Witherspoon, Kelley, Davenport & Toole PS, a longtime Spokane law firm that has weathered more than a centurys worth of changing tides in the economy, says its currently on an upswing.


The firm, which was established here in 1884, claims to be the oldest continuously practicing law firm in Washington state. Over the past 122 years, it has grown to employ 43 attorneys at its Spokane office, as well as five at a Coeur dAlene office it opened in 1984, compared with the firms total of 28 attorneys in 1996, says president Bill Symmes.


We are experiencing a strong growth pace, Symmes says. As a result, we intend to grow within reason to meet that pace.


The firm plans to add two more attorneys at its Spokane office next month, a sixth attorney in Coeur dAlene next year, and two attorneys to work in what has been an unmanned office in Portland it opened last year, Symmes says. Lawyers from Spokane and Coeur dAlene travel to the Portland office frequently, he says.


Also, it expects to have a Seattle office one again after closing an office there in 1990.


Symmes declines to disclose the firms annual billings.


Since 1937, the firms main office has been located in the U.S. Bank Building, at 422 W. Riverside, where it currently occupies a total of 32,000 square feet of space on the ninth, 10th, and 11th floors, he says.


The firms most notable clients reflect some of its strongest areas of emphasis, which include banking, media, health care, and real estate, he says. Among those clients are Spokane-based Sterling Savings Bank, Cowles Co., Empire Health Services, and Garco Construction Inc., as well as Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based Kaiser Aluminum Corp., which operates the Trentwood rolling mill here, he says.


Other clients include Brett Sports, which owns the Spokane Indians and Spokane Chiefs; Spokane-area real estate developers; and medical clinics here, he says.


As the firms clients expand their shares of their markets, the firm needs to expand as well, which is why its considering opening an office in Seattle once again, Symmes says.


As markets get bigger, the geography gets smaller, he says. Clients can get sued in other areas, so we go where our clients need us.


The firm likely will open a Seattle office within the next two years, he says. It had maintained a Seattle office before, but closed it in 1990 after two of its Spokane-based clients that did business in Seattle, Fidelity Mutual Savings Bank and Old National Bank, were absorbed in the 1980s by First Interstate Bank of Washington and U.S. Bank, respectively, he says.


Our two reasons for being in Seattle expired, so we decided to redirect our focus elsewhere, he says. Now, its inevitable that well open an office there.


The prospect of reopening a Seattle office illustrates what Symmes asserts is the tendency of law firms to grow reactively, rather than proactively. In other words, law firms typically grow in response to their clients needs or as a result of changes in the economy, instead of from proactive growth efforts on their part, he says.


Symmes points out that until the past decade or so, Witherspoon, Kelleys strongest area of emphasis was the mining industry.


Now, however, as the mining industry has declined here and the number of technology-related companies has grown, the firm has focused more on cases involving intellectual property rights, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings for tech companies, he says. Some of its high-tech clients include Spokane-based Next IT Corp., Liberty Lake based IT-Lifeline Inc., and Blue Water Technologies Inc., of Hayden, Idaho.


A law firm is a microcosm of the economy, Symmes says. Mergers and acquisitions and IPOs (initial public offerings) now represent some of our greatest opportunities for growth.


Litigation


In addition to being affected by changes in the economy, the firm also has been influenced by the growing amount of litigation here and nationwide since the early 1980s, he says. Although the firm traditionally has focused on transactional, or corporate, law, its growth recently has been driven largely by cases involving anti-trust, securities, medical malpractice, and business-related lawsuits, he says.


Theres been a litigation explosion, he says. Although litigations now represent a big part of our practice, particularly in Spokane, they still serve our main focus on transactions for corporate, real estate, and banking firms.


Some of the most highly publicized of the firms cases in the past few years are those related to River Park Square shopping center in downtown Spokane, he says.


Since the firm represents companies owned by Cowles Co. that own the shopping center and parking garage, it has been involved in lawsuits over the garages funding and a fatal car crash that occurred there last April, he says.


The banking industry also has contributed to the firms growth in Spokane, he says.


Sterling, the firms largest client, has been expanding throughout the Northwest, including in the Portland and Coeur dAlene markets, where Witherspoon, Kelley now plans to hire additional attorneys, he says.


Meanwhile, another client, Coeur dAlene-based Idaho Independent Bank, also has been growing, thereby further increasing the need for more attorneys at the office there, he says.


The Coeur dAlene offices growth also owes to the hot real estate market there, he says. Its real estate work includes working with developers on land-use issues and closing real estate transactions, representing banks that are financing building projects, and handling lease agreements with tenants at shopping centers, he says.


Symmes says he anticipates that real estate development will continue to be a major source of growth for the firm in the next few years.


Although much of the firms growth depends on its clients and the economy, its making some proactive efforts to grow, too, he says. For instance, the firm currently is considering joining a network of 25 loosely affiliated law firms located across the U.S., he says. Such a network would help Witherspoon, Kelley expand its client base by providing it with referrals from other firms, he says.


Were exploring the idea right now, and looking at how it would fit into our growth plans, Symmes says.


The firm has encountered some challenges recently, which Symmes attributes to the normal aches and pains associated with growing. Some of those problems include trying to find young, qualified lawyers, who are in high demand, as well as qualified staff members, such as paralegals.


The firm currently has 79 employees here and 86 overall, compared with 48 employees total in 1996, he says.


The firm also is trying to compete with other law firms, not only those that are based in Spokane, but those based elsewhere that have offices here or represent clients that do business here, he says. It also competes with accounting firms that offer some of the same services, such as those related to taxes, employment, pension plans, and mergers and acquisitions, he says.


Despite those challenges, Symmes says he expects the firm will continue to grow, as it has done for more than a century.


The firm started under the name Wakefield & Forrester, then became Witherspoon, Witherspoon & Kelley in 1931, before changing to its current name in 1949, he says.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.