Litigation Legal Services for Businesses » Litigation

Legal disputes don’t come neatly packaged. Fortunately, many can be settled before a lawsuit or other formal proceeding begins; others however, may require a trial for resolution.

When a client comes to us with a dispute, we listen carefully to all the details. We then evaluate our client’s position and make recommendations for a resolution consistent with the goals. We take a practical, common sense approach to such matters, and explore all avenues possible to assist and better protect our clients.

Experience Counts

Our Litigation attorneys form one of the firm’s largest and oldest practice groups. We are skilled in all areas of dispute resolution, including jury and non-jury trials in state and federal courts, regulatory proceedings, arbitration, mediation and appeals. Although much of our litigation work is in Washington State, we also represent clients in courts and before administrative agencies outside of Washington.

Over the years, our group has worked on disputes in a wide range of legal and business contexts, including:

Specific Experience:

We focus on finding dispute-resolution options that protect rather than interfere with the business activities of our clients. We have represented clients across the full range of business/commercial disputes, including everything from contract and lease disputes to lawsuits involving product liability, anti-trust, non-compete arrangements, unfair business practices and intellectual property.

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Most construction projects involve a complex web of rights and responsibili­ties among owners, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and sureties. We represent these clients in residential and commercial projects at every phase of the construction process, including design and construction docu­ments, bid protests, change orders, claim reviews, liens and bond claims. We also help clients with legal problems under federal and state environmental laws, including state and federal contribution lawsuits against responsible parties and disputes about insurance coverage.

Real estate transactions, particularly large, complex ones, often breed disputes. We help developers, owners, landlords, lenders, buyers, sellers and condominium homeowners resolve disp­utes. We also represent clients in permitting and other land use disputes.

Click here for more information on our Real Estate Practice

Our lawyers have served as lead and local counsel on a number of significant and complex disputes involving federal and state securities laws. These disputes include state and federal securities civil lawsuits, FINRA and NYSE mediations and arbitrations, and shareholder derivative cases.

We have significant product liability experience and success working on a variety of cases involving contract, tort and statutorily-based claims. We routinely represent clients in both defense and prosecution of claims across dozens of industries and product lines. Our extensive product liability experience has included individual and class action product liability lawsuits.

Recognizing that the healthcare industry faces unique legal requirements and chal­lenges, the Healthcare Group at Ryan Swanson offers concentrated proficiency in this area, staying up-to-date on all the industry regulations.

Our services include representing facili­ties in the following areas:

  • Appeals of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement
  • Facility and professional staff licensure actions
  • Medicare/Medicaid certification, including representing facilities in de-certification actions and other types of sanctions such as civil fines
  • Certificate of Need applications and related issues
  • Drafting and negotiating contracts with managed care organizations
  • Reimbursement
  • Business formations
  • Transfers
  • Financing and refinancing, including HUD and convention loans
  • Healthcare facility-specific employment
  • Union-related issues

Click here for more information on our Healthcare Practice

We represent title companies, insurance companies, self-insured employers and policyholders in everything from coverage disputes to regulatory proceedings before the Washington State Insurance Commissioner. For self-insured clients, we defend personal injury, property and employment-related claims. We also represent these clients in workers’ com­pensation matters before the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals.

We represent clients in proceedings, both in court and administratively such as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, to protect, defend and enforce their rights in intellectual property such as trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. We have litigated significant cases in state courts and in Federal Courts including ones in Utah, Washington, and Alaska.

Since the late 1960s, our Employment Rights and Labor Team has actively provided counseling and litigation services covering all aspects of the employer-employee relationship. Areas of focus include:

  • Discrimination
  • Wrongful Discharge/Public Policy
  • ADA/Disability Accommodation
  • Harassment
  • Non-Competition/Trade Secrets
  • Workers' Compensation
  • Safety and Health
  • WISHA/OSHA Violation Challenges
  • Wage and Hour
  • Retaliation
  • National Labor Relations Matters

Our Team has represented clients in a countless number of lawsuits over employment issues. We are skillful, creative and efficient in our work, and always keep our eye on the ultimate goal – to minimize exposure at the lowest cost.

