Bar Number: 37418
Bryce McPartland is the founder of McPartland Law Offices, a personal injury firm. McPartland was raised on a farm in central Washington and is the oldest of seven. McPartland is a graduate of Washington State University (’01) and Gonzaga University School of Law (’05).
. . .
What is the most interesting case you have handled in your career so far and why?
In personal injury work, it always feels like a current case is the “most interesting,” and we tend to suffer from shiny object syndrome. A particularly interesting one was a roadway design case. Building that case involved driving the same path as the offending driver, trying to put myself in her shoes, and wondering what cues were available to let a driver know a stop sign and intersection were coming up. It turned out there weren’t any! That case ended up involving tons of experts and jurisdictional issues, and ended in a great result for the client. Getting out of the office to put boots on the ground and find new perspectives teaches us so much more than reports and records ever do.
Did you end up practicing in the area of law you expected? If not, where did you end up and why?
For sure. Although I’ve touched on a few different practice areas on my way to a personal injury practice, ultimately this one scratches the itches for me that make the practice of law so rewarding. First, there’s an investigative component and, oftentimes, the harder we work to get to the root cause of a serious injury, the more successful the outcome. Second, we are able to help people solve problems that they cannot typically solve for themselves, and—because we do not market ourselves in the traditional fashion—they often also have a problem that a prior law firm decided they could not help them with either. Curiosity and creativity have been great drivers for our practice and our practice model.
What is your biggest success?
The team I have around me. Our firm has a lot of people committed to our core values, who really value the work they are able to do to directly and tangibly help people. The people we have and their commitment to the people we help make coming to work easy.
How would you be earning a living if you weren’t a lawyer?
I spent nearly two decades as a basketball coach and could still spend all day in a gym.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Do you have any favorite legal or philosophical debates that you enjoy having with colleagues or friends? With name, image, and likeness (NIL), college sports are junior varsity professional sports and are interesting virtually exclusively because of sports gambling.
What is one thing from your childhood that you would bring back if you could? Saturday morning cartoons and Lucky Charms.
What is one thing your colleagues may not know about you? I was an assistant boys’ basketball coach and a head girls’ basketball coach. My first year with each school was the team’s first experience at their respective state tournaments.
What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had? Onion seed harvester. The seeds were too small for the combines we had access to. Hand harvesting onion flowers with steak knives in 100-plus degree central Washington heat. Between the heat, the sweat, and the onions, it smelled about like you can imagine it did.
What’s the best place you’ve ever traveled to? Spain is a special place for me. This summer, my two youngest sons (Owen, 19, and Aidan, 15) and I hiked the Camino Primitivo in only 9 days.
. . .
> We’d like to learn about you! Email wabarnews@wsba.org to request a questionnaire and submit materials to be used for a hand-drawn portrait. Find past Beyond the Bar Number features here.