With a career spanning over 30 years, successfully representing a wide range of clients in complex and high profile cases, Managing Partner Jeff Eberhard is a recognizable and reputable force within the industry.

Jeff’s practice focuses on civil litigation throughout Oregon and Washington with an emphasis on the defense of complex liability claims including dram shop liquor liability. By successfully defending hundreds of cases, Jeff’s knowledge of Oregon’s Dram Shop Act is proved in the state of Oregon.

Kyle Riley manages the firm’s Seattle, Washington, office. He has profound expertise in Washington bad faith law, wrongful death, and catastrophic injury claims. Kyle also has significant experience defending fire losses, trucking companies, banking institutions, and self-insured rental car companies.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Kyle worked with the Oregon Department of Justice where he gained significant litigation experience specializing in the recovery of self-insured losses. He joined Smith Freed Eberhard in 2003.

Cliff’s practice focuses primarily on the defense of personal injury and property damage claims brought against commercial and personal lines insurers and their insureds. His practice involves the handling of a wide range of cases, including personal injury negligence, errors & omission, liquor liability, construction defect, and business litigation.

Cliff has experience taking cases to jury verdicts as a lead trial attorney and has conducted numerous arbitrations and mediations in both Oregon and Washington. Cliff is also experienced in insurance coverage matters and regularly advises and defends carriers in coverage disputes. In addition, Cliff manages the firm’s probate and subrogation practices.

Cliff’s well-rounded legal background has provided him with the ability to quickly evaluate key issues and identify strategic opportunities in his cases. This enables his clients to efficiently and effectively prepare for trial or pursue favorable early resolution of matters when appropriate.

Since joining Smith Freed Eberhard in 2014, Ashley has expanded her practice area to include a range of complex litigation areas including commercial liability, premises liability, product liability, first and third party personal injury, uninsured and underinsured motorist cases, and sex abuse cases. Throughout her legal career Ashley has argued in more than 20 counties throughout the state of Washington. Her energy, poise and confidence in the court room is unmatched.

With a strong business and litigation background, and over 20 years of first-chair trial experience, Gordon knows exactly which strategies will make a weak case stronger as well as what makes practical and financial sense. Gordon’s practice focuses on construction defect litigation defending developers, general contractors, and subcontractors throughout Washington state and works closely with Smith Freed Eberhard’s Construction and Development Group.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Gordon worked in-house for Travelers Insurance Company where he led the opening of the construction defect unit for their Seattle Staff Counsel office. He also focused on slip-and-falls, auto liability, construction liability, and commercial claims. Before joining Travelers, he worked for four years with the Hartford Insurance Company where he specialized in construction defect and complex commercial liability cases.

Gordon has successfully first-chaired over 50 jury trials to verdict. He is a licensed attorney before the Washington State and Appellate Courts, the United States District Court, as well as with the Puyallup Tribal Court.A notable trial victory for Gordon involved a slip-and-fall case in Snohomish County Superior Court where the jury found the plaintiff 57% at fault for her own injuries and awarded her only $10,000 for “pain and suffering”. In this case, the attorneys stipulated that the plaintiff’s medical bills “proximately caused” by the fall were $38,000 and, in the end, the plaintiff received approximately $26,000 which was not enough to satisfy her medical lien.

Gordon has also successfully handled a mandatory arbitration case where he obtained a defense verdict for his client. He also received a favorable verdict in King County District Court where the jury awarded only $1 in pain and suffering to the plaintiff.

Denny is a founding member of Smith Freed Eberhard. His practice specializes in complex civil cases with a focus on catastrophic personal injury claims.

With over 41 year’s experience, Denny is a seasoned attorney in a variety of litigation areas, including job-site injury, premises liability, construction dispute, products liability, business tort, large automobile and commercial transportation injury, fraud and property trespass. Denny has conducted over 300 jury trials and arbitrations involving numerous individuals and business entities. He has also participated in legislative sessions on behalf of the Defense Bar.

Sean provides defense for insurers and their insureds in complex litigation suits in the areas of automotive claims, commercial liability defense, first and third-party claims, and SIU claims.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Sean was a judicial clerk in both Lane County and Multnomah County. During this time, he was able to observe over 75 court and jury trials and gain insight into advanced trial tactics.