We also draft policies, proce­dures and handbooks, provide ongoing advice as particular employment situa­tions arise and assist our clients in creating win-win situations with their employees. In addi­tion, we conduct an annual employment law update seminar for clients, furnish them with bulletins and update them as employment laws change.

We also counsel our clients in labor dis­putes (such as organizing campaigns and picketing) and represent them in labor arbitrations and matters before the National Labor Relations Board.

Because we work as a team, we are able to provide quick responses to questions or concerns, even if the primary contact lawyer is not available. Additionally, we pride ourselves on responding to phone calls and emails promptly, often within the same day. Also, should a particular question require extensive legal research, we have the ability and technology necessary to research the statutes and laws of all states, which can be especially helpful for clients with multi-state facilities.

Overall, our goal is to provide prompt, cost-efficient service, and focus not only on what the law requires, but on identifying and implementing the most practical and realistic solutions to problems at hand.

Ryan Swanson lawyers provide counsel to community associations in many areas, emphasizing complex litigation (including construction defect and covenant governed disputes) and general association representation. Our lawyers provide problem-solving, planning, litigation and dispute resolution advice to community associations on a variety of areas, including:

  • Construction defects
  • Contractor and developer disputes
  • Insurance issues
  • CC&R and Rule enforcement issues
  • Governance issues
  • General counsel
  • Mediation and arbitration

Fiduciaries owe the highest standard of duty to the beneficiaries of an estate or trust. Consistent with this high duty, the role of a fiduciary is fraught with potential liability. We have years of experience counseling fiduciaries regarding their various duties, including the proper investment and management of assets under Washington’s Prudent Investor Act and the interpretation of trust instruments. If a question of trust interpretation arises that cannot be resolved by reference to the trust instrument or established fiduciary law, we represent our clients before the court to receive court approval or instruction as may be necessary to protect the fiduciary from liability.

 

Related Practice Areas:

 

Team

 

