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.