Established in 1883, the Seattle office of K&L Gates is both the city's oldest and one of its largest law offices. It offers clients a full spectrum of legal services, including counseling, litigation, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and transactional advice. Major practice groups include corporate, tax, benefits, tax-exempt organizations, private clients, commercial and appellate litigation, bankruptcy, construction, electronic discovery, intellectual property, public finance, school districts, labor and employment, real estate, environmental, land and natural resources, and energy and utilities.
The 2011-2012 U.S. News-Best Lawyers® rankings of “Best Law Firms” recognized 32 practice areas in the Seattle office as Tier 1: Antitrust Law, Banking and Finance Law, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Education Law, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Employment Law – Management, Energy Law, Environmental Law, Family Law, Government Relations Law, Information Technology Law, Land Use & Zoning Law, Construction Litigation, Eminent Domain & Condemnation Litigation, Environmental Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Labor & Employment Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Native American Law, Patent Law, Patent Litigation, Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law, Public Finance Law, Real Estate Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, Securities Regulation, Tax Law, and Trusts & Estates Law.
The Seattle corporate practice group has deep experience in mergers and acquisitions, financings, public offerings, and other matters. It is consistently recognized for its exemplary client service. Since 2007, corporate lawyers in the firm’s Seattle office have led more than 85 M&A transactions with values ranging from $6.3 billion to $2.9 million. Lawyers in the group represent clients across all industry sectors with a particular focus on technology, energy, and consumer products.
Litigators in the Seattle office handle trials, arbitrations, and appeals in local, national and international venues. Members of our litigation practice groups have been at the center of many important legal disputes, including environmental, securities, antitrust, copyright and constitutional cases. The E-Discovery Analysis and Technology (e-DAT) group works seamlessly in matters handled by firm litigators and also addresses records management, e-discovery, and litigation readiness issues for a wide range of other clients. Uniquely experienced and equipped to provide creative and cost-effective solutions, the group comprises a dedicated team of lawyers and paraprofessionals.
The Seattle office's intellectual property practice is on the leading edge of technology and intellectual property law, helping clients to develop, commercialize, and protect their intellectual property assets, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Our Internet safety practice group works with clients to protect their online brands, Internet commerce sites and computer systems from Internet-based threats and cyber villains. Our technology transfer and data protection lawyers help clients address issues raised by electronic contracting, financial regulations, privacy regulations, and Web services.
Together with public finance attorneys in other offices, our public finance group served as bond counsel for the issuance of $6.0 billion in bonds and was ranked #14 nationally by Thomson Reuters for 2009. The Bond Buyer ranks the firm #2 among bond counsel in the Far West region, #1 in the state of Oregon, #2 in the state of Washington, and #2 in the state of Alaska for the 2009 year. Our school districts practice group represents numerous school districts and coalitions of school districts in Washington, as well as a major school district risk management pool.
Our environmental, land and natural resources lawyers are recognized as a top-tier group having the breadth and depth of knowledge required to handle a wide range of work. They have considerable experience with large-scale, capital-intensive public and private projects and acquisitions.
The energy and project development & finance practices help clients to finance, site and develop wind and other renewable resource generating projects as well as thermal generating projects, electric transmission projects, and interstate natural gas pipelines. The group is involved in both major transactions (e.g., the acquisition of an electric and gas utility) and major litigation (e.g., responding to claims by the State of Montana that it is entitled to rent for streambeds inundated by hydro projects). The group works on a range of climate change issues, from compliance with greenhouse gas regulations to the creation and trading of renewable energy credits.
The Seattle labor and employment practice advises employers on general employment issues, helps draft policies and handbooks and handles complex union, leave law and wage and hour issues. Members also assist clients in responding to agency investigations and represent them in discrimination, wage and hour, and other lawsuits filed in state and federal court. The group has extensive experience in conducting legal compliance and due diligence audits for clients and in evaluating potential acquisition targets.
Clients call upon our real estate lawyers to address development, construction, leasing, acquisition, financing, eminent domain, and real estate litigation needs. The real estate practice group has worked on some of the most complex public/private joint ventures and infrastructure projects in the Pacific Northwest, such as the development and financing of SAFECO Field and the $300 million expansion of the Seattle Art Museum. Our lawyers have also handled the sale/leaseback of a $340 million portfolio of building material outlets in 25 states as part of a corporate asset sale, assisted a global software company in developing its data centers, and helped finance hotels and resorts throughout the US.