Roger J. Kindley, Chair and Member
Roger J. Kindley
Member
Roger serves as Chair of the Litigation Group. He is a trial lawyer whose specialty is favorable resolution of matters. His trial experience covers a broad range from contract claims, to real estate disputes, product liability issues, employment cases and others. He has won many jury and non-jury cases and prevailed in arbitrations.
206.654.2218
Kevin A. Bay, Member
Kevin A. Bay
Member and Managing Director
Kevin has a diverse commercial litigation practice, counseling and representing public and privately held companies in a variety of contexts, including commercial contracts, real estate disputes, creditors’ rights, contested partnerships and joint ventures. Kevin always focuses on resolving matters for his clients favorably and efficiently. Kevin also tries cases in state and federal courts and has argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
206.654.2250
John A. Bender, Member
John A. Bender
Member
For more than 20 years, John has focused his practice on resolving challenging securities, franchise, banking and other complex civil cases on behalf of businesses and individuals.
206.654.2209
Amanda C. Bley, Associate
Amanda C. Bley
Associate
Amanda is an Associate at Ryan Swanson, working primarily in the litigation department. Amanda enjoys working on a wide variety of legal issues, including employment, real property and commercial litigation. She researches, prepares memorandums and writes opinion letters to clients regarding litigation matters.
206.654.2249
Robert J. Curran
Member
Bob’s litigation practice focuses on commercial disputes that involve business torts, real estate, construction and personal injury. He’s tried numerous cases in state and federal court and has successfully handled appeals before state appellate courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Recently, in a series of fraud and securities cases, he obtained several multi-million dollar judgments and settlements for clients.
206.654.2232
Jo M. Flannery, Of Counsel
Jo M. Flannery
Of Counsel
Jo Flannery is a member of the Litigation and Real Estate departments at Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC. Raised by a real estate agent, and a former Realtor herself, Jo has a particular interest in real property law. With over a decade of broad litigation experience behind her, Jo's practice has focused, over the last seven years, primarily on representing condominium and homeowner associations in the pursuit and resolution of construction defect claims, risk management, and covenant governed disputes.
206.654.2241
Susan Rae Fox
Member
Susan has a busy and varied litigation practice. About half of her practice involves employment law. This work includes reviewing employment policies and manuals, as well as defending employers against charges of discrimination, wrongful termination, failure to pay for overtime and other employment-related wrongdoing.
206.654.2274
Bryan C. Graff, Associate
Bryan C. Graff
Associate
Bryan is a member of our Litigation Practice Group. He has represented clients in connection with a variety of matters, including several complex insurance coverage disputes, products liability litigation and contract actions. Bryan joined Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland in 2006, relocating from Atlanta, Georgia, where his practice focused primarily on insurance coverage litigation.
206.654.2278
Thomas H. Grimm, Of Counsel
Thomas H. Grimm
Of Counsel
Tom specializes in commercial and complex business transactions and litigation, with an emphasis in the health care and software industries, including health care facility purchases and sales, financing, management, reimbursement cases, licensing and regulatory issues, and employment and union-related matters. He also assists with formation of business entities and assists them with business joint ventures, acquisitions and sales, and licensing agreements.
206.654.2244
Hana A. Kern, Of Counsel
Hana A. Kern
Of Counsel
Hana is a member of the firm’s litigation group, with experience in contract and construction law, complex litigation and employment disputes. She is fluent in Czech.
206.464.4224
Jerry Kindinger
Member
Jerry has a diverse commercial practice. About a third of it involves business counseling. Among other things, he helps clients organize businesses, resolve ongoing legal problems in businesses and buy and sell businesses. The rest of Jerry’s practice focuses on commercial litigation for a wide range of clients, especially large, complex, multi-million dollar disputes.
206.654.2216
Robert R. King
Member
Robert is a member of our firm's Litigation group. His areas of emphasis include complex litigation, contract disputes, construction, healthcare defense, employment and real estate litigation. Robert joined the firm in 2001 after completing a two-year clerkship with the Honorable J. Dean Morgan at the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II.
206.654.2287
Richard P. Lentini
Member
Rick is a trial lawyer. Approximately 70 percent of his litigation practice is employment-law related, often centered on discrimination or harassment. The remainder is commercial litigation, both trial and appellate.
206.654.2231
Kristin Nealey Meier
Associate
Kristin is a member of the firm's Litigation, Employment and Healthcare groups and has provided consultation and litigation services for her healthcare and employment clients. Kristin's practice also includes commercial disputes, securities litigation and trust and estate litigation.
206.654.2293
Roger D. Mellem
Member
Mr. Mellem successfully prosecutes, defends and resolves tough securities, real estate and other commercial cases on behalf of businesses and individuals, and serves as an arbitrator and mediator as well.
206.654.2234
Roger A. Myklebust
Member
Although Roger does commercial litigation, much of his practice focuses on construction law. He represents property owners, contractors, architects, engineers, municipalities and others in the construction industry. Among other things, Roger prepares owner-architect and owner-contractor agreements and bid documents for clients. He also helps clients anticipate and avoid problems during the construction process and resolve disputes. When it becomes necessary to use a dispute-resolution device, Roger prefers mediation and neutral evaluation, although he has the experience to arbitrate a dispute or take it to court.
206.654.2220
Teruyuki S. Olsen
Associate
Teru is an Associate at Ryan Swanson, where he drafts pleadings for federal and superior court, researches and prepares memorandums on commercial litigation and business issues, and writes opinion letters to clients regarding litigation matters. Prior to joining Ryan Swanson, Teru was a Research Assistant at the Seattle University School of Law and a Civil Litigation Extern at the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
206.326.5736
John T. Petrie
Member
John joined Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland in 1993 after 20 years of practice with his own firm in Seattle. He represents developers, contractors, title insurance companies and lenders in a broad range of real estate matters, as well as representing policyholders in insurance coverage litigation. His experience includes land use, sales, purchases and financing of real estate, as well as civil litigation and insurance coverage work. Recently John’s practice has emphasized insurance coverage for policyholders with landslide, hazardous waste and construction issues.
206.654.227
Britenae Pierce, Associate
Britenae Pierce
Associate
Britenae is a full-time litigator in the firm's Litigation and Employment groups. She handles a wide range of general litigation matters from inception through arbitration, trial, and any state or federal appeal process. Britenae litigates general contract disputes, complex commercial disputes, and title insurance matters. She also works on a variety of real estate cases, intellectual property matters, and banking litigation. As part of her employment law expertise, Britenae has worked on matters regarding discrimination, harassment, termination issues, responding to agency complaints, and advising clients on handbooks and policies. Britenae enjoys being a "counselor" and not simply a litigator, and advising clients on how to handle the many issues confronting their businesses.
206.654.22
John R. Ruhl, Of Counsel
John R. Ruhl
Of Counsel
John is a commercial trial lawyer in state and federal courts, with special emphasis in transportation, banking and employment matters. He also frequently serves as an arbitrator on the Commercial Panel of the American Arbitration Association.
206.654.2217
Robin A. Schachter
Member
Robin’s practice focuses on protection of trademark and trade dress rights, resolving internet-related intellectual property disputes and working with clients in the franchise industry. She also continues her work with privately-held businesses and individuals on a wide range of commercial litigation matters. Robin has successfully resolved trademark and domain name claims in federal and state courts and before the TTAB, negotiated Consent to Use and Concurrent Use agreements, and tried trademark cases to judgment. Her trade dress cases have given her appreciation for a wide range of products, including chocolate truffle packaging, heavy equipment trailers and power boats.
206.654.2272
James M. Shaker
Member and Executive Committee Member
Jim chairs Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland’s Employment Rights, Benefits and Labor practice group. He counsels employers (regionally and internationally) and individuals on a wide variety of employment-related issues, including employment agreements and severance packages.
206.654.226
Gulliver A. Swenson
Associate
Gulliver is an associate focusing the majority of his practice in litigation. The remainder of Gulliver's work involves providing advice as general counsel for mid-sized businesses. His experience includes advising clients in sports and entertainment, insurance, healthcare, real estate and employment matters.
206.654.2204
Thao Tiedt, Special Counsel
Thao Tiedt
Member
Thao has 22 years of experience defending employers in legal actions and advising them on issues including sexual harassment, discrimination, accommodation of those with disabilities, wage-and-hour issues, workers’ compensation, drug testing, employee handbooks and WISHA/OSHA citations.
206.654.2230
David L. Tift
Member
Dave’s practice involves both commercial and healthcare litigation. He has defended numerous long-term care facilities involved in lawsuits claiming professional negligence. His practice also involves commercial litigation, including anti-trust, non-competition and unfair competition disputes in state and federal courts. Dave also has a growing aviation practice. His aviation work has included serving as local counsel for several national and international airlines, prosecuting and defending crash litigation and represent­ing individuals and companies in disputes with the FAA, DOT and NTSB.
206.654.2219
Faith Garrick, Paralegal
Faith Garrick
Paralegal

