Clinton L. Morgan

I came to law through money. Before law school I earned a Certified Financial Planner designation in 1985 and spent several years advising people on their finances, which turns out to be most of what family law and estate planning actually are. Dividing a marital estate, valuing a business, calculating support, figuring out what a retirement account is really worth after taxes: those are financial problems that happen to arrive in a courtroom. I read a balance sheet before I ever read a case file, and it still shapes how I handle a case.

I graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 1992 and started practicing in Olympia that year. In 1995 Rob Hill and I opened Morgan Hill, P.C. Three decades later we're both still here, still running it. That continuity matters more than it sounds. When a client comes back after fifteen years because a parenting plan needs modifying or a parent has died, the same attorney picks up the file.

My practice runs in two directions. On one side is family law: divorce, custody, support, modifications, and the estate planning and probate work that tends to follow. On the other is injury: motor vehicle collisions, wrongful death, and medical negligence. My clients have recovered millions of dollars in those cases. I've also handled hundreds of family law matters in Thurston and Pierce County courts, which means I know the judges, the commissioners, and how a given department tends to rule on a given motion.

I'm a trained mediator, and I'll say plainly that most family cases should settle. Trial is expensive, slow, and hands your decision to someone who's known your family for two hours. When a case can resolve at the table, I push for that. When the other side won't deal fairly, or when a child is at risk, I try it.

I grew up in Skagit and Mason Counties and I've spent my whole life in Washington. Outside the office I've served on the board of trustees of the Thurston County Bar Association, spent nine years on the board of WaDads working on fathers' involvement with their children, and I currently serve on the board of the Pinetop Perkins Foundation, which teaches blues music to young musicians. I'm also a graduate of the Missouri Auction School, which is a longer story.