GORDON TILDEN THOMAS & CORDELL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
- Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America
Brendan is a nationally recognized lawyer focusing his practice on insurance recovery for policyholders, and on legal matters with significant insurance issues - such as construction, real estate, environmental pollution, consumer protection, personal injury, and business law, to name a few.
Brendan spent more than a decade solely representing insurance companies before switching sides to solely represent policyholders. He first worked as an agent for Safeco Insurance Company before attending law school. He then worked in Safeco's legal department while in law school. After graduating from law school, Brendan climbed the ranks and became a partner at the international law firm Cozen O'Connor. There he represented the world's largest insurance companies in their most complex and high-stakes matters.
Brendan switched sides and joined Gordon Tilden Thomas & Cordell in 2017 because wanted to represent policyholders instead of insurance companies. Brendan's in-depth knowledge of the insurance industry has made him one of the most sought out policyholder lawyers in the Pacific Northwest.
Brendan is proud of the strong reputation he has built in the legal community. His accomplishments include:
In 2016, the American Bar Association (ABA) named Brendan among the top 40 lawyers in the United States under the age of 40 (when Brendan was still under the age of 40).
Brendan was named a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyers and Seattle Met magazines in 2022.
Brendan was named a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers and Seattle Met magazines each year from 2012 to 2021 (being eligible for that honor until reaching the age of 40).
Brendan is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF), which is an invitation-only honorary society whose membership is limited to the top 1 percent of lawyers admitted to practice in the United States.
Brendan is a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America (CLSA), which is an invitation-only honorary society whose membership is limited to the top 1,200 construction lawyers in the United States and internationally.
Brendan holds the Certified Litigation Management Professional (CLMP) designation from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago. The CLMP designation is the insurance industry's certification program for insurance company claims managers and their counsel.
Brendan is the former Washington president for the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (the CLM), which is the largest professional association in the insurance industry with more than 50,000 members. Brendan is also a former member of the CLM's national construction law committee.
Brendan has been invited to speak at more than 30 national and regional conferences on a wide array of topics including complex insurance claims and ethics.
Brendan has been published by Litigation Management, Construction Today, and Business Insurance magazines. He was also a contributing author to the Washington Real Property Deskbook series on environmental regulation.
The Washington State Supreme Court nominated Brendan in 2014, 2015, and 2016 to their Pro Bono Publico Honor Roll for his contributions to public service.
The International Refugee Assistance Project, which is the nation's leading refugee assistance organization, commended Brendan in 2014 and 2015 for his work in international refugee rights.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Fellow of the American College of Coverage
Dale Kingman is a nationally recognized insurance recovery lawyer who focuses his practice on the resolution of complex insurance coverage disputes on behalf of policyholders. Known for his experience and familiarity with property insurance throughout the United States, Dale has been retained by large real estate owners and developers, international construction companies, multi-national and multi-state hospitality companies, transportation enterprises, and agricultural interests, among other clients. In addition, he handles select commercial disputes, especially within the construction industry.
Dale has been a litigator for 45 years and has tried in state and federal court or arbitrated, more than 45 matters in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Florida, and the District of Columbia. Because of his nationally recognized knowledge of property insurance, including "All Risk," Builder's Risk, Commercial Crime and Cyber Risk, and Product Recall/Contamination, Dale has been retained for matters in 35 states and the District of Columbia.
Dale is a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel, was named the 2016 Insurance Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America, and the 2023 Lawyer of the Year in Mediation in Seattle. Dale has been recognized by Super Lawyer Magazine since 2003 and Top 100 since 2010. He is a frequent speaker at local and national insurance seminars and has written and presented dozens of articles and papers pertaining to insurance recovery issues.
Dale also is an accomplished and sought-after mediator and has served as a mediator in more than 1,500 cases over the past 25 years. His experience includes resolution of disputes relating to insurance coverage, intellectual property, product liability, real property, commercial interests, and construction defect and contract claims. He is a panel member of the American Arbitration Association.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Fellow of the American College of Coverage
Frank Cordell has earned his reputation as one of the Northwest's premier insurance recovery lawyers. His clients range from multi-national corporations to small businesses and individuals. He represents only policyholders-and his reputation within the insurance industry has led to many successful engagements representing insurers in reinsurance and E&O coverage disputes. His substantive experience is equally broad, ranging from the newest and most complex commercial coverage lines to high-stakes coverage disputes and bad-faith claims arising under personal-lines policies.
