Sisters, best friends, law partners and roller derby girls

ELLENSBURG - Growing up, Devra Sigle Hermosilla and Dovie Sigle often felt it was two against the world. So it seemed quite natural when the sisters decided to practice law out of the same office - Sigle Law - a  year and a half ago.

But it took a while to get to this point. Devra worked 10 years for large legal firms in Spokane and Portland. Dovie worked for Ron Hamett of Wenatchee two years and the Kittitas County Prosecutor for three, then went on her own.

Everything started to change for Devra in 2010 when she found it difficult to focus on her work. She didn't like the world of the big legal firm after all. Other female lawyers were ending up with lifestyles she didn't like.

"I wasn't going to sleep in the office every night," she said.

Devra needed to go on her own, and she knew it. Dovie knew it too, but it took her a while to help Devra make the leap to private practice.  

"I'm happy I made the move, but it was a scary move," Devra said.

Dovie cheated a little. She learned there was a fledgling roller derby team in Ellensburg and knew that Devra loved the sport. So she told Devra, even went to a meeting to learn more, and she got the reaction for which she hoped.

"What really got me here was roller derby," Devra said. "I was kind of seeing roller derby as my last excuse for not coming. I saw (this team) as a sign."

Dovie had no interest in the sport at all. Now she's a top blocker and sweeper for the Rodeo City Roller Girls, and Devra is her coach. The sisters, as they are known in the world of law, and derby sisters, as they are known in the roller world, are back where they belong - together.

Although five years separates the sisters, they've always been best friends. They suffered divorced parents and all that brings when Devra was 7 and Dovie 2 and they began to lean on each other.

The Sigle sisters discussed their challenging lives often. Both vowed they'd be married only once. Devra is 19 years into her marriage, Dovie 12. Each has two children, all in the same age range.

The Sigle sisters grew up in the Auburn-Kent area. Devra was a true leader for Dovie, showing her the paths to take. As a result, Dovie caught up academically, and the two came out of law school at about the same time.

"She planned my life very well," Dovie said.

Devra graduated from Auburn High School in 1990. She worked at Boeing while attending Pacific Lutheran University and graduated  in 1997. She got her law degree from Seattle University in 2000.

Dovie graduated from Kentwood High School in 1996 with a diploma and an associates degree from Green River College. The latter was at Devra's insistence. She graduated from PLU in 1997 and from Seattle U in 2000.

Devra was in her last year at PLU when she decided to go into law because "it sounded intriguing." Dovie's reason for joining the legal profession was Devra's first pregnancy.

Devra became so large that she couldn't drive. Dovie had to take her to class and sit with her. She fit right in. Not knowing any better, the professor called on her to answer, and she did it flawlessly.

"She knew the answers better than I did," Devra said.

After law school, there was a parting of the ways - professionally. Devra thought she'd be better off financially with a big firm and signed on with Spokane's Paine Hamblen Law Office.

Dovie didn't want a boss. Even though she took employment to get experience, she planned to be on her own as quickly as possible. And she advised Devra to do the same.

"I told her she wouldn't like having a boss," Dovie said.

Dovie was correct. In 2010 Devra no longer wanted a boss.

"I was miserable in the firm, even though I liked the people there," she said.

The sisters formed Sigle Law, PLLC in January of 2011. They moved their mother, Genese Russell, in from Post Falls, Idaho to run the office.

"How sweet is that?" Dovie commented.

Devra specializes in civil litigation and Dovie in criminal defense. But both do everything. You can't specialize a whole lot in a small town.

Although the sisters work out of the same office, they are on their own. They don't share each other's business financially. However, they help each other with the work when one needs assistance from the other.

"It's a lot of fun," Dovie said.

Most of the fun is just being together. The sisters admit they have to tell each other to "zip it" so they can get their work done.

"We're sisters. So we talk a lot," Dovie said.

"We distract each other," Devra added.

Some of the talk is legal, the sisters said. Most of it, they admitted, is roller derby.

"Roller derby is addictive," Dovie said. "It's everything we talk about."

Devra encountered roller derby for the first time in Spokane. A friend took her to a Lilac City Roller Girls practice. She liked the idea of being able to hit other women legally.

Devra became a player in 2009, developing as a blocker with the Rose City Wreckers of Portland. She played half of her first year in Ellensburg and then became a coach. Now she's a head coach. Instead of hitting other women, she yells at them - legally.

Roller Derby has given Devra the confidence to be as aggressive in court as she is on the track. Male courtroom opponents expecting a demure personality, are most often surprised.

"It gives me the feeling I can say what needs to be said without apologizing," Devra said.

Dovie went to practices and did some of off-track exercises at first. But watching the other girls on the track, she knew where the action was and had to be in it.

"It's the same kind of thing (as a courtroom battle), except I get to hit people," she said. "For me, it's anger management."

According to Devra, Dovie has become "a really scary sweeper." It's her job to knock people off the track, and she looks real serious to opposing jammers when she appears.

"It sounds horrible," Dovie said. "But it's also fun."