As the final quarter of the year begins, attorneys often experience a seasonal shift in client needs. These range from end-of-year estate planning and business reviews to litigation prep ahead of the holiday slowdown. The fall season also brings a natural opportunity to assess workflows, strengthen client communication practices, and plan for business development. Whatever improvements you decide to adopt in your practice, concrete and time-limited goals help finish the year strong and enter the new one with momentum.
Partner Pronouncements
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP welcomes two partners in the firm’s Seattle office: Colin Heideman and Christie Matthaei from intellectual property litigation boutique Knobbe Martens, who bring deep technical knowledge and proficiency representing a range of tech companies in disputes before courts nationwide and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Colin Heideman has been winning patent cases for leading technology and medical device companies for nearly 20 years in district courts around the country and at the Federal Circuit. His success stems from his ability to focus large, complex litigation matters on key case-dispositive issues and to develop the record necessary to win on those issues. His strategic approach has served him equally well in inter partes review proceedings, including dozens of successful IPRs where he served as lead counsel. Heideman co-founded the Canadian American Bar Association and has served as its vice president and secretary-treasurer.
Christie Matthaei represents a wide variety of clients in all aspects of IP disputes, with a focus on patent litigation. She counsels clients on prelitigation matters, including analyzing patent infringement and validity. Prior to law school, Matthaei used her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering while working at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a chemical engineer on projects related to alternative energy and green chemicals. During her time in law school, she interned for the White House, working in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
BakerHostetler has added Phillip Wang as a partner in its Labor and Employment Practice Group and Employment Deal team. Based in Seattle, Wang was previously a partner with Fox Rothschild. Wang has more than 20 years of mergers and acquisitions and transaction-related experience in a variety of employment matters, including senior-level executive terminations and restrictive covenant issues. Wang advises employers on a wide range of employment matters, including executive terminations, union avoidance strategies, and compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws. He is also skilled in negotiating and preparing key employment-related agreements. His counseling spans key regulatory areas, including Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, and New York state and New York City human rights laws. In addition, he has successfully handled complex employment litigation and workplace disputes in federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Public Employment Relations Board. Wang received his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Associate Addition
Jessica Ditmore has joined the Seattle office of Galanda Broadman PLLC as an associate, focusing on litigation involving Tribal governments and enterprises. Ditmore joins the firm after serving on active duty for nearly five years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. As a JAG officer, she was an administrative and national security law attorney for the 1st Cavalry Division, and later a prosecutor for the 82nd Airborne Division. She still serves in the U.S. Army Reserve. Prior to the military, Ditmore worked as a legal fellow and prosecutor for the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Ditmore graduated from University of Arizona’s College of Law in 2019, where she received a certificate in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy and served on the Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. She holds a B.A. in health care policy from Mount Saint Mary’s University. Ditmore is licensed to practice law in New Mexico.
Of Counsel Announcement
Ashley Burman is the newest attorney to join Carney Badley Spellman’s Litigation Group. Burman brings significant experience from Big Law, where she litigated high-stakes constitutional challenges, complex commercial disputes, and securities and antitrust class actions in state and federal courts. She has represented a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, small businesses, investors, and individuals, with a focus on strategic, client-centered advocacy. A former Ninth Circuit clerk and an award-winning oralist, she brings strong legal writing skills and appellate insight to our trial teams. She was previously an associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Burman earned her B.A. from the University of Washington and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Outside of Private Practice
Jason Epstein is starting a new position as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law. Epstein has represented injured people since his first law firm position in 1999. Epstein was offered a full partnership in Premier Law Group PLLC in June 2007. A Seattle native, Epstein received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Southern California in 1995 and his J.D. from Pepperdine University’s School of Law in 2001.
Honors, Appointments, and Awards
Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson PLLC announced that 24 of its lawyers have been included in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and 10 have been included in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America.
Lasher congratulates the following lawyers named to The Best Lawyers in America 2026 list: Brent Beecher (Litigation – Insurance), Mario A. Bianchi (Commercial Litigation), Hillary J. Collyer (Family Law and Family Law Mediation), Linda Kelley Ebberson (Family Law), Denver Gant (Trusts and Estates), Anthony J.W. Gewald (Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Bankruptcy, and Litigation – Trusts and Estates), Andrew Goodrich (Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, Real Estate Law, and Trusts and Estates), George S. Holzapfel (Business Organizations, including LLCs and Partnerships, Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, Tax Law, and Trusts and Estates), Darin T. Jensen (Trusts and Estates), Jamie Polito Johnston (Collaborative Law: Family Law and Family Law), Taro Kusunose (Business Organizations, including LLCs and Partnerships, Corporate Law, and Real Estate Law), Dean A. Messmer (Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law, and Real Estate Law), Konrad A. Miernowski (Trusts and Estates), Danial D. Pharris (Commercial Litigation), Aaron E. Schwartz (Commercial Litigation, Litigation – ERISA, and Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs), Justin Sedell (Collaborative Law: Family Law and Family Law), Lisa Ann Sharpe (Family Law and Family Law Mediation), Sean V. Small (Litigation – Trusts and Estates), Christina Smith (Family Law and Family Law Mediation), Paul J. Spadafora (Litigation – Trusts and Estates), Shannon Sperry (Employment Law – Management and Real Estate Law), Karl A. Weiss (Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law and Tax Law), Quentin Wildsmith (Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Trusts and Estates), and Eugene W. Wong (Business Organizations, including LLCs and Partnerships, and Real Estate Law).
Lasher also congratulates the following lawyers recognized in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers’ Ones to Watch in America: Harman K. Bual (Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Real Estate), Joseph P. Evans (Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Litigation – Real Estate, and Litigation – Trusts and Estates), Desirée L. Good (Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation), Emily Husa (Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Trusts and Estates), Julie M. Pendleton (Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Litigation – Real Estate, and Litigation – Trusts and Estates), William B. Reingold (Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation), Mina Saudagaran (Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation), James D. Stensel (Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation), Faye Washburn (Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation), and Amanda K. Whitely (Business Organizations, including LLCs and Partnerships, Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, and Trusts and Estates).
Finally, Lasher congratulates Jamie Polito Johnston, Lisa Ann Sharpe, and Karl A. Weiss on being named 2026 Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” in the Seattle area. Johnston was recognized as the 2026 “Lawyer of the Year” for Collaborative Law: Family Law in Seattle. Sharpe was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Family Law in Seattle. Weiss was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law in Seattle.
Obituary
Longtime UW School of Law faculty member John Junker has died. Professor Emeritus Junker joined the UW faculty in 1964 and taught generations of law students through 2009. Specializing in criminal law and criminal procedure, Junker was a founder and member of the board of directors of the Seattle-King County Public Defender Association. He was also the reporter and principal draftsman of the Revised Washington Criminal Code in 1975. Junker served on many committees at the law school and the university, including as chair of the Faculty Senate.
Ruth Apahidean is a trusts and estates attorney at the Law Office of Neil R. Sarles. She is easily reached via email at ruth@sarles.com or by phone at 253-234-4676.
