Dana Cashman KCPAO Women in Leadership
This Women’s History Month, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is highlighting some of the depth and breadth of women leaders in our office as part of our “Women in Leadership” series. These profiles are only a few of the many amazing women in our office.
How long have you worked at the PAO?
29 years.
What is your role in the PAO?
I am currently the co-chair of the Maleng Regional Justice Center (MRJC). I supervise a group of filing Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys in the Violent and Economics Crimes Unit (VECU), and participate in other administrative functions such as updating our filing and disposition standards, working on our new Community Diversion Program, and addressing the impacts of recent changes in the law on our day-to-day practice in VECU.
When I came to the PAO I started in District Court and worked there for a couple months, and then I went to our Drug Unit (which we no longer have). And within less than a year I was in our mainstream trial rotation, where you got a smattering of all the kinds of cases.
I worked in Trial Teams and did quite a bit of work in the Special Assault Unit. I spend 7 years in Sex Predator Civil Commitments. I worked our Appellate Unit, Filing Unit, and then I came to the MRJC — where I’ve been for 12 or 13 years.
What were you doing before coming to the PAO?
I did a number of things before going to law school — I worked as a travel agent, I worked in public relations, I was the pantry chef at a fine restaurant, and I worked briefly as a paralegal. I went to law school at Syracuse University, and afterward I moved to Manhattan. I worked in private practice doing mostly real estate and entertainment law.
What are some of your goals in regards to the work you do?
I am very interested in some of the Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) committees I’m a part of, in particular the work to diversify the PAO. Attracting more diverse candidates for both staff and attorneys.
Continuing to work on our Filing and Disposition Standards with an eye towards ESJ and how we can transition more people out of the criminal justice system. Running people through the jail is truly not always the best use of our resources. I am interested in bail reform and work on that committee as well.
I’m interested in fostering growth in our new attorneys. I frequently supervise people in their first felony trial rotation. I try to teach them as much as I can, to help them get comfortable with the felony practice, being in court, making a legal analysis. I want them to feel supported in their growth in their office.
What sort of obstacles have you faced in your field? What was it like dealing with those?
I’ve had jurors tell me I should where shorter skirts. I’ve had attorneys call and say who is the guy who handles this or that. I have had people assume I’m the paralegal and not an attorney — but really these are all relatively minor frustrations or annoyances.
When I had my daughter, who is now 23, I was one of the few people who had a young child, and it was hard to return to work. There were periods of time when my rotation was really not conducive to being a young parent, and I don’t think the office was as flexible then as we are now.
That was more than 20 years ago and things have changed. I frequently now supervise people who are coming back from or going on maternity leave, or have other demands that make it difficult for them to be in a heavy trial rotation. The work/life balance for new parents is challenging and is a period of time when you can lose people as an office. So we try to be flexible, not only for new parents, but for anyone who has the need for some attention to the balance between a career and the variety of demands life presents, and that gets especially difficult sometimes in life. We are such a big office, there are lots of places for people to contribute in different ways.
What advice would you give to other women who are considering a similar career path?
I would encourage them to go for it. I have met a lot of young women — I mentioned my daughter who is 23 — and a lot of her friends in college have indicated their interest in going to law school. Law school does allow for a lot of career options, and I feel strongly that the work we do at the PAO is really exciting and interesting. There’s also a huge variety of work and I feel like we are doing a lot of work that benefits the community. You can feel good about getting up in the morning knowing that you are doing work that serves your community.
Anything else you’d like to share?
This is a great place to work, and there’s so many different facets to the work that we do and different opportunities. And we are open to change; we are constantly trying to reinvent ourselves with an eye towards social justice and equity, which is really rewarding. The task is never done, we are never finished growing, and there are always new challenges to meet.
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Catch up with the entire KCPAO Women in Leadership series on our blog at How long have you worked at the PAO?
29 years.
What is your role in the PAO?
I am currently the co-chair of the Maleng Regional Justice Center (MRJC). I supervise a group of filing Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys in the Violent and Economics Crimes Unit (VECU), and participate in other administrative functions such as updating our filing and disposition standards, working on our new Community Diversion Program, and addressing the impacts of recent changes in the law on our day-to-day practice in VECU.
When I came to the PAO I started in District Court and worked there for a couple months, and then I went to our Drug Unit (which we no longer have). And within less than a year I was in our mainstream trial rotation, where you got a smattering of all the kinds of cases.
I worked in Trial Teams and did quite a bit of work in the Special Assault Unit. I spend 7 years in Sex Predator Civil Commitments. I worked our Appellate Unit, Filing Unit, and then I came to the MRJC — where I’ve been for 12 or 13 years.
What were you doing before coming to the PAO?
I did a number of things before going to law school — I worked as a travel agent, I worked in public relations, I was the pantry chef at a fine restaurant, and I worked briefly as a paralegal. I went to law school at Syracuse University, and afterward I moved to Manhattan. I worked in private practice doing mostly real estate and entertainment law.
What are some of your goals in regards to the work you do?
I am very interested in some of the Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) committees I’m a part of, in particular the work to diversify the PAO. Attracting more diverse candidates for both staff and attorneys.
Continuing to work on our Filing and Disposition Standards with an eye towards ESJ and how we can transition more people out of the criminal justice system. Running people through the jail is truly not always the best use of our resources. I am interested in bail reform and work on that committee as well.
I’m interested in fostering growth in our new attorneys. I frequently supervise people in their first felony trial rotation. I try to teach them as much as I can, to help them get comfortable with the felony practice, being in court, making a legal analysis. I want them to feel supported in their growth in their office.
What sort of obstacles have you faced in your field? What was it like dealing with those?
I’ve had jurors tell me I should where shorter skirts. I’ve had attorneys call and say who is the guy who handles this or that. I have had people assume I’m the paralegal and not an attorney — but really these are all relatively minor frustrations or annoyances.
When I had my daughter, who is now 23, I was one of the few people who had a young child, and it was hard to return to work. There were periods of time when my rotation was really not conducive to being a young parent, and I don’t think the office was as flexible then as we are now.
That was more than 20 years ago and things have changed. I frequently now supervise people who are coming back from or going on maternity leave, or have other demands that make it difficult for them to be in a heavy trial rotation. The work/life balance for new parents is challenging and is a period of time when you can lose people as an office. So we try to be flexible, not only for new parents, but for anyone who has the need for some attention to the balance between a career and the variety of demands life presents, and that gets especially difficult sometimes in life. We are such a big office, there are lots of places for people to contribute in different ways.
What advice would you give to other women who are considering a similar career path?
I would encourage them to go for it. I have met a lot of young women — I mentioned my daughter who is 23 — and a lot of her friends in college have indicated their interest in going to law school. Law school does allow for a lot of career options, and I feel strongly that the work we do at the PAO is really exciting and interesting. There’s also a huge variety of work and I feel like we are doing a lot of work that benefits the community. You can feel good about getting up in the morning knowing that you are doing work that serves your community.
Anything else you’d like to share?
This is a great place to work, and there’s so many different facets to the work that we do and different opportunities. And we are open to change; we are constantly trying to reinvent ourselves with an eye towards social justice and equity, which is really rewarding. The task is never done, we are never finished growing, and there are always new challenges to meet.
###
Catch up with the entire KCPAO Women in Leadership series on our blog at kcprosecutor.medium.com.
