Justin Dolan

Biography

Justin Dolan is a Visiting Legal Writing Professor. He graduated summa cum laude from Seattle University School of Law in 2002. While at Seattle U, Professor Dolan was an associate editor of the Seattle University Law Review. He taught Legal writing II as an Adjunct Professor at Seattle U during the spring semester 2008.

After law school, Professor Dolan practiced law for five years with Garvey Schubert Barer, P.L.L.C. Professor Dolan's practice included extensive work in the areas of general commercial litigation, medical malpractice defense, employment litigation, personal injury law, maritime litigation, products liability, professional malpractice litigation, tax, and appellate litigation.

While in private practice, Professor Dolan undertook numerous pro bono projects. In 2007, he acted as counsel for The Children's Alliance before the Washington Supreme Court in a case defining the limits of lower courts' inherent contempt power to incarcerate runaway foster children for an indefinite length of time. From 2004-2005, he was part of the litigation team that brought a class action lawsuit against Grant County for its systemic failure to provide a constitutional public-defense system. The plaintiffs obtained partial summary judgment on liability and ultimately entered into a settlement under which Grant County agreed to maintain and operate a public-defense system that provides effective assistance of counsel to indigent defendants.