Associate Attorney

Associate Attorney (Insurance Coverage) 

A Rare Seat for a Litigator Who Wants More Variety 

If you’re a Washington attorney with 3–5 years of experience and you’ve worked with UIM matters, first-party claims, or coverage issues, this is an opportunity to build a broader litigation practice without giving up the sophistication of insurance work. 

Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office is busy, growing, and intentionally close-knit. The team has the feel of a boutique practice: accessible leadership, real collaboration, and meaningful responsibility; while giving you the resources, technology, training, and infrastructure of a national litigation firm. 

This role is especially unique because you won’t be placed into a narrow practice lane. 

You’ll work alongside Partner David Heemann, whose practice spans insurance coverage, bad faith, claims management, general liability, auto liability, construction defect, and other complex insurance matters. David brings more than 20 years of experience, including significant in-house coverage counsel experience, and has advised on matters with exposures exceeding $100 million. 

For an attorney who wants to become a stronger, more versatile insurance litigator, this is a compelling place to do it. 

More Than Routine Auto Defense 

Approximately 10% of the practice will involve first-party and coverage-related work, with the remainder consisting of a diverse mix of tort litigation, including: 

• Auto and UIM matters
• Premises liability
• Products liability
• Construction-related litigation
• Complex bodily injury claims
• Insurance coverage and first-party bad faith exposure
• High-value and unusual matters involving sophisticated liability issues 

The variety is a major differentiator. 

You won’t spend your career handling the same type of case over and over. The team regularly works on matters involving complex legal issues, significant injuries, and unique clients; including litigation in which David has been appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General to defend the State of Washington. 

That breadth of work is difficult to find at many traditional insurance defense firms. 

Learn From a True Insurance Coverage Resource 

David’s background offers something particularly valuable for an attorney interested in developing deeper insurance knowledge. 

Before joining Tyson & Mendes, he served as Claims Coverage Counsel for Mutual of Enumclaw and has extensive experience with coverage opinions, claims management, policy drafting, bad faith litigation, regulatory issues, and complex insurance disputes.