Attorney Profiles

James C. Egan

James Egan was born and raised in Seattle and attended Seattle Public Schools. James Egan graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1994 with a degree in Philosophy. Mr. Egan honed his writing skills as the Editor-in-Chief of the Whitman College newspaper, The Whitman Pioneer. Mr. Egan then served as a public defense investigator with a Seattle area Public Defense Agency (SCRAP) over two years and published stories as a newspaper reporter for a weekly in Cornwall, Southwest England.

James Egan then attended and graduated from the esteemed University of Washington Law School, which in 1995 was recognized as among the top 10% of law schools in the nation in a national magazine. Many classes were passed with Honors, and Mr. Egan participated in Moot Court and Mock Trial competitions. Mr. Egan focused on criminal defense law before, during and after law school, and applied and served as a Rule 9 Prosecutor for at least seven cities from 1997 through 1998. These included Shoreline, North Bend, Federal Way, Burien, Issaquah, Medina and Hunt's Point. Several bench trials, including DUI and assault trials, were regularly prosecuted through law firms on behalf of these cities.

Shortly after graduation and passing the Washington State Bar Exam in 1998, Mr. Egan joined forces with the firm of nationally recognized lawyer David Gehrke (Mary Kay Letourneau) and helped defend an Attempted Murder client through to jury trial. Mr. Egan then became a public defense attorney with Northwest Defenders Association in Seattle, King County in 1999.

As a public defender, Mr. Egan handled 40-50+ cases per month (over 500 clients). Many of those cases involved felony VUCSA, Assaults, Cocaine and Amphetamines Dealing in King County Superior Court. Mr. Egan also spent several months in the misdemeanor unit, handling several DUIs and Assault cases of defendants charged from the WTO protestor clashes with police of November 1999. Mr. Egan and Attorney John McGoodwin (now Seattle City Attorney) defended a client charged with Assault in a televised jury trial which resulted in an acquittal, and subsequent dismissal of dozens of related charges for clients.

After leaving the public defender's office, James Egan opened his own private practice. In the past 5 years, his firm has had an emphasis on DUI/DWI defense and criminal charges in general. Mr. Egan has represented over 1,000 clients and has conducted over 30 jury trials in and around Seattle-area courts, with a high success rate. James Egan has also taught other attorneys on how to conduct jury trials, through Continuing Legal Education classes at the Washington State Bar Association. James Egan is a member of the Washington State Bar, the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Washington Trial Lawyers Association. As of this writing (10/2005), the last two jury trials (one of them a DUI and Negligent Driving charge) resulted in complete acquittals for clients. This is someone to have on your side.