Pierce County Lawyers

For the past 30 years, she has represented businesses and individuals interfacing with the government; she helps businesses and individuals obtain all types of zoning and land use permits, assists individuals facing government compliance and penalty actions and represents individuals with property disputes about easements, boundaries and adverse possession. She also obtains licenses for all types of business enterprises. Ms. Koler frequently challenges arbitrary requirements associated with government compliance and land use permitting. See Guimont v. Clark, 121 Wn.2d 586 (Washington Supreme Court invalidated state law imposing mobile home relocation fee on developer); Berst v. Snohomish...

Valarie Zeeck joined GTH in 1997. Her primary area of practice is employment law and litigation. She advises and provides training to owners, managers, and employees in employment law in order to help them reduce litigation expense and risk. She also defends employers in employment-related litigation, focusing on extracting clients from litigation at the earliest possible stage.

Valarie has written and co-authored several papers for legal publications and periodicals and has been a frequent speaker on legal matters at educational and business seminars. She is a member of the Pierce County chapter of Washington Women Lawyers.

Attorney Moses has been defending juvenile and Family Law Clients in the courtroom since 1999. Whether your case is a divorce, legal separation, child custody and support, spousal support, domestic violence, or guardianship, he has the experience and resources necessary to achieve a successful outcome of your case. He has a strong background in defending the rights of individuals, and is competent to handle your case from beginning to end, with thoughtful attention to detail, whether it be at the negotiating table or in the courtroom.

I was born and raised in the Northwest. After graduating from the University of Washington with honors, I attended Gonzaga University School of Law where I was awarded a Thomas More Scholarship. As a Thomas More Scholar, I dedicated myself to helping others both in the local and international communities. My international work included a visit to Rome where I provided services for the homeless and co-leading a mission in Honduras where our group of students provided much needed repairs at local village schools, and distributed needed school supplies which our group had purchased through fundraising....

A Washington State Traffic, Ticket and Criminal Traffic Lawyer since 2005, Antone Weber has personally appeared on over 7000 traffic ticket cases. We defend traffic tickets like speeding, running red lights, unsafe lane changes or speed to fast for conditions, and criminal traffic cases such as reckless driving, racing, hit and run, or driving while suspended. We appeari in most Seattle and King, Pierce, Skagit, Thurston & Snohomish County & City Courts within 75 miles of Seattle. Low $200-$250 Fee for most single Traffic Tickets. Most were dismissed, reduced or the charge negotiated to a non-moving...

Over the course of his career, Mark Arend has filled the shoes of a businessman, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, and an attorney. Using his diverse vocational background, he helps clients facing high-tension, complex, and adversarial family law matters. Some of his practice areas include child custody, domestic violence, child support, relocation, high net worth divorce, and military family law.

Mark’s approach to family law is based on common sense, strong ethical standards, and the highest level of professionalism. His goal is simple: to “do better” for his clients than any other legal representative would do. Mark is...

Kelsey Morfitt is a former United States Air Force attorney and hails from Enumclaw, Washington.

Kelsey graduated magna cum laude from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington and majored in Spanish and Political Science. She graduated cum laude from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington while serving as a member of Gonzaga Law Review and interning for the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office, Washington State Attorney General’s Office Social and Health Services Division, Washington State Senate Committee Services, and the Chambers of Judge Robert Whaley in federal district court. Kelsey also completed service projects in Honduras with...

Nicholas (Cole) Douglas is a partner at Cochran Douglas, which has its offices in Tacoma, Washington. Concentrating his practice on personal injury matters, ranging from car accidents to product liability and wrongful death, he also takes on sexual abuse cases, serving clients throughout the state of Washington. Douglas is a compassionate and empathic attorney, taking the time to listen to his clients and answering all their questions. He provides personalized solutions for each of his clients cases and understands the pain they must be going through, especially when they are injured by another person’s careless actions. Graduating cum laude and with dean’s...

