Attorneys
Eric was a small business owner when he decided to attend law school. He graduated Cum Laude from Seattle University School of Law in 1982, served as a judicial law clerk, and then a trial attorney for a Seattle public defender office. He later joined a public defender appellate firm and eventually became its Assistant Director. In 1994, Eric founded the firm that became Nielsen Koch & Grannis.
Eric has litigated hundreds of appeals in the Washington state and federal appellate courts, and is qualified to handle death penalty appeals under the rigorous standards set by the Washington State Supreme Court. For 27 years, Eric has served as legal counsel for a local Indian tribe, and has tried complex treaty rights cases in federal court. He also is a trial and appellate judge for a number of local tribal courts.
Eric is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Washington and has consistently been recognized as one of Washington’s best lawyers by Washington Law and Politics and Seattle Met magazines. He has spoken at a number of seminars on appellate practice and Indian law issues.
David earned his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism at the University of Missouri and his law degree at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Beginning in 1992, he served as Assistant Public Defender with the Alaska Public Defender Agency in Anchorage, Alaska. David joined Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 1995.
David has appeared in hundreds of cases in state and federal courts of appeal. He is a perennial selection by Washington Law & Politics magazine as one of the state’s top lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell rates him “AV” (highest levels of skill and integrity). David is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Washington and is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar. He also meets Washington’s rigorous standards for appointment in death penalty appeals and is a recipient of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys' President's Award for distinguished service.
A former Co-Chair of the King County Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation and Judicial Screening Committees, David is passionate about ensuring the selection of qualified judges. He also lectures and publishes on appellate matters and has been honored for his pro bono activities.
Casey graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor's Degree in English. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. Since joining the firm in 2007, Casey has litigated over 300 appeals in Washington courts, winning reversals in criminal cases (everything from misdemeanors to first degree murder), involuntary civil commitments, and parental rights termination proceedings.
Chris graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1982 with a B.S. in Marine Science. After a ten-year career helping to establish commercial salmon & sturgeon farming on the west coast of the United States and Canada, Chris turned to the law, graduating Cum Laude from Seattle University School of Law in 1995. After graduation, Chris joined Nielsen Koch & Grannis. During his tenure with the firm, Chris has appeared in over 850 civil and criminal appeals resulting in over 100 published decisions.
Dana earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from the University of Washington in 1992 and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Seattle University School of Law in 1998. She has handled more than 300 civil and criminal appeals and is one of the firm’s supervising attorneys, overseeing the work of several other experienced appellate attorneys. Dana has argued numerous cases in the Washington Supreme Court, and was selected as a Rising Star by Washington Law & Politics magazine.
Jennifer graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Hispanic Studies and earned her law degree from the University of Washington. She clerked for Judge Chris Quinn-Brintnall in the Washington State Court of Appeals before joining Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 2005. Since then, Jennifer has appeared in over 400 criminal and civil appeals.
Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She earned a Master in Teaching Degree from Seattle University and spent six years as a high-school French teacher. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Seattle University School of Law in 2006, where she was one of only two members of her graduating class to receive the Faculty Scholar Award for academic excellence and significant contributions to the law school community.
Jennifer has also won awards for legal writing and appellate advocacy and was on the editorial staff of the Seattle Journal for Social Justice. Prior to joining Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 2008, Jennifer worked on numerous criminal appeals as a contract attorney and she was a law clerk for Justice Tom Chambers at the Washington Supreme Court.
Jared Steed has handled over 150 civil and criminal appeals before the Washington Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, ranging from parental right terminations to serious felony offenses. Jared has also represented clients in criminal cases and family law matters at the trial court level. Jared's practice continues to emphasize appellate representation in the Washington State Supreme Court and all three divisions of the Washington Court of Appeals. Before becoming a licensed attorney, Jared also worked as a Rule 9 Legal Intern for Nielsen Koch & Grannis. He graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 2005, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and History. In 2008, he graduated from Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where he was a member of the Rosalie Wahl Moot Court Competition Team. Jared is passionate about ensuring public defender wages are commensurate with other government funded attorney salaries and has testified before the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives about the need for increased public defense funding.
Kevin grew up in Western Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2002 with B.A. degrees in Spanish and social welfare. Kevin worked as a paralegal for several Seattle law firms until attending the University of Washington School of Law, where he graduated in 2012. Following graduation, Kevin served as a law clerk for Justice Charlie Wiggins at the Washington State Supreme Court. After working briefly in civil litigation, Kevin joined Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 2014, where he handles indigent appeals in criminal, parental rights, and involuntary civil commitment cases in the Washington courts.
