Todd W. Gardner

Todd Gardner joined veteran attorney Art Swanson in the 1980’s, forming one of the most formidable and highly-respected law firms in the state of Washington. The firm’s focus is serious personal injury, medical negligence, and wrongful death litigation.

The accolades for Mr. Gardner from attorneys across the United States are long, but those that work with him honor him with adjectives: honorable, kind, and tremendously hard working. In 2004, Todd received the Washington Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (now known as Washington State Attorneys for Justice). In 2015, Todd was awarded Washington Trial Lawyer of the Year by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He has been selected as “Super Lawyer” by Washington Law and Politics every year for more than a decade.

Todd serves on the prestigious Inner Circle of Trial Advocates, The Damage Attorneys Round Table, the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and the American Academy of Trial Attorneys. He is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice (WSAJ), the National Trial Lawyers Association, the American College of Trial Lawyers, Public Justice, the Washington Bar Association and the King County Bar Association. Todd Gardner has received Martindale Hubbell’s highest peer review rating, Pre-eminent AV rating, the highest rating Martindale Hubbell awards for legal ability and ethics.

Todd Gardner has secured verdicts and awards of over $1 million in 20 cases he has taken to trial. Included in his verdicts is the largest medical negligence verdict in the state of Washington, $50 million (bettering his prior record), what were at the time the highest premises liability and road design defect verdicts, and the first million-dollar verdict for the death of a child. Todd has also negotiated the two largest single personal injury settlements in this state. In March 2022, Todd, as one of two lead counsel in a trial involving two deaths and three non-disabling injuries, secured a verdict of $150 million.

BAR ADMISSIONS

Washington, 10/24/1980

EDUCATION

• University of Washington
  • J.D.,with Honors
• University of Washington,
  •  B.A., magna cum laude, 1977
  • Major: Economics
  • Phi Beta Kappa

HONORS AND AWARDS

• ABOTA Washington
• Trial Lawyer of the Year, 2015
• WSAJ Trial Lawyer of the Year, 2004
• Named in "Seattle's Best Lawyers"
• Seattle Metropolitan Magazine
• Washington Super Lawyer every year since 2003

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

AND MEMBERSHIPS

• Inner Circle of Trial Advocates
• Damage Attorney's Round Table (DART)
• American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL)
• The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Lawyers
• American Association for Justice (AAJ)
• Washington Association for Justice (WSAJ),
• Eagle Member
• Public Justice
• American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
• American Academy of Trial Attorneys (AATA)
• Seattle - King County Bar Association
• Washington State Bar Association