ABOUT ME

Protecting employee rights has been the North Star of my professional career. I am a native Washingtonian (raised in Tacoma) and a self-employed attorney since 1983, who has had an active federal and state court litigation practice in Pierce and Thurston counties, focused on civil rights and employment law, and other public interest cases. I still handle a few select employment law cases, focusing now on severance negotiations, and occasional unemployment appeals for workers.

Both sides of my father’s Irish family settled in Pierce County in the mid and late19th century. I am blessed to have three generations of family and a trio of grandkids within 45 miles of my Thurston County home. In August 2017, 34 US McGavick clan members (14 from my father’s line, including two of my kids and my granddaughter) spent two weeks in Ireland with scores of Irish relatives at three separate reunion events, from Dublin to County Antrim on Ireland’s northeast coast. The Cushendall (County Antrim) house my great-grandmother Rosetta slipped out the window to elope with my great-grandfather (Hugh “Fiddler” McGavick) in 1889 is still in the family, so of course we had a party there. ‘Twas the trip of a lifetime.

Besides family time, lawyering, volunteering, and travelling I am keen on staying physically fit and active. You may run into me at Broadway musicals and theater. (Top two: Hamilton, and “Bruce Springsteen on Broadway” in 2018.)