Anne Farrell leaving Washington Mutual

Some might call it good timing for Anne V. Farrell, who is leaving the Washington Mutual board of directors because she has reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. Washington Mutual, the embattled Seattle lender, is facing lawsuits, more big lending losses, and is the subject of takeover speculation.

In an SEC filing Friday, Washington Mutual said Farrell, a director since 1994, would not stand for re-election at the company’s annual meeting in April. The 13 remaining directors will. While directors at some other lenders caught in the mortgage meltdown, such as Countrywide Financial, have resigned, Washington Mutual directors have been staying the course.

Farrell is president emeritus of the powerful Seattle Foundation. Another Washington Mutual director, Mary Pugh, is still a trustee of the foundation.
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In December, Washington Mutual gained another tie to the Seattle Foundation when it named Stewart M. Landefeld interim chief legal officer. Landefeld was a partner in the Seattle office of Perkins Coie and is the immediate past chairman of the Seattle Foundation.

At Washington Mutual, Landefeld will offer guidance until a permanent replacement for legal chief Fay Chapman can be found. Landefeld then plans to return to Perkins Coie, where the client list includes Microsoft and Google.

Chapman retires at the end of June. After that, she will be retained as a consultant for two years by Washington Mutual, at a cost of $2.65 million, according to the company’s proxy statement. Among the reasons Washington Mutual lists for retaining Chapman: “to assist us with a number of significant litigation and other matters we currently face and others that may arise in the future.”

Both Landefeld and Chapman will also assist in finding and hiring a new chief legal officer, the SEC filing says. Washington Mutual paid Perkins Coie $1.4 million in legal fees in 2007 and the meter for its outside legal help is sure to keep running this year.

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