Prominent Partners Gwendolyn Payton and John Neeleman Join Firm

SEATTLE (June 13) – Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton announced today the addition of Gwendolyn Payton and John Neeleman to the firm's Litigation Department in the Seattle office. Ms. Payton and Mr. Neeleman will be Partners in the firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation Team. They are joining Kilpatrick Townsend from a large Seattle-based firm.

"Gwendolyn and John will offer Kilpatrick Townsend clients a combined five decades of outstanding experience and excellent service,” said Roger Wylie, Managing Partner of the Seattle office. "They are strategic additions to our growing Seattle office. Gwendolyn and John will significantly enhance our services on the West Coast, especially in the areas of health care, antitrust, class action, and insurance. We are thrilled to have them join the firm.”

"Kilpatrick Townsend’s nationally recognized Complex Commercial Litigation Team provides a perfect fit for our practice," says Gwendolyn Payton. “We welcome the firm’s deep bench and robust resources." John Neeleman added, “Gwendolyn and I met with a diverse cross-section of Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys across offices, teams and departments. What impressed us was the unified spirit of real collaboration and a clear vision of what it means to provide quality service. We look forward to working with our new colleagues in Seattle and across the firm.”

Ms. Payton focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, class actions, health care, antitrust and trade litigation. She has extensive experience in cases pending in federal and state courts of appeals across the nation. Ms. Payton is recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation.” She was also named as a “Washington Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers and was selected as a “Forty Under 40” by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Ms. Payton is a Trustee of the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) and is serving as Chair of the 2017 PNB First Look Gala. She was also Gala Chair in 2013 and 2014. Ms. Payton was recently awarded 2017 Mentor of the Year by the King County Bar Association. She earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and received her B.A. in Art History from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Neeleman concentrates his practice in complex business litigation and insurance recovery related litigation. He advises and represents corporate policyholders in complex insurance coverage claims and has successfully prosecuted Directors’ and Officers’ liability and other business-related insurance claims for clients. Mr. Neeleman represents clients before administrative agencies including the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Washington Department of Revenue.

Mr. Neeleman serves on the Board of Directors of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Japan-Seattle Suzuki Institute. He is Pro Bono Counsel for the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Project. Mr. Neeleman earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Utah.

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