CHICAGO, Aug. 10, 2011 – Randy Aliment of Seattle, Wash., has begun a one-year term as chair of the American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, concluding in August 2012.

Aliment, a partner at Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC, will focus his term on a year-long initiative involving disaster preparedness and response. The initiative will include a series of podcasts, teleconferences and live programs on issues arising out of disasters caused by terrorism, negligent acts, natural events and threats to cyber-security and will cover issues of preparedness, risk management, recovery and response, liability, insurance, claims and litigation.

The initiative will kick off with 10 teleconferences/webinars in September 2011 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9-11. It will also deliver 10 podcasts throughout the year including two general-themed podcasts and two podcasts before each of the section’s live programs during section meetings in Seattle, New Orleans, Charleston and Chicago.

Aliment’s practice focuses on commercial law advice, business litigation and higher education law. He has represented clients in numerous state and federal courts and before administrative bodies in several states and Canada, and he has negotiated agreements on behalf of clients involved in commercial transactions in Europe, the Middle East and China.

Aliment collaborates extensively with his firm’s Chinese affiliate, Duan & Duan, working in their offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong in his representation of U.S. and Chinese entities in transactions, agreements and joint ventures. His experience includes serving as national coordinating counsel in mass tort litigation, securities fraud litigation and contract negotiations on behalf of sports figures.

In February 2010, Aliment was nominated for the King County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s Outstanding Mentor Award. He was also recognized by the Seattle Met Magazine as a “Top Lawyer” in Commercial Litigation for 2010. Aliment’s Martindale-Hubbell’s rating is “AV Preeminent”—the highest peer-review rating available. In addition, he has been recognized as an outstanding Pacific Northwest lawyer by several publications, including Washington Law & Politics Super Lawyer (several years), Seattle Magazine (2007); Seattle Business Monthly (2007) and Washington CEO magazine (2006).

Aliment has served as one of four ABA delegates to the council of the UIA International Association of Lawyers, headquartered in Paris. He also serves on the Washington State Bar Association International Law Section Executive Committee and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association and former chairman of the Board of Governors for City University. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, the Washington China Relations Council, the Council on Law in Higher Education, and is a past president of Fairwood Golf & Country Club. Aliment is a founding board member of the Italian-American Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest.

Aliment earned his law degree from Seattle University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

The ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section unites plaintiff, defense, insurance and corporate counsel to advance the civil justice system. TIPS is a national source of expertise in tort, trial and insurance practice and brings lawyers together to share information and speak out on issues of importance. The section has about 25,000 members and 32 general committees that focus on substantive and procedural matters in areas across the broad spectrum of civil law and practice.