Firm Members - Cline Law Firm Attorneys at Law
James M. Cline
 Jim received his B.A. with distinction in Political Science from the University of Washington in 1980, an M.A. in Political Science from UW in 1982, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame in 1986, and his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1986.
After passing the Washington State Bar, Jim served as an associate in a Seattle labor law firm and as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Since leaving the Prosecutor’s Office in 1990, Jim has represented law enforcement labor organizations throughout the state.
He has participated in hundreds of cases at every level of state and federal court and various administrative and arbitration tribunals. He has made over 30 appellate oral arguments between his appearances at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Washington State Supreme Court and the Washington Court of Appeals. He has been involved in the negotiation of nearly 200 labor contracts. He has provided counsel in about 150 officer-involved shooting incidents. He has participated in 15 Washington State interest arbitration proceedings.
Jim is a frequent speaker and the author of numerous articles and two books: The Rights of Washington Public Safety Employees: Member's Manual and The Rights of Washington Public Safety Employees: Representative's Manual. He is currently planning and developing a number of other public safety labor law books.
M. Katherine Kremer
 Kate received her B.A. in Political Science from Fairfield University in 1983 and her J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1987.
After graduation from law school, Kate was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She practiced several years at the Northwestern Legal Center where she was involved in a variety of civil litigation.
Kate has contributed to the Cline law practice since 1995. Kate's responsibilities include legal research and writing, litigation and preparation of statistical analysis reports for labor negotiations and interest arbitration. She is responsible for digesting and summarizing more than a 1000 labor contracts within the Cline and Associates database. She has prepared the Master Brief that is the proprietary Cline and Associates brief used to develop interest arbitration arguments. She has testified a number of times about her database reports and is likely the most knowledgeable person in the state on the contents of public safety labor contracts.
Christopher J. Casillas
 Chris is a 2003 graduate of the Seattle University School of Law, where he distinguished himself academically, graduating with the high honors of Magna Cum Laude, reserved for the top students in the class. Chris previously received his B.A. with honors in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2000. After joining Cline and Associates, Chris took a leave of absence in 2006 to attend graduate school at Cornell University in New York. While there, he earned a Masters of Arts Degree and Ph.D. in Government.
Chriss primary area of practice at Cline & Associates includes negotiating labor contracts and litigating various contract grievances and unfair labor practice charges. He has also developed an expertise in interest arbitration proceedings. Throughout his years at Cline & Associates he has served as lead counsel in dozens of contract and interest arbitration grievance hearings as well as unfair labor practice hearings in front of the Public Employment Relations Commission.
Beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year, Chris will join the adjunct faculty at Seattle University School of Law as a part-time professor. He will be responsible for teaching a course on advanced Constitutional Law.
Mitchell Riese
Mitch graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1978 with the degree in economics. After graduating he moved west to the University of Oregon School of Law, where he graduated in 1981.
Mitch has had a distinguished career with over 30 years of wide ranging trial experience in both private law firms and in public and nonprofit entities. He is an expert in administrative procedures as well as in employment law. Prior to joining Cline Associates, Mitch had represented numerous employee/plaintiffs with excellent results. He has litigated in nearly all areas of employment law ranging from disability discrimination to wage claims. He is appeared at multiple levels of state and federal court and has had many jury trial successes and successful appeals including ones in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mitch continues his employment practice with Cline and Associates and is available to be retained by individuals for their own employment and civil rights issues. Mitch also contributes to the firms labor practice and serves as the senior litigator in the firms significant and complex litigation including arbitration discharge cases.
Kelly M. Turner
 In 2010, Kelly graduated Cum Laude from Seattle University School of Law and became a member of the Bar Association in October 2010. Kelly received her Bachelors Degree from University of Georgia in 2006 and attended Oxford University as an exchange student in 2004. While in law school, Kelly worked for two private law firms and the Civil Division of the Snohomish County Prosecutors Office. She also served as a Judicial Intern for the EEOC. Kellys other past accomplishments include participation as a Varsity Rower for the University of Georgia and participation in the National Rowing Championship.
Kelly assists in in the firms complex litigation and performs many of the drafting and research duties associated with the firms various hearings. In her initial time with Cline and Associates she helped prepared the firms exhaustive database of PERC case law and as a result maintains a broad knowledge of PERC case holdings which she applies in her litigation assignments.
Annie McMahon
Annie is the firm's legal assistant. She is responsible for managing and tracking the status of the firm's litigation and preparing the pleadings that the attorneys file.
Annie is a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas Academy and the City College of New York. Annie has over 10 years of legal experience and has worked for some of the largest law firms in the nation including Heller Herman and Dorsey & Whitney.
She has also served as an Executive Assistant and an Event Coordinator for Phillips Research Corporation. Annie puts those skills to use during the firms annual client training seminar.
Annie came to the firm by way of New York City when she returned to Seattle where she previously had worked for Dorsey and Whitney. She is enjoying her return to the more tempered pace of life in the Northwest and its recreational opportunities.
Darrah Hinton
 Darrah is the firm's Officer Manager. Darrah is currently recent graduate of Seattle University As a Resident Assistant at Seattle University, Darrah has distinguished herself for her organizational and leadership skills. Darrah was a 2009 winner of the Seattle University Leadership Award and Housing & Residence Life Hall of Fame. Darrah is originally from Anchorage, Alaska.
Darrah is responsible for day to day management of the firm's operations. She also manages premium content for the firms website database and the firm's newsletter. Additionally, she is responsible for special projects as needed and assists on complex litigation tasks.
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