WHO WE ARE
Who We Are
History
The King County Law Library Foundation supports the King County Law Library. The King County Law Library is the only law library in Washington State to operate two full branches, one located in the King County Courthouse in Seattle and the other in the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Like all county law libraries in Washington State, King County Law Library receives the bulk of its revenue from paid civil filings in Superior and District Court. The King County Law Library also receives funds bi-annually from King County to support the additional branch. Unfortunately, these funding sources no longer provide sufficient revenue. The King County Law Library Foundation was founded in 2018 to help close this gap.
Interested in learning more about the founding and early days of the King County Law Library Foundation? Check out this article written by King County Law Library Executive Director Barbara Engstrom for the July 2021 King County Bar Bulletin.
Staff
Kristie Thompson is the Executive Director of the King County Law Library Foundation. She earned her BA in International Affairs and Spanish from the University of Puget Sound and her MA in Russian Eurasian Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Over the past two decades, Kristie has worked with non-profit organizations in the US and abroad to promote education and literacy. She is excited to work with the Foundation to facilitate access to legal information and resources for King County residents. In her spare time, Kristie enjoys reading, spending time outdoors, and travel.
Board of Directors
Erin Rance is the president of the King County Law Library Foundation Board of Directors. Erin received her BA in American Ethnic Studies and her Master of Library and Information Sciences from the University of Washington. She has worked in mid-size to large law libraries as a librarian/research analyst and recently began working in the Office of Public Records with the University of Washington. Erin is very invested in access to justice and is excited to be a part of the Foundation. In her spare moments, Erin enjoys estate sales, vintage clothing, gardening and coffee.
Dan Hsieh is the vice president of the King County Law Library Foundation Board of Directors. Dan is an Associate in Helsell Fetterman’s Commercial Litigation Section. His practice focuses on insurance defense and real estate disputes. Dan graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 2015 with his Juris Doctor, and he passed the Washington Bar that same year. Prior to joining Helsell Fetterman, Dan was an Assistant Attorney General for the Washington Attorney General’s Office from 2016 to 2021. There he represented the Department of Social & Health Services and the Department of Labor and Industries. In his spare time, Dan loves to cook, travel, and study history.
Oliver Enquist is the treasurer of the King County Law Library Foundation Board of Directors. Oliver works as an Associate at Chinook Capital Advisors, a Kirkland-based Investment Banking firm that assists business owners through business succession and transition planning. Oliver graduated with his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from Seattle University in May 2016 and passed the Washington State Bar Exam in July 2016. Oliver served as a Research and Technical Editor on the Seattle University Law Review during his second and third years of law school. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Washington. When not at work, Oliver enjoys fishing, scuba diving, hunting, and wood working.
Dan Fiorito is the secretary of the King County Law Library Foundation Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the Seattle University School of Law. Dan started his own law practice, focusing on plaintiff’s personal injury, civil rights, general litigation, and criminal defense. Dan volunteered for several years with the King County Housing Justice Project and was recognized as the King County Bar Association’s (KCBA) Volunteer of the Month. He also serves on the KCBA Judicial Screening Committee and co-chaired the committee in 2018. Dan enjoys outdoor activities. Some his more memorable experiences include summiting Denali in Alaska scuba diving the Great Blue Hole in Belize.
Karen Whitney is a member of the King County Law Library Foundation Board of Directors. Karen is the Library Resource Manager at Perkins Coie LLP. Karen holds a Master of Library and Information Sciences from San Jose State University and has worked in law libraries for 20 years, in both reference and technical services. She is a member of AALL, SLA and LLOPS. Karen has served as the LLOPS Grants Committee chair and has been appointed to the AALL Annual Meeting Grant Awards Jury. Along with her family, Karen is an advocate for Alzheimer’s research and participates in an international, longitudinal research study for families with early onset Alzheimer’s. In her spare time, Karen enjoys reading, traveling, and crafts of any kind.
Carly Eyler is a member of the King County Law Library Foundation Board of Directors. Carly is a Research Analyst at K&L Gates, a Pittsburgh-based law firm with deep roots in the Seattle legal community. Carly holds an MLIS from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a BA in Comparative History of Ideas with a focus in Women’s Studies from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the King County Law Library Foundation, Carly was the President of the Law Librarians of Puget Sound. In her spare time, Carly enjoys thrifting, crafting, reading, cooking, and going on long walks.
Ex-Officio
Barbara Engstrom is the Executive Director of the King County Law Library and an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law. Prior to leading the King County Law Library, she was a reference librarian and faculty member at the Seattle University School of Law specializing in foreign, comparative and international legal research. Barbara teaches Online Advanced Legal Research, the first exclusively online class offered at Seattle University. She is a frequent presenter at CLEs and conferences. Barbara and the team at the King County Law Library have created many innovative tools to assist self-represented litigants, including the Self-Represented Litigant Workshop series which won the American Law Library Association’s Excellence in Community Engagement award in 2019. Barbara was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 2004.
Former Board Members
Mary Jo Newhouse served as the President of the King County Law Library Foundation from 2019-2021. She received her law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) and spent her career practicing law in Seattle, primarily focusing on health care. Prior to law school, she earned her BSN from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and worked as a nurse at Children’s Hospital in Seattle. She and her husband live in Montlake, where they raised their three children. Mary Jo enjoys spending time with her adult children and grandchildren, as well as reading, baking (especially fruit tarts and pies), photography, and sewing.
Maureen Quigley served as the Vice President of the King County Law Library Foundation from 2019-2021.
King County Law Library Foundation is a Section 501 (c)(3) public charity (EIN: 83-0969459). King County Law Library Foundation is registered with Washington State’s Charities Program as required by law.