Continuing Legal Education

David Black has practiced labor and employment law for the past 15 years in Michigan, Oregon and Washington, with a balance between employment litigation and counseling. He has significant bench and jury trial experience, including cases of alleged disability discrimination, race discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and other employment tort disputes. His counseling practice includes the full range of workplace issues, with emphasis on preventing problems through strategic measures geared toward litigation prevention and preparation through the use of contracts, HR systems and policies. Mr. Black has extensive subject matter experience with alternative dispute resolution, age discrimination, disability accommodation and leave and family medical leave management, wage and hour law, race and sex harassment and discrimination issues, religious accommodation and discrimination issues, terminations, employment handbook and agreements and workplace privacy issues.

Sharon Blackford has practiced both criminal and family law for 15 years. She has litigated over 200 cases in the appellate courts of Washington in a variety of matters including criminal convictions and findings of dependency and termination. Sharon has represented over a hundred clients on marijuana-related matters. For the last six years, Sharon has assisted family law clients at the trial level, specializing in contested custody cases. Recently, in In Re Marriage of Wieldraayer, Sharon litigated an appeal on behalf of a client whose residential time with his children was restricted due to his authorized use of medical marijuana.

William Edelblute has 26 years’ experience. He has handled litigation over initiative ballot issues and requests for public documents. He often attends public meetings in Spokane County and its cities on issues that demand public comment. He takes interest in judicial elections, and was attorney of record for Mr. Fry in the State v. Fry case.

Alison Holcomb develops and implements reform strategies aimed at replacing over-reliance on criminal sanctions with approaches that treat drug use as a public health concern and at the same time respect civil liberties, reduce incarceration, and promote racial justice. Her work includes public education, policy advocacy, and litigation. Before joining the ACLU in 2006, she was a trial lawyer for thirteen years. Alison is a past Vice President of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and former Chair of the Legal Frameworks Group of the King County Bar Association’s Drug Policy Project. She has served on the Seattle City Council’s I-75 Marijuana Policy Review Panel and its Jail Capacity Study Advisory Group, which examined the impact of alternative approaches to low-level drug offenses on jail use. In 2007 and 2008, she drafted language that was incorporated into Senate Bill 6032, amending Washington’s medical marijuana law, and the Department of Health’s new rule defining a “sixty-day supply” of medical marijuana.

Jeanne Kohl-Welles has represented the 36th Legislative District in the Senate since 1994 after serving for three years in the state House of Representatives where she was Majority Whip. In addition to her chairmanship of the Sen. Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee, Sen. Kohl-Welles sits on the Senate Ways & Means and Judiciary Committees. She also is a member of the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee, Joint Legislative Systems Committee (Chair), and others. She represents Washington on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. She has received numerous awards, and also sponsored Senate Bill 5798, which expands the list of medical professionals who can write medical marijuana recommendations.

Joyce Roper leads the team of lawyers and professional staff who provide legal services to the Department of Health, Health Care Authority, and several other state agencies. She served as legal counsel to the Department of Health in the agency’s implementation of ESSB 6032 (2008 Session), directing the adoption of agency rules specifying a presumptive sixty-day supply of medical marijuana and the preparation of a report to the legislature on access to an adequate, safe, consistent and secure source of medical marijuana. She also represents the Washington Pharmacy Board and is familiar with petitions submitted to the Medical Quality Assurance Commission and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery to add qualifying conditions for which medical marijuana may be authorized.

Dan Satterberg was elected King County Prosecuting Attorney in November 2007. He served as Chief of Staff for former King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng for 17 years, and was responsible for the management and operation of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, including budget, human resources, technology, legislative and policy matters. The Office employs more than 235 attorneys, 268 staff, and has a budget of over $56 million. Before 1990, he was a trial attorney in the Criminal Division, where he spent rotations in the Special Assault Unit, Drug Unit, and served as the office’s first gang prosecutor in 1988.

J.B. Woods started his insurance career 19 years ago with Northwestern Mutual Life, then became an agent for Allstate Insurance for 10 years. His Greenpoint Insurance brokerage was founded in 2008. Mr. Woods has provided consulting services to insurance companies due to his knowledge of the industry and its products. He is licensed in property/casualty, life and health insurance in Colorado. He also maintains a non-resident insurance license in California. The Denver Post named Mr. Woods the “guru of ganja insurance” due to his firm’s concentration on the medical marijuana industry.

CLE INTERNATIONAL Managing Program Attorney: Heidi A. Ray, heidi@cle.com