Kathy Goater

Kathy is a tenacious litigator with over 30 years’ experience in a wide range of areas of law. At SGB, Kathy’s practice concentrates on representing individuals who have been sexually assaulted and/or harassed, children who have been victimized in foster care, individuals who are victims of medical negligence or serious injuries, and workers in class actions whose rights to lawful wages have been violated.

Kathy’s career in Washington began as a prosecutor with the King County Prosecutor’s Office, where she tried and won hundreds of cases and developed a reputation as an outstanding trial lawyer. While at the Prosecutor’s Office, she supervised the Special Assault Unit and concentrated her practice on representing children and adults who had been sexually assaulted and children who had been murdered or were victims of serious abuse. Kathy has been a frequent lecturer on trial advocacy, instructed for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and served as a trial advocacy instructor at the University of Washington School of Law. She is a member of the Washington bar, and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts in Western and Eastern Washington, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Kathy has been named a Washington Super Lawyer.

• $6.2 million verdict against the State of Washington on behalf of four children who were sexually and physically abused in foster care.
• $1.4 million verdict on behalf of child molested by landlord.
• Confidential settlement for disabled woman sexually assaulted by bus driver.
• $4 million settlement on behalf of three children sexually and physically abused in foster care.
• Confidential settlements on behalf of employees sexually harassed in the work place.
• $510,000 verdict on behalf of volunteer firefighter who was victim of gender discrimination.
• $7.4 million class action verdict against IBP, Inc. on behalf of over 800 workers who were required to don, doff, and clean safety equipment without being paid.
• $1.5 million class action verdict against Taco Bell on behalf of workers who were made to work without pay.
• $310,000 verdict against a school district for failing to protect a child with disabilities from student harassment.
• Confidential settlements on behalf of individuals and family members whose loved ones were victims of medical negligence.

DISCLAIMER: This is the fine print, but our fine print is regular size and in clear language. These client quotes and settlement/verdict figures are examples of the results we have obtained for others. Their cases were different from yours, so your result is sure to be different. We post these results for you to see that we have a track record of hard work, client service, and trial success. We won’t guarantee the results of your case, but we will guarantee to bring the same passion, skill, and experience when we fight for you.

• Washington State
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington
• U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• United States Supreme Court
• Miami University, B.A., 1972
• Capital University School of Law, J.D., 1978

Association of Trial Lawyers of America

• Washington State Association for Justice
• King County Bar Association
• Washington State Bar Association
• Past chair, Special Assault Unit, King County Prosecutor’s Office
• Past president, Washington Chapter, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
• Lectures and presentations on trial practice, sexual assault and child abuse
• Support of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, Domestic Violence agencies, the YWCA, and the Odessa Brown Clinic