Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association Pierce County Lawyer
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MARCH/APRIL 2017 | VOLUME 19 TACOMA-PIERCE COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER 2017 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Main photo from left to right: Nicholas Andrews, John Wilson, Lindsay Camandona, Steve Merrival (Vice President), (front) Matthew Thomas (Immediate Past President), Diane Clarkson (2017 President), Sarah Richardson (Secretary-Treasurer), Kelley Kavanagh (Young Lawyers Section President), Amanda Searle, Terri Farmer Headshots: Heather Straub and Antoni Froehling 2017 BOARD OF TRUSTEES PG. 10 | LINCOLN DAY REVIEW PG. 18 | 2016 COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS PG. 22 CONNELLY LAW OFFICES Offices in Tacoma & Seattle, WA | www.Connelly-Law.com “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” -John F. Kennedy Proven Advocates Proven Results We look forward to assisting you in your pursuit of justice. Jack Lincoln Micah Nathan Julie Amanda Evan Meaghan Connelly Beauregard LeBank Roberts Kays Searle Fuller Driscoll TRUTH | JUSTICE | ACCOUNTABILITY | EQUAL ACCESS The Pierce County Lawyer is published CONTENTS 6 times per year as a service to the membership of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association 2017 BOARD OF TRUSTEES FEATURES DEPARTMENTS Diane Clarkson, President Steven O. Merrival, Vice President Sarah E. Richardson, Secretary-Treasurer 4 7 Matthew H. Thomas, Immediate Past President Kelley Kavanagh, President, Young Lawyers Section To Know Her is to Love Her: Winning Formula for Success Terri Farmer, Family Law Section Liaison Diane Clarkson by Commissioner Diana Kiesel Heather R. Straub, John R. Wilson, Antoni H. Froehling, Nicholas R. by Heather Straub Andrews, Lindsay D. Camandona, Amanda M. Searle, Trustees *Matthew W. McGowan, *Claire Vitikainen, Criminal Law Section Liaisons Chris D. Maharry, Volunteer Legal Services Liaison 8 *Mark V. Brady, Minority Bar Association Liaison 9 A Word from the *Lynn Johnson, Collaborative Law Liaison In Memory of Jack Executive Director *Presiding Judge Elizabeth P. Martin, *Judge Frank E. Cuthbertson, by Christopher Keay by Kit Kasner *Commissioner Diana L. Kiesel, *Commissioner Mark L. Gelman, Judicial Liaisons - Pierce County Superior Court *Presiding Judge Judy R. Jasprica, Judicial Liaison - Pierce County District Court *Judge David Ladenburg, Judicial Liaison - Tacoma Municipal Court 10 15 *Jennifer Andrews, Erika Eggertsen, WA Women Lawyers Liaisons Meet Your 2017 Your Board at Work *Keith M. Black, WSBA, Governor 6th District Liaison *John Weaver, Law School Liaison Board of Trustees (* non-voting members) 32 PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER MAGAZINE COMMITTEE Diane Clarkson, Publisher 16 Young Lawyers Report George S. Kelley and Andrea McNeely, Editors An Interview with by Kelley Kavanagh Jennifer Andrews, Rosemary Boelens, Josh Brumley, John R. Christensen, Judge Ronald Culpepper, Retired Richard F. DeJean, Dawn Farina, Mark S. Johnson, David C. Snell, by Mark Lindquist Antoni H. Froehling, Salvador A. Mungia, Sarah E. Richardson, 37 David C. Smith, Heather R. Straub, Victor J. Torres News contributions, information, advertising and letters to the editor Classifieds are welcome. Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor on 18 any topic. All submissions may be edited at the discretion of the Editor Lincoln Day Banquet and PCL Committee and may be published on a space available basis. by David Snell 38 The opinions expressed by the authors in the Pierce County Lawyer magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of the March/April Editorial Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. Advertisers are not 22 Women's History Month necessarily endorsed by the TPCBA. by Jennifer Andrews The Pierce County Lawyer Committee reserves 2016 Community the right to refuse advertising. Service Awards ISSUE AND CLOSING DATES/DEADLINES: by Lisa Kremer, Matt Thomas, Pierce County Lawyer Issue Deadline for All Articles & Advertising: Mark Brady, Scott Winship, May/June 2017 ........................................................................................ April 7, 2017 Arlene Joe, Amber Austin & Alex Straub July/August 2017 ...................................................................................June 6, 2017 September/October 2017 .............................................................August 8, 2017 November/December 2017 ....................................................... October 9, 2017 30 SEND ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO: News from District Court Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association Pierce County Lawyer Magazine First Tower, 621 Tacoma Avenue South, Suite 403 31 Tacoma, WA 98402-2301 Local Legal Technicians FOR INFORMATION ABOUT ADVERTISING CONTACT Fill a Need KIT KASNER AT (253) 272-8871 OR [email protected] in the Community by Ann Gosch Administration (253) 272-8871 Lawyer Referral Service (253) 383-3432 ON