TWO NEW COMMISSIONERS HIRED
Pierce County Superior Court is pleased to announce that both Karen Watson and Ingrid McLeod have accepted offers to become our newest Commissioners starting in early 2021. Commissioner Watson will start on January 11, 2021, to fill the vacancy left by Judge-Elect Diana Kiesel. Commissioner McLeod will begin on April 5, 2021, and will fill the vacancy left by Judge Clarence Henderson Jr. who was appointed to the bench by Governor Inslee in April of 2020. Comm. Watson’s official swearing-in will occur on January 11th. The date for her public ceremony will be announced later. Comm. McLeod will also be officially sworn in on her first day with a public ceremony held later. Both Commissioners are slated to attend the virtual judicial college held in January 2021.
About C
ommissioner Karen Watson:
Ms. Watson attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she earned a BA in History and graduated cum laude from Seattle University in 1995 with a Juris Doctorate. She started practicing law in 1995 at Betzendorfer and & Granoski, a small private firm in Tacoma where she managed a diverse case load that included estate planning, family law, and criminal defense. Over the last 24 years, Ms. Watson worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney in both Thurston and Pierce Counties. During that time, she prosecuted cases in District and Superior Court, argued cases in the Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court, and, most recently, worked as a lead attorney in the Family Support Division. She is a member of the Tacoma Pierce County Bar Association and Chair of the TPCBA FRIEND Committee. Ms. Watson is an active supporter of the Remann Hall Book Club, which provides books, and a forum to discuss those books, to juveniles who are detained at Remann Hall.
About Commissioner Ingrid McLeod:
Ms. McLeod is a graduate of the University of Washington, New York University, and Seattle University School of Law. After law school, she clerked for Chief Judge Lisa Worswick at the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II. In 2012, she joined the firm of Davies Pearson, P.C. She focused her practice in appellate advocacy; probate, guardianships, and fiduciary litigation; and civil and commercial litigation. She is a member of various committees and organizations, including the Robert J. Bryan American Inn of Court; the Tacoma- Pierce County Bar Association; and the Washington Women Lawyers, Pierce County Chapter. Ms. McLeod has served as a Title 11 RCW Guardian ad Litem in Pierce County Superior Court since 2017.
Please join us in welcoming Commissioners Watson and McLeod to the Pierce County Superior Court.