Brian J. Waid - a Seattle, United States Legal Malpractice Lawyer

Seattle Legal Malpractice Lawyer

Updated: 02/28/2026

Areas of Practice

Legal Malpractice

Litigation: 90%

Attorney Information

Overview

Waid Law Office offers you 45 years of experience in civil litigation and appeals, including substantial experience representing clients in legal malpractice claims and attorney fee disputes.

Brian Waid grew up in rural Nebraska, where he developed his commitments to hard work and unquestionable integrity. In 1975, he began his professional career as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow with the Legal Services Corporation, i.e., a poverty lawyer, providing the disadvantaged with legal services. Mr. Waid eventually managed the Consumer Law Unit at New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he represented low-income clients in consumer class action litigation and nuclear power plant rate proceedings. Recognizing his particular expertise, the Loyola Law Review asked him to publish an article on attorneys' ethics in class action litigation. In 1982, Mr. Waid entered private practice in Louisiana, where he represented businesses in commercial litigation, injured victims in personal injury litigation, and a bank in complex fraud-related litigation. Because of his demonstrated expertise in fraud-related litigation, the United States Bankruptcy Court in New Orleans appointed Mr. Waid to investigate bankruptcy reorganizations in which fraud was suspected.

In 1996, Mr. Waid and his family moved back to his wife's native West Seattle. Since then, he has focused his legal practice primarily on malpractice claims by clients against their former attorneys. However, he also authored the winning briefs in two of the Washington Supreme Court's seminal insurance bad faith cases, Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. Dan Paulson Construction Co. and Kirk v. Mt. Airy Insurance Co., and represented the plaintiff class in the Microsoft "perma-temps" litigation as its designated trial attorney.

Awards and Honors

Honors

AV-Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell (The Highest Peer Rating of Competence and Ethics), 2005 - Present
Rotarian of the Year, Rotary District 5030 (Seattle and King County area), 2005 - 2006
Rotarian of the Year, Rotary District 6840 (SE La./So. Miss.), 1993 - 1994

Education

Legal Education
- University of Nebraska College of Law, Lincoln, Nebraska
  J.D.

Current Employment Position(s)

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Attorney
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Past Positions

Southeast Nebraska Legal Services Corp., Smith Fellow and Staff Attorney
New Orleans Legal Assistance Corp., Consumer Law Unit Managing Attorney, 1979 - 1982
Bubrig & Waid, Buras and Belle Chasse, Louisiana, Associate, Partner, Managing Partner, 1982 - 1998
Law Offices of Robert B. Gould, Contract Attorney, 1996 - 1998
Bendich, Stobaugh & Strong, Trial Attorney, 1998 - 2002
Law Offices of Robert B. Gould, Trial Attorney, 2003 - 2009

Classes and Seminars

Liens & Fees & Federal Pre-Emption Wha?-II, Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Ethics CLE (Seattle), December 3, 2019 - Present
Liens, & Fees & Federal Pre-Emption (Wha?), Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Ethics CLE (Seattle), November 30, 2018 - Present
Ethical Perils in the Probate Process, National Business Institute (Seattle), October 27, 2017 - Present
Ethical Fee Agreements and Practice, National Business Institute (Seattle), October 27, 2017 - Present
What You Don't Know (Or Do) Can’t Hurt You: Tips, Trips, and Lessons Concerning Employment Law Legal Malpractice Claims, National Business Institute (Seattle), October 27, 2017 - Present
Emerging Ethics and Standard of Care Issues in Trust and Estate Practice, National Business Institute (Seattle), October 27, 2017 - Present
Annual Law of Lawyering Seminar, Washington State Bar Association, December 20, 2013 - Present
Legal Malpractice: A Primer With a Cutting Edge, National Association of Legal Secretaries, April 12, 2013 - Present
Ethics of Withdrawing from Representation, National Association of Legal Secretaries, January 26, 2013 - Present
Law Firms & Associations, Law of Lawyering Seminar, Washington State Bar Association, December 14, 2012 - Present
Local Counsel-Hazards of the Relationship, National Association of Legal Secretaries, March 17, 2011 - Present
Effective and Ethical Fee Agreements, Before the Fee Agreement, King County Bar Association, October 27, 2010 - Present
Ethics for the IP Attorney, Washington State Bar Association, Intellectual Property Institute, Seattle, 2009
Legal Ethics and Malpractice Issues for the Intellectual Property Attorney Wannabe, Washington State Bar Association, Seattle, 2008 - Present
Ethics: Establishing and Maintaining the Attorney-Client Relationship, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, Seattle, 2008 - Present
It's Not Just Microsoft!, Washington State Bar Association, Employment Law Seminar, Washington State Bar Association, Employment Law Seminar, 2000 - Present
Employment Law Seminar, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, 2000 - Present
RRule 11: Its Use and Abuse, and Implications for Professionalism, King County Bar Association (1998 and reprised by request 1999), 1998 - 1999
ERISA Subrogation, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, 1998 - Present
Chairperson, Subrogation, King County Bar Association, 1998 - Present

