FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Tuesday, July 23, 2002

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Alan Smith, TLPJ, 202-797-8600 x 251

Washington State Attorney Paul L. Stritmatter Elected President of The TLPJ Foundation

Activist trial lawyer Paul Stritmatter of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio in Hoquiam, Washington, was elected President of The TLPJ Foundation on July 22 at the organization’s 20^th Anniversary membership meeting in Atlanta. The TLPJ Foundation is the nonprofit parent of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), the national public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good.

"Paul is one of our nation’s most dedicated advocates of public justice," said outgoing TLPJ Foundation President Susan Vogel Saladoff of Ashland, Oregon. "We are thrilled to have such a distinguished leader help launch our third decade."

An extremely accomplished trial lawyer, Mr. Stritmatter has a history of leadership positions in the legal community. He was President of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association in 1984-85, served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America in 1990-93, and served as President of the Washington State Bar Association in 1993-94. In 1991, Mr. Stritmatter was a national finalist for TLPJ’s Trial Lawyer of the Year Award and, in 1995, he received the Award of Merit, the highest honor from the Washington State Bar Association. Since 1971, Mr. Stritmatter has served as Municipal Court Judge for City of Ocean Shores. He received his J.D. Magna Cum Laude in 1969 from Willamette University College of Law. His association with TLPJ is long-standing: he was an original Founder of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in 1982 and has served on TLPJ’s Board of Directors since 1983.

Two other Washington attorneys have served as Presidents of The TLPJ Foundation:

Daniel F. Sullivan of Sullivan Law Offices in Seattle; and

Michael E. Withey of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio in Seattle.

Also at the July 21 annual meeting, four other attorneys were elected new TLPJ Foundation officers:

President-Elect J. Gary Gwilliam of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer in Oakland, California;

Vice President Jeffrey M. Goldberg of Jeffrey M. Goldberg & Associates in Chicago;

Treasurer Thomas M. Dempsey of The Law Offices of Thomas M. Dempsey in Los Angeles; and

Secretary Alan R. Brayton of Brayton v Purcell in Novato, California.

Attorney Mona Lisa Wallace of Wallace & Graham, P.A. in Salisbury, North Carolina was newly elected to the Executive Committee of The TLPJ Foundation. Sandra H. Robinson of Jack Olender & Associates in Washington, DC, and Gerson Smoger of Smoger & Associates of Dallas, Texas, and Oakland, California, were re-elected to the Executive Committee.

Six other attorneys were also elected as new TLPJ Foundation Board members:

Linda M. Correia of Webster, Fredrickson & Brackshaw in Washington, D.C.;

Steven E. Fineman of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, L.L.P. in New York;

Robert L. Parks of Haggard, Parks, Haggard & Bologna in Coral Gables, Florida;

John F. Romano of Romano, Eriksen & Cronin in West Palm Beach, Florida;

Sharon L. Van Dyck of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben in Minneapolis; and

Henry H. Wallace of Wallace, Chapas & Associates in Pittsburgh.

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a network of more than 2,700 of the nation’s outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. TLPJ has a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of consumer rights, worker safety, civil rights and liberties, toxic torts, environmental protection, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with a West Coast office in Oakland, California. The TLPJ web site address is www.tlpj.org.

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