Thomas A. Lerner

Admissions

• Washington, 1997
• Oregon, 1980
• U.S. Supreme Court (1990)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2002), Fourth Circuit (1991) and Court of Federal Claims (1993)

Education

• Washington University School of Law, J.D., Order of the Barrister (1980)
• Franklin and Marshall College, B.A. in Government (1977)

Recognition & Honors

• The Best Lawyers in America in Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2021 - 2022)
• Top-Rated Lawyer, West Coast, National Law Journal (2017)
• Martindale Hubbell Top Rated Lawyer in Labor & Employment (2013)
• AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review

Representative Work

• Representation of banks and businesses in commercial litigation, enforcement of promissory notes and guarantees, real estate foreclosures, and on behalf of creditors in bankruptcy matters.
• Preventive advice on employment law issues, primarily for employers, and employment law advice and negotiation assistance for individuals.
• Provide ongoing advice to physicians and other medical providers with regard to business aspects of medical practice management, including employment and shareholder agreements, transactions and medical billing service contracts.

Appellate Cases

• Nakata v. Blue Bird. Inc., 146 Wn. App. 267, 278, 191 P.3d 900 (2008), review denied, 165 Wn.2d 1033 (2009) regarding the authority of the Board of Directors of an agricultural cooperative corporation, and the legal duties of the Board as to coop members.
• Gardner v. First Heritage Bank, 175 Wn.App. 650, 661, 303 P.3d 1065 (2013), holding the Deed of Trust Act's (chapter 61.24 RCW) antideficiency provisions do not restrict the bank's ability to exhaust multiple items of collateral in a series of nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings, and construing the agricultural exception to nonjudicial foreclosures.

Publications & Presentations

Click here for a full list of publications and speaking engagements.

For Business Leaders:

• “Find Your Way to SBA Financing,” author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (April 2020)
• “What Are My OSHA Obligations if an Employee Was Exposed to COVID-19 at Work?,” author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (March 2020)
• "Is Arbitration in Need of CPR?" author, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin (April 2018)
• "What Blows Up Will Come Down: Leadership Failures in Medical Practices," author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Vol. 95, No. 7 (Summer 2017) (posted with permission from the King County Medical Society)
• "Shotguns, Daggers and Triggers: Escape from LLC Island," author, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin (November 2015)
• "The Threat Within: Disruptive Physicians as a Business and Liability Risk,"author, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin (August 2014)

For Health Care Professionals:

• "Understanding Your Employment Contract," presenter, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (March 2022)
• "Covenants not to compete: Winter is Coming," author, King County Medical Society newsletter (August 2019)
• "Where Have All the Doctors Gone? A Short summary of the Census of Washington Physicians," author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (March 2019)
• "It's Not Me, It's You," author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 2 (Fall 2017) (posted with permission from the King County Medical Society)
• "What Blows Up Will Come Down: Leadership Failures in Medical Practices," author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Vol. 95, No. 7 (Summer 2017) (posted with permission from the King County Medical Society)
• "The Ties that Bind," author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 2 (March/April 2015)
• "The Threat Within: Disruptive Physicians as a Business and Liability Risk," author, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin (August 2014)
• "My Partner is a Jerk. What Can I Do?" author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Vol. 93, No. 4 (July/August 2014) (posted with permission from the King County Medical Society)
• "The Changing Marketplace and its Impact on Physician Employment and Practices," King County Medical Society Bulletin, Volume 91, Number 1 (January/February 2012)
• "Stark III: Did It Cripple Non-Competition Agreements In An Effort To Save Them?" author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Volume 87, Number 10 (November 2008) (posted with permission from the King County Medical Society)
• "Rethinking Production Based Compensation Plans," author, King County Medical Society Bulletin, Volume 85, Number 8 (September 2006) (posted with permission from the King County Medical Society)

For Lenders:

• "Planning Ahead for the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019," author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (September 2019)
• "Dawdling Bank's Foreclosure Saved by Ambiguous Acceleration," co-author with Claire Taylor, client update and blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (April 2019)
• "Choose Your Own Advantage," panelist, Information Management Network 8th Annual Bank Special Assets & Credit Officer's Forum (Midwest) (September 2018)
• "Another Reason to Avoid Second Deeds of Trust," author Stokes Lawrence client update (January 2018)
• "2016 Foreclosure Year in Review," author, Stokes Lawrence client update (December 2016)
• "Accelerate With Vigor!" author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (August 2016)
• "Unfinished Business - Termination of a Receivership With Unresolved Claims," author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (August 2016)
• "Old Law Is Still Good Law, but Sometimes You Still Have to Explain It . . ." author, blog post, Stokes Law Briefs (July 2016)
• "Shotguns, Daggers and Triggers: Escape from LLC Island," author, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin (November 2015)
• "A Step Back From the Precipice: Wrongful Foreclosure Reconsidered," co-authored with Christopher Graving, Stokes Lawrence client update (September 2014)
• "Guaranteed Confusion on Guarantor Liability," co-authored with Christopher Graving, Stokes Lawrence client update (February 2014)
• "Nonjudicial Foreclosure and the Guarantors Who Got Away..." Stokes Lawrence client update (December 2013)
• "Appellate Court Clarifies Agricultural Exception to Nonjudicial Foreclosure; Preserves Other Lender Remedies," Stokes Lawrence client update (June 2013)
• "The Supreme Court Decisions in Klem and Schroeder Impacting Foreclosures," Stokes Lawrence client update (March 2013) 

Professional & Community Activities

• Washington State Bar Foundation Board of Trustees (2013 - 2016)
• Chair, Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Committee (2010)
• Vice Chair, Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Committee (2009)
• Member, Lake Forest Park Planning Commission (2005 - 2008)

Background & Interests

Before joining the firm in 1999, Tom was in private practice with the Seattle firm of Franklin & Olson. He had been a partner with Lerch, Early & Brewer in Bethesda, Maryland (1989-1997). Other experience includes serving as an Assistant Attorney General in the Oregon Department of Justice, concentrating on financial fraud and Civil Racketeering cases, and as a trial attorney with the Metropolitan Public Defender Service in Portland. Tom served as Law Clerk to the Honorable William Hungate, U.S. District Court, St. Louis, Missouri.