Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt has provided legal services to clients for 126 years and to achieve success, they have focused on doing things a little differently. The law firm offers a new type of client experience that is based on industry focus in key sectors, including healthcare, technology, transportation, ports and maritime, real estate and construction, natural resources, and manufacturing, distribution and retail.
The company currently has 110 shareholders, 175 attorneys and 200 staff members across offices in Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Bend, Eugene, Salem, Mountain View, Cali., and Anchorage, Alaska. Their focus is to walk alongside clients to share ideas and provide legal advice and counsel. The Vancouver office has been serving clients around Southwest Washington for more than 25 years.
“We don’t sit around and wait for the phone to ring,” Lisa Lowe, shareholder at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, said. “We get out of the office and put on hard hats to meet clients where they are, in their industries. This helps us see around corners, spot trends and navigate approaching challenges before they become problems. That’s why clients put us in the leadership circle and consider us partners in their business.”
Lowe went on to explain that the heart of their business model centers around community.
“Schwabe attorneys have remained committed to serving Vancouver, Clark County and all of Southwest Washington through representation of our clients and a dedicated involvement in civic, charitable and professional organizations,” she said. “We believe in developing professional and personal relationships that benefit our clients as well as the community in which we live and work. People like to work with people they know and like.”
She continued by saying that their lawyers and staff serve on both local nonprofit boards and government committees.
“We do not just send in a check, but rather roll up our sleeves and get involved – be it with the CREDC, GVCC, Dress for Success, the YWCA of Clark County, the Community Foundation for SW Washington, Identity Clark County, the Humane Society for SW Washington, the Parks Foundation of Clark County, or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, just to name a few,” Lowe said.
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt is also dedicated to diversity and equity in the legal community and community at large. Last year, Graciela Gomez Cowger took the reins as CEO, who is the first woman to ever lead Schwabe and one of only a handful of Latinas to lead a U.S. law firm.
Over the course of its century and a quarter of business, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt has learned to ride the waves of success and growth of the regional economy and listen closely what would best serve their world-class clients. This seems to be a winning strategy and has allowed the company to look forward to future growth.
“We are deeply committed to our industry focus and changing the way we deliver legal services to our clients in our core industries,” Lowe said. “We plan to continue to grow and are looking for highly motivated and community minded attorneys to join our team.”
