What We Do

We represent employees, consumers, and business owners in a variety of legal matters.

• We offer employees high-quality, aggressive pursuit of justice in cases of wrongful termination, unpaid wages, discrimination, harassment, and disability rights.
• We represent consumers in class action lawsuits to remedy and deter dishonest business practices.
• We provide business owners innovative advice and representation that solve business, commercial, and employment related problems quickly and economically.

Roger M. Townsend

• Phone: (206) 652-8660
• Fax: (206) 652-8290
• Email:

Practice Areas

• Litigation in State and Federal Courts and in Private Arbitrations
• Intellectual Property and Business Practices Counsel
• Internet, Software and General Contracts

Practice Description

Roger Townsend's practice emphasizes complex commercial litigation and transactional matters. He has represented a variety of clients in matters involving partnership and breach of fiduciary duty disputes; copyright, patent and trademark litigation; misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair business practices, defamation, employment and contract actions. Mr. Townsend is active in the community, volunteers for the Federal Bar Association’s civil rights clinic, and has represented environmental interests in elections cases.

Prior to co-founding Breskin Johnson & Townsend, PLLC in 2007, Mr. Townsend was a partner at the law firm of Newman & Newman and served as an associate attorney at Yarmuth Wilson Calfo, and Williams Kastner & Gibbs. He also served as Corporate Counsel at Qpass, Inc.

Professional Honors and Affiliations

• Law Clerk to the Honorable William L. Dwyer, United States District Judge, Western District of Washington, 1996-1997
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert R. Beezer, United States Circuit Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1997-1998
• Washington Law & Politics “Super Lawyer,” 2008, 2009, 2010

Representative Engagements

Litigation

Mr. Townsend has been lead counsel in many state and federal cases, including:

• Paine Electronics Employment Litigation, King County Superior Court; obtained permanent injunction against former employee for violation of the Washington Trade Secret Act.
• FreightCo v. Transgroup, King County Superior Court; obtained judgment in favor of plaintiffs for breach of contract claim after two week trial.
• In re former Executives of Washington Mutual, United States District Court, Western District of Washington; lead counsel for multiple former executives of Washington Mutual seeking to receive compensation from the FDIC.
• Underwood v. Hartman, King County Superior Court, successfully defended preliminary injunction motion in case of alleged violation of the Washington Trade Secret Act. Obtained favorable settlement dismissing all claims.
• Barker v. Skype, United States District Court, Western District of Washington; Obtained nationwide settlement against VOIP provider Skype for violations of gift card statutes.
• In re Mastro Bankruptcy, United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Washington; Represent limited liability company in major bankruptcy of commercial real estate developer.
• In re QL2 Bankruptcy, United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Washington; represent founder and substantial individual shareholder in bankruptcy of software company.
• In re WSB Shareholders Derivative Litigation, United States District Court, Western District of Washington; Appointed Co-Lead Plaintiff’s counsel in shareholder derivative lawsuit against WSB Financial.
• Gordon v. BMG, United States District Court, Western District of Washington; obtained summary judgment in favor of defendant on all claims.
• Joint Ballot Proposition Litigation, King County Superior Court ; Represented environmental interests in lawsuit brought related to King County RTID transportation initiative.
• Szen Corp. v. Anderson et al., United States District Court, Eastern District of Washington; Obtained injunction under the Copyright Act for source code infringement.
• eNIC Shareholders v. Verisign, Inc., United States District Court, Western District of Washington; obtained summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs in enforcement action under Earnout Clauses to Merger Agreement.
• Wavelink Corporation v. Airwave Wireless, United States District Court, Western District of Washington; obtained favorable settlement in trademark infringement action for anticompetitive advertising practices.

Appeals

• Christensen Firm v. Chameleon Data Corporation, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; successfully affirmed judgment in Trademark and Anti-cybersquatting case.
• Coto Settlement v. Individual Defendant, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; successfully affirmed judgment in business dispute.
• Colby Underwood Consulting v. Harman, Division One, Washington State Court of Appeals, successfully affirmed trial court ruling of protective order related to trade secrets.
• FreightCo v. Transgroup, Division One, Washington State Court of Appeals, counsel for shipping company in appeal of breach of contract claim.

Transactional

For more than a decade, Mr. Townsend has represented many technology and emerging companies in general business matters, including corporate, intellectual property, transactional, domain name, employment and other matters. Major transactions have included licensing and transaction matters valued in excess of $10 million.

Admissions & Courts

• United States Supreme Court
• Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• United States District Court, W.Dist.Wa.
• United States District Court, E.Dist.Wa.
• Washington State Courts

Education

• Northwestern University School of Law (J.D., 1995)
• Wesleyan University (B.A., 1990)