Member & Executive Committee Member
Kristin is a compassionate, skilled attorney who sets herself apart by providing her clients with excellent communication, transparency and quick response time. Adept at fighting for her client’s best interests, Kristin has a “work together” attitude to meet their needs and expectations.
From established technology companies, to nursing home organizations, to emerging start-ups, Kristin enjoys working with businesses in a variety of industries. She focuses her varied litigation practice in the following areas:
Kristin represents investors, financial planners, wealth managers, insurance companies and other professionals in the financial services and insurance industries with various claims, including class actions, regulatory proceedings and customer claims. She also defends registered investment advisors, investment advisor representatives, investment bankers, broker-dealers and registered representatives in regulatory investigations and disciplinary actions brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and the State of Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Securities Division. Kristin’s representation of insurance companies has included cases defending against claims of bad faith and denial of benefits for a variety of policies, including life, annuities and long-term care policies.
Having defended healthcare clients in litigation, regulation, transactional, and employment issues, Kristin counsels her healthcare clients on how they can best protect themselves from the complexities of regulation in the industry. She also counsels her healthcare practitioner clients about business issues, including business formation, business practices, regulations for their practices, investment, and employee issues. Her long-term care, skilled nursing, and assisted living facility, medical device and surgery center clients seek her advice about minimum wage, unionization and other employment issues, medical malpractice claims, and regulatory charges. Kristin’s understanding of her client’s business, combined with her knowledge of the legal and regulatory framework every provider must navigate, enables her to provide clarity in the midst of an ever-changing healthcare world.
All employers must deal with the evolving web of federal and state employment laws. In addition to representing employers in state and federal court, Kristin defends clients in investigations by the EEOC, Department of Labor, and other state and local agencies. Kristin also works with companies on a wide array of employment matters, including hiring and termination, healthcare, wage and hour, discrimination and harassment, and retaliation. She assists clients in drafting employment agreements, severance packages, employee handbooks, employment policies and developing strategies for avoiding problems resulting in litigation.
The remainder of Kristin’s practice includes assisting clients with complex litigation in the following areas:
Kristin knows a legal issue has potential ramifications and she is adept at seeing around corners to avoid problems in helping decision-makers make choices that are in the best interests of all facets of an organization.
A native of Spokane, Washington, Kristin grew up under the influence of her father, at the time a small-town attorney. While she gravitated toward business and finance early on in her education, her introduction to law came in middle school. Her dad came home one evening and read Kristin the rule on hearsay, while offering a number of examples of anticipated testimony. Kristin was quizzed by her father on whether or not she agreed with what might or might not qualify under the rule. Intrigued by the challenge, she never forgot that moment and would go on to bypass business school in favor of law school.
After graduation from Boston University School of Law in 2002, Kristin knew Ryan Swanson was the place for her from the moment she stepped into the lobby. She enjoys coming to work every day and is thankful to work in a fun, supportive office with so many great people. When she is not in the office, Kristin enjoys spending her time learning about new things through exploring, traveling, reading and meeting new people. She lives in Kirkland with her husband and two kids, who are often on a soccer or baseball field nearby.
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