- Phone: (206) 652-8660
- Fax: (206) 652-8290
- Email: rtownsend@bjtlegal.com
Practice Description
Roger Townsend is an experienced trial attorney who has practiced in Seattle since 1995. Townsend is a zealous advocate for his clients in federal and state court, as well as private arbitration and mediation. His practice focuses on representing individuals against companies, protecting and enforcing their rights in employment and business relationships. Townsend co-founded Breskin Johnson & Townsend PLLC in 2007.
Townsend is active in public service. He is the Chair-Elect of the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee and a Member of the Ninth Circuit’s Conference Executive Committee. He is a past President of the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington and has been appointed by the Court as a representative of the Western District of Washington at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference and the Roadways to the Bench Program. Townsend served as a city councilmember, volunteers for a free civil rights legal clinic, co-founded a program introducing students to Constitutional principles, and regularly moderates and coordinates panels for continuing legal education and important issues in the legal profession to Judges and members of the Bar.
Professional Honors and Affiliations
Advisory Council Member of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, 2024
Program Chair of the Ninth Circuit’s Conference Executive Committee, 2023-2024
Chair of the Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, 2023-2024
Chair-Elect, Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, 2023
Roadways to the Bench, Appointed by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington to the bench-bar committee supporting diverse representation on the Federal Bench, 2023
Member, Conference Executive Committee, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, 2021-2024
President, Federal Bar Association, Western District of Washington, 2016-2017
Co-Chair, Past Presidents Committee, Federal Bar Association, Western District of Washington, 2018-2023
Faculty Member, Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington Annual Litigation Academy, 2019-2022
Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative, 2017-2020
Named “Super Lawyer” by Washington Law & Politics, 2008 to present
“AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review (highest rating)
AVVO rating: 10.0 (highest rating)
Councilmember, Bainbridge Island, Washington City Council, 2013–2017
Co-Founder, Constitution Day, an educational program in the classroom and courtroom teaching 4th and 5th grade students constitutional principles
Volunteer, Federal Bar Association, Western District of Washington Civil Rights Legal Clinic, 2006 to present
Training participant, Postpartum Support International, Perinatal Mood Disorders: Components of Care, 2022
Law Clerk to the Honorable William L. Dwyer, United States District Judge, Western District of Washington
Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert R. Beezer, United States Circuit Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Admissions & Courts
- United States Supreme Court
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States District Court, W.Dist.Wa.
- United States District Court, E.Dist.Wa.
- Washington State Courts
Education
- Northwestern University School of Law
- Wesleyan University B.A., Economics