March 2009

Telling the Tales of Five Decades in the Law

Law Stories; by Dick Krutch and Friends; 203 pp.; paperback; self-published by Dick Krutch.

Reviewed by Michael Heatherly

By the time he retired in 1995, Seattle lawyer Dick Krutch had plenty of stories to tell. His career spanned four decades in which the State Bar evolved from a small, close-knit band to the 30,000-troop army of today. When he began practice in 1955, jobs were plentiful and new associates were pulling down $250 per month, good money in those days. Because a skilled veteran secretary could command $300 a month, many lawyers cranked out their own documents (on manual typewriters originally) and copied them with technology that slowly advanced from carbon paper to ditto machines to photocopiers. When Krutch first hung out his shingle, Superior Court motion calendars were closer to coffee klatches than cattle calls.

After retiring to care for his ill wife, Krutch documented 15 favorite recollections from his career to share with his family. The family loved the stories and encouraged him to write more and perhaps gather tales from colleagues as well. In 2005, Krutch attended his 50-year class reunion at the University of Washington School of Law and took the opportunity to solicit stories from his classmates. Through those connections and others, he eventually amassed a collection of about 50 stories, including his own. He decided to compile them, along with several brief profiles of notable lawyers and judges, into a book. Krutch self-published the work, Law Stories, financing it out of his own pocket. He had 1,000 copies printed and has begun a grass-roots marketing effort to share the work with members of the Bar, as well as non-lawyers.

Law Stories is 203 pages of living legal history. Most of the stories are no more than two or three pages each, making the book perfect for waiting-room or coffee-table use. The authors (some of whom are now deceased) come from across the state. Many of their names can be found on the doors of leading firms that emerged during the second half of the last century, e.g., Helsell, Karr, Campbell, Luvera, Stritmatter. Krutch’s only rule for contributors was that the material be accessible to non-lawyers and contain “no politics, no religion, and no self-aggrandizement.” The stories are built around personalities and anecdotes. Legal and historical details appear only as necessary to flesh out a story.

The book is filled with fascinating and often hilarious accounts. Subjects range from lawyers’ experiences defending indigent small-time criminals to international litigation involving airline disasters. Some adventures are unthinkable in today’s legal climate. In “Surprise,” Seattle attorney Gene Seligmann recalls defending a personal-injury case early in his career. He stipulated to the amount of special damages after a persuasive meeting, arranged by the plaintiff’s counsel, with the treating dentist. After losing at trial on liability, Seligmann discovered he had been fleeced on the damages issue. The “dentist” he had met before trial was an impostor — the law partner of the wily plaintiff’s counsel.

Another Law Stories contributor, Phil Thompson, of Spokane, recalls his first trial as a district court judge. He swaggered into the courtroom, only to discover the bench had no seat because his judicial predecessor had used a wheelchair. The bailiff rounded up a replacement chair in seconds and the trial proceeded. However, at the end of trial when Thompson leaned back in his most judicial manner to contemplate the remarks of a party, the chair gave way, leaving the honorable judge sprawled on the floor. The well-meaning but harried bailiff hadn’t noticed that the chair in question had been so readily available because the back was broken. Thompson, who eventually spent a quarter-century on the district, superior, and appeals court benches, also relates a bawdy courtroom tale involving the sale of an expensive purebred stud dog. In a civil suit, the buyer claimed she had discovered the dog had a particularly unfortunate reproductive defect, which she insisted on demonstrating to the judge live in court, an offer of evidence that nearly cost the judge his nose.

Other entries are more serious but nonetheless compelling. Many unfold as mysteries, with subjects including a house fire allegedly caused by a child playing with matches, a huge arson fire allegedly set by the burned building’s owner for insurance purposes, and a civil case involving a U.S. Navy pilot whose plane crashed during a bombing run in Vietnam. After spending nearly eight years at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” the pilot sued the plane manufacturer for damages, including his pain and suffering as a POW. Each of these stories has a twist ending worthy of a John Grisham novel.

Many of the book’s best moments come when an author reminds us how a seeming legal technicality can deeply affect a life. Krutch’s profile of Judge Marsha Pechman recalls her battle with advanced cancer in the early 1990s, when she served on the King County Superior Court bench. Doctors advised that only a stem cell transplant was likely to save her life. Based on its interpretation of policy language, her health insurance carrier denied coverage for the expensive procedure. Without insurance coverage, the judge would need to post a $250,000 deposit with the hospital to begin treatment. Hearing of her plight, three lawyers — Bill Bailey, Steve Fury, and Lish Whitson — volunteered to fight the insurance company and meanwhile raise the $250,000 deposit, which they solicited from 600 anonymous donors in two weeks. Eventually, the insurance carrier relented and covered the transplant. The $250,000 was returned to the donors and Judge Pechman fully recovered, now serving on the U.S. District Court bench in Seattle.

How to Buy the Book

Law Stories is priced at $24. It is available at Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island — where Krutch recently did a live reading — and Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane. It is also available directly from Krutch, who can be contacted at 13575 Ellingsen Road N.E., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110; 206-842-3140.

Volume II in Progress — You Can Contribute

Law Stories is subtitled “Volume I,” and Krutch is already at work on a second volume. He welcomes submissions from anyone with a story to tell. Volume I focuses largely on Krutch’s contemporaries, but he is also interested in hearing from the younger, more diverse Bar at work today. Potential contributors may contact him at the address and phone number above. 

Bar News Editor Michael Heatherly practices in Bellingham. He can be reached at 360-312-5156 or barnewseditor@wsba.org.