Our Firm
Keller Rohrback’s Complex Litigation lawyers excel in representing our clients by being prepared and persuasive. It’s a simple formula that combines our strengths: outstanding writing and courtroom skills, together with unparalleled passion and integrity.
We have recovered billions of dollars for our clients, and have served as lead counsel in many prominent cases, including numerous financial crisis cases against Wall Street banks and mortgage originators. Our lawyers are widely recognized as leaders in their fields who have dedicated their careers to combating corporate fraud and misconduct. We have the talent, tenacity, and financial resources to litigate against Fortune 500 companies – and we do so every day.
What We Do
Keller Rohrback’s Complex Litigation Group represents plaintiffs in large-scale, complex cases involving corporate wrongdoing. We litigate against companies that pollute, commit fraud, fix prices, and take advantage of consumers, employees and investors. We are passionate advocates for justice. Wrongdoing takes many forms, which requires our attorneys to practice in a wide variety of areas.
Our firm has won verdicts in state and federal courts throughout the nation and has obtained judgments and settlements on behalf of clients in excess of $94.9 billion. Courts around the country have praised our work, and our attorneys are regularly appointed lead counsel in nationally prominent class action cases. Our work has far-reaching impacts for our clients in a variety of settings and industries, contributing to the creation of a better, more accountable society.
To best serve our clients, our Complex Litigation Group regularly calls on attorneys in the firm’s other practice areas for expertise in bankruptcy, contracts, Constitutional law, employment law, executive compensation, corporate transactions, financial institutions, mergers and acquisitions, professional malpractice, intellectual property, trusts and estates, international law, technology law, maritime law and treaty law. This access to our highly skilled in-house resources, in addition to our extensive international network, distinguishes Keller Rohrback from other plaintiffs’ class action firms.
Firm Evolution
- George Kahin (1919 – 1924)
- Bullitt & Kahin (1924 – 1929)
- Kahin & Carmody (1930 – 1939)
- Kahin Carmody & Schram (1939 – 1941)
- Kahin & Carmody (1941 – 1947)
- Kahin Carmody & Pearson (1948 – 1950)
- Kahin Carmody & Horswill (1950 – 1962)
- Kahin Horswill Keller Rohrback Waldo & Moren (1962 – 1967)
- Horswill Keller Rohrback Waldo & Moren (1967 – 1972)
- Keller Rohrback Waldo Moren & Hiscock (1972 – 1974)
- Keller Rohrback Waldo & Hiscock (1974 – 1981)
- Keller Rohrback Waldo Hiscock Butterworth & Fardal (1981 – 1986)
- Keller Rohrback L.L.P. (1986 – present)
The firm was located in the Central Building, 810 Third Avenue, from 1919 to 1964, when we moved to the IBM Building at 1200 Fifth Avenue. We moved to our current location, 1201 Third Avenue (formerly Washington Mutual Tower), in 1988.
Our History
Founded in 1919, Keller Rohrback has grown from a solo practitioner in Seattle to an over 60 attorney law firm with offices in Seattle, Denver, Missoula, New York, Oakland, Phoenix, Portland, and Santa Barbara. Over the past century, our firm has built a distinguished reputation by providing top-notch representation.
From the firm’s origins when George Kahin set up shop in Seattle as a sole practitioner in 1919, to its evolution into Keller Rohrback L.L.P., our commitment to quality legal services has remained the same. Through the years, we have broadened our services to new practice groups in order to address the changing needs of our clients. Our attorneys and professional legal support staff are dedicated to providing outstanding legal services and obtaining the best possible results for our clients. George Kahin came to Seattle from Harvard Law School and formed a partnership with Keith L. Bullitt in 1924. This partnership was given an “av” rating in the 1925 edition of Martindale’s American Law Directory, the predecessor to the present day Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. In 1930, Kahin and John D. Carmody, a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law who began practicing law in Seattle in 1905 and served as a deputy in the King County prosecutor’s office from 1914 to 1923, formed a partnership that evolved into Keller Rohrback L.L.P.
The origin of the firm’s name is from the last names of Robert Keller and Pinckney Rohrback (President of the Seattle-King County Bar Association from 1968-1969), two lawyers who significantly contributed to the creation and success of the firm. Both Keller and Rohrback were down-to-earth Seattle natives and University of Washington graduates. They practiced law in the firm for a combined 80 years. Together with their long-time partners Erle Horswill (later, King County Superior Court Judge Horswill), Burton Waldo, and Fred Butterworth (President of the Seattle-King County Bar Association from 1988-1989), they established the solid professional reputation that still characterizes the organization today.
In 1986, the firm was renamed Keller Rohrback L.L.P., and Lynn Sarko started the Complex Litigation practice. This practice enjoys a stellar national reputation in courts across the country. Complex Litigation offers exceptional service and a comprehensive understanding of state and federal law nationwide. Its lawyers are well known for their ability to collaborate with co-counsel, and work together to achieve outstanding results – an essential skill in large-scale cases in which several firms represent the plaintiffs. Keller Rohrback plays well in the sandbox – not needlessly antagonizing our competitors or opponents. Instead, we earn the respect of our colleagues and our opponents through our deft handling of the endless array of complex issues and obstacles that our clients face.
In recent years the firm has continued to grow. In 2002 we added Keller Rohrback P.L.C. (now L.L.P.) in Phoenix. In 2008 we opened our New York office, followed by our Southern California office in 2010, Montana in 2014, Northern California in 2015, Portland in 2022, and Denver in 2023.
Fee Arrangements
We offer a variety of alternative fee arrangements to best suit each of our clients, including contingent fee arrangements, blended fee arrangements, fixed fee arrangements, and regular hourly billing rates.
Who We Serve
We represent individuals, institutions, and government agencies. The common denominators of our clients are a desire to see justice done and to be represented by attorneys who practice law with integrity, honesty, and devotion to doing what’s right.