Frank offers a special focus on complex "long tail" claims - securing coverage for environmental property damage, asbestos bodily injury, and sexual abuse liabilities resulting from business operations occurring decades ago. The work of Frank and his partners in the trial and appellate courts has played a major role in making Washington one of the most policyholder-friendly jurisdictions in the country.
Frank is a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel, a nationwide, invitation-only organization of preeminent insurance coverage counsel that includes both policyholder and insurer lawyers. Frank's fellowship reflects his 30-year commitment to excellence in the field of insurance recovery. This includes vigorous and creative representation of insureds, promoting civility within the insurance coverage bar, and regularly writing and speaking on insurance topics. Frank's writing includes serving as General Editor and chapter co-author of the LexisNexis publication Practice Guide: Washington Insurance Litigation, a practical, step-by-step book addressing all phases of insurance litigation in Washington.
Frank also maintains an active non-insurance commercial litigation practice, including corporate governance and general contract disputes. He often serves as personal counsel to insureds being defended against lawsuits that pose risk of uninsured liability.
Frank served as law clerk to the Hon. H. Emory Widener, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Before relocating to found GTTC in 1996, he was an associate with the nationally renowned insurance coverage practice of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.
Greg Pendleton is an accomplished insurance recovery lawyer. Over the past 15+ years, Greg has been involved in some of Washington's largest and most complex property insurance claims. His experience includes business income loss, product recall and contamination, food and crop spoilage, stock throughput, commercial crime, marine cargo, and wind, flood, or fire damage. Greg is also a leader in the rapidly evolving field of insurance for cyber losses and liabilities, including social engineering.
Greg's insurance recovery practice also includes negotiating and litigating disputes over liability coverage for professional errors and omissions, property damage, bodily injuries, construction defects, data breaches, director and officer wrongful acts, employment disputes, environmental contamination, maritime damage, and securities fraud.
After graduating from law school in 2006, Greg held a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in the Office of the Undersecretary of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Before joining GTTC, he practiced at law firms in Boston and Seattle.
When Jeff Tilden was in second grade in North Alabama, he saw a picture on the front page of the newspaper of three men with briefcases leaving a courthouse. Shortly thereafter, the Army rolled through town and the local school system was integrated. Jeff, then seven, thought if you could make the United States Army come to town with your briefcase, you had a really good job. He wanted to be a lawyer from that day forward. Jeff never had a Plan B.
Jeff has tried more than 80 cases to verdict over the last 40 years. All but one of those cases have been civil, focused on commercial, securities, personal injury, and insurance recovery litigation. Jeff is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the past State Chair of both organizations. Jeff has been the ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year, the Washington Defense Trial Lawyer of the Year, and is a past President of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers. Jeff is a Chambers' Senior Statesman Litigation Lawyer.
Jeff established his reputation with a series of ground-breaking environmental insurance cases that yielded very large recoveries for plaintiffs, including The Boeing Company, Weyerhaeuser Company, and Puget Sound Energy. He has also been privileged to represent dozens of other public companies, prominent private businesses, many of the Northwest's prominent law firms, and many, many wonderful people. Jeff graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Philosophy in 1977 and the University of Virginia Law School in 1981.
Jeff Thomas is one of the founding members of the firm. As a lawyer, Jeff is most at home in the courtroom. His specialty is trying cases. Although he is proud of the work he has done representing hundreds of clients over his 30 year career, he is especially pleased to have been the primary outside litigation counsel for Puget Sound Energy for the past 22 years. From complaint to closing argument, he works hand in hand with his clients to navigate the legal system to obtain just and efficient results.
Jeff Thomas is senior trial lawyer who focuses his practice on commercial disputes, personal injury, and insurance recovery cases. Over the course of his 30-year career, he has tried several dozen cases to verdict.
Jeff is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a highly selective, invitation-only national association of experienced trial lawyers and judges. He is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. He often speaks on current trial practice topics.
