As a real estate transactional attorney with a strong ?background in land use and natural resource law, I ?help real estate and development clients resolve ?problems and move forward with projects ranging from ?major commercial and industrial developments to ?natural resource use and preservation. I represent ?commercial, agricultural, and industrial clients, ?developers, and port districts in real estate ?transactions, financing, permitting, land use, ?environmental and natural resource issues, and dispute ?resolution. In addition, I assist clients with multi-family ?developments by preparing declarations of restrictive ?covenants and advising association governance. In all ?aspects of my practice, I am committed to finding ?practical solutions that achieve client objectives.?An engineer turned lawyerMy pragmatic counsel is rooted in years of hands-on engineering and ?design experience. Before practicing law, I worked for 16 years as a ?civil and environmental consulting engineer-managing property restoration and development, site assessments, due diligence investigations, and environmental ?compliance. My technical experience in property development, land use, design, construction, compliance, ?and finance and resource management helps me understand my clients' businesses and translate their ?problems into workable solutions.?

Bar Admissions

• Oregon State Courts
• Washington State Courts

Education

• Seattle University School of Law, Juris Doctor degree, cum laude (2001)
• Clarkson University, Bachelor of Science degree, Civil & Environmental Engineering (1985)

Significant Accomplishments

Commercial & Industrial Real Estate

• Assists commercial landowners and tenants with office and medical facility leases.
• Provides guidance to a Washington port district for the development of a deep-water bulk grain export terminal and industrial property development and leases.
• Represents industrial landowners in the acquisition of hundreds of acres of property for industrial park development, preparation of restrictive covenant and easements, and development of lease agreements.
• Works with clients in development and leasing in the hospitality sector, including hotels, restaurants, brewpubs and wineries.

Natural Resources

• Represents farmers in the protection of fertile lands from local government actions attempting to impose flood-control measures on farmland.
• Successfully challenged a suit by timber landowners to regulatory restrictions to protect transferable development rights.
• Represented a timber company, county fire district and private property owners in lifting access restrictions imposed by U.S. Forest Service.

Community Associations

• Prepared declarations of covenants, conditions and restrictions for condominium and homeowner associations.
• Successfully defended a community association against a challenge to its authority under its governing documents to lease commercial businesses for the benefit of community members (Roats v. Blakely Island Maintenance Commission, Inc.).

• State of Commercial Real Estate and Construction in the Pacific Northwest
• Long-Awaited Condo Reform Kicks In; Here's What Developers Need To Know
• Seattle Needs to Tackle Their Top Public Safety Concern: URM Buildings
• Restrictive Covenants: The Impact on Washington Condo Owners
• Amazon & Whole Foods: The Next Evolution of the Modern Supermarket?
• What Is the Future of the Workplace in the Puget Sound Region?
• OP-ED: Transferable development rights: Where's the incentive?
• Look Beyond the Words of Restrictive Covenants
• Putting a Lid on Seattle's Waterfront Taxing District

Seminar

• COVID-19 and Bankruptcy: What Ports Can Do to Prepare for a Tenant Bankruptcy