Slade Gorton Memorial Program

The firm will be celebrating the legacy of former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, who passed away 19 August at age 92, and the inspiration of his career in public service.

Slade will be honored and remembered in a virtual tribute by his former Senate colleagues (including Senator Mitch McConnell), members of the Washington Congressional Delegation and a former Governor, members of the 9/11 Commission, and other colleagues.

Slade began his career in public service with his enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1945 and as a member of the Air Force reserve until 1980, retiring at the rank of Colonel. In 1958, he was elected to the Washington State Legislature, where he spent the next decade moving up the ranks to become House majority leader. Slade was elected Attorney General of Washington in 1968 and served in that capacity for 12 years during which he argued 14 cases before the United States Supreme Court. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1980, where he served on key committees including Appropriations; Budget; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Energy and Natural Resources, and served in Republican party leadership as counsel to the majority leader from 1996–2000.

After retiring from the Senate in 2001, Slade joined the Seattle and Washington, D.C., offices of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, one of the firms that combined to create K&L Gates LLP in 2007. Additionally, Slade was appointed to several local, state, and federal commissions and councils after leaving the Senate, including the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission); the president’s Consumer Advisory Council; the Washington State Redistricting Commission; the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission; the Washington State Law & Justice Commission; the British Petroleum Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel; and the University of Virginia’s National War Powers Commission.

Please click here for the firm's statement in honor of Slade.