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Hans draws on more than 23 years of litigation experience, and a reputation for compassion and pragmatism, to help parties evaluate, negotiate, and resolve complex trust, estate, probate, guardianship, fiduciary, real property, construction, and commercial disputes. A frequent, author, speaker on fiduciary standards and professional fees, and the leader of Ryan Swanson’s Trust and Estate Litigation practice, Hans has spent much of his career representing clients in emotionally charged, high-stakes matters involving family relationships, fiduciary duties, contested inheritances, incapacity, real property, and closely held business interests.
Hans is available to serve as a mediator in select litigated and pre-litigation disputes involving trusts, estates, probate, fiduciary duties, guardianships, elder law, real property, construction, and commercial conflicts. His mediation approach is informed by more than two decades as a trial lawyer helping clients assess risk, evaluate evidence, understand litigation costs, and identify practical paths to resolution.
Hans has completed the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution’s Mediating the Litigated Case program. He brings particular value in disputes where the legal issues are complex, the relationships are personal, and the parties need a mediator who understands both the courtroom risks and the human dynamics that often drive probate and fiduciary litigation.
To inquire about Hans’s availability as a mediator, please contact Tonya Naranjo at 206.654.2297 or [email protected]. Hans is available for full-day and half-day mediations, remote mediations, and in-person mediations.
HONORS & AWARDS
Hans was born in Seattle and raised on Whidbey Island. After proudly attending Washington State University and Northeastern University School of Law, Hans developed a general litigation practice in his hometown of Oak Harbor, Washington, before returning to Seattle to work as an associate at one of Seattle’s most well-known construction litigation firms. In 2011, Hans leveraged his general practice background and the skills learned in high stakes construction litigation to develop a practice which now focuses on trust and estate litigation, real property disputes, commercial litigation, and probate while continuing to represent a select number of owners, contractors, and subcontractors in construction matters. Hans lives on Bainbridge Island with his wife and three active children. Hans enjoys spending time outdoors with his family, coaching flag football, and playing soccer and golf.
Education
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