Michael Reiss

Background

About Michael Reiss

I have enjoyed a gratifying career as a lawyer in a wide variety of roles – as a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, leading the firm’s employment litigation group; as a mediator; as the first Regional Attorney for the EEOC in Seattle; and as a former law professor and teacher of trial advocacy skills to attorneys and law students for more than three decades. My most satisfying work as a lawyer involves working directly with people –working with juries and helping clients and parties resolve complex issues through counseling and mediation. My favorite memory is when, close to midnight toward the end of a grueling, two-day mediation, one of the individuals said to me: “You are a really good listener.” That’s the best way to serve people—and is a guiding principle that frames my approach to providing stellar client service each and every day.