Topeka lawyer to join ethics panel

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Oct 1, 2006

The Capital-Journal

Topeka lawyer Gerald L. Goodell was named Friday as the Kansas Supreme Court's appointee to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission by Chief Justice Kay McFarland.

Goodell succeeds former Chief Justice Robert H. Miller, who resigned after 15 years of service on the ethics commission. The commission is charged with administering, interpreting and enforcing the Campaign Finance Act and laws relating to conflicts of interest, financial disclosure and the regulation of lobbying.

Goodell serves as "of counsel" to Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer, a Topeka law firm that he joined in 1958 after graduating from Washburn University School of Law. He is past president of the Topeka and Kansas bar associations and currently is listed as a leader in the field of real estate law in "Best Lawyers in America."

Goodell has been active in education, civic and profession associations throughout his legal career, including service as the current president of the Washburn Endowment Association and past president of the Washburn Alumni Association, Washburn Law School Alumni Association and the Washburn Law School Foundation.

He is former chairman of the Kansas Board of Law Examiners, which makes recommendations to the Supreme Court concerning applications to practice law.