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Brittnie Baker
Title: Courier
Brittnie joined the WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS team in October of 2008 as our Courier. With no experience in this field of work, she has learned much in just a short time. Her duties include filing, file numbering, data entry, assisting legal assistants when needed, filing and conforming documents at the Hall of Justice, running errands for attorneys and/or legal assistants, and obtaining general office supplies. Brittnie is attending Ashworth University in her spare time to obtain her major in Animal Science and then work toward a degree in Zoology.
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Debbie Hanes
Title: Legal Document Production Specialist
Debbie has been a member of WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS since 1989 as a Word Processing Document Production Specialist. She works for all attorneys in the office providing document preparation work. While Debbie emphasizes the areas of family law, real estate, forfeitures, foreclosures and landlord/tenant, she also is well-trained in the areas of corporate/business, estate planning, probate and general litigation. Debbie formats documents, performs high production typing, proofs, constructs forms and provides general support to the attorneys and legal assistants in the law firm. She has been a member of the Cowlitz County Legal Secretaries Association.
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Diana Dewey
Title: Paralegal
Diana joined the firm in 2009 as Paralegal to Matthew J. Andersen and Adam C. Guenther. She earned her AAS paralegal degree from Clark College in 2004. Then in 2005 she became a certified mediator. Diana has worked at the Washington Attorney General's office and with another local law firm.
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Diane Fulton
Title: Legal Administrator
Diane joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS, as Legal Administrator, in March of 2004. She is responsible for the firm’s ongoing operations, including financial administration, facilities planning, human resources, benefits, payroll, marketing, information technology and directions of the firm’s administrative and support departments.
Prior to joining WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS, Diane was employed as the Practice Manager for anesthesiology groups with Medical Concepts, Inc., located in Mission Viejo, California. Her professional activities include: Association of Legal Administrators of Washington, Oregon and international.
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Heidi Thomas
Title: Legal Assistant
Heidi began her employment with WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 1997 as Legal Assistant to Scott M. Kilpatrick, and then in 2002 for Barry J. Dahl. She graduated from Minnesota State University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in legal studies and a minor in child development and family science.
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James Jenkins
Title: Legal Assistant
James is one of the newest members to join the WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS team. He joined the firm in 2007 as a full-time Legal Assistant, and is now working with Frank F. Randolph and Chelsea C. Baldwin. James is currently in the pre-law program at Lower Columbia College, earning an Associates Degree in Political Science and has plans to continue a path toward a law degree.
James’ primary duties include assisting two full-time attorneys with their cases in multiple areas of law, meeting with clients, preparing pleadings and clerical duties.
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Jamie Merly
Title: Legal Assistant
Jamie attended Lower Columbia College where she was involved in student government. She joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 2000, although Jamie has worked in the legal field since 1996. She has past experience as a Legal Assistant in the practice areas of family law, personal injury and criminal law. Jamie currently assists Odine H. Husemoen and Stephen L. Wanderer in the areas of corporate law, probates, estate planning, civil litigation and insurance defense. She is also the primary Legal Assistant in the firm’s unlawful detainer (eviction) department of landlord/tenant law.
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Joni Froberg
Title: Legal Assistant
Joni joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 1981, and has worked in nearly every support aspect of the firm, including courier, file clerk, billing and word processing. Since 1985, Joni has worked as the Legal Assistant to John A. Barlow specializing in personal injury and insurance law. She has also assisted Chelsea C. Baldwin in the area of family law and is presently assisting associate attorneys, Kendra C. Sprague and Luke Hansen whose increasing caseloads involve all areas of law. Joni has been a member of the Cowlitz County Legal Secretaries Association.
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Joyce Donaldson
Title: Legal Assistant
In 1996, Joyce joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS as Legal Assistant to Norman C. Dick who practices law in the areas of civil litigation, real estate, insurance defense, collections and liens.
Joyce attended ITT Links School of Business in Boise, Idaho, completing the Executive Secretarial Course. She retired from the Mineral County Juvenile Probation Department in Nevada after 21 years of employment where she served in several areas - Secretarial, Juvenile Probation Officer, Interstate Compact Officer, and Truant Officer. After retirement, Joyce moved to Clatskanie, Oregon where she worked for the Rainier School District for 1 1/2 years as a Teacher’s Assistant in speech and language, English and horticulture just prior to joining WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS.
