Johanna M. Coolbaugh

Johanna M. Coolbaugh’s practice focuses on estate planning for a broad range of clients, from young families who are just starting out to high net worth families in need of sophisticated estate and business succession planning. In addition to her estate planning practice, she advises individual and professional fiduciaries in their roles as trustees, executors, and attorneys-in-fact, and also advises individuals and professional fiduciaries in complex trust and estate litigation. She is a member of both the Tax, Trusts and Estates group and the Litigation group at Karr Tuttle Campbell.

Ms. Coolbaugh graduated summa cum laude from Seattle University School of Law, where she served as the Executive Editor of the Seattle University Law Review.  Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Coolbaugh worked for the Honorable Robert J. Bryan as a Judicial Extern in Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington.  Ms. Coolbaugh was awarded membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Ms. Coolbaugh was selected by her peers as a “Rising Star” in 2011 and 2012 and as a “Super Lawyer” in every year thereafter, an honor that is awarded to no more than five percent of the lawyers in the State of Washington.  She is a member of the WSBA Estate and Gift Tax Committee and a member of the Seattle Estate Planning Council.  Ms. Coolbaugh is active in the King County Bar Association and regularly volunteers at the YWCA Seattle Emergency Housing Services Clinic and at the First Responder’s Will Clinic.  Ms. Coolbaugh serves on the Board of Directors of EarthCorps, a nonprofit dedicated to building a global community of leaders through local environmental service.

• Tax
• Trusts and Estates
• Litigation

• Estate Planning, Guardianships for Minors, and College Planning, Presentations to the Program for Early Parent Support and the Ballard Pre-School Co-Op, August 2014 and April 2015
• Using LLCs and Trusts Together, NBI CLE on the Use of LLCs in Asset Protection and Estate Planning, May 2014
• Panel: 2012 Planning Still Makes Sense, WSBA CLE on Estate and Gift Tax Updates: More “Permanent” Estate Planning?, March 2013
• Federal Estate Tax Returns, NBI CLE on Tax Planning for Trusts and Estate CLE, February 2011
• Fiduciary Accounting, WSBA CLE on Probate Boot Camp, July 2009
• Washington’s Domestic Partnership Act (2009): Treatment of Domestic Partners under State and Federal Tax Laws, Attorney-CPA Tax Clinic, 2009
• “Washington Weighs in on Candor Versus Confidentiality,” King County Bar Bulletin article, 2006
• “Washington’s New Rules of Professional Conduct: A Balancing Act,” 30 Seattle University Law Review 45 (2006)

• J.D., Seattle University School of Law, 2007
  • Executive Editor of Seattle University Law Review
  • Dean’s List, Presidential Law Scholar
  • Year-End Achievement Scholar
  • Civil Procedure Teacher’s Assistant
  • CALI Award achieved in Constitutional Law and Trusts and Estates
• B.A., University of Washington, 2004
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Annual Dean’s List
  • Washington Promise Scholar
  • Golden Key International Honor Society UWA Member

• Washington State Bar, 2007
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, 2007
• Unites States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2010
• Oregon State Bar, 2015

• Washington State Bar Association
• King County Bar Association
• Board of Trustees Member, Young Lawyers Division,   2008-2011
• Chair, Young Lawyers Division, 2010-2011
• WSBA First Responder Will Clinic volunteer
• Seattle Emergency Housing Services volunteer
• Federal Bar Association
• Seattle Estate Planning Council
• WSBA Estate and Gift Tax Committee