Thank you for your interest in Karr Tuttle Campbell, one of the oldest and most-respected law firms in the Pacific Northwest. Karr Tuttle Campbell is a full-service, medium-sized firm — large enough to offer a variety of legal expertise, yet small enough to offer personalized service. We serve individuals, businesses, Northwest institutions, and government agencies. Ours is a supportive, friendly atmosphere that allows for easy exchanges regarding work product and expectations. We promote teamwork because it helps us most effectively meet our clients’ needs and makes work more satisfying and rewarding.
Karr Tuttle Campbell respects quality of work and quality of life for attorneys and staff. One example: We have put our values into practice by reducing the number of an associate’s required billable hours in order to emphasize quality over quantity and to promote a healthy balance between work and private life. We are committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting minority and women employees with the goal that our attorneys and staff reflect the great diversity of the community we serve. Firm leadership encourages innovation and makes every effort to take advantage of advancements in technology that help us work most effectively and better serve our clients.
We are progressive and flexible in meeting the needs of our employees whenever possible. Where appropriate, Karr Tuttle Campbell attorneys and staff telecommute, job share or work flexible schedules. The firm sponsors social activities designed to encourage and cultivate healthy and constructive working relationships and provides services such as a lunch room canteen intended to make employees’ daily work experience comfortable and productive.
We offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits to employees at all levels. Our benefits package includes the following:
- Full medical and dental coverage
- Long term disability and life insurance
- A flexible spending account
- Generous vacation and sick leave allowances
- A 401(k) retirement plan
- Profit sharing for eligible employees
- Transit subsidy
- Professional dues and support for professional activities
- Tuition assistance opportunities
- Annual performance evaluations
Summer Associate Program / Associates
Summer Associate Program
Our Summer Associate Program is designed to provide law students a realistic view of the practice and culture of our firm. Our comprehensive program provides law students with exposure to a wide range of practice areas through challenging and diverse work assignments, opportunities to observe trials, hearings, depositions, negotiations, and client conferences. Each summer associate is assigned an associate-level mentor that carefully monitors their work assignments and experiences over the course of the summer. For each assignment, the summer associate will also receive guidance and constructive feedback from a supervising attorney on the quality of their work. In addition, the firm hosts a number of social events giving summer associates the opportunity to interact with all of our attorneys in an informal setting.
We have historically hired on average two 2L summer associates each year, although the details vary from year to year. Our Summer Associate Program is the primary means through which we grow the firm and we do not hire more summer associates than we will be able to accommodate as associates. We typically require summer associates to make a ten-week commitment. Our salary is commensurate with similarly-sized firms in Seattle.
Karr Tuttle Campbell usually participates in on-campus interviews (OCIs) each August at the University of Washington Law School and Seattle University Law School. We also do our best to engage with students at other schools who are interested in returning to Seattle. If you are a rising 2L attending a law school where we do not conduct OCIs and you wish to apply for a position in our 2024 Summer Associate Program, please send your resume, a cover letter, and a copy of your recent transcript to Heather Hattrup at moc.elttutrraknull@purttahh.
Karr Tuttle Campbell is deeply committed to advancing diversity in the legal profession by expanding the number of opportunities for diverse law students. As part of this commitment, we also hire diverse 1L law students through the Legal Employers Advancing Diversity (LEAD) program in Washington state.
Associates
Karr Tuttle Campbell hires its associates with the hope that they will ultimately be invited to become shareholders. Thus, the firm does not employ a large number of associates with the expectation of forced attrition. Typically, we assign new associates to one of our practice departments. At the same time we encourage associates to devote a portion of their time to other practice areas. We believe this encourages development of well-rounded skills and facilitates the pursuit of new directions in the law as attorneys’ interests change and are refined over time. A shareholder works with each new associate as he or she makes the transition from law school to private practice.
Even though associates at Karr Tuttle Campbell work with experienced shareholders, they also handle matters on their own. Case responsibility and client contact are important aspects of the associate experience. An open-door policy on the part of senior attorneys and managers provides opportunities for valuable, informal training and development.
To help our associates develop as professionals and to foster their progress toward shareholder status, we devote considerable time and effort to assessing their work and progress individually. We conduct formal associate evaluations annually, soliciting input from all shareholders in the firm. An Associate Evaluation Committee interviews each associate, identifies areas in which he or she can improve in effectiveness, and encourages feedback and commentary from the associate. Karr Tuttle Campbell compensates associates at a level that is competitive with firms of comparable size in the Pacific Northwest. The firm recognizes superior associate performance by rewarding bonuses.
Lateral Attorneys
Karr Tuttle Campbell is often interested in talking to a practicing attorney who is considering a move of his or her practice to a different firm. Typically, attorney applicants who fit in well here are those who have demonstrated outstanding academic accomplishment and writing skills, get along well with a diverse group of people, take pride in personal achievements, value involvement in the community and are entrepreneurial. Growth for growth’s sake is not our agenda. However a candidate who is a comfortable cultural fit and can add strength to our firm in the form of transportable business or a unique or highly marketable skill set, will find a favorable environment here to support a flourishing career. We invite your confidential inquiry.
Marguerite Sandico
Director of Human Resources
Karr Tuttle Campbell
701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3300
Seattle, WA 98104
Non-Attorney Professional
In a mobile society, where change is the norm and movement is often seen as progress, Karr Tuttle Campbell has an extraordinarily stable professional staff. Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits do their part to attract applicants and an atmosphere that respects and encourages professionalism, offers reasons to stay. Employee longevity here is not unusual; it is the rule. We like to think that is largely because the firm allows our people room to grow.
From office support workers to department managers, non-attorneys make up half of Karr Tuttle Campbell’s work force and include a large number who have been on the job for decades. Our professionals include receptionists, legal secretaries, paralegals, specialists in information technology and litigation support, as well as library, accounting, finance and human resources personnel. A firm culture that cultivates teamwork, allows cross-training and provides exposure to multiple disciplines means opportunities for employees to find their own best fit.