Kevin recently served on the Washington State Bar Association Court Rules and Procedures Committee, where he chaired the subcommittee on the rules of appellate procedure. In 2017, he was recognized by the Washington Defender Association for his successful litigation efforts challenging the imposition of appellate costs against his indigent clients.
Mary was born and raised in Seattle. She graduated magna cum laude from Santa Clara University with a degree in English. She worked as an editor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for several years before earning her law degree from the University of Washington in 2012.
During law school, Mary served as Executive Managing Editor for the Washington Law Review, and was awarded the Carkeek Prize for best student article published in the journal. She also served on Moot Court Honor Board and was recognized for her appellate brief writing and oral advocacy.
Before joining Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 2014, Mary clerked for the Honorable Marlin J. Appelwick on the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I. Mary was selected as a ‘Rising Star’ by Washington Law & Politics magazine in 2017-2019. She handles criminal, dependency, and civil commitment appeals, and has argued numerous cases before the Washington Court of Appeals and Washington Supreme Court.
Jennifer first joined Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 2001. Prior to that, Jennifer served as a judicial clerk to Justice Charles Johnson of the Washington Supreme Court. In 2005, she pursued a solo practice, collaborating with appellate and trial attorneys in the areas of criminal defense, constitutional law, dependencies, and civil rights. Jennifer rejoined NKG in 2020. Jennifer has argued hundreds of cases before the Washington Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal. Some cases in which she was lead advocate include: State v. Estes, 188 Wn.2d 450 (2017) (reversing third strike offense where the defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel due to failure to investigate); State v. Blazina, 182 Wn.2d 827 (2015) (holding trial courts must actually inquire into a defendant's ability to pay before imposing discretionary costs); State v. Quaale, 182 Wn.2d 191 (2014) (holding officer gave an improper opinion on guilt when testifying he was certain the defendant was impaired); Matter of B.W.K., 5 Wn. App. 2d 1052 (2019) (reversing termination order where trial judge failed to remain a neutral arbiter); Dependency of A.M.M., 182 Wn. App. 776 (2014) (reversing termination order where State failed to provide constitutionally adequate notice). Jennifer earned her B.A. and M.A. at the University of Washington. She earned her J.D. at Seattle University, where she received honors in appellate advocacy and legal writing.
Of Counsel
K. Carolyn Ramamurti has more than 20 years of experience litigating criminal cases. After founding Kolker & Ramamurti in 1994, Carolyn expanded her practice to include family law and all types of restraining order litigation, including anti-harassment and protection orders. In 2004, Carolyn became of counsel at Nielsen Koch & Grannis. She is a member of Washington Defenders Association. Carolyn's practice continues to emphasize representation in criminal cases at the trial court level, family law, and litigation related to restraining orders.
A Seattle native, Carolyn attended the University of Washington before earning a degree in English from Oberlin College in 1985. Carolyn graduated from Hastings College of the Law in 1988. She was admitted to the California Bar in 1988. Carolyn worked for the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office from 1989 through 1992, handling misdemeanors, felony trials, and habeas corpus writs. After returning to Seattle in 1992, Carolyn worked for a large Seattle public defender office before becoming a founding partner of her own firm.
Breck is an experienced environmental and natural resource law attorney. His practice areas include civil litigation, family law, contaminated sites, environmental insurance coverage, oil spill contingency plan compliance, Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act compliance, and administrative law. Before joining Nielsen Koch & Grannis as counsel in August 2017, he was an Assistant Attorney General in the Alaska Attorney General’s Office. From October 1989 until July 2017, he represented the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in a variety of environmental matters, including oil spills, contaminated site cleanups, leaking underground storage tanks, federal facility cleanups, oil discharge prevention and contingency plans, and wreck removal actions. Breck received his bachelor’s degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA and his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He was a law clerk for Alaska Supreme Court Justice Daniel A. Moore, Jr.
Erin earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Washington in 2012 and joined Nielsen Koch & Grannis in 2019. Before joining NKG, she served for five years as a judicial clerk at the Washington State Supreme Court, first for the Honorable Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud and then for the Honorable Justice Debra Stephens, and one year as a legal aid attorney for the Lummi Nation in Bellingham, Washington. At Lummi, Erin represented clients in a wide variety of civil proceedings involving elder and vulnerable adult abuse, domestic violence, child custody, school law, and tenants’ rights. She is licensed to practice law in Washington State and Lummi Tribal Court.
Before earning her law degree, Erin taught introductory writing courses at colleges and universities for several years. She continues to love teaching. As a law student, she co-taught courses at the University of Washington and the Monroe Correctional Complex and served as executive editor of student publications for the Washington Law Review. As a law clerk, she supervised dozens of law student interns developing their legal writing skills at the supreme court.