• Trial Advocacy
• Catastrophic Injury or Loss
• Sexual Abuse Litigation
• Appellate Advocacy
• Other Practices
• Representation of Plaintiffs
• Representative Clients
• Representative Cases

Appellate Advocacy

Patterson Buchanan is available for retention as counsel at the appellate level. Our attorneys collectively have a great deal of state and national experience in appellate advocacy, are admitted to practice in eleven states, have completed clerkships in appellate courts, and appear routinely before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Washington State Supreme Court, and all divisions of the Washington State Court of Appeals.

Our most recent appellate accomplishments include the following matters:

• Johnson v. State - November 2011 - The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgment dismissal of claims that the State of Washington, a Washington county, and a 911 service were negligent in failing to notify a 911 caller that an erratic driver whom he reported, and who later died, was a missing/endangered person.
• Rosas v. Corporation of Catholic Archbishop of Seattle - December 2010 - The Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc to reconsider a favorable opinion by a three-judge panel, again determined that the First Amendment's "ministerial exception" protected a church's discretion in employment matters involving a seminarian from government interference.
• Abel v. City of Algona - July 2010 - The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgment dismissal of of all claims against the city in an employment case brought by two police officers who had been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation in which they were exonerated.  
• Zandberg v. Edmonds School District - May 2010 - The Ninth Circuit vindicated the actions of a Washington school district in balancing a public employee's right to free speech with a public employer's need for the employee to make clear when he is speaking not in his official capacity but only as a private citizen.
• Engler v. Corporation of the Archbishop of Seattle - May 2010 - The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle that had attempted to establish a new type of legal claim in a sexual abuse case.
• Nurre v. Whitehead - March 2010 - The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a decision by the Ninth Circuit upholding a Washington school district's decisions regarding the playing of an instrumental "Ave Maria" at a high school graduation.
• D.P. v. Peninsula School District - March 2010 - The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against a Washington school district over the use of time out in a “safe room” in special education to address an autistic student's behavioral issues.
• Rosas v. Corporation of Catholic Archbishop of Seattle - March 2010 - The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the constitutional wall between church and state provides strong protections to communities of faith from lawsuits over employment matters involving their ministers.
• Nurre v. Whitehead - September 2009 - The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a student's First Amendment claims against a Washington school district over decisions regarding the playing of an instrumental "Ave Maria" at a high school graduation.