About Us

Ruth Emily Vogel, Senior Attorney has been practicing law for the last 22 years and provides representation of clients in all aspects of family law, criminal law, estate planning, and personal injury. Prior to her legal career, Ruth worked in non-profit social service agencies focusing on adoption and child abuse issues.

Criminal Law: During and after law school Ruth prosecuted criminal cases for nine years . Her work included all phases of prosecution including search warrants, filing decisions, trials and appeals. She conducted over 150 jury trials in addition to hundreds of trials to the bench. Ruth brings this expertise to defending clients accused of crimes. Her goal is to minimize the impact of the criminal justice system on you by energetic negotiation and aggressive litigation.

Family Law: Ruth combines social service experience with strong litigation expertise to assist clients facing divorce, separation, parenting and custody disputes. Her goal is to help the client through the stressful legal process and achieve the best results for their family.

Estate Planning: In these evolving times of medical science and legal rights Ruth maintains a current knowledge of the law for our clients who need health care directives, wills and other estate planning documents.

Personal Injury: Combining a thorough background in vehicle and traffic laws with negotiation and litigation experience, Ruth assists clients who have been injured in motor vehicle collisions.

Sarah Ann Davis, Associate earned her B.A. in Psychology from Whitman College and her J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School. During law school she clerked for Del Norte County Counsel and the Oregon Judicial Department in their Family Court Services Division, gaining experience at both the state and county levels. She is a member of the Washington State and King County Bar Associations. Sarah focuses her legal practice on family law, estate planning, and probate. When out of the office she enjoys travel, the outdoors, cycling, reading, and cooking.

Kathleen M. Alluise is a recent graduate of the University of Washington. She earned a degree in Political Science with minors in Criminal Justice and the Russian language. During college she interned at the San Juan Island Prosecutor’s Office and gained invaluable experience working at the courthouse in her hometown of Friday Harbor. She is currently taking classes to get her paralegal certificate through the UW. Kathleen enjoys spending her free time with her family, going to Green Lake, reading, and cooking.

Business Practices

Confidentiality
All matters relating to your case are confidential and your information will not be shared with anyone outside our office without your consent.

Billing Practices
We work hard to be as efficient and effective as possible. We prepare invoices on about the 25th of every month. The invoice is mailed to you and it shows the amount of time we have each spent on your case that month. A more itemized invoice is always available upon request. A couple of days after invoicing we transfer money from your trust account (in which your retainer was deposited) and "pay" your invoice. You are then sent a statement which will show the amount you have remaining in your trust account. It is our goal to provide as much information to you as needed to keep you apprised of your account with us.

File Retention
During the course of your case we will amass numerous documents. It is our practice to send you copies of all documents, letters, correspondence and pleadings that we receive or produce, file and/or send out. The purpose of sending you copies is to keep you informed as to the status of your case. Applicable law may forbid attorneys from providing copies of certain items that may be in a client's file, such as police reports. At the conclusion of your case we will close your file. You will have the option of requesting additional copies of documents, but you should already have a complete set. We typically keep files for approximately five years and upon destruction, shred all documents containing personal information protecting you and your privacy.