NEWS

April 16, 2009
Summit Welcomes New Labor & Employment Member
Sofia Mabee joins Summit as a member in our Labor & Employment practice group. Most recently an Assistant City Attorney in Yakima, Sofia graduated from St. Julian's International School in Portugal, received her B.A. from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and earned her law degree, summa cum laude, at Seattle University School of Law.

March 26, 2009
Summit Maintains its Support for the Statewide Diversity Conference
Summit is pleased to announce that it will continue its Gold sponsorship of the Statewide Diversity Conference produced by the Washington Minority Bar Associations’ Collaboration Project (http://www.wambac.org). In 2006, Summit was a founding sponsor of the Conference and has sponsored it every year since at the Gold level. This year’s conference is scheduled for June 12. Summiteers involved this year include Richard E. Mitchell, who will be serving on a panel discussing the judicial appointment process, and moderating another on the same subject.

March 9, 2009
Summit’s Litigation Practice Group Gains a New Attorney
Molly Terwilliger joins Summit as an attorney in the Litigation practice group. Most recently at Heller Ehrman LLP, she received her BA at Northwestern University and her law degree, cum laude, at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Molly clerked for Chief Justice Barbara Durham, on the Washington State Supreme Court, and United States District Judge Marsha Pechman before joining Heller in 2001.

March 20, 2009
Summit Invited to Participate in Innovative Law Firm Competition
Summit has been invited to participate in the “FutureFirm” competition being hosted by the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. The competition is a collaborative effort in which 16 partners, 12 in-house counsel, and 12 associates/students will work in teams to create a law firm model for a fictional but realistic law firm that will thrive and survive during the next 20 years. John Chun and Chad Mitchell will represent Summit at the competition on April 17-19. [See Flier]

March 16, 2009
Summit Pro Bono Client Is Granted Political Asylum
Chad Mitchell, along with co-counsel in Chicago, obtained a ruling from the Immigration Court granting an Iranian national asylum in the United States. It was a long, hard battle, but we are extremely happy and excited for our client and the opportunity this affords her to put her horrific past behind her and continue her new life here in the United States.

March 13, 2009
Summit’s Accounting Manager Elected to QLAW Executive Board
Richard Wood has been elected as the first nonlawyer to QLAW’s Executive Board. QLAW is the Washington bar association of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender legal professionals. Richard will serve a two-year term.

March 13, 2009 Summit Hosts Annual Minority Bar Association Reception Summit’s Third Annual Minority Bar Executive Board Reception was held in honor of the Governor’s new General Counsel, Marty Loesch. Generously co-sponsored by the Washington State Bar Association, it attracted over 80 attendees and included minority bar leaders from Spokane, Bellingham and Vancouver.

Photo by Keith Williams - Flyright Productions

(L-R: Jeff Liang, Marta Lowe, Lee Marchisio, David Lee)

Photo by Keith Williams - Flyright Productions

(L-R: Marty Loesch, General Counsel to Governor Gregoire & Polly McNeill)

February 23, 2009
Summit Lawyer Recognized as Leading Business Litigator
Phil McCune has been recognized as a “Top Attorney in Business Litigation” in the Corporate Counsel Edition of Super Lawyers magazine.

January 16, 2009 Summit Is Key Sponsor of MLK Luncheon Summit was pleased to be the Platinum sponsor of the King County Bar Association’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon. The luncheon was held at the Red Lion Hotel in Seattle, and the keynote speaker was Harvard University Professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Summit guests at the luncheon included King County Councilmember Larry Gossett.

(L-R: King County Councilmember, Larry Gossett, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Richard E. Mitchell)

December 5, 2008
Seattle Repertory Theatre Honors Summit
Summit was honored by the Seattle Repertory Theatre following its performance of You Can’t Take It With You for Summit’s 10 years of supporting the Seattle Rep CREW organization. Since we can’t take it with us, we’re pleased to share it with the arts!

December 8, 2008
Governor’s Former General Counsel Joins Summit
Richard E. Mitchell has stepped down as Governor Christine Gregoire’s long-time general counsel and has joined Summit. Prior to his work with the Governor, Richard specialized in design, construction, real estate and commercial litigation. In addition to being a lawyer, he has degrees in architecture and urban planning. Summit is delighted that he will be heading up our Real Estate Asset Group. [KomoNews] [Summit Press Release]

December 3, 2008
Three Summit Attorneys Are “Rising Stars”
Washington Law & Politics has recognized as 2009 Rising Stars Denise Ashbaugh (general litigation), Cy Hersch (securities and corporate finance), and Beth Kennar (employment and labor law).

December 1, 2008
Summit Lawyers Recognized as Top Attorneys in Employment Law
Otto Klein, Bruce Schroeder, and John Chun have been named “Top Attorneys in Employment Law” in the national publication Super Lawyers – Corporate Counsel Edition.

