Michelle Pham is a Shareholder and a member of the Intellectual Property and Litigation Practice Groups.

Intellectual Property Transactions

Ms. Pham’s practice focuses on the development and protection of intellectual property in the U.S. and abroad. She helps clients strategically develop and protect their intellectual property. She routinely advises clients regarding copyright and trademark protection, acquisitions, licensing, risk assessments, and due diligence investigations. She manages domestic and international intellectual property portfolios for clients and regularly implements cost-effective copyright and trademark clearance, procurement, and protection strategies for her clients. She also represents clients in domain name issues, First Amendment and anti-SLAPP, right of publicity, trade dress, trade secrets, social media, and digital and print advertising.

Commercial and Intellectual Property Litigation

Ms. Pham successfully first-chaired trials and arbitrations and has prevailed on dispositive motions at the state and federal court levels regarding a broad range of disputes, including insurance defense and subrogation, defamation, real estate and landlord/tenant, construction defects and site injuries, personal injury, transportation, and business law. She has also represented clients before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and around the country in copyright and trademark/trade dress infringement, dilution, unfair competition, business interference, and partnership disputes.

She previously served as the judicial clerk for the Hon. Judge Janice E. Ellis of the Snohomish County Superior Court and a pro bono attorney for the Seattle Art Museum’s Office of General Counsel.

Awards and Honors

  • Named one of the Top 40 Young Lawyers “On the Rise” by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division (2021)
  • Recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in Intellectual Property, Business Litigation, and Entertainment Law (2024)
  • Recognized as Best Lawyers of America’s “Ones to Watch” in Intellectual Property, Commercial Litigation, and Insurance Law (2021-2025)
  • Recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation (2018 – 2024)
  • Recognized as a “Top Woman Attorney” by SeattleMet Magazine (2018-2023)
  • Inducted as an Associate Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (2022)
  • Inducted as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (2019)
  • Awarded the President’s Award by the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington (2017)

Professional Involvement

  • King County Bar Association
    • Board Secretary, Executive Committee (2023 – Present)
    • Chair, Member Services Committee (2023 – Present)
    • Member, Board of Trustees (2021 – Present)
    • Member, Intellectual Property Section
  • Washington State Bar Association
    • Chair, Litigation Section Committee (2021 – 2022)
    • Executive Board Member, Litigation Section Committee (2016 – 2022)
    • Member, Intellectual Property and Corporate Counsel Sections
  • Seattle Intellectual Property Inn of Court
  • Vietnamese-American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW)
    • Co-Chair, Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee (2015 & 2019)
    • Board President (2014)
    • Executive Board Member (2010-2015)
  • Asian Bar Association of Washington (ABAW)
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)

Ms. Pham earned her J.D. at Seattle University School of Law, where she served as the National Competition Chair for the Moot Court Board. Her contributions were recognized through the Moot Court Board’s Golden Gavel Award, which she received in both 2010 and 2011.

While attending law school, Ms. Pham worked as the intellectual property research assistant to Seattle University’s Professor Margaret Chon, volunteered for the Washington Lawyers for the Arts, and served as the student liaison to the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington. She also studied Art and Cultural Heritage Law and Turkish Law at Koç University in Turkey.

She earned her B.A., magna cum laude, in Psychology and Art History from University of Washington, and was a member of the Tau Sigma and Psi Chi Honor Societies which recognize the academic achievements of transfer and psychology students.

 

  • United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas 
  •  Verity Credit Union
    • Board Vice Chair, Executive Committee (2021 – Present)
    • Chair, Board Development Committee (2024 – Present)
    • Chair, Experience Committee (2021 – 2023)
  • Rainier Club
    • DEI Advisory Group Chair (2022 – Present)