Kim Maree Johannessen

Ms. Johannessen was able to help us through a very difficult situation involving a leaking heating oil tank. She was fantastic dealing with the previous home owners, insurance company, remediation contractors, and the Department of Ecology for the State of Washington. She saved us over $200,000. ...She hit a grand slam in handling our case. I would definitely recommend her.

We retained Johannessen & Assoc in April 2008 after pulling the oil tank during a conversion to natural gas and discovering that it had leaked extensively, likely for years. Howeowner's insurers quit covering for UST leakage circa 2000, and we only had nominal coverage through PLIA (the state insuran...ce agency). Kim and her associates with J&A were dogged in their perseverance in pursuing the prior homeowners' insurance companies to limit our cleanup liability to the PLIA amount, and to recover the lion's share of our past costs. It is remarkable how deeply insurers can dig in their heels on what to most of us would seem to be clear-cut and rightful claims, but dig in they did (with environmental counsel representing their interests as well). Johannessen & Associates persevered and prevailed, all the time being imminently fair and working to reduce our considerable worries. If you are a homeowner unfortunate enough to have purchased a home with a leaking underground storage tank (or any environmental concern for that matter), I would recommend Kim without reservation.

Kim and company were instrumental in helping my wife and me deal with an extremely stressful and difficult situation. Kim was always upfront, providing clear, concise and timely advice and professional assistance. We also appreciated her reasonable rates and itemized charges, there wasn't any guess... work as to what Kim and her folks were dong. I would highly recommend her.

Kim represented my wife and I in a negotiation with our next door neighbor's insurer over expenses for remediating leakage from the neighbor's tank that had spread well onto our property and under our home. There were remediation expenses, and costs of consulting engineers and Kim's fees. Kim resol...ved the entire matter without litigation, with full recovery by us of all out of pocket expenses and compensation for disruption of our lives during the remediation process. She did so with a high level of expertise of the law and the utmost professionalism. I would (and have) recommended Kim and her firm to any party having environmental issues to resolve. I am myself a lawyer.

I am writing today to share my experience with Kim Johannessen & Associates, P.S. In 2007, my husband and I entered into an agreement to buy a property that turned out to have two oil tanks on it- one long abandoned and one not. Not knowing the risks of these tanks, we chose to buy the property anywa...y. Shortly after closing- it was discovered that these tanks had been leaking and the cleanup became our responsibility. At the advice of someone else, we chose to go with a lawyer that claimed he had experience fighting legal battles against previous property owners in tank clean-ups. After a year of litigation, we lost our case. Not only did we lose- we were asked to pay the other sides legal costs. This is when I consulted another attorney and he told me about Kim. Having already had one bad experience with a lawyer I searched for information about Kim and could find none. That is why I am writing today. When we bought our dream property, my husband and I could never imagine that something like this would happen to us. Kim and Julie brought extensive experience and knowledge in underground storage tanks and were able to help us in one of the worst situations of our lives. I would recommend her team to ayone that finds themselves in this situation.