|
|
|
 |  |
 |
 |
WSBA Info | |
|
For Lawyers | |
|
For the Public |  |
 |
For the Media |  |
|
CLE |  |
| | Bench Bar Guidelines | News Releases | Publications | |
|
|
August 2004Around the StateAround 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 it, and to the correspondent to decide how often. Many counties are still available. Contact the editor at tradelaw@thompson-law.com for more information. Appointments Anne N. Solwick has been appointed executive director of the State Board of Tax Appeals. She succeeds Richard Virant, who retired after 18 years. The board adjudicates a variety of tax-related disputes, including excise taxes, public-utility valuations, exemptions, and property-assessment appeals. Solwick has practiced in the King, Pierce, and Thurston Counties area since 1992, and previously served with the Department of Revenue and the IRS. Governor Gary Locke has appointed Erika Lim to the Legal Foundation of Washington Board of Trustees. Lim is director of career services at Seattle University School of Law, and is a part-time advisor and legal counsel in the Department of Information Services; Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development; and the state Senate. Three Washington lawyers have been appointed to serve on the Totem Council Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts. Laura Clinton practices with Preston Gates & Ellis in Seattle. Betsy Hollingsworth teaches at Seattle University School of Law. Marilyn Sherron is an attorney with AT&T Wireless in Seattle. The council serves nearly 21,000 girls in northwest Washington between the ages of five and 17. Gonzaga University has appointed associate professor George Critchlow interim dean of the law school as of July 1. Critchlow is a 1977 Gonzaga Law graduate and has taught at Gonzaga for 23 years. He fills the deanship while the university conducts a national search to replace Daniel Morrissey, who resigned effective June 30. Island County Report Greetings once again from the shores of Penn Cove. Lance Hendrix, no relation to Jimi, recently passed the Bar exam. Lance immediately took advantage of the stunned silence in Coupeville to land a job at Platt & Arndt. Moved in before anyone even noticed. All kidding aside, by the time this is printed, I'm sure Lance will already be wowing them in Island County District Court. Nearly two decades of lawyering, including in a large upscale firm, apparently haven't rubbed off on Cecilia Welch quite as much as a few years out in the countryside. Cecilia, who works as a government lawyer on Whidbey, has purchased her "dream farm," complete with a barn converted into a home. She's moved onto the farm with two sheep, a goat, and cat, and a dog. She swears that after getting the 10 acres fenced, she's going to get more animals. Cecilia, you're out in the countryside . . . if you want more animals, just forgo the fence. On a more self-serving note, I'm leaving Platt & Arndt to venture out on my own. I'll be setting up a solo shop on Whidbey Island, where I'll be spending about half of my time prosecuting cases for the city of Oak Harbor. I'm still working out what I'll do the other half of the time, but if any of you talk to my parents, please assure them I'm putting the time to productive use and contributing to society in a meaningful fashion. They probably won't believe it, but for some reason it makes them feel better anyway. Clients of Oak Harbor attorney Bill Daniels can be assured that Bill never stops working for his clients. I was still out shopping for office space, not even up and running yet, when I ran into Bill. After a pleasant exchange of greetings, Bill went right to work, twisting my arm about a case. You have to admire that kind of vigilance. Intellectual Property News Woodcock Washburn LLP is pleased to announce that patent attorney N. Ari Long has been elected secretary of the King County Bar Association Intellectual Property Section. The Judiciary Washington's federal bench increased by two members in June. On June 15 the Senate voted 98-0 to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Ricardo S. Martinez, 52, as the state's first Hispanic federal judge. He succeeds Judge Barbara Rothstein, who accepted an appointment in 2003 to direct the Federal Judicial Center. Before his confirmation, Martinez was a magistrate for six years, a King County Superior Court judge for eight, and a deputy prosecutor in King County for 10. He's a 1975 UW graduate, and received his law degree at UW in 1980. On June 17 the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Seattle lawyer James Robart as a Western District judge. Robart, 56, was managing partner at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky and won fame as the lead attorney in the 2000 challenge to the Tim Eyman-led $30 car-tab initiative. A graduate of Whitman College and Georgetown Law, he practiced with his firm for some 30 years before moving to the bench. Robart succeeds Judge Thomas Zilly, who is taking senior status. Washington federal judges are nominated based on recommendations by a statewide bipartisan committee. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson continues to recover from surgery in May for a blood clot in his brain. Cuthbertson was appointed to the bench in 2001 and won a full term the next year. Governor Gary Locke has appointed Cameron Mitchell to succeed retiring Judge Carolyn Brown on the Benton-Franklin County Superior Court bench. Mitchell, 45, is the first African-American to serve on that bench. Brown was the first woman to serve on that bench. Mitchell is a native of Richland and holds degrees from Washington State and Willamette Law School. He was previously a hearing judge for the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, has worked in the Department of Energy's legal department at Richland, and has worked in the Attorney General's Office. Mitchell was a frequent pro tem judge before his appointment. Mitchell is Governor Locke's 51st appointment to the state bench. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Kathryn Nelson won a Dale Chihuly Award from Stadium High School in Tacoma in June. The award was created in 2000 when the Class of 1959 donated a Chihuly glass piece to the school. The noted glass artist was a student at Stadium in the 1950s. The award honors public service by alumni, students, or volunteers at the school. Chief Justice Gerry Alexander has announced the Court's appointment of Janet McLane as interim state court administrator. McLane will work with outgoing administrator Mary McQueen, who has resigned to become president of the National Center for State Courts. McLane joined AOC in 1980 and has been director of judicial services since 1986. The office was created in 1957 to provide professional and technical support to the state's 255 courts. King County District Court Judge Corinna Harn has been elected chief presiding judge of the 23-member, seven-courthouse bench. Harn has been on the court since 1998 and was previously a Renton Municipal Court Judge. Judge Barbara Linde has been elected assistant chief presiding judge. Our Far-flung Members Washington, D.C., resident and Seattle native Emelie East was elected a trustee of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in May. East, a Funston trustee, is currently the president of the Trinity Club of Washington, D.C., and is a member of the National Alumni Association Executive Committee. East obtained her law degree at Georgetown. She has served as professional staff on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, and is now a co-founder and executive vice president of McBee Strategic Consulting lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. Latina/o Bar Association of Washington In Memoriam Francis Jerome Diskin After obtaining Ressam's conviction in 2001, Diskin served as interim U.S. Attorney between the resignation of Kate Pflaumer and the appointment of current U.S. Attorney John McKay. In his spare time, Diskin was an enthusiastic baseball fan, his participation ranging from umpiring youth games to critiquing the umpires in the pros. Survivors include his wife and two children. A Minneola, New York, native, Francis Jerome Diskin died June 1, 2004, in Seattle, aged 57. Hon. Walter E. Webster Jr. Webster practiced law and taught at Seattle U. and Seattle's Police Academy before being appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1984. After his 2001 retirement, Webster practiced on Mercer Island and chaired the King County Museum of Flight Authority. Survivors include his wife, eight children, seven siblings, and nine grandchildren. Walter E. Webster Jr. was born in Ellensburg October 30, 1926, and died in Seattle June 21, 2004, aged 77. Osburn Kent Whiteley Survivors include his wife, three children, his mother, four siblings, and five grandchildren. |
