January 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.

Cowlitz County Report
by Our Local Correspondent

Heidi Heywood was featured in an article in Washington Law & Politics that addressed the issues facing attorneys in small towns.

Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney Sue Baur presented Dustin Richardson in a ceremony during which Hon. James Warme swore him in as a member of the Washington State Bar Association. Dustin solemnly declared that he would "abstain from all offensive personalities," causing fellow attorney Alyssa Zach to wonder whether he would still be working at the prosecutor's office.

Gary Bashor is finalizing the CWBA website. Look for it up and running as of this printing. Gary is a total computer junkie. He has spent many an evening up to the wee hours of the morning (i.e., 3:00 a.m.) working on the page.

Ian Northrip just logged his 200,000th mile on his 1986 Subaru wagon. As he does filing motions, Ian is waiting to the very last minute before trading it in for a new model.

Craig McReary is in his seventh year as Castle Rock municipal prosecutor. On the second Wednesday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m., the judge, counsel, and the clerk join in the back hall for brownies. It tends to sweeten up the proceedings. Craig has accrued many brownie points.

Information and any additional bad puns for the March issue must be received by January 15 at CWBAnews@hotmail.com.

The Judiciary

In November Governor Gary Locke announced the appointment of Michael P. Price to the Spokane County Superior Court bench, to succeed Judge Richard Schroeder, who retired December 31 after serving 13 years. Price commented, "It is a rare occasion indeed when all the right personal traits and ideals come together to produce a judicial officer as outstanding as Richard J. Schroeder." Price has more than 13 years of legal experience. He has focused on family law in his private practice, handling many complex dissolution proceedings. He has trial experience, as well as background as a mediator and arbitrator. Price has also worked as a commissioner pro tem in the Spokane County Superior Court since 1997. He currently serves as the president of the Spokane County Bar Association. "I'm deeply honored by the governor's appointment, and I look forward to serving the citizens of Spokane and Spokane County," Price said. Price received his bachelor's degree in music and his law degree from Gonzaga University. He was admitted to practice in 1990.

Oregon News

Mark Manulik, partner at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt P.C. and chair of the firm's real estate practice, was elected to a one-year term as treasurer of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA) board of regents at its annual meeting October 23-25 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

ACMA is an organization of approximately 500 lawyers nationwide, representing institutional real estate-mortgage lenders. Members have distinguished themselves in the practice of mortgage-lending law and related fields.

Manulik represents a broad range of real estate development companies, investors and mortgage lenders in complicated commercial real estate transactions. He is a member of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law sections of the Oregon and Washington state bar associations, the Oregon Mortgage Bankers Association, and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Portland's Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP is pleased to welcome Kyle Sciuchetti and J.D. Williams as associates with the law firm.

Sciuchetti, a former prosecutor, will focus his practice on civil litigation and corporate, administrative, and employment law. He is a 1992 graduate of the University of Washington with double degrees in political science and psychology. In 1996, he received his J.D. from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. He is a member of the Oregon State Bar, Washington State Bar Association, and American Bar Association.

Williams will work on energy law; Indian corporate, business, and commercial formations and transactions; federal Indian law, including gaming and housing; and tribal law and policy. Previously, he was the managing attorney for the Umatilla Tribes of Oregon. Williams graduated from American University in 1985 and obtained his law degree from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in 1994. In between, he served in the Peace Corps as an agricultural extension agent. His affiliations include the Energy Bar Association, the Oregon State Bar, the Washington State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Northwest Indian Bar Association.

South King County Bar Association Report
by Tom Campbell

Meetings for the South King County Bar Association have become more fun than chasing the greased pig around the barnyard. I know that most folks think that all the lawyers around the south end of the county don't know how to practice law in the big city, but some south-end lawyers just can't help themselves. At our most recent meeting, we were graced with the presence of Justice Bobbe Bridge. She told us about her early years and the inspiration that she received from former Justice Charles Z. Smith. The meeting occurred at the Regional Justice Center during the induction ceremonies for new Bar admittees.

New admittees were invited to join our association free of charge in their first year. The first taker was Eric Eisinger. He was immediately introduced to Justice Bridge, a handful of District and Superior Court judges, and Phil Dunlap (who just had to have his name in print). Jean Bouffard stopped in to join the festivities, and John Greaney came along as well.

I am short of hard news this month. Members of the South King County Bar are welcome to contact me with news about new locations and firm happenings.
 
Washington Defense Trial Lawyers

One-hundred-thirty judges and defense and plaintiff attorneys gathered mid-October in Seattle for the annual WDTL Judges Reception.
 
Awards were given for Outstanding Defense Attorney and Outstanding Plaintiff Attorney. WDTL gives these awards each year to encourage civility and professionalism on both sides of the bar. The Outstanding Defense Trial Lawyer was given to Edward S. Winskill of Davies Pearson, P.C. in Tacoma. A Tacoma native, Winskill clerked for Judge Vernon Pearson in the Court of Appeals. In 1974 he joined Davies Pearson. He has been president of the Puget Sound Inn of Court and a member of the Board of Directors of Tacoma Actors Guild and Jesse Dyslin Boys Ranch. He has served as a trustee of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers and the Pierce County Bar Association.

