Find Lawyers in Seattle, Washington for Commercial Litigation
Practice Area Overview
Litigation increasingly occurs in various venues, from state and federal courts to private arbitrations and administrative hearings. Proceedings can involve business-to-business disputes or any number of government agencies. Understanding the motivations and outlook of each of the litigation participants is important for determining weak points to exploit and strong points that will persuade the audience in question. During the past decade, commercial litigators have seen a dramatic uptick in multidistrict and inter-disciplinary litigation, making the stakes higher, the cases more complex, the parties more numerous and the discovery more complicated and unwieldy. Firms that are able to develop and implement a creative legal approach to each individual problem, efficiently focus on the key legal and factual issues, and master and manage the various aspects of these complex matters will be the busiest in the years to come.
In the current challenging economic climate, commercial litigators are under increasing client pressure to keep costs in check, which has both sides testing the efficacy of alternative fee arrangements and the scope of reasonable discovery. Whether the “death of the billable hour” is ultimately realized, the keys to a commercial litigator’s success will continue to be strong client relationships, thought leadership, practical management skills, deep experience, and personal commitment.
Jessica’s practice focuses on defending clients facing government investigations and enforcement proceedings, as well as False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback and Stark litigation. This includes working with clients in both the healthcare and government contracting industries. Jessica also has significant complex commercial litigation experience representing corporations, officers and directors in class actions, securities litigation and contract disputes and conducting internal investigation...
Professional Experience Kristy practices in the firm’s litigation department, handling cases involving personal injury, employment, business disputes, health insurance and property disputes. Kristy also represents physicians and other health care providers in licensing and disciplinary disputes. Prior to joining Helsell Fetterman, Kristy worked at a boutique law firm for fourteen years. During her time at the firm, she successfully represented clients in a number of matters. Her experie...
Ronald Berenstain, a partner in the firm's Litigation practice, has been lead counsel in scores of high-stakes securities and corporate governance cases for more than 30 years. His practice is focused on representing public companies and their officers and directors, as well as underwriters and accountants in shareholder class action litigation, shareholder derivative litigation, merger and acquisition litigation, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action litigation, Securi...
Based in Seattle, Susman Godfrey partner, Rachel Black, focuses her practice on high-stakes commercial litigation for plaintiffs and defendants, both at the trial and appellate levels. Ms. Black has tried and managed high profile, high stakes, and widely covered matters in state and federal courts across the country involving a variety of claims, including patent infringement, audit malpractice, financial fraud, unfair business practices, environmental remediation, breach of contract, and ant...
Tom Boeder has more than 25 years' experience as a commercial litigator. His practice includes cases involving antitrust, antitrust clearance for mergers and acquisitions, class actions, consumer product liability and consumer protection litigation, and intellectual property litigation. A former deputy attorney general and chief of Antitrust, Consumer Protection and Criminal Law Enforcement in the Washington State Attorney General's Office, Tom has worked on a number of significant cases over...
David Burman, a partner in the firm's Commercial Litigation practice, has more than 30 years of experience in litigation, including antitrust, appellate, class action, consumer protection, constitutional, media, patent and intellectual property, privacy, and other cases. He also counsels clients in these and other areas. He has worked on many high-profile cases, including two U.S. Supreme Court arguments, the trial contesting the 2004 Washington State Governor's election, Costco Wholesale Cor...
Fred Burnside concentrates his practice in complex civil litigation, with particular emphasis on consumer class action defense. He is co-chair of Davis Wright Tremaine’s class action defense group. Fred has counseled and represented numerous clients in class action lawsuits across the country, including Amazon.com, AOL, AT&T, eBay, eNom, Microsoft Corp., Providence Hospital Systems, Scholastic Inc., Shell Oil, Skype Inc., Starbucks, T-Mobile USA, The University of California, Verizo...
Professional Experience As managing partner of Helsell Fetterman since 2001, Scott Collins understands the operational aspects of business and how legal issues must be addressed within greater business considerations. Utilizing that perspective, he provides clients with cost-effective legal counsel achieving practical results that serve their business goals. Scott began his career representing lenders and vendors in the fishing and boating industries of the Pacific Northwest. These were tumul...
Jeffrey B. Coopersmith is a veteran trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor with a Pacific Northwest, California, and national practice focusing on white collar criminal matters and parallel civil and regulatory proceedings, federal and state False Claims Act investigations and litigation, internal investigations for private and public entities, and complex commercial litigation. During his eight-year tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney, Jeff handled some of the largest and most ...
Susan Fahringer is a partner in the firm's Commercial Litigation group with over 20 years' experience in privacy and security litigation , intellectual property litigation (with a focus on trade secret and copyright litigation), consumer class action defense and complex commercial litigation. In her privacy and security work, Susan defends companies against individual and class action claims alleging user data and privacy violations, and she defends companies against investigations and suits ...