Amy Jones earned her Juris Doctorate from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University located in Macon, Georgia. She was admitted to the Georgia Bar in November 2005. After receiving her law degree, Amy represented injured workers in their on-the-job injuries. In addition, she served as a Special Attorney General representing the Georgia Department of Human Resources Child Support Division. Amy moved to the Northwest in 2008 and obtained her Bar Licenses in both Oregon and Washington.

Prior to joining Sears Injury Law, she worked for the law firm of Driggs, Bills & Day for over seven (7)...

James joined GTH after completing a clerkship for the former Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court. He focuses his practice pursuing trials in the areas of personal injury, catastrophic accidents, employment law, and insurance coverage.

He has briefed and argued multiple appeals, including cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Washington Supreme Court. In his practice he has represented families in wrongful death cases, victims in sexual abuse cases, and many returning U.S. service members who face discrimination or retaliation in the workplace.

When he’s not working, he’s blazing trails, scaling peaks, and skiing with his...

Attorney Cheryl Van Ackeren is passionate about protecting the rights of service members and ensuring that veterans get the benefits they deserve.
Long before graduating from Seattle University’s School of Law, Cheryl knew she wanted to be a lawyer. Cheryl enlisted in the Army at 18 to achieve her goal and hoped to take advantage of the “green to gold” program to become an officer, and eventually, a Judge Advocate General. Cheryl’s military career began in the signal corps with the 1st Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Tx. Her enlistment included a 15 month deployment to Iraq during the early days of...

Before becoming an attorney, Reuben worked in the construction and building trade. He puts his prior life experience to good use in his practice areas of environmental and land use law. In addition to being a skilled attorney, Reuben is a compassionate advocate who loves working with his clients to solve problems and keep goals and objectives on track.

Reuben began his career at the Washington Supreme Court where he served as law clerk to Justice Charles W. Johnson. Prior to that, he served as an extern to Judge James L. Robart at the Federal District Court in Seattle.

Alan Macpherson’s primary area of practice at GTH is estate planning and taxation. He particularly enjoys working on projects that combine financial and tax as well as legal aspects, such as establishing and monitoring investment LLCs and generation-skipping trusts and helping clients build specific themes into their estate plans, like helping with the education of grandchildren.

Kurt represents South Sound businesses and individuals in White Collar Crime matters. He advises clients on corporate criminal risks, federal grand jury investigations, financial crimes, securities frauds, bankruptcy crimes, government contract frauds, real estate schemes, Medicare frauds-and tax frauds. He is GTH’s authority on cybercrime and legal issues relating to cybersecurity and data privacy. His work includes assisting South Sound businesses in creating cybersecurity plans consistent with the US protocols issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He also advises clients on data privacy requirements arising from the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulations (GDPR)...

Jonathan "Jonny" Baner focuses his practice on debt collection and personal injury. ?Jonny represents creditors that are individuals, businesses, and debt collection companies. The bulk of his practice involves discovering and garnishing or otherwise seizing assets of debtors for sale to the benefit of creditor clients. He represents creditors across all of Washington State including in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Spokane. He has had cases in almost every county in Washington. Growing up in St. Louis, Jonny was surrounded by the hard-working values of his parents. His father was a union autoworker and his mother worked in hospitality, instilling in Jonny a deep...

Before earning her law degree, magna cum laude, from Gonzaga University School and joining GTH in 1991, Margaret Archer was a financial analyst for Westinghouse Hanford Company. She puts her business acumen and insight into the world of finance to good use in her position as Chair of our Board of Directors and in her practice areas of land use, real estate litigation and commercial litigation.

Michael T. Smith advises individuals and companies of all types and sizes regarding the proper formation and structure of a business entity (corporation, limited liability company, etc.), their general business and corporate matters, issues related to the purchase or sale or lease of real property and transactions to purchase or sell their business. Michael also focuses his practice on assisting people prepare their estate plan, including wills, trusts, community property agreements, durable powers of attorney, health care directives, and helping families navigate and administer a loved one's estate in probate proceedings. Michael can also assist with guardianship proceedings for loved ones...

