
by Stephen T. Osborne
Gerald Roach was sworn in as the new Franklin County District Court judge on January 13, 2003 . A 1977 graduate of Gonzaga law school, Gerry obtained an LLM in tax from NYU in 1978, and worked with his brothers Pat and Tom in Pasco for the last 24 years. Gerry and his wife, Maria, have five children. Gerry succeeds H.W. "Pete" Felsted, who held the position for an incredible 29 years. Pete is looking forward to traveling and spending more time with his family, particularly his many grandchildren. Pete was honored at a reception hosted by his staff on December 20, 2002 , in his courtroom in the historic Franklin County Courthouse.
John Schultz, senior partner at Leavy, Schultz, Davis & Fearing, was recently recognized at the second annual Legal Aid Awards Banquet. John has been instrumental in organizing a yearly CLE that has raised over $40,000 for the Benton-Franklin Legal Aid office. Also recognized at the luncheon was attorney Sal Mendoza, who was lauded for his pro bono work, having taken on three very difficult cases in the last year. The keynote speaker, Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, provided a very interesting description of his recent visit to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Visitors to the offices of Flynn, Merriman and Palmer in Kennewick receive an involuntary tour of the conference room, where the bust of some unknown person occupies a place of honor. The statue is reputed to have been awarded to Jay Flynn, last year's WSTLA Trial Lawyer of the Year. Jay can be found in that room regularly buffing said bust and telling anyone willing to listen about the exploits that led to his award.
Finally, lightning has struck again. Your intrepid reporter has been called to active duty for Operation Enduring Freedom, along with a number of other Seattle-Tacoma area JAG officers. A similar call in 1991 resulted in a four-month tour of the largest sand trap in the world. I am happy to report that only a minority of the people learning of my call to active duty suggest that someone my age should be in a veterans' home, and not on active duty.
Whatcom County Report
by Mick Moynihan
So much has happened since our last contribution to Lindsay's Letters. Debra Lev is happily serving as the newly elected Bellingham Municipal Court judge while otherwise idling her time with her triplets, who turned one-year old in February. Pete Smiley was chosen to be the new muni court commissioner out of a huge field of well-qualified applicants.
Matt Elich has settled in comfortably as the newest district court judge, and he and Judge Ira Uhrig selected Tony Parise as the court commissioner to replace Matt. After his retirement, Ed Ross was feted and roasted at a party on January 8.
With Tom Seguine finally getting elected prosecutor in Skagit, and taking Dona Bracke with him, there will be some movement in the prosecutor's office with a couple of new positions available.
John Slater has announced that he is going to retire from the practice of law, and since that is all that he has been doing since 1952, I assume he is going to open a new office and start practicing law. John said that for his 50 years of paying dues, the Bar Association sent him a pin and a free dinner at McDonald's.
As in most other counties of the state, musical chairs is pretty popular and ongoing. Tom Fryer moved over to the Nelson Brinson law firm while his wife, Lee Grochmal, is on maternity leave from the public defender after the birth of their son Reid in November.
Greg Thulin left Carpenter Hardesty to starve on his own while his wife, Kim Thulin, formerly of the Skagit prosecutor's office, has an appealing job with the Whatcom County prosecutor. More to follow.
Honors and Awards
The following lawyers from the Seattle firm Cairncross & Hempelmann have been named "top lawyers" by Seattle magazine: Scott Bell, Rosemary Daszkiewicz, John W. Hempelmann III, John R. Rizzardi, Staci Snyder Jones, Dawson Taylor, W. Frank Taylor and Daniel C. Vaughn.
The following lawyers are new members of the Washington chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates: Earl F. Angevine, John A. Barlow, James A. Berg, Andrew C. Bohrnsen, John P. Bowman, John R. Creatura, Jeffrey C. Grant, Dennis J. LaPorte, Fred N. Meyers, Simeon Osborn, Chris L. Otorowski, Janet L. Rice, Rebecca S. Ringer, Charles E. Siljeg, Jeff A. Smyth, Edwin J. Snook and Jeffery I. Tilden.
Benjamin G. Wolff has been named one of the 45 best lawyers under 45 by The American Lawyer. Mr. Wolff is a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, splitting his time between the Portland and Seattle offices.
