Davis Wright Tremaine - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a national business and litigation law firm

Law firm

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

representing clients in the United States and in China. In 2008, the National Law Journal ranked the firm 98th largest in the United States based on attorney headcount. In 2008 (the most recent data available), Davis Wright Tremaine ranked No. 109 by gross revenue on the AmLaw 200.

Former Washington governor Gary Locke

Gary Locke

Gary Locke may refer to:*Gary Locke , Chinese American politician; U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Washington*Gary Locke *Gary Locke...

was one notable lawyer with Davis Wright Tremaine; Locke is currently the U.S. Ambassador to China

United States Ambassador to China

The United States Ambassador to China is the chief American diplomat to People's Republic of China . The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to China since 1844, when Caleb Cushing, as Commissioner, negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia. Commissioners represented the United States in...

History

1908: Wright & Kent established in Seattle
1910-1964: The firm changes its name several times, primarily to reflect the addition of new principals
1969: Now known as Wright, Simon, Todd & Schmechel, the firm merges with Howe, Davis, Riese & Jones (founded in 1914) and becomes Davis, Wright, Todd, Riese & Jones.
1980: Anchorage, Alaska, office opens
1981: Washington, D.C., office opens
1982: Bellevue, Wash., office opens
1985: The firm becomes known as Davis Wright & Jones
1989: Los Angeles, Calif., office opens
1990: Davis Wright & Jones merges with the Portland, Ore., firm Ragan, Tremaine, Krieger, Schmeer & Neill and becomes Davis Wright Tremaine
1990-1993: The firm opens offices in Boise, Idaho, Honolulu, Hawaii, and San Francisco, Calif.
1993: Davis Wright Tremaine becomes the first U.S. law firm to gain legal authority to open an office in Shanghai, China; office opens in 1994
1997: Charlotte, N.C., office opens
1998: New York, N.Y., office opens
2000: Boise office closes
2001: Honolulu and Charlotte offices close
2006: Davis Wright Tremaine merges with the Washington D.C.-based law firm Cole, Raywid and Braverman
2007: The San Francisco office merges with the firm Parsons, Hsue and deRuntz
2008: Davis Wright Tremaine hires more than 20 attorneys from the former Heller Ehrman LLP.

Partnerships

In 2008, Davis Wright joined with the Sydney, Australia-based Pacific Legal Network to form DWT Pacific, a collaboration that provides legal and business advice to companies around the Pacific Rim.

In addition, Davis Wright is a member firm of Lex Mundi.

Assistance to Guantanamo captives

Davis Wright Tremaine partners Bud Walsh and Rick Cys prepared the habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

petition for Abdul Haleem, one of the captives held in extrajudicial detention

Extrajudicial detention

Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...

in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

Charles "Cully" Stimson

Charles Stimson

Charles Douglas "Cully" Stimson is a former American political appointee at the Pentagon. Stimson was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs...

, then
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, stirred controversy when he went on record criticizing the patriotism of law firms that allowed employees to assist Guantanamo captives:
"corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists."

Stimson's views were widely criticized; the Pentagon disavowed them, and Stimson resigned shortly thereafter.

Offices

Blogs maintained by Davis Wright Tremaine attorneys

External links

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