Bogle & Gates Law Firm To Close In March

Bogle & Gates, one of Seattle's oldest and most prestigious law firms, will close its doors at the end of March, after eight of its partners were hired by another firm.

The decision to dissolve the firm came this morning by vote of the firm's 94 partners, or members.

Bogle & Gates Chairman James Tune said the recently announced departures of eight business lawyers, plus eight other employees, destabilized Bogle & Gates and made merger talks with other firms untenable. Merger talks with Dorsey & Whitney, the firm that hired the business attorneys, did not work out, he said.

Dorsey & Whitney, a Minneapolis firm that represents U.S. Bank among other large clients, has four attorneys in Seattle and was looking to expand. Dorsey has 500 attorneys in 16 offices.

Rich Wallis, Bogle & Gates chief executive officer, said the firm's finances are sound and it will wind up its business affairs in an orderly way.

"We will make every effort to see that clients' needs are served to the utmost, and we will assist employees in every way we can," Wallis said.

Bogle's closure will be a huge loss, said Bob Watt, president and chief executive of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, which has been chaired by Bogle attorneys three times. "Great lawyers can be found," Watt said, "but law firms that take great care of their community are much harder to come by."

Founded in 1891, Bogle & Gates has 200 lawyers in six offices. More than 125 of its attorneys concentrate their practice on litigation matters.

Legal experts say mergers between major law firms have become common in recent years as their corporate clients merge or disappear. One of Bogle & Gates' biggest clients, Quality Food Centers, was acquired by Fred Meyer, which in turn is being acquired by the Cincinnati-based Kroger grocery chain.

In recent years, Bogle represented Exxon Shipping in the Valdez oil-spill litigation. The firm also won a defense verdict for International Paper against $300 million in claims over timber-management practices, and it is a leading trial firm in state and local taxation.

Michele Matassa Flores' phone message number is 206-464-8343. Her e-mail address is: mmflores@seattletimes.com