The 2003 Outstanding Plaintiff Trial Lawyer is Patrick H. LePley of LePley & Koehler, Bellevue. LePley has been a plaintiffs' lawyer since 1975 and is a past or present member of the Washington State Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Washington State Bar Association's Task Force on Governance, the American College of Barristers, and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a past president of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and was awarded the WSTLA Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 2002. The Washington Defense Trial Lawyers is a statewide organization of 750 trial lawyers who concentrate their work in civil litigation defense.

In Memoriam
Remembering our colleagues and friends

Robert Blair
Former legislator
Robert E. Blair took his law degree from Harvard and practiced municipal bond law. He joined the Washington State Bar Association in 1940. Blair also represented Spokane County in the Washington House of Representatives in the 1949-51 session. Survivors include a daughter, son-in-law, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Robert Earnshaw Blair died in Spokane, September 16, 2003, aged 92.

Adam Dublin
Illness never cooled his enthusiasm for life
Adam Dublin was 17 when he was told he had a rare heart condition. He crammed a lot of life into the next 12 years, earning a history degree from Whitman College and law degree from UW, passing the bar exam in 2002, marrying Lisa Walden, seeing his daughter Clara born, and enduring two heart transplants. He spoke at schools about his illness and urged people to become organ donors, coached a Little League team, and delivered fresh flowers to his wife's desk every Monday.

His wife and daughter survive him, as do his grandfather, parents, sister, and a large extended family.

Adam Jacob Dublin, of Bothell, died October 24, 2003, aged 29.

William Goss
Longtime Spokane attorney
Bill Goss graduated from the University of Idaho before taking his law degree from UW, with honors, in 1967. He practiced first with Randall & Danskin, and later with Turner Stoeve Gagliardi & Goss, where he practiced until he retired in 1992.
 
Survivors include his wife, two children, his mother, and two brothers.

William Winston Goss Jr. was born in 1942 and died October 18, 2003, aged 61.

William Iunker
Retired Spokane lawyer
William Iunker graduated from Gonzaga Law School and was admitted to practice in September 1949. He practiced in Spokane for 37 years, until his retirement nine years ago. Iunker and his wife of 57 years, Beverly, lived in Sun City, Arizona. Survivors include a son and two granddaughters.

William Berry Iunker died September 27, 2003, aged 79.

Timothy Kelley
Former JAG and corporate attorney
(This notice first appeared in the October 2003 Illinois State Bar Association News.)
Formerly of Peoria, Illinois, Timothy Kelley was general counsel for Nichols Brothers Boat Builders on Whidbey Island.

A graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center who was a lieutenant in the Navy Judge Advocate General Corps, Mr. Kelley practiced with law firms in San Diego and Salt Lake City. He was admitted in Washington in March 2002.

Timothy David Kelley died in Freeland, July 31, 2003, aged 54.

Hon. John J. Ripple
Spokane judge
Jack Ripple was ready to start law school at the University of Minnesota when World War II broke out. His plans went on hold for four years. After serving as a naval officer, he moved to Spokane — where his parents had moved during the war — and graduated from Gonzaga School of Law in 1950. He was appointed a judge by Governor Dixie Lee Ray in 1979 and retired in 1990. In a 1989 interview he recalled a 1984 death penalty case where the defendant was accused of killing a police detective, as his hardest. Lonne Link, once convicted, was sentenced to life in prison by the jury, confirming what Ripple said was his "faith in just ordinary jurors." Judge Richard Schroeder, who was a student of Ripple's at Gonzaga Law School in 1961 and retired at the end of December, remembers Ripple as "a very kind and considerate person, both individually and as a judge. It was always a pleasure to try a case in front of him." Survivors include his wife, six children, and nine grandchildren.

John Joseph Ripple was born in Eveleth, Minnesota, and died October 16, 2003, in Spokane, aged 83.

Christine Shannon
Lawyer, educator, businessperson, and women's health advocate
The eldest of five children, Christine Shannon was a junior-high teacher on Mercer Island before tackling careers as a college administrator, lawyer, and business executive with Intercontinental Insurance Services in Seattle. She held a B.A., M.Ed., and J.D. from the University of Washington, and did additional study at Cambridge and Harvard Universities.

Survivors include her husband, parents, and three sisters.

Christine Marie Shannon was baorn in Ames, Iowa, February 22, 1948, and died October 13, 2003, aged 55.

Sylvia Thomas
Reno attorney
A 1998 Gonzaga law graduate and Thomas More Scholar, Sylvia Thomas is survived by her parents, a son, and two sisters.

Sylvia Thomas died in Reno, Nevada, September 21, 2003, aged 42.

Bar News has also been advised of the death of the following member:

Michael C. Arola of Eugene, Oregon, admitted May 17, 2002; died August 15, 2003.

Obituaries and remembrances of WSBA members are welcome. Please forward to the editor at the WSBA office or by e-mail at tradelaw@thompson-law.com.

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