Kelly Corr (Emeritus)

(206) 621-1461

Kelly Corr (Emeritus)

Admitted in Washington

Kelly is a retired founding partner of the firm, well deserving the title “emeritus.” Before retiring, he was a trial lawyer with more than 40 years of jury trial experience. His practice was broad ranging, focusing on class actions, products liability and personal injury, professional malpractice, complex commercial litigation, employment litigation, and intellectual property disputes.

Kelly was selected a “Super Lawyer” list seventeen times. Twelve times his peers have voted him among the top ten lawyers in the state in any field of practice. Since 2008, Benchmark, in America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, has picked Kelly as one of the state’s “Local Litigation Stars.” Benchmark wrote that Kelly Corr is a “savvy trial attorney” who is “very much a street fighter when he needs to be,” and a particular asset in “cases that have a public aspect.” In 2013, he was selected as Seattle’s “Lawyer of the Year” for “Bet the Company” litigation. Kelly has been featured on the cover of Washington Law & Politics and the 2015 edition of Washington State Super Lawyers. Since 1996, he has been a Fellow of The American College of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only organization limited to the top one percent of all trial lawyers.

Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Monthly, Washington Super Lawyers 2015 and Washington Journal have each profiled Kelly. His cases have been featured in and he has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, People magazine, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Seattle Times, numerous trade publications and three books.

Professional Associations

  • Washington State Bar Association

  • King County Bar Association Trustee, 1982-1985

  • Chairman: Public Defense Task Force, 1987

  • Member, Irish Legal 100

Education/Background

  • J.D. with honors, Columbia University School of Law, 1974

  • B.A., cum laude, with honors in economics, Williams College, 1970

  • Assistant United States Attorney (W.D. Wn.), 1974-1976

  • Bogle & Gates, 1976-1999

Featured Cases

Presentations and Publications

  • “High Profile Cases: Litigation Tactics and Media Themes,” The Network of Trial Law Firms, 2005

  • “Winning and Beating Injunctions,” Washington Attorney General’s Seminar, 2004

  • “Punitive Damages,” AEGIS Claims Conference, 2004

  • “Seattle’s Newspaper Wars,” The Network of Trial Law Firms, 2003

  • “Trial Tactics for Notorious Cases,” The Network of Trial Law Firms, 2002

  • “How to Beat a Class Action,” Cutting Edge Litigation, The Network of Trial Law Firms, 2000

  • “Ten Keys to Success for In-House Counsel,” How to Maximize Your Results From Outside Trial Counsel, The Network of Trial Law Firms, 1999

  • “How Not to Get Hometowned,” American College of Trial Lawyers’ Greatest Hits, University of Washington Law School Foundation CLE, 1997

  • “Examining Experts,” In-House Counsel At The Cutting Edge, The Network of Trial Law Firms, 1995

  • “Litigation Alternatives,” Claims and Litigation Management, Business Strategy Network, 1995 – San Francisco

  • “Computers Don’t Try Cases, Lawyers Do, or ‘Kissing’ the Jury,” Third Millennium Litigation, The Network of Trial Law Firms, 1994

  • “Avoiding Trial ADR as a Settlement Tool,” Complex Litigation A Survival Manual, The Network of Trial Law Firms, 1994

  • “High-Tech Cases and Their Special Problems” Practicing Law Institute’s Fifth Annual Litigation Management Supercourse, 1994 – New York City

  • “Making ADR Cost Effective: Simple Tips to Make ADR Work for You,” Practicing Law Institute’s Dispute Resolution Alternative Supercourse, 1993 – New York City

  • “Civil Penalties & Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Laws,” CLE International Seminar, 1991

  • “Demonstration of Closing Argument,” SKCBA Annual Trial Practice Seminar, 1990

  • “Preparing Witnesses for their Deposition,” PESI Seminar, 1989

  • “Limits on Discovery Advocacy: Rule 11 Sanctions,” WSBA Annual Convention, 1987

  • “Instructing a Witness Not to Answer; When To Do It and When Not To Do It,” WSBA Seminar ,1985

  • “The Best of CLEs,” WSBA Seminar, 1985

  • Chairman: “Media and the Law,” WSBA and SKCBA Seminar, 1985

  • Chairman, Speaker and Author: Defense of a Criminal Case: Winning Through Governmental Misconduct, 1980

  • Chairman and Author: “Washington’s New Evidence Rules,” WSBA Convention, 1979

  • “Enforcing Injunctions,” WSBA Annual Convention, 1978

  • “Goodbye, Rambo, Hello, Mr. Rogers?” For the Defense, Defense Research Institute, December 1995; Co-Author “Don’t Answer That Question,” For the Defense, Defense Research Institute, March 1995; Co-Author “Making ADR Cost Effective,” Law Department Management Adviser, December 1994; Co-Author Co-Editor Washington Civil Procedure Deskbook, 1991-1992