Meredith A. Sawyer

Senior Counsel

Ms. Sawyer joined HWS as a senior attorney in 2020 and has over twenty years of civil litigation experience. Her practice currently focuses on civil litigation in the areas of personal injury, property damage and real estate disputes, including boundary line, trespass, premises liability and homeowners’ association litigation. She also has experience handling subrogation matters involving fires.

Ms. Sawyer’s secondary practice area focuses real estate transactions and related litigation, in both residential and commercial settings.  She has experience representing owners, buyers, sellers, and small developers negotiating and drafting purchase and sale agreements, easement and license agreements, construction contracts, and leases.  She has also represented real estate brokers and agencies in professional liability disputes and ethics claims.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Sawyer has worked in both large and small firm settings, first in San Francisco and later in Seattle.  Her background as both a litigator and as a transactional lawyer have given her a unique perspective in recognizing the strengths, weakness and potential challenges of any legal matter.  By both temperament and training, Ms. Sawyer is a problem solver and her approach to the practice of law is collaborative.  She strives to learn about each client’s particular business, interests, and goals and to use that knowledge to provide pragmatic and strategic advice so that her clients can make informed decisions in whatever situation they are facing.   Ms. Sawyer has successfully resolved hundreds of cases through summary judgment dismissal, settlement, mediation, arbitration and trial.  She has experience handling appeals in all divisions of the Washington State Courts of Appeal.

Ms. Sawyer believes in improving access to the legal system for persons of limited means.   Early on her career she worked for the University of Washington School of Law and was instrumental in developing and implementing the first incarnation of its Center for Public Interest Law. She currently volunteers her time as a facilitative mediator with the Dispute Resolution Center of Kitsap County, helping parties resolve a variety of disputes involving parenting plans, landlord- tenant claims and small business disputes.

Professional Associations

• Washington Bar Association
• California State Bar Association
• King County Bar Association
• Washington Defense Trial Lawyers

Representative Work

Property Disputes

• On behalf of individual homeowner in highly contested HOA litigation, obtained partial summary judgment dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims for nuisance, CC&R violations, breach of easement agreements, and injunctive relief. Also obtained significant settlement award in client’s favor for affirmative claims against seller/developer for negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract.
• On behalf of plumbing services company, obtained partial summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s alleged damages for diminished value/stigma and attorney’s fees, which in turn resulted in successful settlement of negligence claims.
• On behalf of individual homeowner, obtained partial summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s claims for nuisance, injunctive relief and alleged damages for property loss, diminution in value, emotional distress, bodily injury, and wage loss associated with tree branch failure.
• Obtained dismissal of all claims against client related to acquisition of boat based on finding that lawsuit constituted ” abusive litigation” pursuant to new statute, RCW 26.51, and awarded all legal fees and costs in defense of lawsuit.

Personal Injury

• Obtained summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s negligence claim against defendant driver, which was affirmed on appeal, based on statute of limitations defense and failure to effectuate timely service. Narin v. Abubakar, 11 Wn. App. 2d 1018 2019, (unpublished WL 5951424).
• Obtained summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s negligence claim against defendant driver, which was affirmed on appeal, based on failure to demonstrate proximate cause, and successfully distinguishing the applicability of the deception doctrine. Colburn v. Trees, 196 Wn. App. 1032 (2016), (unpublished WL 6084129.
• Obtained summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s claim against defendant driver for loss of use damages involving personal vehicle.

Real Estate/Transactional

• Negotiated construction contracts for apartment buildings located on Capitol Hill, Fremont, and Phinney Ridge on behalf of small developer.
• Negotiated purchase and sale agreement of commercial property and associated lease agreements for two retail spaces on behalf of small developer.
• Negotiated purchase and sale agreements of two vacant residential properties in Ballard and drafted associated easement and license agreements in connection with subsequent construction on behalf of small developer.
• Negotiated purchase and sale agreement of high-end vacation property on Whidbey Island and associated easement agreements on behalf of seller.
• Negotiated several purchase and sale agreements on Bainbridge Island on behalf of buyers.

Personal

In her free time, Meredith is an avid (perhaps fanatical…) gardener and her happy place is digging in the dirt and moving plants around in an ongoing (yet elusive) effort to achieve design perfection.  She loves sailing and traveling with her husband and enjoys all things outdoors: hiking, biking, and kayaking. She has three mostly grown (and amazing) daughters with whom she tries to keep up.

Community Involvement

• Volunteer Mediator, Kitsap Dispute Resolution Center