ABOUT | Lee Raaen

Education:

Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington: BA Political Science, 1969.
University of Oregon School of Law: Doctor of Jurisprudence, 1975.

Professional Associations:

Courts:

Appellate, Superior, District and Municipal courts in the State of Washington
Federal District Courts of the Western District of Washington
Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals
United States Court of Claims, Washington, D.C.

Practice:

I have been a Washington State lawyer for over 42 years. I have practiced independently most of the time. There are advantages in working for a firm, but for me the flexibility and freedom provided by being a sole-practitioner are important. Occasionally, I associate colleagues when appropriate.

Today, my practice consists primarily of civil litigation (attorney's fee disputes, plaintiff's personal injury, business and real property litigation).

I serve as a Hearing Examiner for cities in Western Washington including Kent, Des Moines, Mukilteo, Lacy, and several others. I have often been appointed as an arbitrator for the King County Superior Court.

I also serve as an expert witness in attorney fee dispute litigation.

Past Legal Professional Activities:

Organized and ran free legal clinic for veterans.
Judicial candidate evaluation committees.
Litigated, lectured and lobbied civil liberties issues for the ACLU.

Bar Association Presentations & Seminars

WSBA Ethics in Civil Litigation (2018) Ethical Issues Related to Attorney Fees
WSBA Ethics School (Five times: 2012 - 2016) Fees & Fee Agreements
Effective & Ethical Fee Agreements (2010, 2014) Attorney Fee Agreements – CLE Chair
KCBA Mandatory Guardian ad Litem Training (2011, 2015) Evaluating Requests for Approval of Attorney’s Fees
Attorney’s Liens (2016,2017) Attorney Liens - What You Can and Cannot Do To Collect Your Fees

Publications:

Publications on Attorney Fees & Ethics.

WSBA (2020) Washington Legal Ethics Deskbook, Chapter 3 Attorney's Fees

WSBA (2018) Ethics in Civil Litigation; Ethical Issues Related to Attorney Fees

King County Bar Association (2017) Attorney Liens—What You Can Do and Cannot Do to Secure Your Fees

WSBA CLE Liens (2016) Attorney Liens - What You Can and Cannot Do To Collect Your Fees

WSBA Ethics School (2016) Ethical Issues In Charging and Collecting Attorney’s Fees

King County Bar Association (2015) Asserting and Foreclosing Attorney Liens

King County Bar Association (2015) Evaluating Requests for Approval of Attorney’s Fees: Mandatory Settlement GAL Training

WSBA Ethics School (2014) Fees & Fee Agreements

King County Bar Association (2014) Beyond the Written Fee Agreement

WSBA NW Lawyer (2014) A Mosaic of Fee-Shifting Law and Issues (with Mike Caryl)

WSBA Ethics School (2013) Fees & Fee Agreements

King County Bar Association (2011) Evaluating Requests for Approval of Attorney’s Fees: Mandatory Settlement GAL Training

King County Bar Association CLE (2010) Beyond the Written Fee Agreement

Other Legal Publications

"Suggestions on Choosing a Word Processing System", Washington State Bar News, September 1980 with Henry Lippek, reprinted in other professional journals. Before there was such a thing as an IBM PC, we analyzed and reviewed two dozen computers. Our choice – almost 40 years ago - a $15,000.00 machine which came in two steel cases with 56K RAM and three 64K floppy drives.

"Twilight Zone in Federal Toxic Tort Cases", Trial News, June 1988. An analysis of some of the bizarre pleading and jurisdictional rules involved in suing the federal government.