Hawley Troxell hires Paternoster

Terrance Paternoster has joined the firm as information systems and accounting manager.

Paternoster is a licensed CPA and has 15 years of experience in information systems and accounting management. He has directed, planned, budgeted and managed projects, teams and resources. He executed the design, development and implementation of a county-wide incident tracking system used by law enforcement. He earned a B.B.A. in accounting with an emphasis in internal audit and a B.B.A. in computer information systems from Boise State University.

Paternoster joins a team that executes the administrative functions of the firm. The team also includes Susan Olson, executive director; Lynn McConnell, human resources manager; Dana Reid, office manager; and Stacey Taylor Targee, marketing manager.

Holder joins Parsons Behle & Latimer

Judy Holder has joined the firm as a senior paralegal in the Boise office. Holder brings more than two decades of litigation support and other paralegal experience. She will support the litigation practice group.

Holder most recently worked as a litigation paralegal at Boise firm Banducci Woodard Schwartzman and Alaska law firms Hoppner Law Office and Clapp Peterson & Stowers. She earned her paralegal certification from Portland Community College.

Parsons Behle & Latimer's Boise office litigation practice group has grown over the past year. The firm claims the largest intellectual property legal team in Idaho. It employs 35 attorneys and other support staff in Idaho.

WCA honors Coonts with TWIN award

Beth Coonts of Hawley Troxell has been awarded the Women's and Children's Alliance 20th Annual Tribute to Women and Industry award. As a TWIN recipient, Coonts, along with other honorees, will be recognized at an awards luncheon this month.

Coonts is a member of Hawley Troxell's civil and commercial litigation group, where she focuses on creditor rights and defense of wrongful foreclosure claims. Her practice also includes aiding clients in commercial litigation, mediations and arbitrations.

Coonts received her law degree cum laude in 2007 from the University of Idaho College of Law. She has been a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters board of directors since 2010 and a big sister since 2009. She is also a member of Boise Young Professionals and previously helped people obtain immigration status under the Violence Against Women Act.

Perkins Coie hires Lang, promotes 2

Anastasia "Ana" Lang has joined the Emerging Companies practice group at Perkins Coie. Tonn Peterson, Cheryl Allaire and Nicholas Taylor have been promoted from associates to counsel at the firm.

Lang is based in the Boise office and focuses her practice on corporate formation, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, technology transfer transactions and general business. She represents companies in transactions across industries such as software, digital media and Internet services.

Lang received her law degree from Chapman University School of Law and her bachelor's degree from California State University, Sacramento.

Peterson focuses on commercial litigation, labor and employment, and business disputes.

Allaire counsels clients in various industries and stages of growth.

Taylor is counsel with the firm's emerging companies and mergers and acquisitions practices.

Kluksdal, Miller on Hawley Troxell board

Paula L. Kluksdal, partner at Hawley Troxell, has been elected to the firm's board of partners. STORY, PAGE 9

Nick G. Miller has been re-elected to another term on the board.

The board also includes managing partner Steve W. Berenter and partners Rick G. Smith and John F. Kurtz.

Holland & Hart on 'firm of year' short list

Holland & Hart is the only Rocky Mountain-based law firm to be shortlisted for the 2013 "Western Firm of the Year" award in litigation by Benchmark Litigation. The firm attained the publication's highest ranking in Idaho. Two of its Boise partners, Walter Bithell and Newal Squyres, were recognized as litigation stars for commercial litigation.

Silva joins Capitol Law Group as partner

Karen Silva is a civil litigation attorney who focuses on family law issues such as divorce, child custody modifications, adoptions, estate planning and criminal defense. She also managed and developed a solo law practice for 10 years.

Silva earned a bachelor's degree in English, cum laude, from Boise State University, and her law degree from the University of Idaho. She is a volunteer attorney with the Family Advocates CASA program, representing children in abusive or neglected situations.

During law school, she interned in the University of Idaho's clinical law program and argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She also received a National Association of Personal Injury Lawyers Summer Rural Legal Corps Fellowship. She worked with Idaho Legal Aid Services to serve low-income and migrant farmworkers throughout southern Idaho.

Most recently, Silva owned and managed Silva Law Offices, where she developed a general legal practice. She has experience in insurance defense, employment law, business law and personal injury cases.

Westermeier honored as corporate counsel

Stephanie Westermeier, the general counsel for Saint Alphonsus Health System, received the 2013 Outstanding Corporate Counsel award from the Association of Corporate Counsel, Mountain West Chapter, at its annual awards gala in January.

The award recognizes a corporate attorney for leadership and professionalism. The Association of Corporate Counsel is a global bar association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other private sector organizations.

Saint Alphonsus Health System includes four Idaho and Oregon hospitals and is affiliated with Trinity Health Inc.

Westermeier also serves as a managing counsel for Trinity Health in Idaho, Oregon and California. Westermeier has practiced law for 20 years in both private practice and in-house roles, primarily focusing on health care law, corporate governance, compliance and employment law issues.

Westermeier was admitted to the Idaho State Bar and the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho in 1991, and to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1995. She received her law degree in 1991 from the University of Utah, where she was a William H. Leary Scholar.

She received her bachelor's degree from Boise State University in 1987, cum laude. At Boise State, she was an Avery Petersen International Relations Scholar and recipient of the LBJ Congressional Scholarship Internship in Washington, D.C.

Tobias wins court administrator honor

Patricia Tobias, administrative director of courts for the state of Idaho, has been named recipient of the 2012 Warren E. Burger Award.

One of the highest awards presented by the National Center for State Courts, the award is named for Warren Burger, the former chief justice of the United States who helped found the center in 1971. The Burger Award is given each year to someone who has made significant contributions in court administration.

"Patti is a remarkable leader, both in her state and nationally," said center President Mary C. McQueen. "She has the highest respect from her colleagues, who can't talk about Patti without mentioning her strong character and conviction for public service. One of Patti's strengths is her ability to examine legislation affecting the courts, lobby Congress on behalf of that legislation and develop strategies for state courts to have a voice in our nation's Capitol."

In a letter of recommendation for the award, Idaho Chief Justice Roger S. Burdick said of Tobias: "She is an innovator, a ceaseless worker, a masterful administrator in Idaho and just as competent and important nationally."

Tobias has served as administrative director of the courts for 20 years. She has supported the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission, comprising all entities affected by people in the criminal justice system. Tobias also spearheaded changes in the court retirement program, which is credited for cutting costs and improving services. She was instrumental in implementing problem-solving courts, family court services and self-help centers for litigants not represented by attorneys across Idaho.

Tobias previously served as clerk of the court in St. Louis County, Mo., from 1986 to 1993 and as director of the Court Services Division for the Missouri Supreme Court from 1980 to 1986.

She has held numerous state and national positions. In 2010, she was appointed liaison to the National Association for Court Management. From 2009 to 2011, she served on the board of directors of the Council of State Governments' Justice Center, becoming the only state court administrator to serve in this capacity. In 2003-04, she served as president of the Conference of State Court Administrators and vice chair of the National Center for State Courts' Board of Directors. She has served on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Court Innovation (New York State Institute). She received the Justice Management Institute's Ernest C. Friesen Award of Excellence in 2008. Tobias received the Idaho State Bar's Award of Distinction in 2003, the Public Policy Leadership Award in 2003 and the Kramer Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration in 2001.