MARY ALICE THEILER
INTERVIEWED BY ANDREA HELM
THE FREE PRESS
INTERVIEWED BY ANDREA HELM
THE FREE PRESS
Mary Alice Theiler learned about the law while growing up with a judge; her father served on the bench in Bay City, Mich. She learned about social problems as a labor attorney in Washington state for 17 years. Now, as president-elect of the King County Bar Association, Theiler is poised to apply both her senses of fairness and progressivism to a powerful new role.
Talking recently with Free Press news editor Andrea Helm, Theiler discussed her plans for her new position, which she takes over June 24. At the top of the list are enhancing community relations, increasing diversity within the legal profession and improving the treatment of minorities in Washington's court system - three nagging problems that Theiler intends to fight with her ideals and her commitment to the community.
Theiler, 43, is a founding partner of Theiler, Douglas, Drachler & McKee and past president of the Seattle-King County Bar Foundation.
Tell me about some of the services that the Bar Association provides to its members and the community that are bringing along positive changes.
We provide a lot of pro bono work to people who can't afford legal services. We create and distribute pamphlets to educate minorities about their rights under the law. We do public speaking engagements and offer dispute resolution, which is an alternative mediation procedure that keeps people out of court and allows them to resolve their problems voluntarily.
For [member] lawyers, we focus on improving their skills, making them aware of the need for gender and racial diversity, and working with judges to make the court system and rules of procedure more accessible to the public. We are also working on a delay-reduction plan, which will allow attorneys to cut the length of time their cases are in court.
Do these programs set apart the King County Bar Association from others? How is the King County different?
[Our Bar] is very community-oriented. We really focus on offering pro-bono work, assuring equal access to the courts, and making the entire court system work better for everyone. Unlike some other county associations, membership in the King County association is voluntary. You don't have to belong, but people in this [legal] community are committed to improving their [entire] community.
Out of the 9,000 lawyers in King County, 4,800 are members of the King County Bar Association.
|
'We have experienced the effects of a conscious policy of de-emphasizing enforcement of health and safety rules.' -Mary Alice Theiler, president-elect, King County Bar Association
|
If people are going to have faith in their legal system, they have to believe it's fair. When, say, a person of color comes to court and they get there and there's an all-white jury, they are automatically going to question whether or not they will get a fair trial.
I founded the Minorities in the Legal Profession Committee because I am committed to having a diverse bar association. Having attorneys of differing ethnic backgrounds and genders is important if you want people to believe in the legal system. For example, having attorneys of color can help provide role models to young minorities.
Why did you choose to specialize as a labor attorney?
Because I am committed to working with people, to helping people. Union and labor work fits in with my belief that people are most effective in preserving their rights if they work in an organized fashion, through an organized presence rather than individual efforts.
Right after I graduated from law school, I clerked in a firm specializing in product liability reform. They handled auto safety and industrial safety cases. I also worked for a year and a half at the National Lawyer's Guild in New York City, a progressive and social activist-based organization. I wanted to do something constructive and help build something up, instead of be destructive.
How have forces such as economic instability and technological advances affected the labor climate over the past 15 to 20 years?
We are seeing more pressure being put on workers to decrease their economic expectations. Wages have not by any means kept up with inflation, so workers are forced to work double shifts, to work double jobs, to take on part-time jobs to supplement their income.
We have experienced the effects of a conscious policy of de-emphasizing enforcement of health and safety rules. We see the workplace becoming more dangerous because of lax regulatory enforcement, which causes more accidents and more people to be hurt. We are seeing stresses on workers increase, which increases the number of injuries on the job and the amount of pressure at home.
We are seeing more technology implemented quicker than safety information can be generated. For example, when computer terminals were first installed on a widespread basis, there was no thought given to potential health effects. Workers were guinea pigs.
Do you see the situation improving?
It's a matter of priority. The current administration has indicated it will strengthen and enforce health and safety rules. It is certainly in our interest to do so. I was a [Jesse] Jackson delegate in 1988. Jackson was committed to bringing the Hamlet incident to the public's attention. (Twenty-five workers, mostly low-income black women, died in a chicken-processing plant fire because the owner had chained shut fire doors to prevent theft of chicken parts.)
It's just amazing that there was very little national attention given to this. Knowledge equals power. When people come to know the truth, then they have the possibility of taking action to prevent these situations from occurring in the future.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |