Spokane attorneys' office expands areas of law practice

Winston & Cashatt, Lawyers PS, a prominent Spokane law firm with deep roots in two primary legal niches - construction and personal-injury work - has been broadening its practice mix in recent years to counter ebbs and flows in those sectors.

"There was a time when we were more reliant on construction law,"

As the firm has replaced retiring partners with new associates and partners, it has widened its practice in areas of lender liability, commercial litigation, tax law, and estate planning, and has strengthened its more long-standing practices in corporate law, employment law, and insurance defense, says James Reed, chairman of Winston & Cashatt.

Associates, who are generally the lawyers hired most recently by the firm, are spread throughout specialties at the practice, Alleman says.

"That's done by design to bolster areas of emphasis, so we don't get top heavy or understaffed in any area," he says.

Reed adds that the firm also looks to recruit established attorneys.

"We picked up an experienced commercial litigator from a prominent Detroit law firm, and a tax lawyer from California," he says.

Lender liability is one field in which the firm's caseload is growing significantly.

Winston & Cashatt prevailed in one such case last year, in which the Washington state Supreme Court reversed a King County Superior. Court judge's 1990 ruling that a foreclosure of a Seattle condominium by the primary lien holder nullified claims by subsequent lien holders.

"The case is significant, because it changed (the interpretation of) state law," Reed says.

The case gained attention from banks and lenders throughout the state, many of which supported the position of Winston & Cashatt's client, Beal Bank SSB, a Texas-based savings bank and junior lien holder that had held a promissory note on the condominium.

In addition to restoring the interests of junior lien holders, the state Supreme Court decision also should benefit borrowers, by making it easier for them to tap equity in their properties, the firm's synopsis of the case says.

Matt Andersen and Nancy Isserlis, both principals in Winston & Cashatt, handled the case, which was referred to the firm by the Texas bank's legal counsel, who had worked with Andersen before.

Reed declines to discuss other specific clients and cases, citing attorney-client confidentiality.

The firm's Web site, however, lists Levernier Construction Inc., Albertson's Inc., the city of Spokane, EZ Loader Boat Trailer Inc., and General Motors Corp. among Winston & Cashatt's clients.

Other areas of growth for the firm include bankruptcy, tax law, business trans-actions, and employment practices. Those are all areas in which the firm has recruited attorneys with such interests Alleman says.

The firm's revenues have been stable and growing, he says.

"We've had spikes in revenues when we had good results in contingency cases," Alleman says. "We've been fortunate not to have any dips."

Winston & Cashatt occasionally takes on difficult contingency-fee cases in which the firm collects legal fees only if its clients prevail.

Contingency-fee arrangements are common in cases involving personal-injury and employment disputes, but a limited number of law firsts will take on complex medical-negligence cases and lender-liability issues on a contingency basis, Reed says.

"We get referrals from law firms in Seattle that won't take on contingency cases," he says.

Most cases are settled before they would go to trial.

"If you're doing your job and prepare and know the case, that's the key to getting ready for trial and also for settling," Reed says. "The vast majority of our successes involve keeping cases out of court."

A couple of Winston & Cashatt's lawyers specialize in criminal defense work. Kevin Curtis, a principal of the firm, for instance, is the president of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"It's unusual to have someone from the east side of the state as president" of that group, Alleman says.

Winston & Cashatt has a staff of 56, including 28 lawyers. The number of attorneys at the firm has remained stable in recent years, even as some of its partners have retired.

"I would characterize it as we're growing," Reed says. "Other firms downsize as their partners get to retirement age. Rather than shrinking, we've been aggressively bringing in new lawyers."

About two-thirds of the firm's attorneys are partners, but the number of associates is rising, he says.

"I think every associate is on a partnership track," Reed adds.

Alleman says he anticipates that the firm will continue to hire more associates as more experienced associates become partners.

"In a couple of years, I wouldn't be surprised to see 32 lawyers here," Alleman says.

Reed says the firm recruits some lawyers straight out of law school and others with experience at other firms.

The firm hires promising law students for long-term law-clerk positions, Alleman says.

"Once they've clerked here, they've been in a law firm for two years doing valuable work and gaining experience," he says.

"Half of our associates clerked here," he adds

Many them earned their law degrees at the Gonzaga School of Law, in Spokane, where some of Winston & Cashatt's principals are adjunct professors.

Winston & Cashatt's experience in construction-related and personal-injury law dates to the beginning of the firm, which was founded in 1971 by Patrick Winston and Leo Cashatt, who each headed their own firms prior to that.

Reed, who earned his law degree at Gonzaga in 1975, was a partner in the Spokane law firm Backman Blumel & Reed, before he joined Winston & Cashatt in 1996. His practice emphasis at his first firm also included construction and land-use law.

"A lot of my practice's referrals came from Winston & Cashatt and other large firms," he says.

He says the amount of casework involving construction issues seems to fluctuate inversely with the level of activity in the construction industry here.

"When times are tougher, our (construction law) business grows more," he says. "When its going great guns, construction companies don't have time for legal problems and put them on the back burner."

The firm occupies nearly 30,000 square feet of space on the 19th and 20th floors of the Bunk of America Financial Center, at 601 W. Riverside, where it has been a tenant since the building, formerly the Seafirst Financial Center, opened in 1981.

The firm also has maintained a satellite office in Coeur d'Alene, at 250 Northwest Blvd., for more than 20 years.

A dozen of the firm's attorneys are licensed to practice in Idaho, and Reed predicts the firm's presence will continue to grow in Coeur d'Alene.

"We have a good client base that spans the state line," he says. "There will be a time when every lawyer here will be licensed in both Idaho and Washington."