Karr Tuttle attorneys in a meeting.

About Us: It's The Relationship That Matters

OUR FIRST CENTURY

In 1904, when the name “Starbuck” conjured up Moby-Dick, not coffee, and William Boeing was still years from launching his first airplane, attorneys Day Karr and George Gregory formed a law partnership. As Seattle grew, so did the law firm. Although much has changed since then, the firm’s mission remains the same: to provide a full range of legal services of the highest quality and integrity, at a fair price, and to always put our clients’ needs and best interests first.

Karr Tuttle Campbell has always been devoted to diversity. Muriel Mawer, who in 1936 graduated second in her class from the University of Washington Law School, was a member of the firm for decades and is remembered as one of the first female senior partners of a major Seattle law firm.

COLLABORATION, CLIENTS, LOYALTY

In a collegial, collaborative atmosphere KTC attorneys and staff serve individuals, small and large businesses including government entities and nonprofit organizations. Our firm focuses on all aspects of business and finance; employment law; tax, estate planning and trusts; and litigation. Our clients are engaged in almost every conceivable type of endeavor, and our attorneys, who are deeply experienced in a wide range of industry and practice areas, ably serve their needs. We have a loyal client base, many of whom we have been serving for decades.

Post Thumbnail

IT’S THE RELATIONSHIP

For both client and attorney, it’s the relationship that matters. That means an easy flow of information in both directions. It means having an attorney who works hard to understand a client’s needs and business and who is attentive and responsive. It means having great confidence in the attorney’s ability and commitment. Knowing that one’s attorney doesn’t work alone but is part of a team who can bring depth and breadth of expertise to a client’s matter adds to that confidence. All of this describes the KTC attorney-client relationship.

MOVING FORWARD

As KTC continues serving clients well into our second century, we hold fast to traditions of excellence and integrity. At the same time we embrace positive changes, such as innovative technologies that improve service, efficiency and economy. We remain committed to ever greater diversity in the firm’s personnel; to “greener” work practices; to maintaining a healthy connection to community; and to meeting the challenges of a global marketplace with the same dedication and imagination offered by our original founders.

In addition to proactively building a technology infrastructure while cultivating a hard-working, collaborative firm culture, KTC has expanded the professional contacts and resources available to meet the needs of our diverse client base. We provide legal services offering a global reach without sacrificing excellence and distinction to size and bureaucracy. As the exclusive Washington State member of the invitation-only Law Firm Alliance, we have extended our geographic reach to a corresponding network of 50 independent law firms with over 2,800 attorneys across North America, Europe and Asia. Despite this expanded access to broader expertise we remain independent, responsive, accessible and dedicated to our clients.

EXCELLENCE

KTC attorneys have served as presidents of the Washington State Bar Association, the King County Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington, the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers, and the International Association of Defense Counsel.

Many KTC attorneys are selected annually for inclusion on best lawyers’ lists including Chambers & Partners, “Super Lawyers,” Washington CEO’s and Seattle Magazine’s, “top attorneys” lists, Seattle Business Monthly’s list of top business attorneys and Woodward/White’s “The Best Lawyers in America.”

Many of our attorneys have been included in the ranks of such elite organizations as The American College of Trial Lawyers, The American College of Real Estate Lawyers, The American College of Mortgage Attorneys, The American College of Bankruptcy, The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In addition, our attorneys have taught at both major Seattle area law schools and regularly serve as continuing legal education instructors.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION

KTC Diversity Equity Inclusion Mission/Vision Statement: KTC is committed to promoting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is anti-racist, supportive of LGTBQ+ and gender equity, and which has a foundation rooted in mutual respect. We believe enacting meaningful policies is necessary to achieve equality and justice for all.

Diversity – Diversity is acknowledgement and understanding that each individual is unique in their own right. With diversity in mind, the entire composition of our workforce needs to reflect a wide array of experiences and backgrounds, which includes people who have been historically and systemically excluded from the legal profession.

Equity – Equity recognizes that each individual has different needs, experiences, and opportunities. We do not assume that everyone has to overcome the same challenges, including intentional and unintentional barriers arising from bias or systemic structures.