THE COVER: FAX (253) 627-4718 2017 Board of Trustees Attorney’s Lounge, Room 238, (253) 573-0609 34 www.TPCBA.com Run for Equal Justice Volunteer Legal Services by Sarah Richardson 621 Tacoma Avenue South, Suite 303 Tacoma, WA 98402 designed by (253) 572-5134, [email protected] March/April 2017 | PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER 3 To Know Her Is To Love Her: DIANE CLARKSON TPCBA 2017 – 2018 President By Heather R. Straub very year, February brings with it sweet surprises: Valentine’s cards, sweet treats and, if I’m lucky, sharing a meal with someone special. This year my “treat” was enjoying lunch with our new TPCBA President, Diane Clarkson. Diane is a Deputy Prosecutor at the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office and, being a defense lawyer, I have been privileged to work with Eher frequently for several years. We have also served on committees together, and I have always liked and respected her so much. Yet over our all-too-brief lunch “date,” I realized what a wonderful gift Diane is giving our Bar: the gift of her time, her service, and her story. And what a remarkable story it is: this wonderful lady with great ideas for the Bar this year... and, without further ado, below is our interview, summarized. HRS: What was it was like for eluded me, but for Berea College Thomas Honeywell], who took the you growing up? in Kentucky, a tuition-free school time to get to know me. Following founded by abolitionists. I graduated his advice, I eventually went to DC: I was born in D.C. and use my with a triple major and wanted to be a work with Dennis Flannigan in the initials (D.C.) as a reminder of "home." teacher initially, but was encouraged County Council before getting to the Our family moved to my mom's to go to law school by Professor Mike Prosecutor’s Office. hometown of Birmingham, Alabama Berheide. Professor Berheide helped after my dad died. I grew up in an me prepare for the LSAT, and I applied HRS: How did you like being a extremely segregated South. In the 6th to Howard, wanting to go back to D.C. prosecutor? grade, integration was forced on us, I played for church choirs and taught DC: To my surprise, I fell in love with and I hated it: getting up early for the piano through college and law school prosecution. I tested every process 45-minute ride to school, where it was for spending money, so I thought against my experiences in the South clear we were not wanted -- all because maybe a law degree would help with – looking for signs of bigotry or bias of racial prejudice. We didn't want to my music career. I considered working in the system – and compared my leave our schools -- we just wanted new in entertainment law, but writing experiences against those of colleagues books and clean water! While I made contracts for other musicians was not a practicing in the South. There was no a few white friends, I could never go satisfying option for me. comparison. I gained an incredible to their homes after school. It was a sense of self-worth in being part of different world. HRS: So how did you ever find this legal community. Working side- yourself out in Washington by-side with my fellow practitioners, I HRS: Did you always know you state? felt we were doing the right thing for wanted to be a lawyer? DC: I came to Washington hoping the right reasons against a backdrop DC: No, I had no idea. I wanted to be to prepare myself to go back to D.C. of consistently high expectations: a musician like Aretha [Franklin] or and practice there. It seemed like preparedness, integrity, honor, and a Alicia [Keys]. My mom was a pianist even street sweepers had law degrees holistic sense of justice. For once in my and our family was musical. I had no in D.C. and I needed trial experience life, music took a back seat. It was all I inkling I would be an attorney. to be marketable. Friends told me could do to keep up with the practice these experiences were available in of law. HRS: Tell me about your Washington, so I got together $500, educational experience. caught the Greyhound, and came here. HRS: Do you still play music? DC: As a single parent, my mom At first, I worked at a minimum wage DC: I recently stopped playing for local instilled the value of education in data entry position, which led me to choirs but continue to teach piano in me. Higher education would have meet Valen Honeywell [of Gordon my home, as I have the last 20 years. 4 PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER | March/April 2017 ...when we work together for the greater good of our profession and our Bar, we are stronger, more unified, and better... HRS: What are your goals for we sharpen each other as iron sharpens respect and appreciation for your trust iron, and this becomes a place where all in me, I will represent TPCBA’s interests your Presidency? lawyers find pride in the exercise of law to the best of my ability. I would love to DC: For us to remember and and justice, without hidden agendas, hear from our membership as we move appreciate our own stories, and be conniving politics, or malicious forward.