Lowry Appoints Judge Pekelis To Seat On State Supreme Court

Appeals Court Chief Judge Rosselle Pekelis has been named to the state Supreme Court.

Gov. Mike Lowry said Wednesday that Pekelis would replace the court’s senior jurist, Bob Utter, who is leaving Monday.

Utter, who has served on the high court since 1971, announced his resignation last month. Pekelis, 56, has served on the Seattle division of the state Appeals Court for nine years. She will have to stand election next fall to serve the four years remaining in Utter’s six-year term.

She will be the third woman on the nine-member court, joining Chief Justice Barbara Durham and Acting Chief Justice Barbara Madsen.

“Rosselle will make a tremendous impact on the state’s high court,” Lowry said in a statement.

Pekelis was one of several jurists who sought the appointment, including Appeals Court Judge Philip Thompson of Spokane; Janice Niemi, a former legislator and Seattle attorney; and King County Superior Court Judge Faith Enyeart Ireland, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Supreme Court last year.

Pekelis, a graduate of Stephens College, completed law school at the University of Missouri in 1974. She lives in the Mount Baker area of Seattle.

She received the Brandeis Award as Judge of the Year in 1987 from the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and also served on the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.