November 2004

Around the State

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 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.

Island County Report

by Tom Pacher

Greetings from the shores of Oak Harbor.

Dean Adams, primarily known around here for his work in the public defense in City of Oak Harbor cases, recently set out on his own after the firm he was associated with decided to part company and close its Oak Harbor operation. Dean swears it will be business as usual. I tend to think he's serious, despite repeatedly claiming the city hasn't given him discovery on yet another case yet. Normally, I'd probably say something nice about him here, but I have to face him across a courtroom several times a week . . . .

In judicial news, Superior Court Judges Alan Hancock and Vickie Churchill will likely both be starting new terms after drawing no opposition for their jobs in the most recent election. Despite a previous practice of claiming there is something just inherently wrong in unopposed races for elected office, the local paper actually endorsed both judges for re-election, saying they each deserved another term. We're just not sure whether this marks an editorial shift for the paper, or if someone at the paper has figured out it may not be wise to pick a fight with a judge for no reason. Either way, congratulations to both judges . . . again.

In sadder news, Oak Harbor District Court Commissioner Tom Coughlin recently passed away. According to news reports, Commissioner Coughlin was on his way home one Monday evening when he stopped to help someone at an accident scene. While at the scene, he had a heart attack and died. Commissioner Coughlin was liked and respected by many around here, and his death came as quite a surprise to those of us who had recently appeared before him on some fairly lengthy calendars, which he was tackling with his usual vigor and energy. He will be missed.

The Judiciary

by Lindsay Thompson

In Snohomish County, friends of Eric Z. Lucas are celebrating his historic primary win in a race for the Superior Court. Lucas was elected to position 8. It was the first time in 50 years an incumbent judge was unseated in that county, and the first time an African-American has ever been elected to the bench. Lucas started his trailblazing path in 1999 when he was the first African-American to serve as a pro tem judge. Prior to his election Lucas worked as an administrative appeals judge for the Department of Environmental Hearings.

Longtime Washington Courts Administrator Mary Campbell McQueen won the American Judicature Society's Herbert Harley Award in September. The award honors a person whose outstanding efforts and contributions have resulted in substantial long-term improvement to the justice system at the state level. McQueen worked with Washington's courts for over 20 years before becoming president of the National Center for State Courts in August of this year.

In Yakima, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas was honored in September with the unveiling of a $60,000 statue at Davis High School. Douglas, a Yakima native, graduated from the school — then Yakima High School — in 1916 and taught there from 1920 to 1922. He went on to become a distinguished law professor, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court in history. Appointed in 1939, Douglas retired in 1975 and died in 1980.

President Bush has nominated Pierce County Superior Court Judge Jack Nevin for promotion to brigadier general in the Army Reserve. In addition to his civilian judgeship, Nevin serves as chief judge for the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency in Falls Church, VA. A graduate of WSU and Gonzaga Law School, Nevin is a former Army lawyer. He joined the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office in 1984 and was appointed to the bench in 1997.

In Memoriam

Richard Bostrom

Friends and family called Dick Bostrom a renaissance man. He loved opera, travel, theater, and art. In 30 years he never missed a Husky football game.

A West Seattle native, Bostrom was a champion swimmer and triathlete who graduated from WSU and the University of Idaho School of Law. He was a captain in the Army Reserve, and spent 21 years as a business, bankruptcy, and estate-planning lawyer in Seattle.

Survivors include two sisters. Richard John Bostrom was born in Seattle July 2, 1948, and died in Seattle July 30, 2004, aged 56.

Paul M. Goode

Yakima native Paul Goode graduated from UW, where he rowed crew, and the UW School of Law. He was Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif at UW. After joining the Bar in 1935, he practiced law for half a century, first in Seattle, then in Yakima after World War II ended. In 1983 he moved to McMinnville, OR.

Goode served as a probate judge in Yakima, chaired the school board and Yakima Covenant Church board, and was a director of the Lions Club and Washington Mutual Bank.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Ruby; two daughters; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two sisters.

Paul Matthew Goode was born in Yakima February 7, 1912, and died in McMinnville January 29, 1999, aged 86.

John L. Neff

John Neff had a lifelong interest in mining. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1953 with an Engineer of Mines degree, worked at the Climax Mine in Colorado, then spent two years in the Army Counterintelligence Corps.

When Neff enrolled at UW School of Law, he taught engineering part time in the University. After graduation in 1958, he joined the Witherspoon, Kelley, Davenport & Toole firm in Spokane, and practiced there until his retirement in 2000.

Neff was a longtime member and officer of the Northwest Mining Association and was active in Manito United Methodist Church.

Survivors include his wife, four daughters, five grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and two siblings.

John Lewis Neff was born in Tulsa, OK, July 7, 1929, and died in Spokane May 19, 2003, aged 73.

Frank A. Peters

Native Washingtonian Frank Peters was a UW law student when the Pearl Harbor attack occurred, and immediately left school to join the Navy. He left the service four years later as a lieutenant, senior grade, and picked up his law studies.

After graduation in 1946, Peters clerked for Judge Homer Bone on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Returning from San Francisco, he set up private practice in Puyallup with his friend Edmund F. Jacobs. In 1965 he moved to Spokane and practiced there for the rest of his career with H. Frank Stubbs. Peters became known as a successful trial lawyer and was active in the Elks, Rotary, and VFW.

Survivors include his second wife, Bonnie. His first wife, Gertrude, died in 1985.

Born in Seattle August 12, 1919, Frank August Peters died in Lake Forest Park January 25, 2003, aged 83.

Richard A. Staeheli

A lifetime resident of Spokane, Richard Staeheli had a varied practice, working for six years in the First Service as a young man, then serving 13 years as an IRS lawyer after he graduated from Gonzaga School of Law. Staeheli went into private practice for 20 years and ended his career serving as of counsel to the Paine Hamblen firm.

Active in his community, Staeheli was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Rotary International, and the Spokane County Bar Association. He was a life member of the NRA and a director of the Camp Fire program.

Survivors include his wife, three children, five grandchildren, and two siblings.

Richard Alan Staeheli was born in Spokane February 15, 1943, and died in Spokane July 9, 2004, aged 61.

Robert M. Sweeney

Lifelong Spokane resident Robert Sweeney served two years in the Army before entering Gonzaga Law School. He joined the Bar in 1961, and died in Spokane March 20, 2004, aged 73.

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