Mark Larrañaga to Be Sworn in as King County Superior Court Judge
King County Superior Court looks forward to welcoming its newest judge. Acting Presiding Judge Ketu Shah will swear in Mark Larrañaga at 8:45 a.m. on May 15 in the Presiding Courtroom (E-942) of the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle.
“Mark Larrañaga brings tremendous knowledge and experience to the King County Superior Court bench,” said Acting Presiding Judge Ketu Shah. “Our court, and the people of King County, will benefit greatly from his service.”
Larrañaga is a career criminal defense attorney, with roughly three decades of courtroom and trial experience. In 2005, he co-founded Walsh & Larrañaga, a Seattle-based law firm focused on criminal defense, civil rights, and personal injury work. From 2001 to 2004, Larrañaga was director of Washington state’s Death Penalty Assistance Center, where he trained and assisted attorneys handling capital punishment cases. He began his career as a public defender in 1993.
Larrañaga is also involved in his community. He has volunteered as a youth baseball coach, and regularly judges high school mock trial competitions. From 2005 to 2018, Larrañaga taught death penalty jurisprudence as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law.
Larrañaga earned his bachelor’s degree at San Diego State University. He earned his law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law.
About the Court
King County Superior Court handles civil matters, domestic matters, felony criminal cases, juvenile matters, and appeals from courts of limited jurisdiction. The state’s largest trial court, it is comprised of 54 judges, each elected to 4-year terms by the voters of King County, or, in the event of a vacancy, appointed by the Governor.
King County Superior Court Judges are assigned to departments of the Court; these assignments rotate annually. The court’s departments are Criminal, Civil, Dependency, Drug Court, Juvenile, Unified Family Court, Ex Parte & Probate, and Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) Court.
For more information about judges and judicial assignments in King County Superior Court, please see the Court’s directory: https://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/superior-court/directory/judges.aspx
