Superior Court Boot Camp (WA): Motions and Trial Practice Tips (2010)

Faculty:

Judge John Erlick was most recently Chief Civil Judge for King County Superior Court and currently presides over civil trials.  He serves on the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and chairs the Superior Court Judges’ Association (SCJA) Ethics Committee.  He previously served as the SCJA appointee to the State’s Ethics Advisory Committee. He has also served as the chair of the King County Superior Court Ex Parte and Probate Committee, and as a member of the Superior Court’s Jury Committee, Governance Committee, and Ad Hoc Duty Time Committee and the King County Bench/Bar Efficiencies Task Force. 

Judge Erlick was the 2004 judicial co-chair of the King County Bench-Bar Conference and  co-chair of the 2003 Settlement Guardian ad Litem mandatory training seminar. 

Judge Erlick is an adjunct professor in professional responsibility and the  judicial externship program at Seattle University and has also been involved as a coach and instructor in countless mock trial and moot court competitions.

Judge Erlick was elected to the King County Superior Court in September 2000, after concentrating in private practice on defense of professional liability cases.  

Judge Erlick graduated from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts with honors and from the Georgetown University Law Center with honors.  He is a graduate of the National Judicial College. 

Paris K. Kallas has served as King County Superior Court Judge since her appointment by Governor Gary Locke in 2001.  She served as a State Court of Appeals Commissioner from 1996-2001. 

As a trial and appellate attorney, Kallas litigated in all levels of state court, emphasizing appellate practice and criminal defense. 

She received her law degree from University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) in 1981. 

Judge Kallas is an active member in judicial and bar committees.  Judge Kallas currently serves as the Chief Civil Judge, Chief Asbestos Judge, Chair of the Local Rules Committee, and Chair of the Ex Parte and Probate Committee.

The Honorable James E. Rogers is currently a judge in the Criminal Department of King County Superior Court.

Judge Julie Spector was appointed to the King County Superior Court by Gov. Locke in 1999 and was elected in 2000.

Prior to her appointment she practiced in the areas of criminal law, mental health and environmental law on both the trial and appellate levels. She also served as a judge pro tempore in Superior Court and in Seattle Municipal Court.

As a judge she has served as chair of the Child Care Center at the Regional Justice Center, which is supported almost entirely by juror donations. Currently she chairs the Mental Health Committee, which oversees the practice of civil commitments at Harborview Hall.

She has served as a judge at Juvenile Court, Unified Family Court and is currently doing a civil rotation. Outside of the law she is a certified AFAA instructor of indoor cycling at a local gym. She also enjoys the great outdoors of the Northwest with her two Golden Retrievers.

Mr. Baumgardner is one of the founding partners of Corr Cronin.  Mr. Baumgardner was formerly the Chair of Bogle & Gate's Product Liability/Personal Injury Practice Group, and was a member of that firm's Executive Committee. He has been named a "Super Lawyer" by Washington Law & Politics magazine numerous times, has been designated one of Seattle's "Top Lawyers" by Seattle Magazine and has been recognized as a Seattle "Litigation Star" by Benchmark, America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys.  Mr. Baumgardner is also included in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and in the 2nd edition Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers.
Mr. Baumgardner has tried cases in the state and federal courts of Washington and Alaska, and has appeared before an international sports law tribunal in Lausanne, Switzerland.  He has also handled labor arbitrations, administrative trials, and civil case arbitrations.  Mr. Baumgardner has represented dozens of Fortune 500 companies in complex litigation.  Among the many individuals he has represented are a Nobel Prize winner and an Olympic medalist, both in matters concerning their professional standing.  His broad-ranging litigation practice focuses on product liability, labor and employment, commercial, toxic tort and personal injury cases, as well as international sports law and the defense of alleged whistleblower litigation.
Mr. Baumgardner earned his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1984, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Loren is the Chair of the Riddell Williams Environmental and Natural Resources Group. He practices in the environmental law and litigation fields, and represents regional and national companies at locations throughout the country.
Loren's environmental projects have involved hazardous waste and large multi-party toxics cleanup sites, including marine and fresh water sediment sites, landfills, and natural resource damages claims. He also has done extensive work obtaining permits for key facility operations. He has particularly deep knowledge of the following industries: manufactured gas facilities, regulated utilities, smelters and metals refineries, pesticide sites, and large area contamination sites.
Loren also handles complex commercial and technology cases. His projects have involved liability of professionals, including environmental professionals, employee misconduct, business damages, technology performance, warranties, and infringement of intellectual property.
Before entering private practice, Loren worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters office as a senior policy economist. He received an agency merit award for excellent work on the development of the Agency's hazardous waste program and its regulations.
Loren earned his J.D. from Stanford University Law School in 1987 and was Editor of the Stanford Journal of Environmental Law.  Loren is admitted to practice before the Federal and state courts in Washington and Oregon, and before the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals. He has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous courts outside the northwest.

Matthew Bergman grew up in Seattle, Washington and attended Seattle Public Schools. He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon were he attained his BA in Sociology in 1986. After college, Bergman attended Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland graduating magna cum lauda in 1989. Following law school, Bergman spent two years as Law Clerk to Judge Baldock of the United States Court of Appeals-Tenth Circuit.

Bergman then spent 4 years as an associate at Heller, Erhman White & McAuliffe in Seattle where his practice focused on environmental litigation, Indian law and insurance coverage litigation. Bergman is a member of the Washington and Oregon bar associations.

In 1995 Bergman left his large law firm and began representing asbestos victims. In 1997, he formed his own law firm, currently named Bergman Draper & Frockt, which has grown to become the preeminent plaintiffs asbestos law firm in the Pacific Northwest. Bergman Draper & Frockt has represented over 500 asbestos victims and recovered over $200 million from the manufacturers and distributors of asbestos products. Bergman has been recognized as a Super Lawyer by Washington Law & Politics each year from 2003 through 2009.

Bergman is nationally known for his work on behalf of asbestos victims and has served on the creditors committees in the Owens Corning; Dresser/Halliburton; AC& S; GAF; A.P. Green; THAN; ARTRA; Kaiser Aluminum; E.J. Bartells bankruptcies. Currently, Bergman serves on the Trust Advisory Committee of the Owens Corning, Kaiser Aluminum, Combustion Engineering, ARTRA, and AC&S trusts which administers over $10 billion in assets on behalf of asbestos victims.

Bergman has been active in state and national politics, serving as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Bergman has testified before the United States Congress and Washington State Legislature as asbestos legislative issues and spoken at national and international seminars on Asbestos Litigation.