The following lawyers from Williams, Kastner & Gibbs have been named "top lawyers" by Seattle magazine: Sheena R. Aebig, Jerry A. Creim, John P. Evans, Paul Arley Harrel, Douglas A. Hofmann, Jeffrey R. Johnson, Mark M. Myers, Mark D. Schedler, Christopher K. Shank, David H. Smith, Richard D. Thaler, Kristina C. Udall, Sheryl Willert and Daniel Woo.
Seattle lawyer James S. Rogers has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2003-2004 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
John R. Rizzardi has been named president of the Turnaround Management Association. Mr. Rizzardi is chair of the creditors' rights and bankruptcy group at the Seattle firm Cairncross & Hempelmann.
Michael J. Gamsky and Todd G. Glass have become shareholders in the Seattle office of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP. Mr. Gamsky focuses on mortgage-backed securities transactions, and Mr. Glass represents public utilities before federal and state regulatory agencies.
Movers and Shakers
James A. McPhee has joined the Spokane firm Workland & Witherspoon as an associate focusing on employment, health care and business law, as well as civil and commercial litigation.
Neil M. Fox has joined the Seattle firm Cohen & Iaria as of counsel. His practice emphasizes criminal defense, including appeals, post-conviction work, extradition, international human rights, and international discovery.
Harold E. Snow Jr. has been elected a member of the Seattle firm Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland. Mr. Snow is chair of the firm's estate planning and probate group.
Gabrielle C. Roth and Brian S. Sheldon have joined the Spokane firm Phillabaum, Ledlin, Matthews & Gaffney-Brown. Ms. Roth is an associate concentrating on civil litigation, and business and employment law. Mr. Sheldon is a partner and focuses on civil litigation and insurance matters.
Ryan W. Collier has joined the Salem, OR, firm Clark Lindauer Fetherston Edmonds & Lippold LLP as a partner. He focuses on contested-case probate and trust administration, and estate planning.
David S. Law has joined the Seattle firm Skellenger Bender, concentrating on family law.
Denise L. Ashbaugh, Jessica L. Goldman and Scott R. Sawyer have joined Summit Law Group in Seattle. Ms. Ashbaugh practices litigation in both state and federal courts. Ms. Goldman focuses on commercial litigation, insurance coverage, and media law. Mr. Sawyer counsels insurers on coverage issues and complex litigation.
S. Shawn Tacey and Thaddeus P. Martin IV have become partners in Gordon Thomas Honeywell Malanca Peterson & Daheim LLP. Mr. Tacey works in the firm's Seattle office, concentrating on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, software licensing, and business law. Mr. Martin focuses on plaintiffs' personal injury in the firm's Tacoma office.
Bradley A. Evens and John J. Houlihan Jr. have been elected members in the Seattle firm Short Cressman & Burgess PLLC. Mr. Evens focuses on family law, real estate and commercial litigation, and Mr. Houlihan concentrates on environmental law. Roberta Farris has joined the firm as of counsel concentrating on land use and development, real estate and natural resources. Ryan D. Rein has joined the firm as an associate in the business and tax law, and estate planning groups.
Bruce E. Heller, Berrie J. Martinis, Alan M. Mitchel and William E. Perry have become partners in the Seattle office of Garvey Schubert Barer. Mr. Heller focuses on labor and employment law. Ms. Martinis concentrates on commercial and residential real estate transactions. Mr. Mitchel focuses on corporate finance and securities, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Perry concentrates on international law. Ruth S. Sparrow has joined the firm as of counsel in the affordable housing and federal taxation groups.
Bradley E. Hall has joined Betts, Patterson & Mines PS in Seattle as an associate in the complex litigation group.
J. Bradley Buckhalter has joined the Tacoma office of Williams, Kastner & Gibbs as an associate practicing civil litigation.
James L. Robart has been named managing partner of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP. He has served as co-managing partner since 1998, and has been with the firm since 1973. Mary Jo Heston, Steve D. Jensen, Kimberly M. Meyers, James E. Niemer, Gwendolyn C. Payton and Emilia L. Sweeney have been promoted to partner in the Seattle office. Ms. Heston concentrates on bankruptcy and creditors' rights. Mr. Jensen and Ms. Meyers focus on labor and employment law. Mr. Niemer concentrates on construction disputes and professional liability. Ms. Payton focuses on intellectual property and commercial litigation. Ms. Sweeney practices commercial litigation. Brian Zeringer has been promoted to of counsel in the firm, focusing on product liability.
