Practice Areas

Representative Cases

Upper Skagit Indian Tribe at the United States Supreme Court

Tyler was part of litigation team that successfully represented the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe in Lundgren v. Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, argued March 2018 at the United States Supreme Court.  The Tribe hired us after the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that an adverse possession claim could proceed against the Tribe despite its assertion of sovereign immunity from suit. Working closely with the Tribe’s general counsel, we successfully petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, briefed the case on the merits, prepared for oral argument, and won a 7-2 ruling reversing the State Supreme Court.

$25 Million Trial Win after Six Week Jury Trial

In June 2023, Ariel served as trial counsel for King County in a six-week jury trial over defective pipes in the King County Jail, the County received a favorable jury verdict of over $18 million.  In post-trial briefing, the County received an award of attorneys’ fees, costs, and expert costs in excess of $6 million.  The jury verdict was the culmination of four years of multiparty litigation involving over forty depositions, extensive document discovery, and multiple dispositive motions seeking to dismiss the County’s claims at the pleading and summary judgment stages.  

$27 Million Lawsuit Against Seattle High-Tech Company

Tyler was part of litigation team that successfully defended Seattle technology company Whitepages, Inc., against claims alleging breach of contract, fraud, and theft of confidential information. We were retained at the close of discovery to try the case after multiple dispositive motions had been denied and mediation had failed. The plaintiff (Spokeo, Inc.) sought over $27 million in damages. After a five-week trial in King County Superior Court, the jury rejected all but one of Spokeo’s claims and awarded only $72,915 in damages (0.26% of the amount sought). The jury also found Spokeo liable for breach of contract, and awarded damages to Whitepages. We then prevailed on all post-trial motions.  The Court reversed the one jury verdict adverse to Whitepages, finding that the Consumer Protection Act did not apply to this contract dispute between competitors.  The Court also awarded Whitepages over $2 million in attorneys’ fees and costs. 

$95 Million Settlement on Behalf of the State of Washington

Ariel was part of the litigation team that secured a $95 million settlement with Monsanto in State of Washington v. Monsanto (King County Sup. Ct.), over Monsanto’s manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  The State overcame Monsanto’s efforts to dismiss the action and developed strong evidence that Monsanto produced PCBs for decades while hiding what it knew about the harm PCBs posed to human health and the environment. 

Appellate Win on Behalf School District Facing $40 Million Class Action Ariel was part of the litigation team that successfully represented the Seattle School District against a class of over 400 employees who claimed that the district failed to pay disability benefits with alleged damages in excess of $40 million.  Following class certification, the district successfully appealed an interlocutory decision and used the favorable appellate decision on remand to dismiss the class representative and class claims. 

Trial Win on Behalf of Upper Skagit Indian Tribe

In one of the first in-person bench trials after the Covid pandemic, from March – April 2022, Tyler partnered with the client’s general counsel to defend the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe’s treaty rights. After trial we obtained an order dismissing all of the petitioning tribe’s claims to have treaty fishing rights in our client’s fishing territory.  We continue to work with the Tribe defending the win on appeal.

Trial Win on Behalf of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Following a 4-week jury trial, Tyler obtained the trial court’s dismissal of the claim against our client (2020); the dismissal was affirmed by Court of Appeals after Tyler’s oral argument (2022).

First Amendment Litigation Win

After obtaining dismissal of a CPA claim seeking to restrict a network’s Covid-19 news coverage,Tyler argued before the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court win (2020 and 2021).

Enforcement of Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement

At the outset of the Covid pandemic, in federal court, we enforced a $30 mm real estate purchase sale agreement despite the buyer’s attempt to excuse performance based on Covid-19 regulations (2020).

Office Park Condemnation Suits and Construction Impact Litigation

We often represent property owners.  In one case, we represented the owner of an office park in connection with dual condemnation proceedings brought by the City of Bellevue and Sound Transit.  In connection with the former, we negotiated an indemnity provision to protect the office park from any losses incident to the public works project.  When losses subsequently occurred, we enforced the office park’s indemnity rights against the municipal entity and its contractors and subcontractors.  Bypassing the City, we negotiated directly with the contractor and its insurers to obtain a significant recovery.  In connection with the latter, we intervened during the planning stages to negotiate a revision to the light rail / road configuration plan to preserve a vital access point to the client’s office park.  Then we worked with an experienced appraiser and land use counsel to negotiate extensive easement provisions with Sound Transit and to minimize the project’s negative impact on the office park and its tenants.  Throughout the process, we worked hand-in-hand with our clients and a team of experts (e.g. traffic engineers, geotechnical engineers) to achieve the best outcome.

Temporary Restraining Order to Prevent Self-dealing and Corporate Waste

In June 2024, we obtained a TRO transferring management authority over 6 real estate development SPEs to our client (the Class A member in each). The TRO remained in place for six months over which time our clients diligently managed the projects in the interest of all members.