Lisa Kremer's practice focuses primarily on estate planning, probate, and guardianship. She particularly enjoys working with families to try to resolve issues with a minimum amount of stress and turmoil. Lisa also advises businesses, particularly on trademark, copyright and privacy issues, including HIPPA compliance.

Lisa began her professional career as a journalist. She was an award-winning reporter for The News Tribune. In 2005 she decided to move from writing about people’s problems to helping solve them. She commuted from Tacoma to the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle and graduated in 2008.

Lisa is a Trustee of the Tacoma-Pierce County...

Immigration attorney with a focus on family-based immigration law. I'm passionate about helping people of different backgrounds acquire legal status and pursue the American dream. As an immigrant myself, I understand how complex and intimidating the U.S. immigration system can be. I enjoy helping people resolve their immigration issues so they can focus on building their future. I live in Tacoma, Washington with my wife and two daughters. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer, spending time with my family, and working on house remodeling projects.

Trial practice, real estate.

A Seattle native, Amanda O’Halloran joined the firm in 1995, after graduating from Seattle University School of Law. She focuses her practice primarily on providing employment law advice to a diverse group of businesses, ranging from car dealerships and other retail establishments to healthcare providers, financial services companies, non-profits, and private membership associations. She is frequently called upon to provide advice on difficult employment terminations, conducting internal harassment and discrimination investigations, drafting employment agreements and other contracts, and developing anti-harassment policies and conducting training. Amanda works closely with Human Resource personnel, executive management, and business owners to resolve...

JAMES F. CHRISTNACHT was admitted to practice law in the state of Washington in 1984 after having attended the University Of Puget Sound School Of Law. Mr. Christnacht has engaged in the general practice of law since his admission to the bar. He is admitted to practice before the Washington State Courts, Federal District Court and the Puyallup Tribal Court. His practice has included personal injury, probate, guardianship, wills and estate planning, will contests and estate litigation, misdemeanor criminal defense and traffic matters, real estate, and business law. Mr. Christnacht is a second generation lawyer. Having grown up with...

I aggressively pursue legal remedies on behalf of my clients to the fullest extent of the law by providing forceful, commanding, and bold attorney representation; as a result, I GET results! At the end of the day, I hope to make meaningful connections with honest hard-working people. Ultimately, my goal is to form lifelong relationships with my clients--I'll work on your case as if I were a member of your family; I invite you to consider becoming a member of ours. My practice areas include the following: (1) Employment Discrimination; (2) Disparate Treatment; (3) Disparate Impact;...

Shelly focuses her practice on employment law and litigation, commercial litigation, products liability, construction law, insurance defense and coverage, and appellate advocacy. She represents individuals and businesses in all aspects of commercial and employment disputes and especially enjoys working with clients to help them understand the legal process. Shelly prides herself on being a tough advocate for her clients and finding strategic and creative solutions in tough cases.

Shelly joined GTH in 2011. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, she began her legal career in Alaska, first serving as a judicial law clerk for...

Jemima has handled hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of real estate transactions involving almost every sector of the market. Her primary practice areas are commercial and real estate transactions. She has extensive experience with all facets of land use matters including title and survey review, development, and environmental studies and reports.

Her clients include private developers, landowners, purchasers and sellers, landlords and tenants, borrowers and lenders, regional and national banks, universities, non-profit organizations, assisted living facilities, hotels, and homeowner’s associations, each of whom have various business and real estate needs. With the passage of I-502, her work has also...

Lindsay D. Camandona is a Partner at McKinley Irvin, the Pacific Northwest's premier family law firm. As a family-oriented person herself, Lindsay is able to identify with her clients and treat their cases as if they were her own. In Lindsay’s own words, “It is my priority to achieve a successful resolution my clients can live and be happy with.”

