My friend of many years  Daniel Sullivan died of lung cancer the morning of July 1, 2012 in Seattle. He  was 86 years old. His wife Susan was with him when he died. Lita and I had just visited with Susan and Dan last Wednesday before leaving the next day for a talk I was giving out of state. I'm thankful for that opportunity to say goodby without realizing it was good by.

Dan was a plaintiff's trial lawyer who acomplished so much in his life. He was the Washington  State Trial Lawyers  Association president in 1974-75, WSTLA Trial Lawyer of the Year winner in 1984 and
recipient of the then-WSTLA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Dan was responsible for the formation of the WSTLA/WSAJ Amicus Committee, he was selected for membership in The Inner Circle of Advocates (limited to Top 100 injury lawyers in the U.S.) and the Damage Attorney's Roundtable (DART), was a founding member and former President of TLPJ (now, Public Justice), was a  former AAJ Board member and a fellow in the Roscoe Pound Foundation. 

As his son in law, Brad Fulton said in the Email about this death: "Dan and a few brave souls like him worked to make sure that ALL injured people had a voice before our courts, where the everyday person was "equal" to the largest corporation or hospital – leading the way to take the stigma away from lawyers who took on the cases of people injured by bad medicine and unsafe products."

Services are pending and contributions should be made to the trial lawyers Amicus Foundation at WSAJ according to Brad.

Dan was my mentor and my friend. It was Dan I turned to for professional help. We associated on many cases and worked together many times. We enjoyed each others company and laughed a lot. Dan had that great Irish sense of humor. He was a great trial lawyer with an enormous heart and a high sense of ethics. It was impossible not to like him and I learned to love him like a brother. I will miss him, but the good he did will live on. An Irish blessing on you Dan.