John Cadagan litigates in state and federal courts across Washington. He has tried civil jury and bench trials to verdict in courthouses on both sides of the Cascades. At the appellate level, he has appeared in all divisions of Washington's Court of Appeals, the Washington Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
His practice is focused on representing policyholders in first- and third-party coverage disputes with insurers, and litigating on behalf of companies, public utilities, and individuals in civil disputes. In his insurance practice, John has been counsel in some of the Northwest's largest property insurance claims, and he routinely assists clients with various liability coverages when the insurer has denied or threatened to deny coverage. In his general litigation practice, he has defended companies against multi-million dollar claims, and obtained verdicts and settlements for plaintiffs damaged by others. John's clients range from individuals and small businesses to public utilities and multinational joint ventures.
John maintains an active appellate practice, regularly briefing for and appearing in state and federal appeals courts. His appellate practice also includes advising clients and other attorneys about the appellate process and opining on the potential success of various arguments.
John has been listed in Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star" in both insurance coverage and appellate litigation. Before joining GTTC, John clerked for the Honorable Linda C.J. Lee at the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II. His years at the court provided unique insight into the appellate court system and shaped his approach to litigating in both trial and appellate courts.
Kasey Huebner is a litigator and trial lawyer with a complex and varied practice focusing on insurance recovery and bad faith, trust and estate litigation, and employment matters. She has a proven record of success representing Fortune 100 clients, local business, government agencies, and individuals. Kasey has tried cases to verdict in state and federal court and has had opposing parties concede at the close of her client's case. She has achieved numerous six and seven-figure recoveries for her plaintiff clients and also has achieved favorable results when defending clients against multi-million-dollar claims.
Kasey served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Washington State Bar Association's Litigation Section and as Chair of Dress for Success® Seattle. She currently is Vice President of the Mother Attorney Mentoring Association of Seattle. Previously, she taught Civil Procedure II and Pre-Trial Practice at the University of Washington School of Law.
Kasey regularly presents at continuing legal education courses addressing her areas of practice. She has co-chaired the annual Trust and Estate Litigation Seminar sponsored by the Washington State Bar Association's Real Property Probate and Trust Section. Kasey also co-authored the "Duty to Defend" and "Property Insurance" chapters of the Lexis-Nexis Washington Insurance Practice Guide. Recently, she addressed coverage for business income losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic as a panelist at the ABA's 30th Annual ICLC Midyear Conference.
In recognition of her achievements and reputation, Super Lawyers Magazine has included Kasey as a Top 100 Washington Super Lawyer and a Top 50 Women Washington Super Lawyer. Kasey also is listed in Listed in Best Lawyers in America® for Employment Law - Individuals and Litigation - Insurance Law. When she taught Civil Procedure II at the University of Washington School of Law, her students nominated her for the Philip A. Trautman Professor of the Year Award.
Job Titles:
- Board Member, 2022 - Present
- Coach, 2021 and 2022
Mark Wilner is a trial lawyer to the core. He ranks among a select number of lawyers in Washington State who are equally comfortable trying serious, high-stakes personal injury or wrongful death cases-whether for the plaintiff or the defense-and handling complex, commercial litigation for businesses. Mark has litigated across the country, from state trial courts to the United States Supreme Court. For plaintiffs, he has helped achieve jury verdicts and settlements in the millions. For defendants, he has earned defense verdicts as well as dismissals on pretrial motions and appellate victories in a wide variety of cases.
Mark has been listed in the Top 100 for Super Lawyers in Washington. In recognition of his experience, Mark frequently is invited to speak on tort law and trial practice issues, has been appointed to the editorial board of the Washington Civil Procedure Deskbook, and has been a member of county judicial conferencing committees. After graduating from law school at the University of Washington, Mark honed his legal research and writing skills as law clerk to the Honorable Richard Sanders of the Washington Supreme Court. He then was a litigation associate at Mundt MacGregor L.L.P. before joining GTTC's predecessor firm in 2005. He was named Partner at GTTC in 2009.
Matthew Pierce helps clients achieve their goals. Matt has been a trial lawyer for over 19 years. He focuses his practice on advising and litigating on behalf of policyholders engaged in insurance coverage disputes with their insurers. Matt's insurance experience ranges from complex property insurance claims and large-scale coverage litigation on behalf of Fortune 500 policyholders to advising lawyers, physicians, architects, engineers, and other individual professionals under their errors and omissions insurance. His experience includes a broad range of coverage lines, including property insurance, business income loss, food and crop spoilage, stock throughput, commercial general liability, professional liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions, employment, cyber, maritime, financial institution bonds, and homeowners.