November 12, 2008
Summit Wins at Trial in Commercial Breach of Contract Case
Summit represented Indoor Billboard/Washington, Inc., an industrial laundry, in a trial of its breach of contract claim against The Wedge Corporation, a restaurant chain. After Indoor Billboard had provided about half a year of service under a 60-month contract, Wedge repudiated the agreement. Wedge claimed that its employee who had purported to sign the contract on behalf of Wedge did not have the authority to do so. The case proceeded to a bench trial. Indoor Billboard prevailed, as the Court found that the employee at issue had apparent authority to sign the contract and that Wedge had ratified the contract. Indoor Billboard was awarded its economic damages, prejudgment interest, and 100% of its requested attorney’s fees and costs. Summit's team on the matter was John Chun and Maureen Mitchell.

November 2008
Summit Bargains Successfully for The Evergreen State College
Rod Younker completed bargaining of a first contract between The Evergreen State College and the United Faculty of Evergreen. The deal was ratified by both parties.

September 10, 2008
Marta Lowe Recalls Professor Barack Obama
Marta Lowe remembers being schooled by President Obama at the University of Chicago Law School. [Read]

November 6, 2008
Nine Summit Attorneys Named in The Best Lawyers in America 2009
Summit lawyers Mike Erickson (corporate), Jessica Goldman (First Amendment), David Heineck (environmental), Otto Klein (labor and employment), Polly McNeill (environmental), Ralph Palumbo (environmental), Bruce Schroeder (labor and employment), Mike Thorp (environmental), and Mark Worthington (corporate) have been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2009, published by Woodward/White (www.bestlawyers.com).

November 5, 2008
Summit Is Platinum Sponsor of MAMAS 2nd Annual Banquet
Summit was pleased to underwrite the luncheon of the Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle honoring Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein. More than a third of Summit’s lawyers are moms. [Read]

October 2008
Nationally Recognized Litigator Michael Thorp Joins Summit
Mike Thorp is a commercial litigator who has represented clients in a wide range of environmental and natural resource matters, including natural resource damage claims; Endangered Species Act; salmon, steelhead and other marine resources; toxic tort suits, including class actions, state and federal Superfund, RCRA, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and water rights and issues dealing with natural resources owned and claimed by Indian tribes. He is the author of the Handbook of the Law of Natural Resource Damages (2004).

October 2008
Senior Environmental Litigator Joins Summit
For the past 23 years, Bill Maer has practiced in all aspects of environmental law and litigation. Currently he focuses primarily on cost recovery claims associated with contaminated sites throughout the United States. He has tried environmental cost recovery cases in state and federal courts.

October 2008
Summit Welcomes New Staff
Howard Cobiskey joined Summit on October 6 as our new part-time accounts payable clerk. Howard has a B.S. degree in Math/Economics from Northeastern Illinois University and an A.A.S. degree in Accounting from Highline Community College. Howard has previously been a Statistical Data Programmer and now spends his afternoons working with children at Cooper Elementary School in an after-school remedial math program.

Kathy Moll joined Summit on October 27 as a legal assistant in the Environmental/Litigation/Real Estate practice area. Kathy spent the last 16 years at the late Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, and she was with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago before becoming a legal secretary/assistant.

Kristen Oxwang joined Summit on October 31 as a paralegal in the litigation practice group. She spent the last 20 years at Heller Ehrman, where she had been a Litigation Paralegal, Marketing Coordinator, and Chairperson of Heller’s Happiness Committee. Kristin is a graduate of the University of Washington, with a B.A. in Communications/Advertising and a Graduate Certificate in Paralegal Studies.

October 2008
Summit’s Commitment to the Environment
Summit Law Group was recognized by the Seattle Public Utilities for pledging to reduce paper use through strategies such as double-sided printing, electronic file archiving and paperless billing.

August 11, 2008
Summit Welcomes New Member
Marta Lowe joins Summit Law Group’s Real Estate practice, a multi-disciplinary group involving real estate, land use, environmental, design and construction law, to provide leasing and transactional expertise. She will also continue her work in the areas of corporate law and securities. Returning to her native Washington, Marta started her law firm career in Washington, D.C. and most recently served as in-house counsel to a public real estate investment trust in Bethesda, Maryland.

July 21, 2008
Summit Raises $9,580 to Fight Hunger
One hundred percent of Summit Law Group’s lawyers and staff joined together in the two-week Food Frenzy, a competition among King County law firms to raise funds for Food Lifeline. Food Lifeline is an organization that supplies food to the food banks of Western Washington. Summit’s Food Frenzy committee, Denise Ashbaugh, Chris Brown, Jessica Goldman, Sue Harris, Marcia Ripley, and Leslie Teves, organized Summit’s spirited and successful effort through bake sales, raffles, farmer’s markets, a pizza party, and a silent auction.

