D. Michael Reilly
Shareholder; Labor, Employment & Benefits Team Chair; ERISA, Life, Health & Disability Team Co-Chair
reillym@lanepowell.com
206.223.7051

Mike Reilly is a nationally recognized labor, employment and employee benefits attorney, named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys in the Nation” for the past five consecutive years by Human Resource Executive®. Peer reviews by Best Lawyers® awarded Mike Seattle “Lawyer of the Year” honors for employment-related litigation in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018. He has decades of experience providing strategic employment advice, and has represented clients in more than 75 jury trials, arbitrations, bench trials and claims before the EEOC and Washington State Human Rights Commission.

Small and large employers retain Mike for his strategic advice and decades of experience in employment issues and litigation, business decisions and litigation avoidance. Mike provides advice in claims involving discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, disability accommodation, ERISA and non-ERISA employee benefit claims, and wage/hour claims. He served as lead counsel in an employee raiding/trade secret case as reported in the Wall Street Journal, and defends employers in class action claims.

Mike’s remarks on employment issues have been quoted in Newsweek, Corporate Legal Times, Seattle Times, Employee Relations Law Journal, Puget Sound Business Journal, CFO.com, and other professional journals and management publications. Chambers USA’s Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Businessrates Mike in the top ranking (band one) for his work in labor and employment law, and has described him as “one of Seattle’s top-rate attorneys” who is “truly phenomenal [with] superb legal instincts” and “an amazingly assertive litigator.” His clients include Nordstrom, Seattle Seahawks, Home Depot, KeyBank, Starbucks, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Red Robin and Seattle Chamber of Commerce, among others.

 

Craig A. Day
Counsel to the Firm
dayc@lanepowell.com
206.654.7819

Craig Day practices employee benefits law, counseling clients on tax-qualified and nonqualified retirement plans such as ESOPs, pensions and 401(k) plans. He also advises on executive compensation, and health and welfare plan issues, including COBRA, the ACA and HIPAA.

With more than 24 years of experience, Craig’s background in private practice, consulting and in-house counsel have shaped his practical approach to helping clients find solutions to complex employee benefits issues.

Practice Highlights

  • Qualified Plans: Craig drafts and advises clients on a variety of retirement plans, including 401(k), pension, profit sharing, money purchase and cash balance plans, and ESOPs. He regularly files determination letter applications, updates plans for changes in the law, managing IRS and DOL audits, provides fiduciary training and corrects errors using agency correction programs. His experience also includes 403(b) and 457 plans sponsored by tax-exempt organizations and self-directed IRAs.
  • Executive Compensation: Craig helps clients design and administer executive compensation plans that comply with Internal Revenue Code Sections 409A, 162(m), 280G and FICA taxation regulations. He regularly drafts or reviews employment agreements, change in control agreements, severance agreements or plans, deferred compensation plans (defined contribution and defined benefit), phantom stock plans, and equity plans and awards (stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance units). He assists clients with agency audits and helps them correct 409A violations.
  • Transactions: Craig helps buyers and sellers with employee benefits due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, negotiations over assumed liabilities for pension and multiemployer plans, and with ERISA representations and warranties in connection with lending transactions.

 

Brewster H. Jamieson
Shareholder
jamiesonb@lanepowell.com
907.264.3325

Brewster Jamieson represents clients in litigation matters, and other types of commercial disputes. A source in Chambers USA says that he “stands apart from a lot of the attorneys that I’ve worked with. He’s realistic, honest, extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his job.”

Brewster represents a diverse clientele in matters involving numerous areas of law, including:

  • Business entities and individuals in commercial disputes
  • Insurance litigation, including coverage disputes and bad faith lawsuits
  • Oil producers, drilling contractors and oilfield support companies on a variety of disputes
  • Maritime litigation, including defense of vessel owners against personal injury, collision, administrative and pollution claims
  • Transportation litigation, including representation of railroads and trucking companies in tort and contract disputes
  • Product liability defense, including representation of manufacturers of heavy equipment, consumer products, medical devices and pharmaceuticals
  • ERISA litigation, including cases establishing ERISA plans, claims for benefits under ERISA plans, class action suits brought by ERISA plan members
  • Employment litigation, including defense of employers against wrongful termination, whistleblower, discrimination and defamation claims
  • Professional liability defense, including defense of physicians, dentists, attorneys, accountants, real estate licensees, engineers and other professionals against malpractice claims

Brewster was selected by the Chief Judge for the District of Alaska to serve as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.

 

Peter C. Partnow
Counsel to the Firm
partnowp@lanepowell.com
907.264.3317

Peter Partnow represents clients in general litigation and dispute resolution, with a particular focus on employment and labor matters involving wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, failure to accommodate, ERISA defense and Fair Labor Standards.

He has particular experience in construction disputes, public procurement and contract claims, public education related disputes and other complex litigation matters. Chambers USA’s Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has listed Peter as a “Leading Lawyer,” describing him as “well known, well respected and well liked” and as being “a passionate advocate for employers, and a powerful litigator.”

Peter’s representative clients include Ahtna, Inc., Alaska Frontier Constructors, ASRC Energy Services, Inc., ASSETS, Inc., Bank of America, The Home Depot, Inc., Kenai Peninsula Borough and Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Metlife, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Inc., Tesoro Alaska Company and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Before joining Lane Powell, Peter was owner of his own firm and served as general counsel for the Anchorage School District and chief of the civil section of the Alaska Attorney General’s Anchorage office.

Peter has presented at numerous CLEs and panels on a range of topics including tort reform impact on employment and labor matters, COBRA, Fair Credit Reporting Act impact on employment matters, Fair Labor Standards Act, agency processed employment discrimination matters, equal employment opportunity law developments, religious discrimination and reasonable accommodation, and choice of state or federal court for employment disputes in Alaska.

Peter is an active member of the local community. When not working on cases on behalf of firm clients, he is a pro bono volunteer attorney through Alaska Legal Services Corporation, a fee arbitrator for the Alaska Bar Association, and a board member on a number of Alaska based non-profits. In his leisure time, he enjoys running, gardening and reading