In an era that is seeing fewer and fewer business cases go to trial, Matt has bucked the trend: he has tried insurance and commercial cases to verdict in both state and federal court. He has also been responsible for high-stakes arbitrations and insurance appraisal proceedings in multiple jurisdictions.
Matt has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Insurance Law since 2021. He has also been selected to the Super Lawyers list by Washington Super Lawyers Magazine since 2019. He was previously recognized as a "Rising Star" in Washington Super Lawyers Magazine for 2010-2012 and 2014-2017. Matt is a member of the Young Lawyers Committee of the National Center for State Courts. He is also the co-author of "Insurance Issues for the Insured," Chapter 16 in the Washington Real Property Deskbook Series, Volume 7: Environmental Regulation, published by the Washington State Bar Association.
Matt attended the University of California Los Angeles, where he graduated magna cum laude and with College Honors, which is the highest academic recognition UCLA's College of Letters and Sciences confers on undergraduate students. Prior to law school, Matt clerked at the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP in Kansas City, Missouri. While attending the University of North Carolina School of Law, he served as a staff member at the Law School Attorney General's Office as well as a student liaison for the North Carolina Commission on Domestic Violence.
Mike Rosenberger, the firm's Managing Partner, is a trial lawyer who represents clients in complex civil litigation with a focus on commercial litigation, insurance recovery, and major personal injury and property damage claims. Mike became a lawyer because he is competitive and loves a challenge. While that remains true to this day, Mike finds his greatest satisfaction as a lawyer comes from providing clients with the best possible service.
Prior to joining the firm, Mike honed his trial skills at two other law firms and at the Seattle City Attorney's Office, where for ten years he was a senior assistant city attorney in the environmental and tort sections. After law school, Mike developed an early sense of the arguments that persuade judges and juries when he served as a law clerk to a federal trial court judge, the Hon. Rudi M. Brewster, Southern District of California.
Michael has been named as a Superlawyer for Business Litigation each year from 2018 - 2022.
Like all of his colleagues at GTTC, Michael concentrates his practice on complex business litigation. He takes particular pride in applying his strong analytical and writing skills on behalf of his clients, including major dispositive motions and appellate briefs.
Prior to relocating to Seattle, Michael honed his litigation skills in California, including beginning his career as a litigator at O'Melveny & Myers LLP. His experience included representing whistleblowers in lawsuits involving large-scale fraud in government contracting, especially military procurement and Medicare.
After law school, Michael served as law clerk to the Hon. David F. Levi, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of California, and then the Hon. Proctor Hug, Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Job Titles:
- Professor of the Year Award Nominee, UW School of Law, 2009
Samantha assists both individuals and businesses in navigating complex legal issues with practical and efficient advice and advocacy. Her practice includes insurance recovery advice and litigation; commercial litigation; and personal injury litigation. Her insurance coverage practice ranges from long-tail environmental coverage advice and litigation to sex abuse coverage advice and litigation to representing individuals with homeowner coverage disputes. Samantha's clients include both large and small to mid-sized companies, government entities, and individuals. She has both trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts.
Susannah Carr is a Partner in the firm's Seattle office and member of the firm's Executive Committee. Susannah's practice focuses on insurance recovery, representing policyholders in disputes against their insurance companies. She represents a wide variety of policyholders, including Fortune 500 companies, local businesses, municipal governments, and individuals. She is experienced with a full range of policies, such as commercial general liability, management liability/D&O, employment practices liability, professional liability, business property, and homeowners. Susannah has successfully obtained numerous six- and seven-figure recoveries for her clients.
Susannah is among the most experienced policyholder lawyers in the Northwest for complex "long tail" claims-securing coverage for environmental property damage and asbestos bodily injury liabilities resulting from business operations occurring decades ago. She has assisted her clients in securing tens of millions of dollars in insurance proceeds for such losses, often after leading an "insurance archaeology" effort resulting in the discovery and reconstruction of previously missing policies.
Before entering private practice, Susannah served as clerk to the Hon. Anne L. Ellington of the Washington State Court of Appeals. She is licensed to practice in Washington and California.
Job Titles:
- Trial Lawyers Association, President