Press Release
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Stritmatter To Receive Highest Award from Public Justice Foundation For Lifetime Commitment to Justice
SEATTLE, WA - The Washington law firm, Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio (SKWC) announced today that Paul Stritmatter will receive the highest award from the national public interest organization, Public Justice Foundation (PJ). The award will be presented at the Public Justice Foundation Annual Gala & Awards Dinner on July 13, 2010 in Vancouver, B.C.
The PJ Champion of Justice Award recognizes Stritmatter’s 40-year commitment to access to justice and his dedication to seriously injured clients. Stritmatter was one of the founders of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (now PJ).
Stritmatter has worked on a number of high profile cases – including cases with PJ. One such case was Buenrostro v. Washington Apple Advertising Commission to recover damages for migrant farm workers (workers were fraudulently enticed to Washington State to pick an apple crop not ready to harvest). He successfully argued the PJ case of Ruiz-Guzman v. Amvac Chemical, establishing the right to rely on an alternative product to show that that challenged product’s risks outweigh the beneficial effects of using an alternative design. Brown v Yamaha WA was a $10 million verdict in 1983 that stood as the largest personal injury verdict in Washington for over a decade. Smith v. Behr was a $67.5 million class action verdict that held a corporation accountable for willfully hiding critical documents. In the 1970’s, Stritmatter also worked on the Woburn, Massachusetts’s toxic case that later became the subject of the John Travolta movie, “A Civil Action.”
A founding partner of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio, Stritmatter served as president of the Public Justice Foundation from 2001-02. He has been president of the Washington State Bar and of the Washington State Association for Justice. He was the inaugural chairman of the Northwest Justice Project from 1996-97. In Dec. 2009, the Washington State Association for Justice recognized Stritmatter for his achievements with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the prestigious Pursuit of Justice Award from the American Bar Association in 2003 and has previously been honored by a number of state and national legal organizations as an outstanding trial attorney. Stritmatter is regularly listed as one of the Top Ten Super Lawyers in Washington State.
About the Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio (SKWC) Law Firm
SKWC handles tough, complex cases including defective products, claims against the government, medical negligence, nursing home abuse, highway design, class actions, defective vehicles, major vehicle crashes, dangerous construction sites, defective premises, and maritime claims.
