Christopher C. Pence
Christopher Pence
Bainbridge Island
Washington (WA)
Personal Injury Plaintiff: General
Professional Liability: Plaintiff
Personal Injury Plaintiff: Medical Malpractice
Profile
Chris Pence is privileged to represent individuals and families recover just compensation for serious personal injuries, death and economic loss caused by negligence and misconduct. Chris has handled a wide range of damage cases, including wrongful death and serious personal injuries from roadway collisions, construction site hazards, unsafe products, medical malpractice, food pathogens, government liability, and all manner of accidents caused by carelessness. Chris seeks the maximum recovery consistent with his client's wishes, whether by settlement or by trial in the state and federal courts of Washington. His practice includes an emphasis on legal malpractice and medical negligence claims. Chris began his career prosecuting attorney misconduct as bar counsel with the Washington State Bar Association. He served as a member and as the chairperson of the WSBA Disciplinary Board, through which the Washington Supreme Court regulates and disciplines attorneys admitted to practice law in the state. He has been named by The Best Lawyers in America for 15 consecutive years as one of the nation's best attorneys in the legal malpractice field. He has been named as a Washington Super Lawyer seven consecutive years, and as one of the best 40 personal injury attorneys in Washington. Mr. Pence currently accepts clients with serious physical injuries or who have lost a loved one to negligence or misconduct, and clients with major legal and medical malpractice claims. Chris is a graduate of Whitman College and Willamette University College of Law. He also attended Howard University. He belongs to the American Bar Association, American Association for Justice, the Washington Association for Justice, the King County Bar Association, and, of course, the Washington State Bar Association.
Selected To
Washington Super Lawyers 2009
Washington Super Lawyers 2008
Washington Super Lawyers 2007
Washington Super Lawyers 2006
Washington Super Lawyers 2005
Washington Super Lawyers 2004
Washington Super Lawyers 2003
About Christopher Pence
Admitted: 1977, Washington
Professional Webpage: www.martindale.com/Law-Office-of-Christopher-Pence/4583189-l...
Special Licenses/Certifications:
- Rated "AV" for “Very High to Preeminent” legal ability, adherence to ethical standards, professional reliability and diligence based on confidential ratings by judges and lawyers in the legal community. The "AV" rating is awarded to less than 10 percent of lawyers nationally and is the highest rating by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
Bar/Professional Activity:
- Member and Chair, Washington State Bar Association Disciplinary Board, Joint Washington Supreme Court and Washington State Bar Association Task Force of Lawyer Regulation. Member, Bar-Bench-Press Committee. Member, Seattle-King County Task Force on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Organizer and faculty, Bainbridge Island Peoples' Law School for several years; volunteer attorney King County Bar Association Freemont Legal Clinic many years; various individual cases.
Scholarly Lectures and Writings:
- Ethical Considerations, Winning: Hot Topics in Criminal Law, The Seminar Group, May 2005. The Practical Side of Running Your Own Practice, Early Years of Litigation Practice, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, May 2004. Ethics and Professional Liability Issues – Plaintiff Perspective, Ethics Seminar, Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association, November 2001. Litigation Techniques Involving Confidential Records, Law of Confidential Records, Washington Law Institute, April 2000. Litigation Techniques Involving Confidential Records, Law of Confidential Records, Washington Law Institute, May 1999. Panelist, Ethics and Professionalism in Civil Practice in the Western District of Washington, Washington Federal Bar Association, December 1997. Referral Fees and Fee Splitting: What are the rules and how do you comply with them?, Ethical Issues in the Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Practice, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, December 1997. Insurance Law, Annual Convention, East King County Support Professionals, May 1996. Creative Use of Class Actions for Mass Torts: Post-mortem on the Jack-in-the Box Litigation, Luvera Seminar, WSTLA Annual Meeting, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, July 1996. Fee Divisions: Practice and Ethics, Luvera Seminar, WSTLA Annual Meeting and Convention, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, August 1997. How to Hire and Work With a Lawyer, Bainbridge Island Peoples Law School, April 1995. Setting-up a System That Works, Auto Cases: Nuts and Bolts, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, April 