Steven Hassing
I’m a trial lawyer. I attained my Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1975. I try cases. I don’t draft contracts, leases, wills, or partnership agreements. I tried my first case in 1977. Since then, including both state and federal court, I’ve tried well over 100 cases to jury verdict or court judgment. I’m licensed to practice in Washington (1976), Arizona (1988), and California (1990). I’ve also litigated cases in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, and Oregon under their respective pro hac vice provisions.
I limit my practice to business litigation. Most of my trials have involved issues related to either real estate and/or construction or disputes arising between partners, corporate shareholders, or members of limited liability companies. My clients have been primarily commercial and residential real estate developers, owners of shopping centers, apartment complexes and warehouses, and general contractors[1]. (See page 3 for general areas of practice).
On those occasions when a client’s victory is challenged on appeal, I’m usually asked to defend. Over the years I’ve successfully defended many appeals, including in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Districts of the California Court of Appeal, Division 3 of the Washington State Court of Appeals, the Washington State Supreme Court, and before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Northern District of California. I’ve had six appellate decisions published, three in California, (one each from the 1st, 3rd, and 5thdistricts) and three in Washington, (two from Division 3 and one from the Washington State Supreme Court). (See page 3 for citations to reported cases).
For each of those 100-plus trial, I’ve probably handled ten to fifteen disputes which resolved short of trial. However, over the past twenty years, the kind of clients who have retained me have shown little interest in compromise. Accordingly, I engage in mediation or arbitration only when forced to by court rule. Those clients seldom settle. They retain me because they want their case tried and they demand that we win.
At some point every trial lawyer must decide if he or she wants to be a winner. Winning litigators win their trials—period. No one becomes a winning trial lawyer by accident. It requires a willingness to dedicate oneself to preparing to win. In my view, there are three keys to winning difficult cases—or any case—preparation, experience, and confidence. My guiding litigation principle comes from Benjamin Franklin (as adopted by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden:
Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail
Any case can be won. Conversely, any case can be lost. The truly successful trial lawyer, enabled by focus and preparation, simply refuses to lose. There is nothing more exhilarating than walking out of the courtroom at the end of a trial knowing you just won a case which, based on the facts and law, you very easily might not have. You can guess what the converse is.
Preparation by those who win their trials might require reading the same document (contract, lease, subdivision agreement, or set of loan documents, thirty times until you find that gem you missed the first 29 times. It might require reading the same cases and statutes over and over until you finally understand that which you thought you understood—but didn’t. Often, it requires pouring over the same boring deposition transcript until you finally spot the weakness on which you can capitalize during trial. Preparation absolutely requires knowing each question you intend to ask each witness and in what order as well as how each witness is going to respond to each question and being able to anticipate and be ready for false testimony. It also requires understanding in advance each objection likely to be raised by the opposing attorney and knowing in advance how you are going to convince the Court the objection should be overruled.
Billing Rate: $500 per hour.
Not Presently Accepting New Clients.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
•Contract disputes.
•Disputes among shareholders of closely held corporations.
•Disputes among partners.
•Disputes involving members of limited liability companies.
•Disputes among beneficiaries of family trusts.
•Disputes between real estate developers and municipalities.
•Enforcement of subdivision agreements.
•Adverse possession.
•Partition.
•Breach of fiduciary duty.
•Fraud.
•Negligent Misrepresentation.
•Copyright infringement.
•Eminent domain.
•Damages arising from the release of hazardous substances.
•Chapter 11 business reorganizations.
•Bad faith insurance practices on the part of real estate title companies.
•Foreclosure of subdivision performance bonds on behalf of municipalities
including City of Palm Springs and City of Merced.
REPORTED APPELLATE CASES
•Jara v. Suprema Meats, Inc. (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th 1238
•City of Merced v. American Motorists Ins. Co. (2005) 126 Cal.App.4th1317
•Hacienda Ranch Homes, Inc. v. Superior Court (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th1122
•T.J. Landco, LLC v. Harley C. Douglass, Inc., 186 Wn.App. 249 (Div. 3 2015)
•Harlan D. Douglass v. Shamrock Paving, Inc.,196 Wn.App. 849 (Div. 3 2016)
•Harlan D. Douglass v. Shamrock Paving, Inc., 189 Wn.2d 733 (Wash. 2017)
[1] Between 1980 and 1990, in addition to practicing law, I developed, owned, and managed 20 commercial real estate projects in Washington, Idaho, and Montana including 7-Eleven, Midas Muffler, Godfather Pizza, Speedy Auto Glass, 60 Minute Lube, Idaho State Liquor Store, and various commercial strip centers of between 10,000 and 40,000 square feet each.