Superior Court Appointee Faces 5 Challengers -- Opponents Say Macinnes' Strength Also Is Her Weakness

Nicole MacInnes, the governor's appointee to fill Position 37 of the King County Superior Court, is the only candidate for that post who has considerable criminal law or judicial experience, having spent 11 years as a prosecutor and the past six as a Seattle Municipal Court judge.

That did not deter competition on the Nov. 7 ballot. Five challengers maintain her strength is also her weakness. The enormous flow of traffic tickets and misdemeanor cases in Municipal Court are no preparation for Superior Court, they contend.

MacInnes, 51, flatly disagrees.

"The lack of a civil background isn't an issue," she said. "You look at the good judges in Superior Court, and they come from all different backgrounds. It is the qualities you have that make the difference."

MacInnes has received the highest rating - "exceptionally well-qualified" - from the Seattle-King County Bar Association, the Washington Women Lawyers and other bar organizations. She has been endorsed by about 50 judges.

She was given the highest overall rating of the 10 Municipal Court judges in a recent bar poll of attorneys.

MacInnes is being challenged by Assistant City Attorney Will Patton, Seattle attorneys Peter Camp and Theresa Gibbons, and Eastside practitioners Don Gulliford and Alexander Wirt. Of the challengers, only Patton has mounted a well-funded and organized campaign.

The top vote-getter will serve a one-year term and must run for re-election next fall for a four-year term. The court vacancy was created when Judge James McCutcheon died late last month.

MacInnes graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1978 and served as a deputy prosecutor until she was appointed and then elected to Municipal Court in 1989. She was presiding judge, administering the court, for two years.

"I've been tested," she said. "It is one thing to have been a judge and another for a lawyer to say he or she would be a good judge."

As a prosecutor, she specialized in sexual-assault and child-abuse cases. She helped establish a system for handling domestic-violence cases while in Municipal Court. She also serves on the board of the Medina Children's Services, a family-help agency in the Central Area.

Will Patton

Will Patton, director of the Utilities Section of the Seattle City Attorney's Office, has a different background but shares high ratings with MacInnes and enjoys solid support.

He has received the Seattle-King County Bar Association's highest ranking four previous times, but fell a notch to "well qualified" for this race. He also has received top ratings from other bar groups and has five judges backing him.

Patton, 50, directs attorneys who provide litigation and advice for Seattle's four utilities. He has negotiated contracts, helped develop public policy and has tried select court cases.

After graduating from Yale Law School in 1974, Patton went to work for the Federal Trade Commission in Seattle and joined the city attorney's office in 1979.

"Unlike a lot of my classmates at Yale, I made a career of public service," Patton said. "That has been my career of choice, not by default."

Patton said his experience with public policy, negotiations, complex litigation, and working with a series of factions within city government make him the best choice.

He ran for a Superior Court seat in 1992 and was defeated in the primary.

He served three years in the Peace Corps in West Africa and has been a volunteer with the Special Olympics regional track and field events.

Peter Camp

Peter Camp, a Seattle civil attorney, unsuccessfully ran for a Superior Court seat last month, but decided to campaign again when he learned of the new vacancy.

Rated "well qualified," both times by the King County Bar Association, Camp is a member of a downtown law partnership. He has handled complex litigation, class-action commercial cases and has done extensive appellate work. He also has worked as an arbitrator.

Camp, 39, has run a low-key campaign and said it is inappropriate for judicial candidates to promise changes or campaign on the basis of affiliations. He also holds a strict view that judges should not get involved in suggesting changes to the Legislature.

"I am a firm believer that trial courts should not make policy but should enforce the law fairly and impartially," he said.

Camp graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1980, moved to Seattle in 1984 and has been a member of several bar committees. He finished third with about 23 percent of the vote in a three-way race for the Superior Court seat won in the September primary by former legislator Janice Niemi.

Don Gulliford

Don Gulliford, an Eastside attorney, has been a litigator for 28 years and handles an array of civil cases ranging from personal injury to commercial law.

He has tried cases at all levels from District Court in Eastern Washington to the state Supreme Court. The bar association rated him "well qualified."

Gulliford, 56, served in the U.S. Air Force and is a retired staff judge advocate.

He received his law degree from the University of Washington in 1967. While attending school, he started an aircraft parts company he maintained until 1993. He has been in private law practice since 1984 and has been an arbitrator and mediator. He has served as a civil-service commissioner for the city of Mercer Island, a trustee of the East King County Bar Association and has done pro bono work.

Gulliford said he would suggest Superior Court do business one Saturday morning a month to reduce congestion and favors ideas such as exposing high-school students to criminal trials so they understand the consequences of committing crimes.

He has been involved with cerebral-palsy and mental-health boards as well as serving as a trustee of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Foundation.

Alexander Wirt

Alexander Wirt, 48, was the last candidate to file for the seat and said he hasn't run much of a campaign because he has had to keep his solo Bellevue practice going.

Wirt, rated "adequate," by the bar panel, has been practicing since 1978 and has handled a wide variety of civil and minor criminal cases. He said his work settling cases in family court and involving often mundane matters distinguishes him from the field.

"Everyone wants to know how many trials you've had when they should be asking how many trials have you successfully avoided," he said.

Wirt, born in Scotland, was a U.S. Marine sergeant who served two years in combat in Vietnam. He received his law degree from Gonzaga Law School in 1977 and worked with Seattle-area law firms until 1989, when he went into private practice.

He has worked as an arbitrator, served on bar committees and periodically has given free legal advice at domestic-violence shelters and reviews pending probate cases.

He took issue with his bar rating.

"The bar puts so much emphasis on complex litigation, but I believe it is the family law, bankruptcy and smaller cases that provide the best experience," he said. "I believe I've paid my dues."

Theresa Gibbons

Theresa Gibbons, 39, is a Greenwood general practitioner. An attorney since 1988, she has the least experience of the six candidates, but doesn't think that should hold her back.

"How much experience do you need?" she asked. "If I litigated another 10 years, would that make me a better judge? I might know more specific things about the law but not necessarily improve the qualities I already have."

Those qualities, she said, include high energy and an "intuitive understanding" of complex issues.

She did not participate in the bar rating process, saying she could not prepare fast enough to meet its deadline.

Gibbons graduated from the University of Puget Sound Law School and worked as a bailiff in Superior Court until 1990.

She worked as an assistant attorney general representing Child Protective Services case workers until early 1992 when she began her own practice.