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Tefft Adds Judiciary Experience to AWB |
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Written On: July/August 2004 |
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Written By: by Scott Carlson |
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“Today, court decisions often have more impact on employers than government regulations or legislation,” AWB President Don Brunell said. Therefore, it is important to have a skilled attorney like Kris Tefft augmenting the association’s legislative and regulatory expertise with court experience.
“Just look at workers’ comp,” Brunell said. “Two state supreme court decisions (Cockle and Avundes) have been very costly to employers in both the public and private sectors. Now we are asking the Legislature to restore fairness in the law so employers can afford to provide workers’ comp coverage.”
AWB strengthened its legal expertise by hiring Tefft and, most recently, Tom McBride — both capable attorneys.
Tefft is a Pasco native and with his wife, Marriann, have two children, John Paul, 4, and Sophia, 2. The Tefft family lives in Olympia where Marriann, who was Teacher of the Year at Trinity School in South Bend, IN, tutors and consults with local home-schooling families on curriculum choices.
Tefft is Seattle University Grad
During his senior year at Pasco High School, Tefft took part in the YMCA mock trial competition and went to the Republican National Convention in Houston as an intern. Those early experiences helped convince him to become a lawyer and specialize in public policy. In 1992, he also volunteered to campaign for Richard “Doc” Hastings in Washington’s fourth congressional district. Hastings is a long-time AWB member and was elected in 1994. He is seeking his fifth term in Congress from central Washington.
At Seattle University, he met Fr. Bob Spitzer, now Gonzaga University’s president and former AWB board member. Spitzer, philosophy professor and a leading author on morals and ethics, continues to be a major influence on Tefft. He married the Teffts and baptized their children.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame Law School, Tefft was a Supreme Court law clerk, a lawyer in private practice, an in-house attorney with the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), and a columnist for The Olympian.
As AWB general counsel, Tefft wants to increase the profile of the business community before the judicial branch of government. “AWB has always done very well in making the business community’s voice heard in the Legislature and executive branch, but historically we’ve placed less emphasis on the judicial system,” Tefft said.
AWB’s legal affairs program has two major approaches.
Tefft Oversees AWB Legal Issues
One is filing amicus curiae briefs (Latin for “friend of the court”). “We get involved when we believe the court’s decision will have a significant statewide impact on Washington’s employers. We may be technically supporting the position of one of the parties, but we want to tell the court how this can affect all the state’s businesses.”
The second most common way is for AWB to go directly to court.
“For example, we’ve been part of successful lawsuits on shoreline regulations, stormwater issues, and challenges to a series of over-reaching agency regulations,” he said.
Tefft has legislative responsibilities as well. He handles liability reform or what is commonly called tort reform.
“The tort system should give people who are injured or wronged, through no fault of their own, an opportunity to get justice from people who are careless or reckless.”
“But what’s happened in the last couple decades is that our liability laws have stopped fairly compensating injured people, and the courts have become more like a roulette game. Greed and efforts to influence social policy through litigation have spurred an outbreak of lawsuits against employers, schools, hospitals, doctors, government, and sometimes entire industries,” he added. “Our litigious culture has raised the cost of doing just about everything.”
AWB Helps With Federal Tort Issues
Along with Brunell, Tefft also is working at the federal level to unblock the road jam in Congress, particularly in the United States Senate, preventing legislation restoring fairness in asbestos, class action, and medical malpractice lawsuits.
Tefft represents AWB on the Liability Reform Coalition (LRC) which faces a stiff roadblock to tort reform in the state house. The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Pat Lantz (D-Gig Harbor), has been a black hole for legislation restoring fairness in litigation.
“We made progress in the Senate again this year, but passing tort reform in the House right now is like rolling a very heavy rock up a very steep hill,” Tefft added. Nevertheless, Tefft and AWB are making tort reform an election issue and a top priority for 2005.
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