He's joining a Seattle law firm. Curiously, the news release makes no mention of Brian Weinstein's future in the Legislature.

UPDATE: The news release doesn't. But Weinstein sent out a release on April 7 saying he would leave office after his current term is over.

If you'll recall, Rep. Fred Jarrett of Mercer Island announced late last year that he was switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party and that he would be running for Weinstein's Senate seat this year because Weinstein wasn't seeking re-election.

Well, Weinstein, for whatever reason, was begin coy about whether he would or wouldn't seek reelection. That was in the waning days of the legislative session that ended March 13. Methinks he just wanted to mess with Jarrett's mind. But you never know.

Then there was that incident a couple years ago when he called Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman "an (expletive deleted) peasant" and later said he mistook Postman for an aide to Gov. Chris Gregoire, someone with whom he had the sort of relationship that he could call him a peasant, or so Weinstein said.

That, of course, was news to Scott Merriman, the real peasant who bears a slight resemblance to Postman and still works for the governor.

Anyway, here's the news release:

Weinstein joins Bergman & Frockt law as top litigator

SEATTLE - State Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, announced today that he has joined the law firm of Bergman & Frockt in the position of senior counsel. Bergman & Frockt is the Northwest's leading law firm dedicated to asbestos and consumer protection cases. The firm handles cases nationwide.

[More:]

Prior to his election to the Washington State Senate, Weinstein was regarded as a nationally renowned litigator. "As a senator he championed the fight for consumers and families," said attorney Matthew Bergman. "His proven ability as a courtroom advocate and legal strategist will be a great asset for our firm. His legislative leadership only enhances the reputation of our firm."

Senator Weinstein, 53, has distinguished himself as a passionate lawmaker dedicated to protecting consumers and homeowners. As chair of the State Senate's Consumer and Housing Committee, Weinstein has introduced legislation to protect consumers from unfair insurance industry tactics, shoddy home construction, mortgage fraud and foreclosure rescue scams.

Weinstein led a successful fight against the insurance industry last year, which tried to overturn the Fair Insurance Practices Act, a law he introduced prohibiting insurance companies from wrongfully rejecting legitimate insurance claims. The insurance industry spent more than $11.5 million to try and reverse the Weinstein law. It was the largest amount of money spent to defeat a ballot initiative in state history. Voters overwhelmingly supported Weinsteins' new law, voting in favor of Approve 67 in November of 2007.

"Brian has never backed down from a fight to protect consumers," said Larry Shannon, Government Affairs Director for the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. "There's no question that Brian Weinstein is uncompromising when he fights for the rights of consumers. He fights to the bitter end. Consumers are lucky to have him on their side."

Weinstein is recognized as one of the nation's leading attorneys and a superlawyer by Washington Law and Politics. His courtroom victories span the nation. He has argued numerous appeals in both state and federal appeals courts across the nation, consistently upholding the rights of victims.

Weinstein pioneered asbestos litigation strategies by representing workers poisoned by asbestos in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah and Washington. An accomplished courtroom advocate, he won some of the largest jury verdicts in asbestos litigation including:

$4.5 million verdict for two plaintiffs (Boles and Ovesny v. W.R. & Grace Co.) exposed to asbestos on the job. In May of 1995, a Texas jury awarded $3 million to Jimmie Leon Boles and $1.5 million to widow Mary Louise Ovesny. Boles developed mesothelioma from exposure to Monokote while working for Brown & Root Construction, Co. Ovesny's husband Frank died from mesothelioma in 1994 after he was exposed to Zonolite insulating cement while working at a Monsanto Co.
$91.3 million verdict for 45 plaintiffs in the New York Asbestos Powerhouse Litigation. In 1991, The National Law Journal recognized Weinstein as one of a team of lawyers who won the nation's largest jury verdict that year against New York Powerhouse. The case represented hundreds of workers who were exposed to asbestos while working as insulation installers for Consolidated Edison and Long Island Lighting Co.

$2.6 million verdict for four plaintiffs (Manning v. Celotex Corp.). In February 1989, a jury awarded verdict to families of asbestos workers in Atlanta.

$2.1 million verdict (Bennett vs. Owens-Corning Fiberglass). In 1993, a jury awarded the verdict to Louise Bennett, widow of Fred Bennett, a worker who died from asbestos-related lung disease.

$1.1 million verdict (Kuhn vs. Celotex). In 1989, a jury awarded Larry Kuhn more than $1 million for asbestos-related disease he incurred as an insulator in New York.

Weinstein is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he graduated with a degree in Economics. He graduated from the University of Texas Law School with honors in 1981. He resides in Mercer Island with his wife Gaylene and has three children.

For more information please visit www.bergmanlegal.com.

Contact:
Sue Evans
206.792.0408
sue@pyramidcommunications.com

Here's Weinstein's April 7 announcement:

From: Burkland, Anne

Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 10:30 AM
To: Burkland, Anne
Subject: Press Release - Weinstein confirms retirement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 7, 2008

Weinstein confirms retirement

OLYMPIA – Senator Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, announced today that he will be sticking by his earlier decision to not seek reelection this November. Weinstein was elected in 2004 and serves as chair of the Senate Consumer Protection & Housing Committee. He will continue to serve out the remainder of his term. Weinstein had previously announced that he planned on returning to his law practice fulltime once his term ended in early January 2009, but he had agreed to reconsider his decision after being asked by numerous consumer protection advocates to run again.

“We made enormous progress in the field of consumer protection this past legislative session,” said Weinstein. “While the President and Congress debate what to do about the subprime debacle, we took the bull by the horns and passed some very meaningful legislation that will go a long way towards protecting homebuyers. Our foreclosure rescue legislation, our regulation of mortgage brokers and our title insurance legislation are some of the strongest in the nation.”

Weinstein said he was proud of what had been accomplished in education and consumer protection throughout his term.

“I am very proud of sponsoring, at the Governor’s request, the Washington Learns Bill. I believe this bill and the various studies generated by this bill, will lead to a complete overhaul of education funding in Washington,” Weinstein said. “The obvious eventual goal being the creation of the best education system in the United States.”

“My passion, though, is consumer protection, and I am most proud of sponsoring and passing the Fair Insurance Conduct Act, which survived a referendum challenge last year in the form of R67. I am also very pleased with the bill we passed this year requiring that mortgage brokers owe a fiduciary duty to their customers.”

When asked about his greatest disappointment, Weinstein answered, “Anyone who has read the newspaper or watched the evening news in the last year has to know that I was unable to secure for Washingtonians the Homebuyer’s Bill of Rights. Despite passing it in the Senate and the House Judiciary Committee for two consecutive years, the Speaker of the House refused to bring it up for a vote. I will spend the remaining time in my term continuing to bring awareness to the problem of the lack of builder accountability for shoddy construction.”

“I am very honored to have served the people of the 41st District. I want to wish the best to my constituents and to my colleagues in the Senate.”