Our Firm
Keller Rohrback’s lawyers excel by being prepared and persuasive. It’s a simple formula that combines our strengths: outstanding writing and courtroom skill, together with unparalleled passion and integrity.
We have recovered billions of dollars for our clients, and have served as lead counsel in many prominent cases, including numerous financial crisis cases against Wall Street banks and mortgage originators. Our lawyers are widely recognized as leaders in their fields who have dedicated their careers to combating corporate fraud and misconduct. We have the talent as well as the financial resources to litigate against Fortune 500 companies – and do so every day.
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Firm Evolution
- George Kahin (1919 – 1924)
- Bullitt & Kahin (1924 – 1929)
- Kahin & Carmody (1930 – 1939)
- Kahin Carmody & Schram (1939 – 1941)
- Kahin & Carmody (1941 – 1947)
- Kahin Carmody & Pearson (1948 – 1950)
- Kahin Carmody & Horswill (1950 – 1962)
- Kahin Horswill Keller Rohrback Waldo & Moren (1962 – 1967)
- Horswill Keller Rohrback Waldo & Moren (1967 – 1972)
- Keller Rohrback Waldo Moren & Hiscock (1972 – 1974)
- Keller Rohrback Waldo & Hiscock (1974 – 1981)
- Keller Rohrback Waldo Hiscock Butterworth & Fardal (1981 – 1986)
- Keller Rohrback L.L.P. (1986 – present)
The firm was located in the Central Building, 810 Third Avenue, from 1919 to 1964, when we moved to the IBM Building at 1200 Fifth Avenue. We moved to our current location, 1201 Third Avenue (formerly Washington Mutual Tower), in 1988.
Our History
Founded in 1919, Keller Rohrback has grown from a solo practitioner in Seattle to an over 60 attorney law firm with offices in Seattle, Denver, Missoula, New York, Oakland, Phoenix, Portland, and Santa Barbara. Over the past century, our firm has built a distinguished reputation by providing top-notch representation.
From the firm’s origins when George Kahin set up shop in Seattle as a sole practitioner in 1919, to its evolution into Keller Rohrback L.L.P., our commitment to quality legal services has remained the same. Through the years, we have broadened our services to new practice groups in order to address the changing needs of our clients. Our attorneys and professional legal support staff are dedicated to providing outstanding legal services and obtaining the best possible results for our clients. George Kahin came to Seattle from Harvard Law School and formed a partnership with Keith L. Bullitt in 1924. This partnership was given an “av” rating in the 1925 edition of Martindale’s American Law Directory, the predecessor to the present day Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. In 1930, Kahin and John D. Carmody, a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law who began practicing law in Seattle in 1905 and served as a deputy in the King County prosecutor’s office from 1914 to 1923, formed a partnership that evolved into Keller Rohrback L.L.P.
The origin of the firm’s name is from the last names of Robert Keller and Pinckney Rohrback (President of the Seattle-King County Bar Association from 1968-1969), two lawyers who significantly contributed to the creation and success of the firm. Both Keller and Rohrback were down-to-earth Seattle natives and University of Washington graduates. They practiced law in the firm for a combined 80 years. Together with their long-time partners Erle Horswill (later, King County Superior Court Judge Horswill), Burton Waldo, and Fred Butterworth (President of the Seattle-King County Bar Association from 1988-1989), they established the solid professional reputation that still characterizes the organization today.
In 1986, the firm was renamed Keller Rohrback L.L.P., and Lynn Sarko started the Complex Litigation practice. This practice enjoys a stellar national reputation in courts across the country. Complex Litigation offers exceptional service and a comprehensive understanding of state and federal law nationwide. Its lawyers are well known for their ability to collaborate with co-counsel, and work together to achieve outstanding results – an essential skill in large-scale cases in which several firms represent the plaintiffs. Keller Rohrback plays well in the sandbox – not needlessly antagonizing our competitors or opponents. Instead, we earn the respect of our colleagues and our opponents through our deft handling of the endless array of complex issues and obstacles that our clients face.
In recent years the firm has continued to grow. In 2002 we added Keller Rohrback P.L.C. (now L.L.P.) in Phoenix. In 2008 we opened our New York office, followed by our Southern California office in 2010, Montana in 2014, Northern California in 2015, Portland in 2022, and Denver in 2023.
What We Do
Keller Rohrback’s Complex Litigation Group represents plaintiffs in large-scale, complex cases involving corporate wrongdoing. We litigate against companies that pollute, commit fraud, fix prices, and take advantage of consumers, employees and investors. We are passionate advocates for justice. Wrongdoing takes many forms – and our attorneys practice in a wide variety of areas as a result. In addition, the Complex Litigation Group regularly calls on attorneys in the firm’s other practice areas for expertise in bankruptcy, contracts, Constitutional law, employment law, executive compensation, corporate transactions, financial institutions, insurance coverage, mergers and acquisitions, professional malpractice, securities transactions, intellectual property, trusts and estates, international law, technology law, maritime law, and treaty law.
Our group’s access to these in-house resources is one of the factors that distinguishes Keller Rohrback from other plaintiffs’ class action firms and contributes to the firm’s success. We also have a history of working with legal counsel from other countries to vigorously pursue legal remedies on behalf of our clients.
We have won verdicts in state and federal courts throughout the nation and have obtained judgments and settlements on behalf of clients in excess of $94.9 billion. Courts around the country have praised our work, and we are regularly appointed lead counsel in nationally prominent class cases. Our work has had far-reaching impacts for our clients in a variety of settings and industries, creating a better, more accountable society.
Who We Are
Founded in 1919, Keller Rohrback’s over 60 attorneys and over 100 staff members are based in eight offices across the country in Seattle, Denver, Missoula, New York, Oakland, Phoenix, Portland, and Santa Barbara. Over the past century, our firm has built a distinguished reputation by providing top-notch representation. The Complex Litigation Group enjoys a stellar national reputation in courts across the country. We offer exceptional service and a comprehensive understanding of state and federal law nationwide. We also are well known for our ability to collaborate with co-counsel, and work together to achieve outstanding results – an essential skill in large-scale cases in which several firms represent the plaintiffs. We play well in the sandbox – not needlessly antagonizing our competitors or opponents. Instead, we earn the respect of our colleagues and our opponents through our deft handling of the endless array of complex issues and obstacles that our clients face.
Keller Rohrback’s Complex Litigation Group has a national reputation as a leading plaintiffs’ firm for large-scale, complex individual and class action cases. We represent consumers, employees, public and private investors and institutions, governments, and individuals in a wide range of fraud and misfeasance actions, including, among other areas, consumer, products liability and defects, environmental, securities, ERISA, fiduciary breach and investment mismanagement, and anti-trust. Our approach is straightforward – we represent clients who have been harmed by conduct that is wrong, and we litigate with passion and integrity to obtain the best results possible. Every case is different, but we win for the same reason: we are persuasive. When you hire us, you hire smart, creative lawyers who are skilled in court and in negotiations.
Who We Represent
We represent individuals, institutions, and government agencies. The common denominators of our clients are a desire to see justice done –and to be represented by attorneys who practice law with integrity, honesty, and devotion to doing what’s right.
Fee Arrangements
We offer a variety of alternative fee arrangements to best suit each of our clients, including contingent fee arrangements, blended fee arrangements, fixed fee arrangements, and regular hourly billing rates.
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