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Holt moved gradually westward—with a 7-year stop in Iowa City to pick up his undergraduate and law degrees—until he got to Tacoma in 1970. He has lived and worked here in the Northwest ever since, joining GTH in 1971 after clerking for Judge William T. Beeks in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington.

His primary areas of practice include the purchase and sale of businesses and large commercial real estate projects, as well as intellectual property law, privacy and publicity law, public records law, and finance.

Since joining the firm in 1994, Stephanie has worked on a wide variety of cases representing clients in employment, business and injury litigation, as well as estate litigation and business disputes. She also represents clients in matters involving misappropriation of trade secrets, noncompetition contracts, Consumer Protection Act claims, unfair competition issues, contract disputes and consults on matters of legal ethics.

In her commercial litigation practice, Stephanie focuses on complex business disputes, disputes between members of closely held companies and trust and estate litigation. She represents corporations, closely held businesses, fiduciaries as well as individual parties involved in these types of...

Robert Dickson practices civil litigation, with a focus on issues related to business, real property and construction law. His clients are diverse, ranging from large corporations to residential homeowners. Recently, Mr. Dickson expanded his practice to include the representation of property owners in mediating their distressed property matters through the Foreclosure Fairness Act. Another element of Mr. Dickson's practice includes contributing to various legal publications. In particular, he serves as an editor and contributing author of the LexisNexis Practice Guide: Washington Real Estate Litigation (LexisNexis 2014) and a contributing author for the Washington Lawyers Practice Manual. At present,...

Originally from the Boston area, Ken Levey has lived in the Pacific Northwest since 1980. He received his B.A. from the University of Washington in 1983 and received his law degree from the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law) in 1991. That same year Ken was sworn in as a member of the Washington State Bar. He opened his law practice in Tacoma in 1992.

Unlike many attorneys, Ken also is trained in collaborative law, represents families in CPS investigations and dependency actions, and has a great deal of experience and a high level...

Dianne’s practice areas include environmental law, real estate litigation, natural resources law, and land use. Her commitment to these issues also extends to her life outside of work. She has co-authored articles about environmental issues and litigation, and she served as a member and officer of the Board of Trustees of the AgForestry Education Foundation from 2007 to 2012. Dianne also served on the Point Defiance Zoo Society’s Board of Directors for 11 years, including as President, and was chair of the 2013 Zoobilee. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors of the fabulous Symphony Tacoma.

Lindsay Noel is an attorney at McKinley Irvin’s Puyallup and Tacoma offices. As a divorce and family law attorney, Lindsay is experienced in a wide range of legal issues, such as custody, support, relocation, military family law, LGBT family law, and more.

Over the past 25 years, Darrell Cochran has won a significant number of multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients, both in Washington state and around the country. His legal philosophy is guided by the desire to assist those severely injured or damaged by well-funded defendants who have abused their power or acted recklessly in their disregard for others. A few examples of his impressive casework include a $95 million class action verdict against the Washington DSHS for breach of contract, a $7.5 million class action settlement against Multicare Health System for deceptive billing practices, and his role in...

John Guadnola is a seasoned attorney with an extensive background and impressive record of success in his practice areas, which include antitrust litigation, alcohol regulation, copyright and trademark litigation, and complex litigation. As Executive Director and General Counsel of the Association of Washington Spirits & Wine Distributors, John is also actively involved in alcohol regulation issues on the legislative level and enforcement levels.

As co-lead counsel in a case of national significance (Costco v. Hoen), John represented distributor intervenors in a successful effort to defend Washington State laws governing distribution and sale of beer and wine against an antitrust claim brought...

Warren’s primary area of practice is labor and employment law. In this capacity, he represents employers in all aspects of labor and employment law, including discrimination, harassment, termination, wage-and-hour litigation, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and day-to-day advice.

If client loyalty and satisfaction are any measure of an attorney’s success, then Warren has a lot to proud of. After 30 years, he continues to represent his first legal client, a chain of locally owned grocery stores. In fact, he has worked for many of his clients for several decades. Some of his other long-term clients include Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Housing Authority,...