While attending law school, Sean also worked as a law clerk at a mid-sized civil litigation firm in Eugene, Oregon. In this role, he became skilled in executing legal research and distilling his findings into concise arguments. In addition, he honed his composition techniques for creating effective legal documents.

Jean handles a wide range of complex litigation suits arising from personal injury, negligence, errors & omission, premises liability, and property damage claims.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Jean was an in-house counsel for a major insurance company and brings with her substantial experience in depositions, arbitrations, mediations, and civil trial. Jean’s previous work experiences include construction defect, bad faith/IFCA/CPA, personal injury, and insurance fraud. Prior to civil work, Jean served as a criminal deputy prosecuting attorney in King and Cowlitz County.

Jean serves as a Pro Tempore Judge and also serves as an arbitrator for parties seeking resolution of legal matters through alternative dispute resolution.

Dedicated to issues around diversity, inclusion, and equality, Jean is active in the legal community and serves on the following boards:

• Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors: Governor-Elect District 7 South
• Washington Initiative for Diversity
• Washington Leadership Institute: Advisory Board Member
• Washington Women Lawyers State Board: VP Professional Development
• Korean-American Bar Association

Catherine Sutton received her law degree from the Seattle University School of Law in 2018 and was admitted to the Washington State Bar the same year. While in law school, Catherine was a Senior Staff Editor for the Seattle Journal for Social Justice, the Vice President of Communications for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board, and an employment law research assistant for Professor Charlotte Garden. She also worked in the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic representing trademark clients before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Catherine has experience with employment law, intellectual property, and cybersecurity following in-house counsel internships with the Seattle Sounders, the Seattle Symphony, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Matt managed the Oregon office of a multi-state law firm handling an active case load of hundreds of consumer collection cases at a time.  Matt started his legal career as a public defender where he obtained extensive experience taking cases to a jury verdict.  Through his legal career, Matt has appeared in cases in every county in Oregon.

Carmen joined the firm in 2019 an associate attorney.

Her practice focuses primarily on the defense of personal injury, product liability and commercial injuries.Carmen has worked in the insurance defense industry for more than 5 years. She was an insurance defense paralegal prior to law school.

Carmen was the President of the labor and employment law society at Lewis and Clark Law School. She specialized in researching and analyzing labor and employment disputes.

Patrick is an experienced litigator with civil, as well as criminal, trial experience. He is an accomplished motion and brief writer and has a confident and passionate demeanor in the court room. Patrick is a 2017 law school graduate from Indiana University in Bloomington where he was on the American Bar Association Mock Trial Team for Labor Law as well as a civil litigation clinic specializing in family law matters.

Before coming to Smith Freed & Eberhard Patrick worked as a Prosecutor for several municipalities in Snohomish County, just north of Seattle, during which he proved himself to be an accomplished litigator and successful trial attorney. Due to the high volume nature of municipal prosecution, he developed a quick eye for case evaluation and exceptional time management skills. His trial experience includes being first chair on a three count jury trial which returned a 45 minute Guilty on All Counts verdict. In addition to his trial work, Patrick gained a reputation for creative, forceful and successful motion work.

Personal Life

Patrick is a Seattle native, he graduated from Washington State University in 2014 and then returned to Seattle after attending Indiana University, Bloomington for law school. In his spare time, Patrick enjoys watching and playing soccer, hiking in the Pacific Northwest and exploring new restaurants.

Brittany joined Smith Freed Eberhard in 2019 as an associate attorney. She previously worked as an Associate Attorney at Tyson and Mendes, LLP, an insurance defense firm in Seattle, WA. She has experience litigating cases from start to finish. From initial litigation planning, discovery and dispositive motions, arbitration and trial.

Brittany has published articles involving Washington’s arbitration limit increase, Washington’s position on Service of Process issues, property law issues, and an informative piece on women’s increased discrimination protections through changes in employment law. In addition, she served as an article editor where she revised numerous articles pertaining to insurance defense, employment law, automated vehicle and pending safety regulations, cannabis law, and women’s initiatives in the workplace.