The History of Inslee Best

Inslee Best traces its roots to the firm of Johnson and DaFoe, which was established in 1934.  In 1959, the firm became Johnson, Jonson and Inslee.  In 1969, Ray Johnson and Evan Inslee joined forces with David Best, and took the entrepreneurial step of moving their legal practice to Bellevue.  At the time, the majority of Bellevue lawyers were sole practitioners without the resources to serve corporate or municipal clients.  Johnson, Inslee, and Best were confident that East King County was on the threshold of expanding into a thriving business community. Their goal was to uniquely position the firm to serve the community’s growing legal needs.

As Bellevue has grown from a small bedroom community to the business and financial center of Seattle’s Eastside, Inslee Best has steadily grown and expanded as well to become the largest original Eastside law firm.  What started as a 3-person firm has grown into a 30-lawyer, diversified practice. The firm now serves clients throughout the Pacific Northwest and provides a wide range of legal services, including municipal, real estate and construction, environmental and land use, labor and employment, tax, health care, estate planning, general business, and litigation. 

Our expansion is focused on selecting the brightest and most creative associates and experienced lateral hires in areas that complement our existing practice and client needs. We strive to provide our clients with a law firm that allows them the opportunity to have most, if not all, of their legal needs met under one roof. We consciously limit the hiring of new associates.  In this effort, we can better focus on our existing associate talent to ensure that each receives only the best training. Our associates are the future of our firm; we provide them with the full range of support and the tools necessary to continue to help our clients succeed.  Through our mentorship program, each associate develops the high degree of technical, practical, and professional expertise that our clients have come to expect.

Inslee Best’s controlled growth has led to a collegiality among the firm’s lawyers and staff that creates a positive work atmosphere, and serves our clients well by contributing to a true "open door" policy among all firm employees. It also fosters our team approach to the practice of law.  By working together to serve clients, with each assigned lawyer providing a client with his or her specific knowledge or expertise, we enhance our ability to provide only the highest quality representation in the most cost-effective way possible.

Our position to grow and prosper alongside the community has allowed us the opportunity to carry a unique insight, long-standing connections and expertise necessary to provide effective legal counsel on regional matters.