Richard Buchanan

RICHARD W. BUCHANAN joined the firm in 1954, officially retiring from the full time practice of law in 2004. During his more than fifty years of active practice with the firm, Dick was well-known as an authority in the areas of admiralty, maritime, corporate and commercial law. In 2000, Dick was instrumental in preparing amicus briefing to the United States Supreme Court, on behalf of Washington and British Columbia tanker operators, in the case of United States v. Gary Locke, Governor of the State of Washington, et al., a landmark case holding that federal maritime law pre-empted state regulation of oil tankers operating in Puget Sound.

During his career, Dick was an active member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States (Member, Committees on Carriage of Goods, 1982-1988 and Limitation of Liability, 1988 - 1998). He served as General Counsel for Puget Sound Steamship Operators Association for more than thirty years (1972-2004), and as general counsel of the Washington State Maritime Commission (1990-1994). He has also served as a contributing correspondent to Lloyd's Maritime Law, North American Edition and was a member of the original organizing committee for the Pacific Northwest Admiralty Law Institute, and a frequent lecturer between 1983 and 1991. Dick is also a past President of the Japan American Society of Washington.

Dick attended the University of Washington, earning his Bachelor of Science in Law degree in 1951 and his J.D. in 1952. He was a member of Phi Delta Phi. He was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association in 1952, was a law clerk to the Washington Supreme Court in 1953, and a long time member of the Bar's section on Real Property, Probate and Trusts. He was admitted to the U.S. Customs Court in 1965, and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.