In Memoriam
Melvin F. Buol — Seattle real estate lawyer
A devoted UW football fan, Melvin Buol was born in Seattle and graduated from the UW School of Law in 1952 as a member of the Order of the Coif. He spent a decade with Hall, Cole & Lawrence before moving to Keller Rohrback, and there he spent the rest of his career. "He excelled in the preparation of real estate documents," the firm Web site recalled. Buol retired in 1996. Survivors include his wife, four children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Melvin F. Buol died in Seattle December 21, 2002, aged 73.
William A. Gissberg — Longtime legislator and environmentalist was also WSBA lobbyist
Everett native Bill Gissberg was a championship basketball player in high school and college, landed ship commander in the Pacific in World War II, and was a lawyer-legislator known for his effectiveness as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Gissberg graduated from UW School of Law in 1948, joined the Bar the next year, and three years later, aged 30, was elected to the state Senate from Snohomish County. He served 20 years in the Legislature and won praise from friends and foes alike for his independence of mind. After he lost election as senate majority leader by two votes, former Senator Martin Durkan recalled asking Gissberg why those two senators didn't support him. "I didn't want to owe them anything," Gissberg replied, "so I didn't ask them."
Characterized by Durkan as "a 'oner' among loners," Gissberg was nevertheless an effective advocate. Longtime friend and attorney Thomas Owens remembered Gissberg in action: "The big budget has been voted down — reconsideration has been voted. Now, the bill is on final passage for the second time. If it's lost again, the budget process must start all over — two more weeks in session. The vote is taken, Verne Sawyer (the reader) sings out, 'Mr. President, 21 yeas, 28 nays.' Under the Senator's direction, President Cherberg holds the gavel in the air. Giss goes to work up and down the aisles, and then, 'Mr. President, Senator _____ changes his vote from nay to aye.' 22 yea, 23, 24, and finally, 25. President Cherberg bangs the gavel. 'Having received a constitutional, etc.,' the bill passes and the session ends. Giss goes back to an Everett law practice."
Words like "legendary" and "monumental" were often used to describe the lawyer-legislator. Recruited to run for Congress in 1962, he turned down the chance after one look at the polluted Potomac: no good fishing there. A devoted environmentalist, Gissberg lived to see a park in Snohomish County named for him.
After retirement Gissberg served as examiner for the Pollution Control Hearings Board. Leaving that post in 1978, he was hired by the WSBA as a lobbyist for the state's lawyers and proved highly effective defeating anti-lawyer and anti-consumer legislation. He left the lobbying job a year later, but served on a part-time basis into the mid-80s, mainly reviewing bills, "at which he was a master," his WSBA successor, John Fattorini, recalled. Gissberg's reminiscences are part of the Washington State Oral History Program (see http://www.secstate.wa.gov/oralhistory/gissberg. pdf). Survivors include his wife, Helen, seven children, seven grandchildren and two siblings.
William A. Gissberg was born September 17, 1922, in Everett. He died December 30, 2002, in Marysville, aged 80.
Larry Heron — Longtime Pacific County resident was among the last of the state's lay judges
Larry Heron worked as a vaudeville booking agent to pay for two years at UW before starting a 25-year career in retail sales with Sears. During World War II he served in the Coast Guard.
In 1967 Heron and his wife moved from Seattle to Ocean Park. Discovering an interest in politics, Heron ran twice for local office before being elected a district court judge for Pacific County in 1973. He also served as municipal court judge for Ilwaco and Long Beach, and performed over 600 weddings before he retired in 1984. Heron returned to Seattle in 1997. Survivors include his wife, two children and two grandchildren.
Larry Heron died in Seattle December 13, 2002, aged 83.
Robert N. Munn — Attorney and businessman loved his family, reading, music and his dogs
Redmond resident Robert N. Munn was a Seattle native who took degrees from the University of Washington and University of Puget Sound School of Law. After joining the Bar in 1980 he worked in private practice and later joined Interstate Distributor Company in Tacoma as director of risk management. Survivors include his mother; wife, Sherry; two children; one grandchild and two sisters.
Robert N. Munn died December 29, 2002, aged 53.
