Legal eagles find moral support in new partnership

MOSES LAKE — As they sit around the table discussing the events that led to the formation of a new partnership, one thing becomes apparent before they even say it aloud.

These three — these three being longtime Moses Lake attorney Garth Dano and new partners Bill Gilbert and George Ahrend — are friends.

They became the law firm Dano, Gilbert & Ahrend, PLLC, June 15.

Gilbert was working for a law firm in Spokane, and had gone out to work on his own. Dano was preparing for a big case, and Gilbert was referred to assist Dano in litigation of the case.

"We tried that case together, I spent about four months working with him," Gilbert said, adding that the case, Alvarado v. Stander, was the largest verdict on a personal injury case to come out of Grant County, to date, at $652,000. "The case worked really well together, and Garth and I worked really well together, so we just kind of continued doing business together."

Ahrend worked on the appeal for that case, and won the appeal. Gilbert had interned for Ahrend when he was in law school, and the two maintained their friendship.

"When we had this other case that went up to the Court of Appeals, my natural response when Garth said, 'What do you think on appellate attorney?' was, 'We call George,'" Gilbert recalled.

Ahrend said he had taken a sabbatical from the practice of law to study theology at Princeton Theological Seminary when Gilbert contacted him.

Ahrend said he took the sabbatical primarily upon the birth of his daughter, his first child.

He now has three children, but at the time, he thought about his responsibility to raise her.

He and his wife decided that they weren't leading that kind of life, and decided to re-evaluate. Part of that re-evaluation involved taking their faith more seriously and cultivating it.

"Going back to the practice of law, I needed to prepare to structure that practice in a way that would allow me to be the kind of father that I wanted to be for my daughter, and give me a reasonable hope that I would set a good example for her and she would turn out to be the kind of person that I would hope she would be," he said.

In the course of working with Gilbert and Dano, and learning some background about what was going on with the Grant County public defense system, which had come under fire, Ahrend said he also developed a sense that he needed to take some responsibility for what the legal system is doing in the state as a lawyer and as a Christian.

"It kind of came to a head, obviously in the last couple years, with the Bar Association coming out with a major report on the sorry state of public defense in a lot of places in Washington, and with some recent cases and disciplinary actions against attorneys in Grant County," Ahrend said.

The more he worked with Dano and Gilbert, the more Ahrend thought it would be enjoyable to practice law with them. As he learned more about the public defense system, he thought more about what he could do to contribute to it, in addition to the personal injury and employment cases he is used to handling.

"Over the years, there have been a lot of folks, I'm convinced, and I think it's amply documented, who have even pled guilty to or been convicted of crimes they may not have committed, have been sent to prison for longer than they should be there, and I think that there are old cases like that that should be relooked at," Ahrend said, adding that he does not want to target or criticize hardworking public defenders. As a personal decision, this is something that he wants to contribute towards, and he feels working with Dano and Gilbert gives him a chance to do that.

Dano has been practicing law in Moses Lake since 1980, everything from personal injury trials to condemnation to criminal cases to divorces and was part of a larger law firm until 1997, when he went out on his own, primarily handling claims against insurance companies and damages relating to injury accident claims and some criminal work.

Dano had planned to maintain a solo practice, but the more he thought about working with Gilbert and Ahrend, the more he thought it was a good idea.

"George brings a specialization and a passion to the practice of law that is needed, and Bill is very passionate about what he does," Dano said. "I think our business plan, our plan together, our future together, is that we handle cases that we think are important to handle, and without being too self-serving about it, we just see a need."

Lawyers presently have a poor reputation in general with the public that Dano finds unfortunate. He said he thinks the Grant County public has the idea that they need to go to Spokane or Seattle for an attorney.

Dano said he learned many things from his father, Harrison K. Dano, who practiced law in Moses Lake in the same building where the firm is presently located, about the commitment, integrity, responsibility and the sense of duty to represent those people accused of crime or need legal assistance.

"We're committed to doing that, and I think that our skills and practice will enable us to do that a lot more effectively together than separate," he said, adding that the purpose of Dano, Gilbert & Ahrend is to put together a good trial team, try cases and negotiate settlements of serious cases.

Gilbert will primarily handle catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and employment law litigation, as well as some business work. Ahrend does civil rights both inside and outside of employment and personal injury. Dano will handle personal injury work, insurance claims and criminal cases.

Dano added that he is the only member from eastern Washington of the Washington Foundation for Criminal Justice, a group of lawyers that specialize in driving under the influence (DUI) defense.

As soul practitioners trying to make a living, it's hard to remain competent in areas of practice, Dano said of the partnership, meaning that attorneys need to specialize in certain areas in order to remain up to date on what they need to deal with.

"Collectively, I think it allows us to focus on areas and also to work on problems jointly, that you don't have an opportunity to do when you're by yourself," he said. "I think that is tremendously helpful for the clients, and for our own piece of mind, if nothing else."

Gilbert approaches the situation more as a family than a partnership or an organization. A team atmosphere pushing towards a common goal performs better than one individual, he said. A law enforcement officer before he went to law school, and began practicing in 2000, Dano and Ahrend have and do offer him "tremendous" mentorship possibilities.

For Ahrend, Dano and Gilbert share his values about the responsibility of being in a profession that helps people and serves the public.

"Having people around who share those values help you do a better job of living up to those values," he said. "It's nice to have someone that you're accountable to for fulfilling that obligation that we as lawyers always have."