Northwest Asian Weekly • September 15 - September 21, 2007
she has a few more goals in mind for the yearlong term. As president, the 47-year old plans to lead the WSTLA's endorse position. ment of Referendum 67, a measure that But Koehler, who is part Chinese, isn't holds insurance companies responsible satisfied with these distinctions alone; for complete financial compensation if they purposefully delay or deny consumers' claims. As an adjunct professor at the Uni versity of Washington School of Law, she has another goal: to encourage Asian American lawyers to enter the field of civil justice. She said the push for minor ity lawyers stems from the profession's inability to understand different cultural values in the court of law. "It's hard to feel at ease when no one in the courtroom looks like you," Koehler said recently from her office in lower Queen Anne.· · It's this type of unrelenting public service that WSTLA recognized when it chose her for the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 2005, an honor given to an attorney whose advocacy has led to the betterment of society. Koehler was also presented with the President's Award in 2003. Countless lawyers and othe! legal profession als have also noticed her work ethic. "She brings energy, thinks outside the box. She tries to handle the issues of each case given TARGE� the circumstances," said in Factoria fellow trial lawyer partner NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS Paul Stritmatter. Team Leaders• Assets Protection Although the final say Overnight- Logistics• Sales Floor• Food Ave. • Cashiers on the referendum will be $9-$15/Hour up to voters in November, Apply Inside: Koehler is confident of its Factoria Square Mall or Call 425-562-0830 Court Continuedfrom Page I
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message. "There's a lot of ways insurance com panies take advantage of its customers. This .referendum will stop one of those ways," said Koehler. And she should know. Prior to becoming a civil justice attor ney --: which she describes as law "for the underdog" - for Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio, Koehler was an insur ance defense lawyer. Her initial passion for law started to wane when she took on a certain parking-lot empire as a client. "I was always fighting for what was fair, whether it was obnoxious or · not," she said. It's a passion echoed closely by her mother, Mary Fung Koehler, who was one of the few Asian Americans lawyers during her time. "I'm always for the underdog. I've always been that way," Mary Fung Koe-: hler stated during a phone interview. "In elementary school, when I didn't like something, I made faces and the teachers would always get mad at me." But Karen Koehler was finding it necessary to compromise her professional career. While her Jewish-German father was a professor in the UW medical school, Koe hler often helped out at her mother's gen eral practice firm in Lake Forest Park. She witnessed firsthand her mother's inability to tum -down any case; she simply was too emotionally invested in each one. But Mary Fung Koehler 's dedication cost her valuable time with her family. It was a parenting style Karen Koehler knew she did not want to repeat with her own kids. So Koehler continued insurance defense work, partly because the strict office hours and lack of emotional dedication allowed her to spend more time with her three young girls. "When my children were younger, Check u� out at www.inspa.com I was will ing to sacriCall Jennifer: 206-624-5753 Ext. 29 or Email: ]ennifer@inspa.com
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fice the short-term goals of my legal career by working part time. I felt that unless I worked part time, I would not spend enough time with my girls," she explained. Her decision to practice law full time came nine years after entering the insur ance defense field. It was a decision aided by her youngest entering preschool and a 2000 divorce that left Koehler being the sole supporter of her children. But she always had to juggle both roles. "I needed to go through major gyra tions to secure baby sitters (and) make sure I attended concerts and games," she recalled. Today, her children are I, 8, 16 and 13. Stritmatter, who has two children, con fessed that the long hours and dedication required by his career resulted in him leaving much of the rearing to his wife. "Karen multitasks, to say the least. She is so devoted to her girls," observed Strit matter. He said he admired her ability to work in the legal profession while raising her girls and "not disrupting her profes sional life too much." Even though she can't represent everyone who approaches her for help, often times she will offer legal advice and answer questions via e-mail. "I really believe in what I do," Koehler said. Although the transition from insur ance defense lawyer to plaintiff work may seem extreme, she said the opportunity lent itself to her argumentation dexterity. "In law school, they tell you to . learn how to argue both ways; I can do that. In a lot of ways, it's better (knowing how to argue from both sides) because I know what they (the defense) are going to say," she said. It's the type of agility that reassures members of the WSTLA that Koehler will make a great president. "She is a talented and extremely hard working person. She has as much energy as any lawyer I've ever known," remarked Stritmatter. "We always need great leader,, Sh.lp. _ 9
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