Keller Rohrback was a proud sponsor of the 20th Annual QLaw Banquet held on May 16, 2025 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. The theme for this year’s celebratory event was “The Rainbow Republic: 20 Years Strong. United in Justice, Strengthened by Diversity,“ reflecting the QLaw Association’s commitment to embracing and strengthening the diverse fabric of the Washington LGBTQ+ legal community.
Founded in 2005, The QLaw Association was formed as a project of the Washington State Bar Association Leadership Institute, to recruit and train diverse leaders of the bar. Its ongoing activities include conducting CLEs, administering a mentor/mentee program, and hosting quarterly socials. Each yearly banquet enables the growing community to gather together in recognition of and support for each other, to raise funds for scholarships dedicated to LGBTQ+ law students, and to support its sibling organization the QLaw Foundation. Now in its 20th year, there is a strong sense of shared history within the community that is cause for continued, vigorous expressions of solidarity.
The 20th anniversary banquet featured the presentation of awards to Laurie Jinkins, Washington state’s first woman and openly lesbian Speaker of the House, Victoria Slade, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and co-chair of its LGBTQ+ Attorneys Affinity Group, and to Cynthia Buhr and Denise Diskin, Seattle attorneys noted for their LGBTQ+ advocacy. The lively gathering, supported by Keller Rohrback at sponsor level since 2014, was attended by KR attorneys Liza Tarbell and Nicandro Iannacci and their guests, along with legal assistant Vincent Ruiz. For Liza, the evening provided welcome affirmation of deeply shared principle. She noted, “It was heartening and energizing to be in a room of passionate people who happened to integrate their identities into their work, and have been advancing our community’s rights long before the turbulence of today’s legal climate.”
KR salutes both the QLaw mission and the valued community it represents within the firm!