Cody Moore sworn in by Judge David Frazier
By Kara McMurray, Whitman County (Colfax, Wash.) Gazette reporter, 9/23/2015
Superior Court Judge David Frazier Monday swore in a new attorney.
Cody Moore was sworn in as one of Washington’s newest attorneys. Moore found out earlier this month that he passed the Bar exam after graduating from the University of Idaho College of Law in May.
Moore, a Colton native, has been hired at Jones, Brower and Callery in Lewiston, and he will be one of two attorneys there authorized to practice law in Washington. He said he specifically wants to serve Whitman County, and added that the firm is “pretty set up to serve the Palouse.”
“My goal is establish a practice base on the Palouse,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to build a strong client base on the Palouse with Whitman County being a predominate part. The goal here is to plant roots on the Palouse and make it happen.”
Moore was presented before Judge Frazier by his close friend John Kragt, who he met at Spokane Falls Community College and is an attorney at Carpenter, McGuire and DeWulf, P.S. Moore’s mother, Becky Phillips, and wife and daughter, Laura and Grace, also attended.
Moore attended Spokane Falls Community College and Whitworth University in Spokane before transferring to Washington State University to finish his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He graduated from WSU in 2007 and took some time off before pursuing law school.
“Out of college, I did not go straight to law school because I wanted to do something tangible,” he said. “I just wanted to get my hands dirty and do something.”
Moore said he wanted to gain experience working before going back to studying. He was hired out of college as the executive director of Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps in Spokane where he orchestrated several home rehabilitation projects, fundraised, managed construction projects, wrote and submitted grants and established partnerships with local organizations and government entities.
After that, he moved to Seattle to work in public relations at Marler Clark, a food safety law firm. In 2011, he married Laura Bagby, who he had met at WSU. It was Laura, he said, who helped him to make the decision to start law school.
Laura and he were talking at the airport on the way to their honeymoon the day after their wedding when she said, “You’re always talking about taking the LSAT.”
He signed up to take the LSAT there at the airport, with the deadline to sign up being just two days later.
“It was the first thing we did on the honeymoon,” he said.
After passing the LSAT, Moore was admitted to the college of law at the U of I, which he started in the fall of 2012. He said for him and Laura the opportunity to come back to the Palouse is what they wanted.
“We just kind of could not resist,” he said. “This place has a draw. This place inspires me.”
Moore said he was grateful for the opportunity to come back here through school, and he plans to stay here to serve the communities.
“I care about this place so much that I hope to give back to the Palouse through my career,” he said. “That is what I came back here to do.”
He said he sees this area as attractive for young professionals, and he knows others can make it here, too.
“You just have to want to make it here and you will,” he said.
Laura works as a third grade teacher at Palouse Elementary, and the couple hopes to buy a house in the area now and really put their roots down. Cody and Laura have one daughter, Grace, who is 17 months old, and are expecting their second child, a son, any day now. His due date is Sept. 26.
Moore also said he wants to establish a good reputation on the Palouse.
“I will be one of the hardest working attorneys in the area. I want to build a reputation as a hardworking, diligent lawyer who will do everything he can for his client,” he said. “What I am going to promise is that I am going to outwork the other side and do it honestly and diligently. At the end of the day, I expect that will produce more results than not.”
