For nearly 21 years, Seth Aaron Fine has sifted through law books and made regular trips to Seattle and Olympia to help fashion criminal law in this state on behalf of the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office.
For those efforts, and for volunteer work he’s done for the Snohomish County Bar Association, the criminal appellate attorney recently was named attorney of the year. He was one of six lawyers nominated for the 2003 award, and was selected by the association’s board of trustees. The organization represents more than 700 county lawyers.
Fine, 47, of Lynnwood was a staff lawyer with the state Supreme Court when he was hired by former prosecuting attorney Seth Dawson to work on appeals for the office. He served under former prosecutor Jim Krider and now Janice Ellis.
He’s stayed with appeals work, helping to define criminal law, because it’s something that has meaning for the deputy prosecutor, who has a reputation for being a walking encyclopedia of criminal law.
"There’s the intellectual challenges of going to the books and extracting the principles of law and putting them in a form that will be convincing to a judge," Fine said.
Besides, there’s the knowledge that the outcome of a case before the state Court of Appeals or Supreme Court could affect the application of the law for years or decades to come for prosecutors around the state, he added.
Fine’s knowledge of the law is well-known. Other appellate prosecutors around the state frequently call him for advice, and sometimes local judges consult with him.
He’s remained in prosecution because prosecutors "are one of the few kinds of lawyers that can fight for justice rather than try to get what their clients want," he said.
It’s also important work, Fine said, to protect the public from dangerous criminals.
Fine sees it as a prosecutor’s duty to see the innocent acquitted as much as the guilty convicted and punished.
He was born and raised in Seattle, attended Stanford University, earning a social science degree. Fine earned his law degree at the University of Puget Sound Law School, which now is Seattle University Law School.
He’s married and has two sons, ages 10 and 13.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