1994. Personal Injury and Professional Liability Law, Bainbridge Island Peoples Law School, March 1994. Handling Fee Disputes Without Being Sued, How To Avoid Legal Malpractice and Its Three Ugly Siblings: CR 11 Sanctions, Bar Complaints and Fee Disputes, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, February 1992. Handling the Personal Injury Case, The Attorney-Paralegal Team, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, August 1991. Effective Use of Legal Assistants and Standard Forms in Handling the Auto Case, Auto Cases: Winning Is No Accident, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, April 1991. Ethical and Malpractice Pitfalls for the Sole Practitioner, Setting Up Your Own Law Office, Seattle-King County Bar Association, April 1990. Legal Malpractice in Washington: Plaintiff’s Perspective, Bringing a Legal Malpractice Action, Seattle-King County Bar Association, October 1989. Plaintiff’s Pretrial Motions, Demonstration of an Automobile Collision Trial, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, March 1988. Considerations in Bringing and Proving a Legal Malpractice Claim, Prosecuting, Defending, and Avoiding Malpractice Claims, University of Washington Law School Foundation, October 1987. The Money Trap: Fee Agreements, Fee Disputes, Fee Ethics, Malpractice Traps for the Unwary, Seattle-King County Bar Association, May 1987. Mandatory Arbitration of Dissolution Modification, Family Law Section WSBA Annual Meeting Seminar, Washington State Bar Association, September 1985. Settlement of Insured Claims Against Attorneys: Policy Provisions; Disputes Between Insurer and Insured; “Bad Faith,” Legal Malpractice, Washington State Bar Association, April 1985. File Organization: Keeping Track of the Information, Preparation and Trial of a Personal Injury Case, Seattle-King County Bar Association, April 1984. Malpractice and Ethical Complaints: Staying Out of Trouble and What Happens When You Don’t, Lawyers’ Ethics - Honesty is Not Enough, Seattle‑King County Bar Association, July 1983. File Organization: Keeping Track of the Information, Preparation and Trial of Personal Injury Cases, Seattle-King County Bar Association, February 1983. Closures of Courtroom to Media, Regional Seminar, Bench-Bar-Press Committee of Washington, 1980. C. Pence, Avoiding Fee Disputes and Informal Engagement Letters, Legal Malpractice Rev. (Dec. 1979). Reprinted in 34:9 Washington State Bar News, 125 (Sept. 1980). Attorney Discipline, Legal Malpractice, Washington State Bar Association, July and August 1980. C. Pence, In re Krogh and Attorney Discipline in Washington, 12 Will. L.J., 374 (1976).
Verdicts and Settlements:
- $15 million and establishment of medical monitoring program, Jack-In-The-Box E-coli class action; servered as class co-counsel. $4.4 million settlement for child victim of food pathogen infection. $3.2 million legal malpractice settlement against law firm that facilitated client fraud. $3 million jury verdict for undiagnosed heart infection. $2.9 million settlement for pharmaceutical injuries. $2.9 million settlement against physicians and hospital for medical malpractice causing paraplegia to retiree. $2.5 million settlement of insurance bad faith action for failure to defend. $550,000 jury verdict for neck injury sustained in car crash. Confidential settlement against state's largest law firm for conflicts of interest causing business loss. Confidential settlement against osteopathic physician for failure to diagnose bacterial endocarditis. Confidential settlement against attorney for conflict of interest arising from romantic involvement with wife while representing husband in divorce. Confidential settlement against Seattle Catholic Archdiocese for failure to supervise priest. Confidential settlements for failure to diagnose intracranial hemmorhage causing death - two cases. Other confidential settlements of legal malpractice and medical malpractice claims.
Educational Background:
- Juris Doctor, Willamette University College of Law, Salem, Oregon, 1977. Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, 1972. Howard University, Washington, D.C., 1970.
Christopher C. Pence:
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Mullen v. Physician Insurance Company, 130 Wn. App. 1031 (2005). Lesher v. Murphy, 124 Wn. App. 1018 (2004). Herman v. Estabrook, 117 Wn. App. 1007 (2003). Kim v. Budget Rent-A-Car, 143 Wn.2d 190, 15 P.3d 1283 (2001). State Farm v. Johnson, 72 Wn. App. 580, 871 P.2d 1066. . (1994). Eriks v. Denver, 118 Wn.2d 451, 824 P.2d 1207 (1992). In re Discipline of Curran, 115 Wn.2d 747, 801 P.2d 962 (1990). Ebsary v. Pioneer Human Services, 59 Wn. App. 218, 796 P.2d 769 (1990). Mele v. Turner, 106 Wn.2d 73, 720 P.2d 787 (1986). In re Discipline of Yates, 90 Wn.2d 767, 585 P.2d 1164 (1978). In re Discipline of Lavery, 90 Wn.2d 463, 587 P.2d 157 (1978).
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