David
Jensen

Overview

David Jensen brings more than three decades of litigation experience to his work at Seattle Litigation Group, including years spent representing the companies, insurers, employers, and other parties that individuals often find themselves facing in a dispute. Having worked on both sides of civil litigation, David understands not only how cases are built, but how they are evaluated by opposing counsel, insurers, and decision-makers. He uses that perspective to identify what matters, anticipate how the other side is likely to respond, and develop a strategy grounded in the client’s ultimate objective.

Over the course of his career, David has managed and resolved hundreds of civil cases through direct negotiation, mediation, arbitration, dispositive motions, and trial. He has first-chaired complex jury trials involving construction, bodily injury, and real property disputes and argued matters before the Washington State Court of Appeals. His experience spans cases of vastly different size and complexity, from individual employment disputes to high-value construction and liability litigation.

David began his legal career clerking for Judge John A. Petrich of the Washington State Court of Appeals before moving into private practice. He went on to become a partner at Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim, where he served on the firm’s Board of Directors and led its Defense Litigation Group. His later work included serving as field counsel for Liberty Mutual and staff counsel for Zurich Insurance, where he handled a substantial portfolio of litigation throughout Washington state and federal courts.

That experience gives David a particularly valuable perspective in his employment practice today. He represents employees in matters involving wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, disability accommodation, family and medical leave, and wage and hour claims. He has litigated and arbitrated employment matters under the Washington Law Against Discrimination and the ADA and has handled claims arising under the FMLA and Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Act. He also represents employers and businesses in appropriate matters, including helping clients navigate insurance coverage when litigation arises.

David continues to handle construction, bodily injury, and other complex civil disputes, drawing on decades of experience representing owners, contractors, businesses, insurers, and individuals. His construction practice has included condominium defect litigation, catastrophic structural failures, landslides and subsidence, contractual indemnity, and complex insurance coverage issues. He has also served as an arbitrator in construction, commercial, and bodily injury matters.

David’s Approach to Complex Cases

After more than 30 years in litigation, David knows that complexity does not necessarily make a case stronger. His approach is to cut through what he calls the “technical noise,” identify the facts and legal issues that will actually drive the outcome, and build the strategy from there.

That judgment is informed by having seen litigation from multiple perspectives. David knows how defense attorneys prepare cases, how insurers assess exposure, and what can cause the other side to reevaluate its position. He is equally comfortable preparing a matter for trial or pursuing an earlier resolution when that better serves the client. His focus is not on making a case more complicated than it needs to be. It is on understanding the problem clearly and finding the most effective way to solve it.

Recognition