After working for a few years as a crime analyst, Faith obtained a Litigation certificate in the 1980's from one of the first paralegal programs approved by the American Bar Association. Faith has an extensive work history in all areas of litigation, including employment, securities broker regulation, environmental, construction and land use. Faith has considerable arbitration, FINRA, mediation and trial experience. Faith's forte is locating witnesses, assets and performing on-line research.

Faith uses the Internet and other devices to locate hard to find witnesses, assets that defendants have tried to hide from creditors, and other helpful background information. Particularly helpful to her sleuthing is a Master’s degree in criminology and taking advantage of free training and on-line classes offered to law firms by vendors and software companies. Faith loves to attend lunchtime seminars and brown bag lunches to increase her professional knowledge. "Keeping current on the electronic state-of the-art search tools available is critical to my job and it is paramount that I do my best to stay on top of the software and databases available. I studied criminal behavior in graduate school. When I’m looking for someone or their property, I enjoy engaging my more cunning and creative side. There is nothing more satisfying to me than being able to go to my attorney and our client and telling them we have been successful in our search.”

206.654.2240
Anne M. Kundert, Paralegal
Anne M. Kundert
Paralegal
Since joining Ryan, Swanson and Cleveland in 1990 as a litigation paralegal, Anne has continued to use her extensive trial experience in helping to efficiently retrieve and organize case documents, coordinate the design of document databases, perform medical and technical research, review and analyze medical records, identify expert witnesses and attend trial. She is proficient in researching multiple public document databases for asset searches, corporate and busi­ness information, and locator services.
206.654.2237

Alaina Davio, Paralegal

Kathy Hicks, Litigation Support Assistant