Representative Cases

Setterquist v. Law Offices of Ted D. Billbe, PLLC
- Citation: 792 Fed. Appx. 428 (9th Cir. 2019)
Rabbage v. Lorella
- Citation: 5 Wn. App.2d 289, 426 P.3d 768
- Year: 2018
Volvo Constr. Equipment NA, LLC v. Clyde/West, Inc.
- Citation: 26 F. Supp.3d 1033 (W.D. Wash. 2014), 2014 WL 5365454 (W.D. Wash. 10/20/14), and 2014 WL 6886679 (W.D. Wash. 12/3/14)
Stewart Title Guar. Co. v. Sterling Sav. Bank
- Citation: 178 Wn.2d 561, 311 P.3d 1
- Year: 2013
Perkumpulan Investor Crisis Center Dressel-WBG v. Wong
- Citation: 2012 WL 3871582 (W.D. Wash. 09/04/12), 2012 WL 3871592 (W.D. Wash. 09/04/12), and 2014 WL 1047946 (W.D. Wash. 3/14/14)[RICO defense]
Owen v. Godwin
- Citation: 2012 WL 3945770
- Court: E.D. Wash.
Shoemake v. Ferrer
- Citation: 168 Wn.2d 193, 225 P.3d 990
- Year: 2010
Bertelsen v. Harris
- Citation: 537 F.3d 1047
- Court: 9th Cir.
- Year: 2008
Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. Dan Paulson Constr.
- Citation: 161 Wn2d 903, 169 P.3d 1
- Year: 2007
Feature Realty v. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP
- Citation: 161 Wn.2d 214, 164 P.3d 500
- Year: 2007
Burns v. McClinton
- Citation: 135 Wn. App. 285, 143 P.3d 630
- Year: 2006
VersusLaw v. Stoel Rives, LLP
- Citation: 127 Wn. App. 309, 11 P.3d 866
- Year: 2005
Metropolitan Water Dist. of Southern California v. Superior Court
- Citation: aff'd, 32 Cal.4th 491, 84 P.3d 966, 9 Cal. Rptr.3d
- Year: 2004
Vizcaino v. Microsoft
- Citation: 290 F.3d 1043, 9th Cir., Cert. Denied, 537 U.S. 1018
- Year: 2002
Vela v. Plaquemines Parish Government
- Citation: 811 So.2d 1263
- Court: La.
- Year: 2002
Metropolitan Water Dist. of Southern California v. Superior Court
- Citation: 112 Cal. Rptr. 513, 92 Cal. App.4th 1112
- Year: 2001
Vizcaino v. Microsoft
- Citation: 142 F. Supp.2d 1299
- Court: W.D. Wash.
- Year: 2001
Winbun v. Moore
- Citation: 143 Wn.2d 206, 18 P.3d 576
- Year: 2001
Vizcaino v. U.S. Dist. Ct.
- Citation: 173 F.3d 713
- Court: 9th Cir.
- Year: 1999

Published Works

Articles

A Personal Pet Peeve, King County Bar Bulletin , May , 2020
A Lesson in Real Trust, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin, July, 2013
Telling the Truth--When Things Go Wrong, King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin, February, 2011
The Perils of the Co-Counsel Relationship and How to Reduce Them, Washington State Bar Association Bar News, May, 2010
Ethical Problems of the Class Action Practitioner, 27 Loy.L.Rev. 1047, 1981

Bar Admissions

Washington, 1996
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington
U.S. District Court Western District of Washington
U.S. District Court Middle District of Louisiana
U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court, 1980
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana

Other Affiliations

Washington State Bar Association
American Bar Association
King County Bar Association
Alaska Bar Association
Louisiana State Bar Association
Nebraska State Bar Association
American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility

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Contact

Seattle, WA

5400 California Ave SW, Suite D
Seattle, WA 98136

Directions

Phones:

Fax: 206-388-1925

Email: Send a message

Website: https://www.waidlawoffice.com

Free Consultations

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Brian J. Waid - Seattle, WA