Lane Powell Shareholder Katie Matison was interviewed by Super Lawyers magazine for a July 2012 article titled “Making a Difference: Washington Lawyers Take Time to Help Out.” Matison, who has been named as a “Washington Super Lawyer” in the practice area of transportation/maritime law for the past four years, was also named one of the “Top 50 Women Washington Super Lawyers” in 2012. In the article, Matison comments on her volunteer experience with the American Heart Association (“AHA”) Pacific Mountain Affiliate and her previous role as an adult reading coach with United Way. Matison served on the Board of the AHA for a term of nine years until June 29. Lane Powell Shareholder Bruce Leaverton has taken Matison’s place on the AHA Board of Directors.
Some years ago, Lane Powell shareholder Katie Matison’s mother went into cardiac arrest. “It was a life-changing event,” says Matison, who provided CPR. The scare prompted the attorney to help others experiencing the same trauma by volunteering with the American Heart Association Pacific Mountain Affiliate, which provides grants and community education about cardiovascular risks to adults and support to doctors. Matison has been on the organization’s board since 2003.
She has organized six Law Cup Challenges, an annual walking event in which law firms vie to raise the most money for the heart association (her own firm has claimed the title a few times). Matison has also participated in Heart Walk and helped organize the Heart Ball. Her commitment earned her a Community Impact Award from the American Heart Association Pacific Mountain Affiliate in 2009.
At the office, Matison keeps busy with her maritime/transportation practice, which brings cases ranging from shipwrecks and groundings to insurance issues. She also serves as chair of Lane Powell’s London practice group.
She has served as an adult reading coach with the United Way and helped procure an American Bar Association grant to help fund public awareness of adult-literacy efforts. Matison says her early-career six-year stint as a felony prosecutor, working with crime victims and abused children, instilled a desire to help those who couldn’t complete their education. “I wanted to try to help people who left school because of frustration or because their socioeconomic conditions were hopeless.”