Baker, Kimberly D.

Current Employment Position(s)

Member, since 1997

Lawyer Overview

Kim Baker is a Member in the Seattle office. Ms. Baker provides risk management and guidance to business owners to help prevent or minimize the likelihood of litigation being filed. She has an active litigation practice in which she defends companies and individuals who are being sued for malpractice, alleged employment and work place misconduct and/or complaints of negligently manufactured products. She has appeared before several administrative agencies including the Department of Health, Department of Licensing and the state and federal employment enforcement agencies. An active member of the National Defense Bar in 2009, Kim served as the Secretary Treasurer for DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar. She was named to Super Lawyers by Washington Law & Politics magazine for 2001-2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010. She has also been recognized by the Seattle Met magazine as a 'Top Lawyer' in Health Care for 2010, a designation based upon Martindale-Hubbell's ranking of those practitioners in King County who have been judged by their peers to be "AV Preeminent," the highest peer-review rating available.

Areas of Practice

• Corporate Governance
• Health Care
• Indian Law & Gaming
• Product Liability
• Crisis Management & Media Relations
• Mass Torts
• Labor & Employment
• Long Term Health Care
• Senior Living & Long Term Care

West Practice Categories

Business Organizations, Constitutional, Gaming, Health Care, Native Peoples, Personal Injury, Personal Injury -- Defense, Products Liability, Toxic Torts

Bar Admissions

• Washington, 1984
• Montana, 1992
• Oregon, 2004
• U.S. District Court Western District of Washington
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Defense Research Institute (Member, Employment Law Section)
• Defense Research Institute (Member, Health Care Section)
• Defense Research Institute (Member, Drug & Device Committee)
• Federation of Insurance Defense and Corporate Counsel (Vice Chair, Medical Malpractice Section)
• Federation of Insurance Defense and Corporate Counsel (Member, Admissions Committee)
• Federation of Insurance Defense and Corporate Counsel (Member, Punitive Damages Task Force)
• Federation of Insurance Defense and Corporate Counsel (Member, Membership Development Committee)
• Defense Research Institute (Law Institute Liason)
• Washington Defense Trial Lawyers (Co-Chair, Employment Section)
• Washington Health Care Risk Management Society (Member)
• Washington State Bar Association (Member, Employment Law Section)
• Washington State Bar Association (Member, Health Care Law Section)
• Washington State Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Member)
• Washington State Society of Hospital Attorneys
• Defense Research Institute, 2005 - Present (Member: Board of Directors)
• Drug and Medical Device Steering Committee
• Labor & Employment
• Drug and Medical Device
• Medical Liability Seminar, 2004 - Present (Chair)

Classes and Seminars

• Informed Consent and Defense of Injured Infant Claims, American Hospital Association, 1985
• Avoiding Obnoxious Contract Provisions, Washington Society of Health Care Risk Management, 1993
• Statutes Affecting Nurses, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association Legal Education Seminars - Nurses Law School: Legal Issues Affecting Nurses, 1993
• Risk Assessment of the Surgical Experience: from Beginning to End, American Society for Health Care Risk Management, 1994
• Liability Attributed to Religious Orders for Wrongful Sexual Behavior and How to Investigate Such Allegations, 1995
• Ethical Issues Confronting Nurses in the 90s, Business Law Institute, Nursing Law in Washington, 1996
• The Health Care Provider's Role in Life Support Termination, Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel, 1996
• Risk Reduction Strategies For Health Care Providers, Washington Casualty Company, 1996
• Discontinuance of Life Support and Advanced Directives, Releasing Psychiatric Records, and Informed Consent, Risk Management for Hospital Professionals, 1996
• Risk Reduction Strategies For Health Care Providers, Washington Casualty Company, 1997
• Recent Decisions of National Significance, Federation of Insurance and Corporation Counsel, 1997
• Informed Consent: The Three Crossroads: When does it need to be obtained? What information must be provided? Who can provide consent?, St. Joseph Hospital, Bellingham, Washington, 1998
• Supreme Court Redefines Liability of Employer for Sexual Harassment by its Supervisors, Labor & Employment Law Seminar, 1998
• Family Medical Leave Act Update, National Employment Law Institute, 1999
• Tips and Tactics of Medical Malpractice Litigation, Podiatry Residents and Faculty, 2000
• Family & Medical Leave Developments, National Employment Law Institute, 2000
• Advantages for Client Development and Trial Practice, DRI Women’s Mentoring Breakfast, 2000
• Documentation or Lack Thereof – A case presentation on the manner in which chart entries are used in medical litigation, Good Samaritan Hospital, Puyallup, Washington, 2010
• Risk Management Implications in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients, 2000
• Discrimination Update, Labor & Employment Seminar, 2000
• Erosion of the Hallway Consult: Changes in the Physician Patient Relationship, Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel, 2001
• Risk Management Issues for the Health Care Practitioner, Pediatric Ground Rounds, Children’s Hospital and Medical Center University of Washington/Department of Pediatrics, Seattle, Washington, 2001
• Update on Employment Issues, Washington Health Care Association, 2003
• Preparation Of The Executive Witness, FDCC Employment Section, 2003
• When the Whistle Blows – You Better Stop, Listen and Investigate, DRI White Collar Crime Conference, 2003
• Legal issues for physicians and hospitals when confronting Pediatric factitious disorders, International Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, 2003
• Separation Anxiety: The Former Corporate Executive Witness, 2003 FDCC Annual Meeting, 2003
• Employment Law Issues 2003 – Common Sense is Not Enough, Sterling Education Systems, 2003
• Diversity - Casting A Wide Net, 2004 Annual Meeting at the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, 2004
• Employment Litigation and Civil Rights, Health Care Practice, Workers' Compensation, 2004 Annual Meeting at the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, 2004
• What Employers Need to Know About Employee Privacy, The 7th Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference, 2004
• The Tentacles of HIPAA Invade Many Areas of the Workplace, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Fall Update, 2004
• But I Didn’t DO Anything!, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Tribal Update Seminar, 2005
• Drug Testing Results: Privacy Consideration, Including Federal, State and HIPAA Regulations, Williams Kastner Tribal Employment Law Seminar, 2006
• Medical Malpractice Update, Washington State Society for Healthcare Attorneys' Annual Spring Hospital & Health Law Seminar, 2006
• New Issues in Employment Law, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Fall Update Seminar, 2006
• Unsavory Employee Conduct: What’s an employer to do?, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Breakfast Seminar, 2007
• New Developments in Disability Law, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Fall Update Seminar, 2008
• Employment Law Update, Washington State Medical Group Management Association webinar, 2009
• Common HIPAA Pitfalls, 2009 Legal Update, 2009
• The Labor & Employment Rules Change: Current and Future Compliance Issues Under the Obama Administration, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Fall Half-Day Seminar, 2009
• Employee Privacy in the Age of Social Networking, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Spring Half-Day Seminar, 2010
• Medical Liability – A Year in Review, Washington Health Care Risk Management Society Spring Conference, 2010
• Privacy Rights at Work: What is a Reasonable Fourth Amendment Search by an Employer, DRI-sponsored webcast, 2010
• Retaliation Claims—the Tail that Wags the Dog, Williams Kastner Labor & Employment Fall Half-Day Seminar, 2010

