Kevin A. Bay

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Trial and litigation expertise in commercial, real estate, and business disputes.

Kevin has more than 25 years of trial and litigation experience, including dozens of jury and bench trials in five states. Public and private companies retain Kevin to represent them in a wide variety of matters, including commercial disputes, contract claims, trade secrets, partnership and joint venture dissolutions, real estate development and construction, mechanics’ liens, maritime liens, business torts and bankruptcy cases. Kevin also represents land owners in eminent domain cases and other property matters. Many of Kevin’s clients are in the transportation, real estate and agriculture industries and Kevin often acts as their outside general counsel to troubleshoot legal issues and to avoid or diffuse potential disputes.

Kevin’s experience and success have earned him designations as a Washington Super Lawyer in each of the past ten consecutive years and he has been inducted as a Fellow to the Litigation Counsel of America.

Representative Experience Representative Experience

Represented general contractor in lien priority dispute arising out of the construction of a major ski resort in the Pacific Northwest. The case involved more than 80 parties with competing liens. After four years of litigation and a multi-week trial, our client’s lien was determined to be prior to the bank’s mortgage and our client was awarded its full contract amount, interest and attorneys’ fees.
Steinberg v. Fairbanks Capital Corp., 199 Fed. Appx. 609 (9th Cir. 2006). – Prevailed on behalf of a bankruptcy trustee before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on a complicated title tracing case involving multiple, redundant deeds with conflicting after-acquired property clauses. The court ultimately agreed with our position that the disputed deed, which was identical to a prior deed, was void because the grantee obtained no intervening title to invoke the after-acquired property clause.
Sovran, LLC v. Mickelsen Dairy, Inc., 2008 WL 3319816 (Wash. App. Div. II). – Represented land owner in a case involving the interplay of an option contract, water rights and development regulations. The opposing party sued to enforce the option, which would have cost our client millions of dollars in water rights, and for consequential damages. We obtained a summary judgment declaring that the opposing party had breached the option terms and that our client was entitled to retain the land, and then obtained dismissal of all damage claims. The judgment was later affirmed on appeal.
Dragt v. Dragt/DeTray, LLC, 139 Wn. App. 560 (2007) and 170 Wn. App. 1048 (2012). – Extracted land owner from an oppressive development contract and successfully defended against a multi-million dollar damage claim arising from the voided contract. The case went up to the Washington Court of Appeals twice and our client prevailed on both occasions.
Sherron Assoc. Loan Fund V, LLC v. Galaxy Gaming, 157 Wn. App. 357 (2010). – Obtained reversal in Washington Court of Appeals on behalf of client pursuing a judgment against a fraudulent gaming company. The client’s LLC had been cancelled and the issue was whether the LLC’s judgment passed, upon cancellation, to its former members as a matter of law. The Court of Appeals ruled that it did and the client went on to collect its judgment against the defendant.
All Blacks B.V. v. Gruntruck, 199 B.R. 970 (W.D. Wash. 1996). – Represented Seattle rock band in a dispute with its European recording label that captured the interest of the recording industry. The Bankruptcy Court ultimately determined that the band’s onerous contract could be rejected as an executory contract and the U.S. District Court affirmed.
In re Parker Refrigerated Service, Inc., 173 B.R. 704 (W.D. Wash. 1994). – Defended clients against a bankruptcy trustee’s attempt to collect freight undercharges. The U.S. District Court determined that the Negotiated Rates Act applied to the proceedings, which allowed the claims to be resolved favorably to the clients.
Defended international logistics company against alleged violations of trade secret laws. The client had contracted with others who, without the client’s knowledge, allegedly had taken trade secrets from their prior employer. Through a series of pre-trial motions, we ultimately demonstrated that the client did not participate in any violative conduct and settled the case in the first week of trial.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Member, American Bar Association, Litigation Section
Member, Transportation Lawyers Association
Member, American Bankruptcy Institute

HONORS AND AWARDS

Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
Washington Super Lawyer, Business Litigation (2007 – present)
Washington Law & Politics Rising Star (2001)

HOBBIES & INTERESTS

Kevin (born in Winlock, Washington) worked for Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland during law school and then joined the firm full time after graduation. Kevin served on the firm’s Executive Committee beginning in 2001 and was elected to two terms as Managing Partner from 2003 – 2009. In his free time, Kevin is an avid tennis player and proud father of two.

Credentials

Education

Admitted to Practice

Washington

U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington

U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Washington

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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