Among all of the things Carolyn Cairns says of her colleague Doug Lawrence, this may be the most telling: “He can switch gears from thoughtful and focused, looking at all the factors in a situation and pulling it all in ...”
She pauses and adds, “Two minutes later, he can be throwing spitballs. It’s a wonderful thing.” It is, in the end — and whether Cairns meant it or not — a great metaphor for Lawrence.
One of the named partners at his eponymous firm, Stokes Lawrence, he is one of the region’s most noted and honored experts in estates and trusts. He has been one of the architects of Washington’s laws on probate and trust dispute resolution and continues to testify before the Legislature. For 10-plus years he has been named one of the country’s “Best Lawyers in America” in trusts and estates. He has served on the Washington State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and taught at both the University of Washington and Seattle University law schools.
And … he has rebuilt a Volkswagen Beetle from the floorboards up; built a log cabin near Lake Wenatchee with his wife Ramona (“We did have somebody else pour the foundation.”); dresses in lederhosen for his fabled Oktoberfest parties; and nearly, literally, leaps out from behind his desk when somebody, new to his office, glances toward his toy collection resting nearby and asks, “What are those?”
Lawrence laughs at all of this: “I’m eclectic.” Is he ever. Everyone who knows him says it of him, in so many words. And often, right out of the gate.
Sitting in his east-facing office on the 40th floor of the Bank of America Plaza on Fifth Avenue, it’s fairly obvious the man is good at self-diagnosis. There are the law books, the stacks of research and … bobbleheads. Photographs of the staff sporting plastic Groucho Marx nose jobs. There is a brick from an old foundation for Sparty the Spartan, mascot at Michigan State University, Lawrence’s undergraduate alma mater, given to him as a Christmas present. There’s the Rosetta Stone (well, not the real one).
The collection nearly encircles the room. And so does he, as he describes what’s out for show. “I just like toys,” he says. “I like things.” The man is positively gleeful.
Oh, and should you wonder, this is just the tip of the playthings iceberg. The rest are in boxes and there is this distinct feeling that if you but asked “where,” they’d come out of a nearby closet and you’d be treated to an eclectic, and very funny, history lecture.
And there is perhaps one of the prime abilities of this man, who originally studied the classics (including seven years of Latin), thrives just this side of computer geekness and has been known to take confidential notes in ancient Greek. He loves to lecture. But make no mistake, it’s done in quite a dissimilar way from the stereotype of PowerPoint in the front of the hall and glazed eyes in the back, so reminiscent of days and days of college learning.
No, especially when Lawrence launches into his areas of expertise in the law and in business, estates and trusts — and, importantly, clients — his lectures beg you to pay attention.
“The reality is most people come in here not driven so much by taxes, but more driven by ‘How am I going to make sure my kids are taken care of?’” he says. “‘How am I going to make sure my kids don’t have too much? They don’t get spoiled. They have a life of their own.’ Or, ‘My daughter has a special need,’ or, ‘My son has a special need.’ Or, ‘I’ve got this vibrant business that I’ve been successful in — how do I transition that on to the next generation?’
“It’s trying to work with the client to get an understanding of their big picture. In my mind it’s getting an understanding of what are their principal focuses for themselves and for their family, and what do they want to accomplish with their estate.”
RoseMary Reed, an associate at Stokes Lawrence, has heard that lecture before, watched it in action. Lawrence has been her mentor. His style has rubbed off.
“Watching Doug with clients always reminds me that communicating with clients, in a way that makes sense to them, is critically important to having a good relationship with the client,” she says.
“We (attorneys) live in this little bubble and we can forget that not everyone knows the terminology we regularly use and take for granted as ‘common knowledge.’ Doug has a great way of breaking down complicated concepts so that clients really understand their options. He has also taught me never to make assumptions about clients. Once you make an assumption, you cut off the exchange of information between you and the client, and that in turn can erode the trust the client has in you — something none of us wants to do.”
Lawrence’s legislative work has helped him grow into and develop “more of a respect for the law and an understanding of it and enjoyment of it as time goes on,” he says. “I think that’s in part because I understand it more and have a greater sense of its real impact on people. That’s part of the reason why I like to do some of the extra things.
“I love doing legislative work,” he continues. “We have a really dynamic section, a bar section called the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section that does a lot of work in updating our laws and making sure our statutes are up to snuff and really are in the forefront in the United States.”
Lawrence became involved with what was called the Trust Task Force in the early 1980s. It was headed by Seattle attorney Ken Schubert, who became a mentor to Lawrence.
“It was fascinating,” Lawrence says. “I saw then that you can become involved and if there are things that you don’t think are working quite right, you can change them. A lot of people think that it’s this insurmountable mountain to make changes and make things better. But it’s not. All you have to do is get involved.
“So, starting in the early ’80s and throughout most of my career, I’ve been very involved in that process, looking at introducing new laws, revising our existing laws to really make them what I think are some of the best laws in the nation in the trust and estate field.”
George Velikanje has seen that over the years. And he likes what he sees in his relatively new colleague, though someone he’s known for nearly 30 years. Velikanje is a partner at Stokes Lawrence Velikanje Moore and Shore, a new office for Stokes Lawrence in Yakima.
“He’ll take on these projects, massive in scope, analyze them, understand them and push them. His energy …” Velikanje pauses. “He has this ability to do all sorts of things for the bar, for the public, his own firm.”
Talk to other attorneys, to his friends. You hear the same things over and over again: his love for his craft; his ability to take on complex issues and resolve them. “There are so many facets to him,” says Cairns, also one of his partners at Stokes Lawrence and a colleague for 20 years.
And what is Lawrence himself most proud of? It doesn’t take a second for that answer.
“I have three great kids,” he beams. “I’m very proud of the careers they’re following. My parents always felt it was very important that you participate in the community and help other people. I like to see that that’s continuing in some way.”
His work with KCBA and the WSBA — “really improving the law for everybody in the state, not just for lawyers but for the people” — also is at the top of the list.
“I’m really proud of this firm,” he adds. “It’s just amazing. When I started in 1984, on my birthday, July 2, to have it grow from what it was then to what it is now. I’m proud of the credit I can take for part of that growth, but I’m more proud of all the other people that have done so much to make it happen.”
And if all of these accomplishments and all of these moments should lead this man to retirement any day now, strike that. Oh no. He is the office glue. He is also its candy supplier. “He’ll bring me a piece of candy and then sit and talk,” says Cairns.
“He’ll leave a chocolate bar on my desk. I think he thinks I should eat more sweets,” says Reed.
He has resolutions to deal with, clients to guide, legislation to ponder. Oh, and he’s teaching himself data programming. “It’s fun to just … if you have a problem ... develop a program to resolve the problem,” Lawrence says.
And he’s doing that because … ? “I have a specific project in mind. But it’s also a good excuse to learn a new program.” And he laughs.
This man, who can switch from analysis to spitballs, from estate planning to welding, from legislative testimony to sending out video on Patches the Horse, who rides around in the back seat of a convertible, can do that.
Because it’s what he does. And because he’s earned it.
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