Gov. Gregoire Appoints J. Robert Leach to Division I Court of Appeals

For Immediate Release: January 23, 2008

EVERETT � Gov. Chris Gregoire today appointed J. Robert Leach to the Division I, District 2 Court of Appeals. Division I covers Snohomish County.

Leach, 56, will replace Judge William W. Baker, who retires Feb. 29. Leach is a principal in the Anderson Hunter Law Firm of Everett.

�J. has the broad experience, legal skills, and good judgment we need for this position, and I appoint him with confidence that he will serve our citizens well,� Gregoire said.

Leach ranked highest among several candidates in a Snohomish County Bar Association judicial bar poll. He has received an AV rating from the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating service every year since 1996 � a rating indicating that his peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence.

�I want to thank Governor Gregoire for providing me with the privilege and honor to serve the people of Snohomish County and the State of Washington as a judge on the Court of Appeals,� Leach said. �The judge I am replacing, Bill Baker, exemplifies the high quality, integrity and collegiality of the court. He leaves large shoes to fill, and I will try my very best to do so.�

Leach has practiced law in Everett since 1980, handling civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels in areas such as real estate, commercial transactions, insurance law, contested probation proceedings and tort law. He also has served on arbitration panels, provides advice to business and municipal clients and has served as a judge pro tem in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Leach also has been appointed as a Snohomish County special deputy prosecutor in criminal and civil cases. He has tried more than 150 Superior Court cases, and argued more than 40 appeals, both criminal and civil, before the Washington State Court of Appeals, Washington State Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Seattle native graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 1976. He started his law career at the Law Offices of Rudolf V. Meuller in Stanwood in 1976, moved to Nielsen, Nielsen & Leach in Everett in 1980, and has been with Anderson Hunter Law Firm since 1990.

Leach has served on the board of directors of the Snohomish County Arts Council since 1991, is a member of the Deaconess Children�s Services Advisory Board, Dawson Place Steering Committee, and Providence Hospital Foundation Board.

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