J. Markham Marshall

Counsel to the Firm | Seattle | 206.223.7038 | marshallm@lanepowell.com

Areas of Practice

J. Markham Marshall is Counsel to the Firm and concentrates his practice on labor law issues. He has represented clients in arbitration proceedings and collective bargaining and advises them in all phases of labor & employment matters. He has represented labor clients in trial in both federal and state court and in proceedings before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Washington State Court of Appeals and the Washington State Supreme Court.

Mark is active in the legal community and is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers; past chairman of the Seattle-King County Bar Association’s Labor Law and Aviation Law Sections; and active in the American Bar Association’s Section on Labor and Employment Law. He has served as a mediator in federal court employment suits, and as a court-appointed arbitrator and mediator in civil actions filed in the Superior Court for King County, Washington.

Mark was previously a partner at Preston Gates & Ellis LLP. Prior to that, Mark was a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board’s 19th Region (Alaska, Washington, Idaho and Montana). Mark received his LL.B. from Stanford University and an A.B. from Whitman College.

Professional Experience

Preston Gates Ellis LLP (Partner, 1977-2002)
Field Attorney, National Labor Relations Board’s 19th Region (1966-67)
McMullen, Brooke, Knapp and Grenier (Seattle, 1967-69)
Clodfelter, Lindell and Carr (Seattle, 1969-73)

Admitted to Practice

Washington
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; Federal Circuit
Washington State Court of Appeals
U.S. District Courts; Western District and Eastern District of Washington
U.S. Court of Military Appeals

Academics

Stanford University (LL.B. 1966)
Whitman College (A.B., 1962)

Practice Group and Specialty Team Membership

Member, Lane Powell Labor and Employment Practice Group

Representative Matters

Significant Litigated Matters

Johnson v. Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, King County Superior Court, Cause No. 90-2-05556-6 (1991). Non-jury trial. Suit against Metro and Local Division 587 of the Amalgamated Transit. Union alleged that Metro had wrongfully terminated plaintiff transit operator after her handgun had been found on a bus she had driven. Defense judgment. (Represented defendant Metro.)
Bickham v. The Jore Corporation, King County Superior Court, Cause No. 95-2-12689-8 (1996). Complaint alleged racial harassment and discrimination. When employer moved for summary judgment, plaintiff asserted that he had also suffered handicap discrimination. Summary judgment was entered for defendant. Plaintiff’s appeal was dismissed. (Represented defendant.)
Yellow Freight System v. Employment Security Department, King County Superior Court, Cause No. 96-2-04208-1 (1996) (formerly Case No. 2000, Office of Administrative Hearings for the Employment Security Department). Over 40 employees, members of Teamsters Local 174, sought unemployment compensation for loss of employment during nationwide Teamsters strike. The administrative law judge denied compensation. The ESD commissioner reversed, ruling that because Local 174 was party to a separate agreement with the employer, which did not expire until one month after the national agreement covering other Teamster locals, the claimants were entitled to compensation. The Superior Court reversed the ESC commissioner, ruling that the employees were not eligible for unemployment compensation during the strike. (Represented the employer.)
Interest Arbitration, involving an industrial employer and a local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), a two-day contested hearing in 2004 determined previously unresolved contract provisions of a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. The potential costs totaled several millions of dollars. The most expensive provisions were resolved in the employer’s favor.

Significant Appellate Matters

Cherry v. Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, 116 Wn.2d 794, 808 P.2d 746 (1991). Established that municipal employers may regulate their employees’ possession of firearms while on the job or in the workplace. (Represented defendant.)
Wingert v. Yellow Freight System, 146 Wn.2d 841, 50 P.3d 256 (2002). Court ruled that state regulations setting employee rest breaks are a non-negotiable minimum standard that will not be varied by collective bargaining. (Represented Yellow Freight)

Speaking Engagements

Mark is a frequent speaker at seminars and CLE programs, including:

“Disemployment: Reducation in Force, Layoffs and Termination,” American Association of Port Authorities, July 2005
“Legal and Ethical Issues with NLRB Investigations Involving Current, Former and ‘Volunteer’ Agents of a Party Represented by Counsel,” ABA Subcommittee on Practice and Procedure Under the NLRA, February 2002, and for the ABA’s Labor and Employment Law TeleConference Series, May 2002

Awards and Honors

Named as one of The Best Lawyers in America®, 1983 – Present

Professional and Community Activities

Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
Member, American Bar Association, Committee on Practice and Procedure Under the National Labor Relations Act (management co-chair, Northwest Region of Subcommittee on Regional Practice, 1993-present; management co-chair of Freedom of Information Act Sub committee, 1986-93), Labor and Employment Law Section
Member, American Bar Association, Employer-Employee Relations Committee, Tort and Insurance Practice Section member, Litigation Section
Chair, Washington State Bar Association, Ethics Committee, Continuing Legal Education Committee, 1987-88
Member, State Bar Convention Subcommittee Continuing Legal Education Committee, 1988-89
Chair, King County Bar Association, Labor Law Section