Top Rated Workers' Compensation Attorney in Seattle, WA

Scholarly Lectures/Writings

• Article: "Superior Court Grants PPD Award Despite Evidence of Pre-existing Symptomatic Degenerative Changes", Trial News, vol. 39-3, November 2003
• Article: "Jury Finds Reactive Arthritis Work-Related", Trial News, vol. 40-9, May 2005
• Chapter 11: Medical Treatment, WSAJ Workers' Compensation Desk book, 2009
• Article: "New Hope for Aggravation Cases", Trial News, vol. 46-8, April 2011
• Article: "Looking to the Future", Trial News, vol. 46-8, April 2011
• Presentation: "Update from the Courts", Workers' Compensation Seminar: A System Under Fire, 2010

Bar/Professional Activity

• American Association for Justice, Member
• Washington State Bar Association, Member
• Department of Labor and Industries - Self Insurance Audit Governance Committee - Member, 2018
• Chair of the WSAJ Workers' Compensation Section, 2011
• Wash. State Assoc. for Justice - Development Committee - Member, 2014
• Department of Labor and Industries - Continuing Education Curriculum Review Committee - Member, 2009
• Vice Chair of WSAJ Workers' Compensation Section, 2010

Educational Background

• University of Washington, BA in Philosophy, 1997

Verdicts/Settlements

• Cochran Elec. Co. v. Mahoney, 129 Wn. App. 687 (2005) Outcome: Electric worker's death found compensable under Washington's Industrial Insurance Act. Description: The claimant drove his employer's service van to a garage for regular maintenance. After dropping off the van, he started for home on his bicycle. He was struck by a car and died from his injuries. Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals found that he was killed in the course of his employment as an electric worker, making his surviving spouse entitled to death benefits., 2005
• Hood v. Weyerhaeuser Company, Wash. Ct. App., Div. I, No. 64974-4-1 (Jan. 10, 2011, unpublished) Outcome: Surviving spouse of a worker who died of asbestos-related disease entitled to full benefits. Description: Weyerhaeuser argued that its former employee voluntarily retired prior to the date of manifestation of his asbestos-related occupational disease, making his surviving spouse entitled to minimal benefits. The longstanding practice of the Department of Labor and Industries in such situations is to award benefits based on the worker's wages at the time of retirement. Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals found the relevant statute ambiguous and deferred to the Department's longstanding policy. As the agency charged with administering the statute, the Department's interpretation of it is entitled to deference., 2011
• In Re: Keith O. Browne, BIIA Dec, 06 13972 (2007) Outcome: Claimant entitled to hearing regarding medical benefits. Description: Claimant appealed to the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals (BIIA) from an order issued by the Department of Labor and Industries stating that his work-related left shoulder condition was medically fixed and stable. The order was based upon a prior BIIA decision containing several apparent errors that exceeded the BIIA's scope of review. The erroneous portions of the prior BIIA decision contradicted the bulk of its decision. The Board held that the Department's order was not purely ministerial in nature, that the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel did not apply, and that claimant was entitled to a hearing., 2007

Honors/Awards

• Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2013
• , Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2015
• Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2014
• 10 Year Eagle, Washington State Association for Justice, 2014