C. John Newlands — Tacoma community leader
A Seattle native, John Newlands served as a naval officer on Pacific theater destroyers. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UW and was a member of the Order of the Coif at UW School of Law. He joined the Bar Association in 1948 and served as assistant attorney general in the state tax commission for four years.
In 1952 Newlands went into practice with Reuben Carlson, retiring in 1986 as a senior member of the firm now known as Eisenhower & Carlson PLLC. Survivors include his wife, Helen; three children; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild and a sister.
C. John Newlands was born in Seattle June 29, 1920. He died in Tacoma December 30, 2002, aged 82.
James E. Newton — His planned one-year SEC job turned into a career
Seattle lawyer James Newton took a job with the Securities & Exchange Commission in 1936, planning to stay a year. He retired 37 years later, in 1973, having been regional administrator for the agency the last 24 years of his stay.
His influence was significant. Newton helped write the Alaska securities law at statehood, and worked on revisions of the Montana and Idaho statutes.
Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Michigan, Newton took his law degree from Harvard and moved to Seattle to join Oldman, Walkinshaw & Jarvis. After retiring from the SEC in 1973 he joined Davis Wright Todd Riese & Jones as special counsel for the next 15 years. He was active in Planned Parenthood, the vestry at St. Mark's Cathedral, and the State Securities Advisory Committee. Survivors include a daughter, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
James Edward Newton was born in Superior, Wisconsin, February 18, 1904, and died in Seattle January 16, 2003, a month before his 99th birthday.
Ernest Scott Jr. — Government lawyer had varied career
Ernest Scott loved retirement. He listened to music, watched boxing matches, cheered the Dallas Cowboys, watched the ponies at Longacres and experimented with photography. His last years he spent playing games and eating Popsicles with his granddaughter Dominique.
Scott's service as a Marine in the Korean War earned him two Purple Hearts. After graduating from Texas Southwestern University School of Law, he joined the Department of Labor and worked in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. In 1970 he moved to Seattle to become an assistant U.S. attorney. Later he returned to the Labor Department and retired from its service in 1992. He was a member of the Loren Miller Bar Association, among other organizations.
Mr. Scott's survivors include his wife, two sons, granddaughter and a large extended family.
Ernest Scott Jr. was born in Crowley, Louisiana, July 16, 1933, and died in Seattle January 13, 2003, aged 69.
Richard A. Shagrin — West Pointer took up law as a second career
Richard A. Shagrin grew up in Ohio and was educated at Western Reserve University before graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 1940. Retiring from the Army 30 years later with the rank of colonel, Shagrin went to law school at the University of Toledo, graduating in 1973.
He joined the Washington State Bar Association in 1974 and became a community leader in Seattle's Wallingford area. Shagrin was president of the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce and a board member of WSPA, an advocacy agency for the disabled. Survivors include his wife, two children, four stepchildren, one grandchild, and a number of step-grandchildren.
Richard A. Shagrin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 2, 1916, and died November 18, 2002, in Seattle, aged 86. He was buried at West Point.
Donald E. Spickard — Seattle native was WSBA Award of Merit winner, business executive, and advocate for the advancement of women and minorities
Donald Spickard's 32-year career at Safeco Insurance made him an expert in surety law; the last 13 years he spent there were as vice president of all surety operations. His education at Stanford was interrupted by Navy service in World War II. After the war he took his law degree from UW and joined the legal department at Safeco. In 1948 he and his wife bought a house in Madison Park that they lived in the rest of their lives.
Spickard campaigned for the advancement of women and minorities at Safeco, and encouraged them to get into contracting work. He chaired the King County Bar's Civil Rights Committee, the Seattle Public Defender Association, the Seattle Public Schools Advisory Committee on Year-Round Schools, and the WSBA Client Security Fund. The Washington State Bar Association conferred its highest honor, the Award of Merit, on Spickard in 1971.
Retiring from Safeco after his wife Mary Alice was diagnosed with cancer in 1980, Spickard later married UW professor Joan Connelly Ullman. He developed a consulting firm in surety matters and was a frequent expert witness in civil litigation well into the 1990s.
Survivors include his wife, two sons and four grandchildren.
Donald Elliott Spickard was born in Seattle February 29, 1920, and died in Seattle January 15, 2003, aged 82.
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