September 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 sunny shores of Oak Harbor. Yes, as much as I enjoyed Penn Cove, I finally found the perfect office space up the road.

Seems if you're anywhere around here but the McPherson office these days, you're quietly working hard or enjoying the sleepy days of summer. While most of us have been plugging away at our usual cases and jobs, Molly McPherson of McPherson & McPherson and her husband, Derek Wolfe, celebrated the birth of their child, born May 19, at Whidbey General Hospital. The baby's name is Hawthorne Joseph Lane Wolfe. Rumor has it the application to start the lad in an APR 6 Law Clerk Program has already been filed.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . the McPhersons welcomed a new associate to their office as well, Edward C. Chung. Edward is a graduate of Villanova Law School and will practice in the firm's areas of family law, personal injury, and general law practice. I've already had a chance to meet him, and I'd have to say he seems like a nice guy.

In case this section is starting to look like the McPherson Report, we'll toss in a gratuitous, barely related law matter. I'm not going to mention names here in case it might cause me some professional grief. However, if you're out and about in Island County and happen to spot a new dazzling-red Yamaha R1 motorcycle, be sure to be kind and courteous to the operator. There's a good chance the pilot of that gorgeous machine is a certain judicial-type person. We're starting a support group for jealous biker-lawyers.

Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers News
Seattle's Scott Engelhard is WACDL's new president. He took office at the 800-member group's annual conference at Lake Chelan in June. The rest of the new leadership team includes Barry Flegenheimer, Seattle, president-elect; Dan Fessler, Yakima, vice president-east; Bill Bowman, Bellevue, vice president-west; Amanda Lee, Seattle, treasurer; and Kevin Curtis, Spokane, secretary. Past-president Roger Hunko of Port Orchard remains a board member. Joining the board are David Donnan, Seattle; Doug Hyldahl, Bellingham; Robert Quillian, Olympia; Gregory Scott, Yakima; Mary Logan, Spokane; Jeff Ellis, Seattle; Kim Hunter, Bellevue; John Clark, Spokane; Todd Maybrown, Seattle; and Kim Gordon, Seattle. Tom Campbell of Auburn and Mary Kay High of Tacoma have been appointed to fill other board vacancies.

WACDL also presents awards at its annual meeting. Jeffery Robinson of Seattle won the William O. Douglas Award, the association's highest. Three WACDL President's Awards were given to Eileen Farley, Seattle; Carol Huneke, Spokane; and John Strait, Seattle. Jennifer Davis, Seattle, won the Champion of Justice Award. Certificates of Appreciation went to Geoffrey Burg, David Donnan, Jeffrey Fisher, Barry Flegenheimer, Alison Holcomb, Amanda Lee, Francisco Rodriguez, Michele Shaw, and David Trieweiler.

Honors
King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng was conferred an honorary doctoral degree by Northwest Graduate School of the Ministry at its June 5, 2004, commencement ceremony. Maleng is also a member of the school's board of directors.

The Judiciary
by Lindsay Thompson
Governor Locke has appointed Michael Downes to the Snohomish County Superior Court bench. The 20-year veteran of the county prosecutor's office succeeds Judge Charles French, who died July 6, 2004 (see In Memoriam).

Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Leonard Costello has been elected president of the Superior Court Judges' Association.

In Memoriam

Hon. Charles French
Stricken by lung cancer in 2002, Judge Charles French treated his illness as an inconvenience and kept working until shortly before his death in June.

A Spokane native, French grew up in Everett and, after completing Willamette Law School, joined his father, Stuart French, in the latter's Everett law firm. In 1979, the elder French became a Superior Court judge. French continued to practice in Everett, serving as Snohomish County Bar Association president in 1990-91.

Governor Locke appointed French to a new judicial position in 1997; French's by-then-retired father swore in his son.

Survivors include his wife, two sons, his father, and three siblings.

Judge Charles French died July 6, 2004, aged 53.

R.R. Greive
Bob Greive seemed to pack several lifetimes into one. After service in the Coast Guard, he worked as a commercial artist and then entered UW Law School, finishing at the University of Miami. He won election to the Washington State Senate in 1946 and served until 1974. In 1975, he ran for the King County Council and served there until 1987. During his political career he also practiced full time as a personal-injury lawyer, sometimes keeping three assistants busy with his projects. He worked nearly 50 years in the same West Seattle office.

Survivors include a sister, six children, and eight grandchildren.

Raymond Robert Greive was born in Seattle October 6, 1919, and died there July 1, 2004, aged 84.

Hon. Albert Morrison
A longtime pilot, Albert Morrison was a Tacoma native who served as an Air Force commander and pilot, a judge advocate general staff member, an assistant attorney general, and a South Tacoma lawyer before becoming a Pierce County Superior Court judge in 1974.

He was a graduate of Whitman College and the University of Washington, and became known as an independent-minded jurist. Active in community affairs, Morrison served 17 years on the school board and was a founder of the Tacoma Youth Symphony.

Survivors include his wife, four children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Judge E. Albert Morrison was born in Tacoma September 13, 1921, and died there June 25, 2004, aged 83.

Bar News has also been advised of the deaths of the following members: Wallace Bartholomew, Seattle, admitted July 1, 1932, died October 19, 1999; John Neff, Spokane, admitted March 30, 1959, died May 19, 2003; and Richard Staeheli, Spokane, admitted February 25, 1969, died July 9, 2004.

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