Past Employment Positions

• Merrick, Hofstedt & Lindsey, Partner, 1986 - 1997
• Williams Kastner, Associate, 1984 - 1986

Education

• University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, Kansas, 1984
  J.D.
• University of Kansas, Kansas, 1979
  B.S., Bachelor of Science
  Major: Nursing

Published Works

• Hertz Corp. v. Friend U.S. Supreme Court Adopts 'Nerve Center' Test for Determining a Corporation's 'Principal Place of Business', The Voice, March, 2010
• Cybersleuthing Checking Your Company's 'Pulse' in the Land of Blogs, The Voice, May, 2008
• "How Texting Patient Information Can Increase Risk", Washington Healthcare News, November, 2010
• "OPEN Season on Parallel Litigation: Precluding Disclosure under FOIA Requests", For the Defense, July, 2008
• "Privacy of Workplace Drug Testing Procedures and Results", The Joan Fullam Irick Privacy Project: Phase III, International Association of Defense Counsel, 2007
• "Sarbanes-Oxley: Better Listen to the Whistleblower", Whistleblowing: An Introduction, February, 2006
• "Is Criminal Enforcement Needed to Combat Alleged Corporate Conflicts of Interest?", Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder, Volume 19, Number 19, July 9, 2004
• "Jury Selection Landmines - Sexual Harassment Allegations, Corporate Judgements and Punitive Damages", FDCC Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2, Winter, 2004
• "Feds Increased Protections for Whistle-blowers", Puget Sound Business Journal, April 16, 2004
• "Corporate Accountability and Compliance in Health Care: Will Health Care Be the Next Enron?", Corporate Ethics and Governance in the Health Care Marketplace Conference: An Interdisciplinary Discussion, February 27, 2004
• "Post-Caremark Implications for Health Care Organization Boards of Directors", Seattle Journal for Social Justice, Volume 3, Issue 1, Fall/Winter, 2004
• "Navigating the Maze of Corporate Executive Witness Preparation", Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Spring, 2003
• "Do the SEC's Proposed Standards of Professional Conduct Apply to You?", Law Journal Newsletters' Product Liability Law & Strategy, May, 2003
• "Deskbook of Hospital Law, Chapter on Mandatory Reporting", Washington State Society of Hospital Attorneys
• "Actions Against Public Hospitals Under USC 1983 and Available Theories in Actions Against Private Hospitals", Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel Meeting, February, 1996
• "A Doctor's Legal Duty - Erosion of the Curbside Consult", Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 3, Spring, 2003
• How Texting Patient Information Can Increase Risk, Washington Healthcare News, 2010
• Crisis Management — Best Practices in the Digital Age, SGMA In brief, 2011

Address

Two Union Square
601 Union Street, Suite 4100
Seattle, WA 98101-2380

Phones

(206) 628-6606

Faxes

(206) 628-6611

Emails

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Websites

http://www.williamskastner.com