Rafe Schwimmer

Rafe Schwimmer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from City College of the City University of New York in 1973 (B.A. American History). He attended the College of Law, University of Iowa (J.D. 1976). Rafe is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, and the Iowa (inactive) and Illinois Bar (inactive). He is also a member of the Washington State Bar Association's Family Law and Criminal Law Sections; Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; and Snohomish County Bar Association Family Law section.

He has practiced in Iowa from 1976 - 1977, Illinois 1977 - 1980, and in Everett, Washington from 1980 to present. His practice has focused on trial litigation - family law, criminal defense, and personal injury. His practice includes District Court, Superior Court, and Appeals. He is an arbitrator for the Snohomish County Superior Court and a member of the Snohomish County Library Board.

Rafe has served as a Judge Pro Tempore in Snohomish County Juvenile Court. In addition, he is a volunteer with the family law clinic and legal aid program.

Karen C. Skantze

Karen C. Skantze graduated in 1998 with honors in her combined major of political science and rhetoric/ public address from Whitman College located in Walla Walla, Washington. She attended Seattle University School of Law (J.D. 2004), where she was a faculty-scholar nominee, inducted into the National Order of Barristers, a member of the Moot Court Board and Chair of the Board in her third year, recipient of the CALI Award for Excellence in Legal Writing, and received recognition as a skilled court-room advocate while in law school as a participant of numerous Moot Court Competitions (trial and appellate advocacy).

Following law school, Ms. Skantze was invited to be a visiting professor in the Legal Writing Department (2006 – 2007), and since 2004 she has also served as a volunteer coach/instructor, assisting third-year law students enrolled in the Moot Court seminar course with developing superior legal advocacy skills. Her students have excelled at all levels of Moot Court competition, receiving best speaker/advocate awards, best legal brief awards, and advancing to the national levels of competition. Ms. Skantze is passionate about teaching, and enjoys her role as mentor to students who will soon enter law practice.

Her passion for teaching is also matched by her passion for the practice of law. Ms. Skantze’s law practice is with an emphasis in Family Law matters which includes, but is not limited to divorce; legal separation; meretricious relationships (division of property between unmarried couples); parenting plan and child support disputes as part of a divorce or parentage action between unmarried parents, including modification of parenting plan and child support disputes; relocation actions; adoption; third-party custody actions; domestic violence protection orders and anti-harassment orders. In addition to actively litigating in Court, her practice also emphasizes alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation. She recognizes that there is not a one-size fits all approach to how cases should be handled, and draws upon her broad range of skills to identify the best approach possible to the given situation. Accordingly, she is both aggressive and tenacious when the situation calls for it, while also adept at identifying openings to resolve disputes through negotiation. She understands that for each client that their current conflict is personal to them, and approaches each client’s case with care, commitment, and attention to detail, providing each client with an honest assessment of the case and explanations about the process throughout.

Ms. Skantze is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, Snohomish County Bar Association, and King County Bar Association. Although the majority of her cases are filed in Snohomish County, she has also handled cases filed in Thurston, Pierce, King, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.