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Biography...Anne Melani Bremner
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One of four children to psychiatrist James Douglas Bremner and Linnea Marie Leonardson, Anne descends from the family of John Bremner
and Jane Watt in Botriphnie, Banffshire. That family can trace their roots as farmers there at least as far back as the 17th century.
Their son James (1776-1858) married Isobel Mitchell in Botriphnie in 1801; their eldest son John Bremner (b 1803) married Margaret Cran,
and had six children, five born in the Rhynie, Aberdeenshire area.
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The family came to the United States in about 1841, where their youngest
son, George, was born. After living there for about 12 years, the family moved west to the new American frontier, settling in Cow Creek, Iowa.
Her gg-grandfather James Bremner (b 1831), their third child, married Abigail Freeman (b 1828) in Iowa.
Three children were born in Springdale and Prairie; son George moved to Washington state before 1900,
marrying Marian Alicia Bay around 1925.
Many descendants of this prolific family moved throughout Banffshire and Aberdeenshire, and descendants are found in Keith and Cairnie.
Other family members emigrated to Canada.
More details of this genealogy…
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After a B.A. in medieval history at Stanford, Anne got her law degree from Seattle University, and
for the past 24 years, she has been a well-recognized trial lawyer in Washington state.
Currently with the Seattle firm of
Stafford Frey Cooper, her private practice emphasizes high-profile trial work.
She could be considered a "lawyer's lawyer", having represented Washington State Attorney General (now Governor)
Chris Gregoire as well as the Seattle Police and other law-enforcement officers throughout Washington State.
She won verdicts for the police in the high-profile "Mary Kay Letourneau" statutory rape case.
Presently a member of the American, Washington State and Seattle-King Bar Associations, she is also on the Board of Trustees
for the Washington Defence Trial Lawyers Association, and a past member of the State Board of Directors (and Director of Media Relations)
for Washington Women Lawyers.
Anne Bremner has the honour of being included in the top 1% of Trial Lawyers in the United States and Canada
(she has won every civil case she was ever involved in) who meet the rigid requirements for Fellowship in the prestigious
American College of Trial Lawyers, and in 2003 was selected as National Representative for all the Fellows to give their formal
presentation at her class' induction.
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She is a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has been a frequent
lecturer for seminars throughout the United States and the Caribbean. She is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
She is "AV" rated ("preeminent"), and was a semifinalist to be the U.S. Attorney in Washington.
In addition to these accomplishments, Anne has been named a "Superlawyer" (top 5% of lawyers in Washington State) from 1999
through 2005 and was voted by her peers as one of Seattle's 92 best attorneys in 2001 and one of Seattle's top 115 attorneys
in 2003 in Seattle Magazine. Her frequent media appearances continue to maintain her high profile image within the law community
of the US North-West and indeed across the country.
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"I used to believe that for a lawyer to be successful, one had to be hard edged, mean and tough, but it's more disarming when you're nice.
You get a lot farther. When people call me 'Barbie' or 'Gidget' in jest, I love it!"
Anne has a simple explanation for the popularity of TV legal shows and the American obsession with crime, trial and punishment.
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"All trials are morality plays, public forums in which to discuss big issues. In the Robert Blake trial, we asked, if the victim
is an unsympathetic grifter, should the defendant get off? Do we know evil when we see it? Is the case of Martha Stewart, who
is rich and female, different from the guys from Enron? Americans have been fascinated by trials forever, going back to the
Lindbergh baby case and Leopold and Loeb. The press coverage has always been staggering. And morality plays are unpredictable.
It's like a sporting event where we don't know the outcome. The fascination we have for disturbing human behavior has never changed,
only the proliferation of media outlets to feed it."
That balanced perspective makes her a frequent guest on such television shows as "Nancy Grace" on CNN Headline News.
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Check out her web-site at http://www.abremner.com
to find out when her next media appearance will be televised, and to see her in action!
Written with files from:
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