Founder

When no box fits, one must be built.

We are a different kind of law firm because we are driven by a different kind of leader.

An East Coast firebrand forged from blue-collar grit and polished by white-collar experience. A leader who has assembled a small team of like-minded attorneys with an equal passion for fierce client advocacy. As a firm, we are a calming force in chaos and crisis. We are vigilant fiscal stewards of others’ money. We are aggressive without escalation and reasonable without capitulation. We understand that the biggest battles are often won more swiftly with grace than conflict.

Kris Costello is CLF’s founder and tireless advocate for her client’s in the quest for just results.

All good advocates are defined by what created them. In Kris’s case a family background that reads like the original American dream turned her into someone who is always fighting for fairness and never suffers bullies. She is creative and innovative, and takes pride in leading her team and resolving her cases in the most efficient and strategic way possible. She has pioneered and honed her unique practice and business model  through her extensive career and is still energized by any opportunity to share her wisdom with her colleagues and clients.

Experience

Kris has tried more than fifty cases to the bench and the jury, litigated hundreds of contested evidentiary matters and resolved hundreds of matters through motions practice and alternative dispute resolution. She teaches trial advocacy at the University of Washington School of Law and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). She leverages her 29 years of trial experience and 10 years as a teacher of trial advocacy for all the firm’s clients.

Education

Kris graduated from Boston College in 1987 with a B.A. in History and received her J.D from Boston University School of Law in 1991. She was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1991 and worked as a King County Public Defender for seven years. She founded Costello & Associates in 1998.

Associations and Recognition

Kris is a member of the Federal Bar Association, Western District of Washington and is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and a peer rated Super Lawyer.

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