Page 7 - Pierce County Lawyer - September October 2024

Associate Attorney, Mariana L. Muñoz
Meet GTH’s Newest Associate,
Mariana L. Muñoz
GTH welcomes associate attorney Mariana to the Litigation Practice Group. Mariana comes to GTH after clerking for three Commissioners, and the Honorable Bernard Veljacic of the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II. Mariana brings experience in criminal law, environmental law, contract disputes, and appeals, and joins GTH’s team of associate attorneys who provide tailored legal services across practice areas for clients throughout the Pacific Northwest.
GTH Associates: Katie D. Chan, Bryce E. Knutzen, Ian M. Leifer, Caitlin M. Loyd, Emma J. Luton, Jeffrey G. Nielsen, Chelsea E. Rauch, J. Owen Taylor, Mitchell J. Wright
gth-law.com
Tacoma: 253-620-6500 Seattle: 206-676-7500
events, or access into our courthouse without waiting (although, those perks aren’t a bad thing either).
I am currently working with Kit, the TPCBA Director, to send out a letter/email to members of WSBA and former members of TPCBA encouraging them to join or rejoin our bar association. What does TPCBA have that other bar associations don’t have (outside of the long laundry list of CLEs, trainings, and fun events)?
I shall tell them that, since law school, it has been only TPCBA that made connections with me and kept those connections to this present day. Connections for me through my TPCBA membership directly impacting the course of my practice and career. I will emphasize that when our members attend a TPCBA event, they are greeted as ‘family’. We care about each other, and we are all here to help one another.
Connections are key at TPCBA.
I will also tell them I’ve received membership application forms from some neighboring bar associations and I was shocked to see their rates start out at $280 but go up to $1000 per year! TPCBA has all of the same benefits as these other associations, but one thing these other associations do not have is our badge access. None of those other memberships get their practitioners a bypassed entry into their courthouses. For a base fee of $220, TPCBA will get our practitioners inside the courthouse, bypassing the security and bag screening. Imagine never having to wait in that long Friday morning security line again and just simply walking right into the courthouse by scanning a little badge. This privilege also works at Remann Hall.
Benjamin Cardoza, former Supreme Court Justice
of the United States, stated, “Membership in the
Bar is a privilege burdened with conditions”. While
I understand that position, I have to say being a member of TPCBA is nothing but a privilege and has all the privileges that go along with the membership of a family.
September/October 2024 | PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER 7