Commissioner Biographies

Kristin Hawes, Chair, is a member at Seattle's Summit Law Group, where her practice focuses on commercial real estate.  She is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and New York University Law School.  Prior to joining Summit, she was senior counsel at SSL Law Firm, where she represented both landlords and tenants, and a former general counsel and secretary at John L. Scott Real Estate.  Earlier in her career, she was an assistant public defender, and she maintains an interest in ensuring equitable access to legal services.  As a native Seattleite, Commissioner Hawes appreciates the opportunity to serve the city through her participation in the SEEC. Ms. Hawes was appointed to the Commission in 2021 by the Mayor, to a term that expires December 31, 2023.

 
Susan Taylor, Vice Chair, served as Chief Compliance Counsel for Fluke Corporation and Tektronix Inc., both global electronics manufacturers, from 2013 to 2018. She focused on building a compliance program to prevent corruption, particularly in high risk countries such as China, Brazil, Russia and India, and overseeing the whistleblower program to ensure fair and thorough investigations of employee complaints. She then served as Interim Compliance Counsel for Tektronix on a part-time basis until June of 2022. Previously, Susan was General Counsel at eMagin Corporation, Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Washington Mutual, Inc. and Partner at Foster Pepper PLLC. She graduated with a degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and a law degree from U.C. Berkeley.  Ms. Taylor was appointed by the Commission in February 2019 to a term ending December 31, 2021 and was reappointed to a second term that expires December 31, 2024.

Zach Pekelis is a litigation partner at Pacifica Law Group, where his practice focuses on constitutional, administrative, and political law. Previously, Zach worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Complex Litigation Division of the Washington Attorney General's Office; as a Trial Attorney in the Voting Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division; and as a litigation associate at Perkins Coie. Born and raised in Seattle, Zach attended Garfield High School, where he played sax in the jazz band. He graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School. After college, Zach joined Teach For America, teaching history and government at a high school in Brooklyn, New York. After law school, Zach clerked for Judge David F. Hamilton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Zach was appointed to the Commission by the Mayor in 2020 and reappointed in 2023 for a term that expires December 31, 2025.

David A. Perez is a Partner at Perkins Coie. He is the firmwide chair of the Business Litigation practice, and the co-chair of the Real Estate Litigation group. As part of his constitutional and public law practice, David routinely advises individuals, including public officials, and companies on First Amendment issues, communications, media, and pending legislation, including at the appellate level. These cases often involve defamation and disparagement, civil rights claims, election law, or other issues of public significance. As part of this work, David served as outside general counsel to the Seattle Community Police Commission. David also maintains an active pro bono practice. The ACLU recently awarded David with its Kathleen Taylor Civil Libertarian Award for outstanding contributions to the cause of civil liberties and justice for his work as lead counsel in the Black Lives Matter v. City of Seattle litigation, which led to a federal injunction restricting the use of less lethal weapons, especially against peaceful demonstrators. The League of Women Voters named David a “Champion of Voting Rights” for his work in co-authoring the Washington Voting Rights Act (WVRA), which passed the Washington State Legislature in 2018. David is a longtime board member of the Ballard Food Bank and provides outside general counseling on a pro bono basis to the food bank. After earning his J.D. from Yale Law School, David clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He repeatedly has been named a Washington “Super Lawyer.” Mr. Perez was appointed to the Commission by the City Council to a term that expires December 31, 2023.

Hardeep Singh Rekhi is an owner and partner of Rekhi & Wolk, P.S. His practice focuses on immigration, individual employee rights as well as class action wage and hour litigation. While Mr. Rekhi was born and raised in Seattle, he has not lost touch with his immigrant roots. He is an advocate for immigrants both in his professional capacity and through his work as a past board member of Oneamerica, an organization recognized nationally as leader in immigrants rights movement. Mr. Rekhi is dedicated to advocating for a fair judicial systems for individuals. Currently he sits on the board for the Washington Employment Lawyers Association (WELA), an organization of plaintiffs' employment lawyers. He is also a board member for The South Asian Bar Association of Washington. He is an Eagle Member at Washington State Association for Justice. In 2015 he was sworn in as Judge pro tempore. Mr. Rekhi was appointed by the Mayor in December 2015 to a term ending December 31, 2018. Mr. Rekhi was reappointed to the Commission by the City Council in 2020 to a term that expires December 31, 2022.