Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has appointed Seattle trial attorney Richard Mitchell as her staff counsel. Richard, an architect and urban planner as well as an attorney, brings to the post his experience in construction and real estate development and litigation - including work on Europe's largest urban redevelopment project, the London Docklands. As legal counsel, he will be responsible for advising on policy, ethical questions, judicial selection, legislation and executive orders, and the defense of the Governor's constitutional prerogatives.