After hearing I was heading back into trial, a lovely friend from kindergarten urged me to retire. What more do you need Karen. What more do you have to prove. You deserve to relax and spend more time being a grandma. All good and valid points. In July will turn 64. Am at the tail end of the boomer generation. Went to a law party last night and it was interesting that so many people asked if I was going to slow down anytime soon. (Answer: No). As a young lawyer, people criticized me for being too brash, driven and irreverent. As a middle age lawyer, the complaints were that I was too non-conf ..read more

Postscript: this is from my trial diary of prophylaxis class action against seattle children’s hospital.  Trial day 3 6:00     Cockadoodle doo.  Wake up.  6:25     Get up and make bed. 6:45     White T. tan lulu shorts.  Pink crock slides. Pink sweater jacket picked up over the weekend once decided to stay another week. 6:50     Put computer and monitor back on kitchen/living area counter.  Adjust stool.  Close all doors which are usually all open.  Turn off pool fountains. Tell ..read more

Thursday Jan. 25, 2024. The seventh day of trial is over in our prophlaxis Aspergillus fungus class action against Seattle Childrens’ Hospital. Walk into the hall and see Alysha Katie Lisa Melanie Furhad Brendon Kassie Julia and some of our BLM peaceful protester clients.  Say:  do you think any of the media will make it. We settled the protest case for $10M the day before.  Actually it had been lingering for a week since the mediation.  When the city agreed to a deal then two stepped before refusing to put it in writing. Double crossers. Then yesterday the city said it wo ..read more

- ABOTA is a plaintiff/defendant trial bar invitation only. Have been a member for about 20 years. But have never felt any particular benefit. The yearly dinner was nice - it is enjoyable to see each other. But the covid pause had me reevaluating why I belonged. Every year they give out a trial lawyer of the year award. Alternating between plaintiff-defendant. This year, for whatever reason I realized there had been at least 10 times ABOTA could have recognized me but hadn’t. At first I thought, well Karen - how ridiculous that you would think that you should get award and be mad that you did ..read more

Aug 7. 2023 Launiopoko Hawaii.  3.2 miles outside of Lahaina proper. Nine of us spend the entire day unloading the 40’ shipping container from Bali and Java that has just arrived after a year’s worth of planning.  Michael and Zoe Matheson had gone to the islands and arranged everything.  At 10 am a trucker drops it off at their cul de sac which is a few blocks up curved around from my house.  Andreas who owns the local landscaping company is operating a forklift.  Jon (contractor and my brother’s best friend since 7th grade) helps to direct the unload with Michael.&nb ..read more

Last week, the City told me that a yard blower was a weapon and grounds for arrest when used by a protester to protect others from tear gas. Number of victims: 0. A few days later, the parents of Summer Taylor gave gut wrenching statements during the sentencing of the drunk (drugs primarily) driver who took their child’s life and almost killed another. Today, I visited the WSDOT criminal wreck yard and examined the carnage left following a drunk hitting a jeep with 3 kids who somehow survived, but were terribly injured. The WSDOT officer who responded to the crash chatted with me while the ex ..read more

Jim Wohlpart (CWU President), Det. Jeanne Walford, Me, Patti Cole-Tindall (KC Sheriff), Lisa Benedetti, Kristin Michaud. In the first such event of its kind, our surviving clients established an Eighty-Five Thousand Dollar ($85,000.00) scholarship to honor the heroic efforts of King County Detective Jeanne Walford. The fatal crash occurred on July 25, 2019 when a phantom vehicle was improperly changing lanes. It almost hit a car which then over corrected and drove over the median. Plowed into an airporter bus. And flipped it onto its side. The phantom vehicle left the scene. A group of cowork ..read more

Nala turned 15 in April. For 14 years she ran with me every day. Last year that came to a stop. The vet assumed it was hip arthritis. Though now we know it was something else. I have not done a great job of making the transition to solo. Always an excuse - too cold - rain - dark. We used to go out in anything except snow and ice. I had three kinds of water proof jackets and a head lamp. The treadmill is a slog. But that is where I spent most of this past winter. Plus she didn’t have to stay at the house alone when I went out. This summer I’ve reverted to going outside. Now instead of doing mu ..read more

Upon receiving a complaint from a big law defense lawyer (on law firm stationery) accusing me of being unprofessional in my blog writing, here is the response (edited somewhat to respect the privacy of the complainant). Dear M: I’ve written a blog for the past 15 years.  From the beginning I’ve written many things about defense lawyers who are on cases against me.  And usually though not always it is probably not welcome by them.  I describe their actions, their strategies, judge their presentations.  Once a lawyer was so angry at me that she started acting out during ..read more

Since covid entered the world, have dramatically curtailed speaking travel. But times are changing. And when the request comes in from the Colorado trial lawyers women’s caucus. I say yes. Even though Anne says: are you suuuuuurrrrreeeee. And wags her eyebrows at me. We had just turned down Wyoming because there was no direct flight and it would have been an 8 hour trip. But this one is a simple flight to Denver which is not far away. Then an hour and a half drive to the resort. Piece of cake I enthuse. Anne gives me a knowing look. Today arrives. 6:00 wake up because it gets light really ear ..read more