Keith Kemper

Experience

1. Civil Trial and Eminent Domain Lawyer

   Ellis, Li & Mckinstry Pllc

   May 1990 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   A partner in the litigation section of the firm since 1997 and Managing Partner of Ellis, Li & McKinstry (a.k.a. “The Mighty ELM”) from 2007 through 2014. I have a broad litigation practice that spans speeding tickets (mostly my own) to oil spills, helicopter crashes to bus accidents, and property disputes to recovery of property. My cases of greatest note continue to involve government takings of private property (Eminent Domain) and protecting free speech rights of religious persons (Religious Liberty).Currently I am assisting Sound Transit, acquiring property for completion of the Lynnwood and Federal Way Link portions of their light rail line.Represented and won a decision for a property owner (in a case tried with several property owners and their counsel) in the largest eminent domain jury verdict in the history of the State of Washington ($36.6 million):• Washington State Convention and Trade Center v. Allerdice, 101 Wn. App. 25 clients and won favorable decisions in two of the State’s most significant Religious Liberty cases:• State v. Martin, 137 Wn. 2d 774 the right of pastors to hold counseling and confessional information privileged);• Prince v. Jacoby, 302 F.3d 1074 (9th Cir. 2002)(recognizing right of religious clubs to meet on high school campus with the same rights and privileges as other clubs).Co-Counsel for Plaintiff in the largest jury verdict ever against the State of Washington ($30.2 million) for designing and maintaining an unsafe highway (October, 2010).Successfully argued that a tree house is not subject to the building code of Edmonds, Edmonds City Council (2004).PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION:Chosen to the list of Washington Super Lawyers for many years running;Listed as “A/V Preeminent Attorney” by Martindale Hubbell, a peer review selection process;Asked to speak frequently in legal seminars on Litigation, Eminent Domain, or Religious Liberty.

Education

• Seattle University School of Law

  Doctor of Law (JD)(cum laude)

  1987 — 1989

• Grace Christian University

  Bachelor of Religious Education (high honors), Theology/Theological Studies

Skills

• Leadership
• Legal Writing
• Litigation
• Public Speaking
• Courts
• Legal Research
• Mediation
• Lawyer Model!
• Commercial Litigation
• Business Litigation
• Constitutional Law
• Automobile Accidents
• Nonprofits
• Eminent Domain
• Property Law
• Civil Litigation
• Appeals
• Strategic Planning