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Kara Cope
Title: Paralegal
Kara joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 2003, as paralegal to Mark S. Brumbaugh, who practices in the areas of personal injury, nursing home negligence, employment issues and civil litigation. Although she joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 2003, she has been working as a paralegal since 1994. She has expertise in many areas of law including criminal, domestic relations, juvenile and business.
She is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice.
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Karen Murphy
Title: Legal Assistant
Karen joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 1981 after earning her Associates Degree in paralegal studies. Since 1991, she has been a Legal Assistant for Barry J. Dahl, emphasizing the area of family law.
She has been a member of the Cowlitz County Legal Secretaries Association.
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Kathy Williams
Title: Legal Assistant
Kathy has been employed at WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS since 1995 as Michael A. Claxton’s Legal Assistant, working closely with clients in estate planning, probate, trusts, guardianships, and business/corporate matters. She also has extensive background in real estate, foreclosures/forfeitures, garnishments and unlawful detainers with our firm.
Prior to moving to Longview in 1995, Kathy worked for 13 years at a small general practice law firm in Camas, Washington, where she received a well-rounded background in many areas of law, including Court of Appeals work.
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Lisa Romane
Title: Billing Specialist and Assistant Bookkeeper
Lisa joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 2003. She works and/or assists in several areas of the firm, including record keeping, courier, receptionist and files coordinator. Although Lisa earned her Associate’s Degree as a paralegal at Clark College, she found she enjoyed working with numbers and is currently the firm’s Billing Specialist and Assistant Bookkeeper. She handles the firm’s accounts receivable and also assists with accounts payable.
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Melinda Hochstetler
Title: Legal Assistant
Melinda attended Merrit-Davis School of Commerce in Salem. She has worked in legal support services for over 40 years and has experience in a general practice law firm and the court system. Melinda joined the WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS legal support staff in February 1981 and has worked as a Legal Assistant to John A. Barlow since, in the personal injury and insurance law areas of practice.
Melinda has been a non-lawyer member of Washington State Association for Justice since the early 1980s (formerly known as Washington State Trial Association). She has also been a member of the Cowlitz County Legal Secretaries Association.
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Sally Irvine
Title: Bookkeeper/Administrative Assistant
Sally has been with WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS as the firm’s Bookkeeper since 1995. She handles all phases of payroll, accounts payable, monthly and quarterly taxes, manages the general ledger system and generates financial reports. She recently set up and maintains a new inventory system to track personal property. Sally is also the Assistant to the Legal Administrator lending support, including staff scheduling.
Sally has completed the accounting classes at Lower Columbia College.
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Sharol Quinn
Title: Legal Assistant
Sharol has worked in the local legal community since graduating with an Associate of Arts degree from Lower Columbia College. She initially filled receptionist and bookkeeping positions.
In March of 1986, Sharol joined the firm of WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS as Legal Assistant to Odine H. Husemoen. For the next 16 years, she developed her career while working with Mr. Husemoen. Sharol then became the Legal Assistant to Frank F. Randolph and “Don” D.L. Donaldson. Following that she has worked with Chelsea C. Baldwin, Stephen L. Wanderer, and Kendra C. Sprague. Sharol has enjoyed the opportunity provided by WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS to expand her work experience in many areas of practice such as: civil litigation, real estate, business and corporate, family law, landlord/tenant, probate and estate planning.
She has been a member of the Cowlitz County Legal Secretaries Association.
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Susie Manners
Title: Professional Receptionist
Susie joined the firm in 2002 as its Professional Receptionist, after a long career in the travel business. Her duties include answering the telephone, greeting clients, processing incoming and outgoing mail, opening new client files, assisting with bookkeeping duties, data entry and monitoring time of attorneys and staff.
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Terri Pruett
Title: Legal Document Preparation Specialist
Terri joined WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS in 2007 as a full-time Legal Document Preparation Specialist. Her primary responsibilities include preparing and proofreading legal documents for all attorneys and legal assistants in the office. She also provides back-up assistance for the front desk receptionist as needed.
Terri worked in the legal field for over six years, prior to joining WALSTEAD MERTSCHING PS. She has legal assistant experience in bankruptcy, estate planning, probate, real estate, unlawful detainers and various other civil matters.
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For more information please Contact Our Office.
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