July 10, 2008
Summit Lawyer Beth Kennar Is One of the 100 Top Labor Attorneys in the U.S.
The Labor Relations Institute, Inc. has recognized Beth as one of the top labor attorneys in the country. Inclusion on the list puts Beth in the top one percent of labor attorneys in the United States. She made the elite list by being selected from more than 8,900 attorneys evaluated by the Labor Relations Institute. The honor of “Top 100” was determined by the number of National Labor Relations Board-monitored elections in which each attorney provided representation and the success of those election outcomes. “To be included in the Top 100 is a tremendous honor,” notes LRI President Donald P. Wilson. “It acknowledges these attorneys’ professionalism and long-term dedication to their clients.” [Read]

July 7, 2008
Summit Prevails Before the Washington Court of Appeals
Summit lawyer Shannon Phillips successfully defended Summit client American Building Maintenance Company in a disability discrimination case. The Court of Appeals’ unanimous decision affirmed the trial court’s dismissal. [Read]

June 27, 2008
Summit Wins Big in the Ninth Circuit
A team of Summit lawyers, paralegals, and assistants, including Ralph Palumbo, David Heineck, Liz Rasmussen, Jason Kelley, Denise Ashbaugh, Maureen Mitchell, and Cheryl McCrum, scored a major victory in the Ninth Circuit for Summit client FMC Corporation. The Ninth Circuit agreed with Summit’s argument that a non-party to a consent decree has no standing to seek enforcement of a consent decree where the provisions of the decree expressly state that no third person has enforcement rights. The Ninth Circuit vacated the Idaho District Court's orders underlying the appeal and remanded with instructions to dismiss the action and grant FMC its costs of appeal. [Read]

June 9, 2008
Summit Attorneys Recognized as “Top Business Lawyers in Washington”
Washington CEO Magazine named Summit lawyers Laura Bertin and Mark Worthington among the top ten business lawyers in the category of securities offerings. Mark was also recognized as one of the top ten venture capital lawyers.

June 2, 2008
Seven Summit Attorneys Named 2008 “Super Lawyers”
The Washington Law & Politics magazine has chosen seven Summit Law Group members as 2008 Super Lawyers. The Summit lawyers honored are John Chun (labor and employment), Mike Erickson (corporate), Otto Klein (labor and employment), Phil McCune (litigation), Ralph Palumbo (litigation), Bruce Schroeder (labor and employment), and Mark Worthington (corporate).

May 30, 2008
Summit Participates in Statewide Diversity Conference
The Washington Minority Bar Associations Collaboration Project held its third annual Statewide Diversity Conference, which took place at the Seattle University School of Law. Summit Law Group was pleased to be a Gold Sponsor of the event. Summit member John Chun served as a panelist.

May 14, 2008
Summit Is Recognized for its Best-in-Class Awareness with Top Clients
Summit Law Group was judged best-in-class in The BTI Consulting Group, Inc.’s Survey of National Market Awareness 2008, a survey of 500+ corporate counsel at the world’s largest organizations.

May 9, 2008
Summit’s Architect Tom Kundig Honored
Summit proudly congratulates the architect who designed our office, Tom Kundig, for his receipt of the Architecture Design Award by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The award is given to an individual or firm for exceptional and exemplary work in commercial, public, or residential architecture design. Nominations for the 2008 Awards were solicited from a committee of more than 800 leading designers, educators, journalists, cultural figures, and corporate leaders from every state in the nation. Tom is an architect at Olsen Sundberg, Kundig & Allen in Seattle [Read].

May 1, 2008
Summit’s Lisa Herb Honored for Her Work in International Women’s Rights
The Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa presented the Pathfinder Award to Summit attorney Lisa Herb, founder and President of the Alliance for International Women’s Rights, for her work supporting and furthering international women’s rights with a focus on central Asia. [Alliance Spring Newsletter]

April 25, 2008
Summit’s Ralph Palumbo Co-Chairs Seattle University School of Law Gala Event
Ralph Palumbo and his wife Marlys Palumbo are co-chairs of the Seattle University School of Law’s 35th anniversary gala celebration. The event will take place at Benaroya Hall with a concert directed by Maestro Gerard Schwarz of the Seattle Symphony and narrated by actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith. Summit Law Group is pleased to be a gold sponsor of this celebration. [Event Invitation]

April 24, 2008
Summit Welcomes a New Legal Assistant
Kay Bradford joins Summit’s labor and employment practice group. Kay has an AA degree in paralegal studies and many years of experience as both a paralegal and as a legal assistant, including time at both Perkins Coie and Boeing.

April 16, 2008
Summit’s Employment Law Update
New state and federal laws affecting employers’ leave obligations for military personnel and their families are explained in the labor and employment group’s regular update. [Read]

April 7, 2008
Litigation Paralegal Returns to Summit
Liz Rasmussen rejoins us today as a Paralegal in the litigation practice group. Liz was most recently working as a litigation paralegal at Keller Rohrback LLP.

April 1, 2008
Summit Announces a New Member
Chad Mitchell joins Summit as a new member in the litigation practice group. Chad was formerly with the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis. Chad will be situated in our new Tri-Cities office at 1020 North Center Parkway, Suite 109, Kennewick, Washington 99336, (509) 735-5053.