Tyler is regularly identified among the top commercial trial lawyers in the state. Best Lawyers in America , Chambers USA, Super Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation. For 2021, Best Lawyers has recognized Tyler for commercial litigation, appellate practice, and intellectual property litigation. In its 2020 edition, Chambers USA touted Tyler's trial experience and wrote that he "is a popular choice for bet the company litigation." Benchmark Litigation has observed that: "On the younger end of the...
Brad Fisher maintains a diverse civil litigation practice, handling cases involving corporate governance and partnership disputes, breaches of contract and business torts, misuse of trade secrets and other forms of unfair competition, violations of noncompetition covenants, and consumer protection claims, among others. He regularly litigates in both state and federal courts and in arbitration, and represents both defendants and plaintiffs. Brad also regularly represents health care clients in...
Susan Foster, a partner in the firm's Litigation practice, focuses her practice on antitrust and trade regulation counseling and litigation as well as intellectual property, advertising and other complex business and financial litigation. In her counseling practice Susan assists clients with a full range of antitrust and marketing issues including distribution counseling, advertising and promotion issues, strategic alliances and Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification matters. Her clients en...
Jeff Frank has practiced in the areas of commercial, construction, and real estate litigation for more than 25 years. He represents public and private owners, port districts, developers, design professionals, and general contractors in construction disputes, real estate contract disputes, claim avoidance, property damage claims, and litigation. He has also handled several “business separation” and shareholder derivative matters for clients in a number of industries, including, rea...
Tony’s practice has long focused on complex litigation, primarily trust and probate disputes, as well as commercial actions including closely held business disputes and dissolutions. Whether the matter involves attacking or defending a prenuptial agreement in a probate, prosecuting a fiduciary’s breach of duties or forcing out a problematic minority-interest business owner, Tony has been obtaining successful results for his clients for decades. He is an effective negotiator but, i...
Jim Grant is an experienced litigator who has handled many large class actions, as well as complex appeals in the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. He regularly represents clients on regulatory matters, often focusing on state taxes and fees. Jim has served as in-house counsel in the wireless telecommunications industry, and has worked with several large telecommunications clients. He has also handled complex litigation involving the Internet and e-commerce issues.
Kevin J. Hamilton focuses his practice on labor and employment counseling and litigation. Mr. Hamilton has addressed, through counseling, negotiation, or litigation, a broad range of key issues critical to the modern workplace. Mr. Hamilton has particular experience with non-competition, trade secret, multiple plaintiff and class action litigation. Mr. Hamilton chairs the firm's nationally-recognized Retail & Consumer Industry practice, including more than 200 lawyers throughout the firm ...
Professional Experience Dave Jurca has litigated a wide variety of business disputes in courts across the country, and has chaired Helsell Fetterman’s general litigation department for many years. He has represented parties in litigation claims related to construction, environmental matters, employment, antitrust, franchises, dealer termination, distributorship, unfair competition, breach of contract, securities, warranty, usury, insurance coverage, fraud, product liability, commercial ...
Steve Koh chairs the firm's International Arbitration practice. In addition, Steve handles product liability, civil fraud and class action matters. He has represented clients such as The Boeing Company, OfficeMax , Boise Cascade Corporation, T-Mobile and Honeywell . Steve also acts as arbitrator in commercial matters.
Jay Kornfeld primarily represents companies in commercial creditor and debtor issues, emphasizing workouts, restructurings, and Chapter 11 reorganizations. Over the years, he has represented clients in diverse industries, including agricultural, food processing, grocery, commercial real estate, retail, high-tech and software, wood products, commercial fishing, and newspaper. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, is AV-rated, and a Trustee of the King County Bar Association (Ju...
Eric Laliberte meets sensitive issues with practical solutions. As a member of Keller Rohrback’s Trust & Estates Litigation and Commercial Litigation teams, Eric’s work is informed by multiple practice areas. Eric graduated with his M.B.A. from Chapman University in 2009 and his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 2012. His background in both finance and law provides him with the ability to understand complex financial issues and explain them in simple, str...
Tim Leyh is an accomplished trial lawyer with over 30 years’ experience representing individuals, businesses, and state and local governments in complex and high stakes matters. His clients and colleagues know him not only as a litigator and trial lawyer, but also as a superb problem solver. Tim is consistently recognized as a Top 100 lawyer by Super Lawyers. He has been described by Chambers and Partners as a “terrific strategist who cuts to the heart of things in a remarkable wa...
Chelsey is an experienced civil litigator with a varied practice, including in complex commercial disputes, personal injury, trust and estate litigation, and insurance recovery. Chelsey’s clients range from Fortune 500 companies, small to mid-sized companies, government entities, and individuals. She has achieved favorable results at trial and on the courthouse steps. Chelsey has experience litigating matters in Washington’s state and federal courts, and has extensive pro hac expe...
Jodi represents insurers in complex insurance coverage disputes and maritime matters. She enjoys working together with her clients to help them avoid and solve problems. Jodi has extensive experience defending bad faith claims. She primarily practices in Washington and Oregon, two venues that are notoriously difficult for insurers to operate. She handles all types of coverage disputes including environmental, professional liability, maritime, and general liability. She has successfully litiga...
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