Governor names Swinomish lawyer general counsel

Gov. Chris Gregoire has announced she is appointing Marty Loesch as her general counsel and senior advisor. Loesch currently serves as the inter-governmental affairs director and tribal attorney for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.

“I have known Marty for 16 years and greatly respect his legal and policy guidance,” Gregoire said. “In addition to serving as my legal counsel, I have asked Marty to serve as a senior advisor to guide our decisions on a host of policy matters. In these challenging times, it is important that we bring the best minds together to develop strategies and reforms to make Washington stronger during our economic recovery efforts and into the future.”

“I am honored by and excited about this opportunity,” Loesch said. “These are tough times for the people of Washington and we face many difficult issues. I look forward to listening to and working with the governor, her senior staff and the people of Washington state.”

In addition to serving the Swinomish Tribal Community, Loesch was in private practice with three different law firms, litigating and settling complex commercial disputes and advising clients ranging from national insurance companies to start up technology firms. Loesch has a strong background in environmental, insurance, international and Tribal law. He also served as an international elections monitor in South Africa, Bosnia and Republika Srpska and an international law consultant with Catholic Relief Services regarding the lessons learned in humanitarian operations in Kosovo.

Loesch earned his bachelor’s and master’s of arts degrees from the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana and his juris doctor and master of laws in international human rights law from the University of Notre Dame Law School. While in law school, Loesch was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy and was named the Most Distinguished Graduate Student.

Loesch’s appointment is effective Monday, Jan. 12 and he will earn a salary of $139,000.