Inclusion – Inclusion provides each individual with opportunities to participate and feel valued as themselves within a larger group. Inclusion is not a natural consequence of diversity, and we acknowledge that inclusion must be actively pursued and built into the fabric of our law firm.

KTC’s dedication to diversity in the legal workplace includes the Puget Sound Area Minority Fellowship Program, which provides summer internship opportunities to deserving minority law students. The firm’s lawyers and staff, from service center clerks to senior attorneys serving as firm officers and department and practice group chairs, reflect the cultural and ethnic spectrum of the surrounding community. In honor of Juneteenth, KTC provides a paid service day for all attorneys and staff.

COMMUNITY

KTC believes in and strongly encourages active, meaningful involvement in the community. As a firm we go all out for the annual United Way fund raising campaign, of course. But financial contributions are just one small way to give. Firm attorneys and non-attorneys alike also dedicate countless hours throughout each year to a great many civic and charitable organizations.

Among ongoing projects in which a large number of our people routinely contribute considerable time and effort you will find groups that provide legal consultations to those of our neighbors who need such assistance the most and are least prepared to find their way to help. An even larger number of KTC personnel are regular volunteers at Seattle Emergency Housing Services, one of the oldest bar-sponsored programs, and one which provides law-related help to homeless individuals.

There is widespread enthusiasm by firm employees for helping homeless or hungry neighbors in our downtown business “home” as well as in our private neighborhoods through support for efforts such as the Sacred Heart Homeless Shelter and Food Lifeline.

Among the most vulnerable and deserving recipients of our time and attention are youngsters – who have our support through several projects at Seattle Children’s Hospital including the Autism Center, the Butterfly Guild and the Washington Medical-Legal Partnership for Children. And as a key element of our workplace holiday tradition, we mobilize to benefit the efforts of Childhaven to help young victims of abuse and to reach out in a personal way to the children and their families.

Economic stresses make many of us more keenly aware of the need around us, our involvement is these organizations and many, many others is not a new development. KTC’s long term and consistent commitment resulted in its selection as the pro bono firm of the year by the King County Bar Association, by Seattle Emergency Housing Services, and by the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators. Similar accolades have been bestowed upon individual attorneys and staff members as well.

KTC lawyers and staff participate in organizations large and small, some with law-related goals, many simply aiming to make our area a better place to live. Our people serve on boards, as officers or trustees and provide pro bono legal services or freely volunteer other skills. Following are some community organizations not mentioned above that we have supported with substantial time or resources:

 

  • KTC Team MembersArboretum Foundation
  • Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Puget Sound
  • Boy Scouts of America, Chief Seattle Council
  • Childhaven
  • College of Natural Resources, University of California at Berkeley
  • Earth Corps
  • Edmonds Community College Foundation
  • Edmonds Mural Society
  • Food Lifeline
  • Friends of Dakota Place Park
  • HealthPoint
  • Gonzaga University Board of Regents
  • Holocaust Center for Humanity
  • Kamiak Athletic Booster Club
  • King County Bar Foundation
  • King’s Academy
  • Legal Foundation of Washington
  • National Charity League, Evergreen Chapter
  • Navos (Mental Health Solutions)
  • Northwest AHEPA Family Education Foundation
  • Northwest Choirs
  • Pacific Northwest Research Institute
  • PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
  • PIPE (Partners in Public Education)
  • PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society)
  • Sacred Heart Homeless Shelter
  • Safe Crossings Foundation
  • Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church and Foundation
  • John the Forerunner Greek Orthodox Monastery
  • Seahurst Friends
  • Seattle Chamber Music Society
  • Seattle Clemency Project
  • Shoreline Public Schools Foundation
  • Sno-King Economic Project
  • The Children’s School
  • Volunteers of America
  • Washington Army National Guard
  • Washington Dental Service Foundation
  • Washington First Responder Will Clinic (WSBA)
  • Washington Planned Giving Council
  • Washington Veteran’s Will Clinic
  • YMCA, Sammamish Branch
  • YMCA, Downtown Seattle
NEWS & INSIGHTS

Let's
Work
Together

CONTACT US

Join
Our
Team

EXPLORE CAREERS