Robert Rhodes – Seattle Lawyer & Attorney
People, clients and courts trust me because I do what I say, I handle problems as they come in, I listen critically, I keep deadlines and I have a relatively fearless and persistent nature that is well-suited for litigation. With thousands of court appearances and recorded interviews under my belt, I know when and how to be quiet and listen or engage and argue. I have learned to take the time upfront to manage expectations by setting clear goals, deadlines and standards with people and my team. As a trained analytical fact collector who likes the word “why”, I have a strong dislike for bad advocacy, logical fallacies, laziness, arrogance, bullies and overlooked shortcomings. I like the legal system as it is the arena where the game of “legal” justice is played out.
-Robert Rhodes
Robert Rhodes began his legal career in the juvenile, adult and mental health courts of Arizona as a public defender where he fought for clients who were falsely accused or struggling with a spectrum of conditions. He handled a large and varied caseload while gaining extensive courtroom and legal experience.
Mr. Rhodes moved to Washington and opened his own practice in 2001. In 2007, Mr. Rhodes partnered with another lawyer Brad Meryhew and the two of them focused on some of the hardest criminal defense cases in the State at that time. During this partnership, Mr. Rhodes developed a reputation for being incredibly effective at interviewing and vetting witnesses as well as being a carefully prepared litigator who was not afraid of difficult cases or the earning of results. As the old expression goes, steel sharpens steel though changes in circumstances required the end of this partnership.
Mr. Rhodes started his own firm in 2014 and this time took a “team” approach to law and expanded the scope of his practice to take on a variety of civil cases as well as handling administrative licensing and hearing matters in a variety of forums. Although Mr. Rhodes continues to love courtrooms and hearings, he finds himself spending a lot of time vetting cases and clients, brokering discussions, refining his understanding of the law and human nature, spearheading cases of interest, writing, counseling clients, utilizing experts, negotiating, putting together legal teams for larger civil cases and advancing his goals, his team’s goals and methods of advocacy. On the civil front, Mr. Rhodes can disclose he, his client and the federal government settled a 25 million qui tam action in 2021 which made the federal government’s 2021 notable settlement list as well as the National Law Review’s 2021 notable case list. This is just one case but represents the breadth of Mr. Rhodes’s interest and curiousity.
Mr. Rhodes’s hard-earned intuition and ability to engage in straight talk while understanding the gamey and manipulative nature of his profession is refreshing and engenders trust with his clients and others in his profession. His ability to know what makes a good story, how to tell a good story, understand what facts will make it in a courtroom, understand how opposing views will attack or spin fact, understand how juries really think, understanding the worst and best of human nature along with his broad knowledge of the court system, political system, administrative system, evaluators, experts and the psychology of the various players involved makes him wise.
Mr. Rhodes is an old athlete who brings his passion for teamwork and the unrelenting pursuit of a goal to his practice of law. Since high school, Robert has helped captain teams to championships (recently he individually won golds in Las Vegas at the IBJJF Nationals in Jujitzu in 2018 and 2019 and ranked top 25 in the world for age and belt) and understands that winning and leading require good habits and humility. Robert instinctively organizes and leads teams towards results because he has an unflagging drive to give 100% percent to whatever he commits too. Robert is highly experienced in using licensed private investigators, counselors, other lawyers, firms, evaluators as well as psychological experts, forensic experts, and scientific professionals to advance cases or mitigate cases. Robert is used to working in tandem with other lawyers and other professionals in the process of resolving cases privately or setting them up for the public spectacle of a trial.
Robert is licensed in Washington and Arizona and has appeared in municipal, state, and federal courts. He enjoys the disciplines of law, sport, and exercise. He spends his free time mentoring (he has continued to mentor his Little Brother from Big Brother’s Little Sister’s program for over 25 years as well as others), reading, learning and spending time in the close company of a very tight-knit group of friends and family he is deeply thankful for.
